Saturday, 24 September 2011
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Hell, Should We Pray For Only Sinners?
I just opened Francis Chan's Erasing Hell the other day and there was this one thing he said that made me think this.According to what we're taught, the things we read or are told, people, in their minds, have created a category that certain types of people are going fall under -- and those types of people are people who are presumingly going to go to hell. Hell is a scary subject that we know we have no control over, but God does. He gets to be the one who says "Yes, you're going to spend eternity with me in heaven." Or not.
The people here on Earth don't have this authority. But let's admit it. According to what we've been taught, we pretty much have a good idea of who will and who won't be going to hell. Our own naive perceptions and innocent minds have already condemned certain types of people or characteristics these people have to hell.
Some of us might look at a lawyer who has deliberately helped the guilty get away. And we have already condemned that person to hell because he does not have Christ-like characteristics. But is he any different from me?
When I stole a jacket that I couldn't afford from a store, did I not also have Christ-like characteristics? (which I didn't) Or can you argue that I was young and naive? If that's the case, then aren't we both considered guilty because we have committed acts that God would not like?
I know this is silly to even bring up, but really, who are we to think that a certain type of person who can commit such degrees of sin will go to hell, when we are no better? We don't know what goes on in God's mind, and yet, God is a forgiving God. So isn't it much safer to say that we are followers should pray for everyone's salvation and not just our own and for the people who've we've condemned as bad? As sinners? Shouldn't we play it safe and pray for everyone? What about people who don't even know God? Or won't even give Him a chance in their lives?
Whose salvation do you pray for? Do you pray more for people who already know God or for people who might be going to hell? Or do you just pray for everyone?
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- From: ConnectEM
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Comments (8)
"So isn't it much safer to say that we are followers should pray for
everyone's salvation and not just our own and for the people who've
we've condemned as bad? As sinners? Shouldn't we play it safe and pray
for everyone? What about people who don't even know God? Or won't even
give Him a chance in their lives?"
Absolutely! We should pray and want for everybody on earth and everyone who has ever existed to be in Heaven with God. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
Is there anyone on earth who isn't a sinner and would not be in need of our prayers? I sure can't think of anyone!
And does God make a decision as to who goes to Hell and who does not, or does He simply reveal the truth of the life that we lived and the choice we made for Heaven or Hell by the life of love we did or didn't live? I don't think He would drag us kicking and screaming into Heaven because that's where He wanted us, regardless of what we wanted.
Hell isn't about who did WHAT sin, to a lesser or greater degree --- just as Heaven isn't about us getting treasures and palaces and super-duper-great bonuses.
Heaven is about glorifying God --- FOR ETERNITY --- and that starts in the here and now.
Hell is for those who sought only to glorify self and to keep God locked in a box somewhere out of the equation. Think of Philippians 2:5-9 wherein it states that at some point EVERY knee shall bow... both in Heaven and on earth, and those "under the earth" --- Those in Heaven will be praising God for their rescue from sin.... just as they had been seeking to repent of it and give Him glory on Earth while they were living.
Those "Under the earth" (metaphorical for hell --- assumed) will bow their knee FORCIBLY to acknowledge that God was sovereign, even if they refused to believe it in life.
I wrote a post on the topic of what Heaven would really be about --- it also dealt with Hell --- here's the Link. It should give you considerable food for thought.
The end point is --- There is a Kingdom of Darkness and a Kingdom of Light. From birth, we all belong to the kingdom of darkness (Psalm 51:5 - John 8:44) --- Jesus said it best when he said "This is the verdict, Light came into the world, but men preferred darkness because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19 --- right after John 3:16 where it talks about the love of God for the world) No man enters into the family of God WITHOUT FIRST BEING ADOPTED INTO IT BY FAITH. (Romans 8:15-16 - John 1:12-13... notice "He (God) gave 'THE RIGHT TO BECOME' Children of God" --- the implication is that we weren't from the get-go) 1 John 3:1 and so many other verses...)
While the choice of who will or will not enter into Heaven may not be ours --- the parameters are so undeniably set in stone that there is little question of the end matter. "Those who proclaim to live in Him (Jesus) MUST show it by their obedience" (a paraphrase of 1 John 2:6 with John 14:15 / 15:10 combined to show intent) FOOTNOTE: The point of obedience was so important that Jesus stressed it twice in the same conversation and the book of 1 John deals with it multiple times in chapters 2 & 3 --- You cannot claim to be God's --- and live like Satan's your best buddy, simple as that.
ConnectEM --- You really do need to simply start digging into your Bible deeper --- most of your questions will be answered there, that's why God gave it to you.
"Should we pray for only sinners?" Well as we are all sinners, yep we should pray for everyone to come to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Heaven is available to all who will accept it, regardless of whether they seem like they deserve it or not.
http://talkingchristian.blogspot.com/2011/08/gods-house-gods-rules.html
myself.. my famliy and other ppl
Uuhh, so are you responding to some unspoken argument that there are people we shouldn't pray for?
Luke 3:6 All mankind will see God's salvation. Mark 11:17 My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. I see fundamentalist churches deciding all the time who is in and who is out, and to me, this is almost blasphemous. That's a pretty serious call for a human to make. John 12: 32 When I am lifted up, I wlll draw all men to myself.
You shouldn't pray for the salvation of people that don't want to be prayed for. It's offensive. Asking God to play a role in changing the mind of someone who isn't open to it is demonstrating that you don't care about that person's free will.