Saturday, 22 August 2009
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Could Hitler be in Heaven?
Have you ever been told that you were going to hell? I don't mean like some ex-girlfriend telling you to go to hell, I mean like for real.A close friend of mine used to tell me this all of the time. He told me that he loves me so he felt compelled to let me know that my soul was in peril.
"I don't want you to go to hell man."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You are not saved. The only way for you to get to heaven is to be saved in his name."
"I believe in Jesus, dude. You know this."
"Believing will not save you. It is not enough to simply believe."
Needless to say, this news did not go over well with me. It sort of pissed me off to learn that even though I've been a pretty good guy in life, I was still on my way to eternal damnation. I refused to accept this. "So you're saying that no matter how good a person is, they will go to hell if they don't get saved?" He threw a Bible passage at me and said that Jesus is the only gateway to heaven. Living what we perceive to be a good life is meaningless if we are not saved.
Then he said something that blew my mind.
He told me the man who has lived his life full of sin, will make it to heaven before the righteous man if he is saved. That just doesn't seem right. I tested this theory by asking him a hypothetical question:
"So let's say there is someone who is universally believed to be a good person. Mother Theresa for example. If she has not been saved she is going to hell?"
"Yes."
"And on the flipside, let's say Hitler took on Jesus as his Savior on his deathbed, would that be enough to get him into heaven?"
"If he was sincere and genuine, yes it would."
I'm really sorry Jesus :(
Does this seem right that a righteous person who did not accept Jesus as their Savior will end up in hell, while a person who committed evil acts for their whole life, but accepted Jesus on their deathbed, will go to heaven?
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- From: vanedave@xanga
- Name: David
- Location: New York, United States
- About Me: I write for me. Yeah thats a bunch of bull. I really enjoy making people laugh. Some might even say that I am pretty good at it.
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Comments (166)
Theres no reason anyone couldnt be in hevan, but Hitler killed himself and he couldnt pray for the lord to forgive him, killing is a sin.
If it wasn't for Jesus, I would be going to hell. I need a Savior.
In the Christian doctrine, it makes sense. It used to make plenty of sense to me.
Things are different now. Interestingly, I can still understand why someone who has committed acts of evil could repent and go to Heaven. I accept that more easily than I accept good- or simply ordinary- people going to Hell due to "original sin".
I can't help but think that if there is a Hell, fewer people are going than some believe.
As to where Hitler went? How should I know? I'm not God. :P
Without God giving His son, it is not "right" that anyone is spared eternal punishment for sin. It is only by God's goodness and mercy that we can be saved from the payment we are due for our sin. Nobody has lived a life worthy of heaven except for Christ.Not Hitler, not me, not Mother Theresa. It is only through our faith in Christ that our "righteousness" means anything.
I think it is highly unlikely that someone who has indulged in the most extreme perverse, wicked behavior until death would genuinely respond to the gospel in his/her last moments, but it is not up to you or me to determine the state of one's heart. Nothing is impossible with God.
Ditto what @subSacred@xanga said. In order to be in heaven, in order to be saved, we need to accept Christ's righteousness by faith. In the eyes of God, our righteousness is filthy rags.
@laurasaywha@xanga - So if I'm walking down the street and scream the name "Jesus Christ" in vain as an assailant points a gun to my head and immediately kills me I can't go to heaven?
(Using the name of the Lord in vain is a sin as well)
Just as a good deed doesn't get us into heaven when we are without Christ, neither does a sin destine us for hell when we are with Christ.
@subSacred@xanga - True,
I just dont get why we're always using hitler in these kind of blogs. theres other people out there
The bible says "by grace we are saved, through faith, not of ourselves it is a GIFT of GOD, not of works so that NO MAN can boast." This verse says it all about salvation....the "grace" came by His death and resurrection and "faith" is what we do when we receive this grace through faith. See, compared to a Perfect God, our righteousness at it's best is like "filthy rags" (the bible states this). It also says the only thing that God counts in us as "righteousness" is what we do in our faith in him. Some ppl are naturally born to "act" better, taught better or just have a "good" disposition about them. But in the Bible that is not what counts with God because that would be comparing these "good" ppl to match the price that was paid on the cross for our sins and there is NO WAY man's work can hold a candle to the Perfection of Jesus. That's why we need a Savior to get to God and He paid the ultimate price for the least and greatest sinners of the world to receive him into their heart and turn their life over to him to trust that he is the Savior of the Universe. Once you understand the LOVE Jesus gave to us through the cross, why wouldn't anyone, good or bad, want to choose him? But until they have this understanding or conviction, how are they to know. That's why some bad people, once their lives are about to end, they think about things like eternity and they can truly come to the realization that Jesus is the Savior and they become aware that they are in desperate need of his salvation to pass to the next world, which is heaven. Jesus saved me. I wasn't much of a "good" person, but once I sought after Jesus, he revealed his love to me and I received it, realized I'm nothing without him, asked him into my heart and to forgive my sins. Because of this, my life is different. I love him so much!
Mass-murder aside, suicide is a mortal sin, so I doubt it.
@laurasaywha@xanga - Ha...good point.
If you believe in Jesus, why would he still say you're going to Hell?
@laurasaywha@xanga - According to the Christian belief system, it is thought that when you choose to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, he cleanses ALL sin, past, present and future, from your life. Thus, suicide is not a damnable sin, and also, all the individual sins you never asked forgiveness for will not be held against you, as a saved believer.
@Shy___Away@xanga - Hm, really ??
@laurasaywha@xanga - Yes. I don't know what Biblical support there is for it, but neither is there any Biblical support saying that if you don't ask for forgiveness for EVERY SINGLE SIN, you lose. The only 'unforgivable sin' is the lack of accepting Christ as your savior, so, from that, I think basic Christian theology has deduced that suicide is not a sin that will keep you from heaven.
@Shy___Away@xanga - It's kind of a relief, every time reading these posts I always pray that when I die I wont just rot in hell. I'm not a bad person, really, but still. You know ?
@ModernBunny@xanga - I agree. I used to believe that no matter how good of a person you were, unless you were saved, you wouldn't get to heaven, but now, not so much. What about a good person in an oppressive country where they never at least get to hear about Christ? And really, there's a whole lot of scenerios that just don't make sense.
As for the original sin, no offense, but I didn't eat that apple of that tree. It's really stupid, when you think about it, for everyone to be punished due to the "sin" of two people thousands of years ago. Its like how some white people get mad because they don't like it when black people blame them for the mistake of their ancestors. It's not their fault that their great-great-great-great grandparents were racist. It's the same in that sense, I guess.
You must first understand that there are no good people period! Rom.3:12. The best way to come to an understanding about your need for a savior is to look at Gods moral Law, the ten commandments. Have you ever told a lie? That's the ninth commandment, Have you ever even once used Gods name in vain? that's blasphemy and a violation of the 3rd commandment, God will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vainEx.20:7. 7th adultery, listen to what Jesus said Matt.5:28 Whoever looks upon a woman to lust for her has commited adultery with her in his heart,and yes that goes for women also. Rev.21:8 says all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. If you steal one thing irrespective of it's value, you are a thief and cannot enter heaven.1Cor.6:10 1John3:4 says sin is trasgression of the Law, and being His law is written on all of our hearts ,via the conscience Rom.2:14,15 we are without excuse. If you have done these things even once you are a lying, thieving, blashemous adulterer at heart! Gods standard for entrance into heaven is perfection in thought word and deed! Any perfect people out there? This show us our need for an alien righteousness [not our own]. God became a person in Jesus of Nazareth, He lived a perfect life without violating any of Gods law. When He went to the cross, Gods wrath and holy hatred of sin fell upon Him, so that He would not have to judge us as liars, thieves, adulterers etc. When a guilty sinner repents[turns from all sin] and puts his or her trust in the saviour, Gods death sentence is commuted and He can then allow them to live. Not based on thier own righteousness but on the basis of Christs righteousness applied to our account. He gives them His Spirit, and begins to change that person on the inside [sanctifying them]. This process never stops until they die and are glorified [perfected].
The problem with saying that it's unfair that people who are "good" could go to hell and people who are "bad" could go to heaven if they ask for forgiveness is that it's a completely subjective standard of good. We all have different ideas of what it means to be "good." What's good to one person is bad to another. Most people set a very low standard of "at least I haven't killed anyone."
If I'm guilty of a parking ticket, I can't get off by saying "hey, at least I didn't kill anyone." No matter how many good things you do, how many times you've given to
someone in need or sacrificed for the good of others, it's not enough to outweigh a simply parking ticket. If you go to the judge and tell him that you've won the Noble Peace prize, it's irrelevant, because you committed the violation. I'm not sure where we got this idea that good deeds can erase bad ones.
The bible teaches that the wages of sin is death - if you sin, you've earned death - but the gift of God is eternal life. We've all sinned, whether it's a parking ticket violation or murdering someone. That's why being a pretty good person isn't enough. The standard is perfection, and unless we are perfect, we need forgiveness from the only one who can forgive - Jesus.
@subSacred@xanga - exactly. there is no such thing as a mortal sin or an unforgivable sin. if you think of a woman in an adulterous manner the moment before you die, it is the exact same in God's eyes as if you took your own life, someone else's life, or yelled his name in vain. so many people don't understand this fact.
@Theophilus166@xanga - Amen!
people are turned away
@Tanezia_Delight@xanga - People in other countries have creation and conscience testifying to the truth. Creation with all of it's order and design point to the creators existence and thier conscience accuses them of having done wrong. God does not owe them the chance to hear the gospel, but he does command Christians to go there and share it with them.
Original sin is that Adam was our federal head [representative]. You would have eaten the fruit also, and this is demonstrated by our unwillingness to embrace His forgiveness in Christ. Those who do embrace Christ do so because they realize and admitt that they are guilty sinners just like Adam.
Everyone gets the same chance to go to heaven, so I don't really think it's unfair.
As far as Hitler goes, he was a heavy occultist who killed millions of Jews, God's chosen people. He doesn't seem like someone who would humble himself before any god on his deathbed.