This is the final question in life that so many people are confused about and seeking to answer today. It is the most important question of the day. For some, they believe that they have found their answer to the question through faith in their belief that they will simply cease to exist and that there is no God. Still some believe that they have found their answer in how good they have been to others and their charity. Still others believe that everyone is going to be safe and heaven is going to be a place for everyone…that all religions, atheists, agnostics, etc. are going to the same place like one big melting pot. However, my eternal destiny cannot be answered by merely what I think about it or even what my friends believe about it. It has to come from a higher source…a higher authority. We believe that the higher authority we speak of rests in what God has inspired the writers to record in the Holy Bible.
It is no secret that there are many religions in the world today that claim to have the way to their god or eternal life. However, not everyone can be right on the matter. There has to be an absolute truth…something that is true for all times and generations. It is a true statement that not everyone can be right about this important subject. Some say today that there are no absolute truths but to make this claim is a fallacy in itself. We all live our lives with the notion that there is the existence of absolute truth. For example: If you believe that things in life are true for some but not true for others, that truth depends on each situation…that there is no absolute truth when it comes to life and spirituality….well what if someone were to steal your car or wallet? Would you not be outraged and demand it back and say that they did wrong in stealing from you? Or what about someone who claims that their religion demands them to kill innocent people….would it then be true for this thief and murderer but not for you? What about if the thief asks ‘who says that it is wrong?...by whose authority?!’ But yet states ‘It is true for me to steal your car and wallet in my world!...’ As ridiculous as that sounds…many people live out their spiritual lives in this way…that there is no absolute truth about God and His creation that is true for all times and generations…..that all religions can be right as long as the believe it cause everyone is going to the same place. Eventually, someone has to be wrong…we can’t all be right. There is indeed an Absolute Truth and it matters that we study this subject as all eternity rests it! To use and old argument by Pascal…if I am wrong about this, then I have lost nothing. I have lived a good life and served others. However if you are wrong about this, you have lost everything. As a Christian, I have experienced the hand of God in my undeserving life much like the wind. I can’t prove to you that the wind exists. I can’t show you the wind, but the one thing that I can do to convince you that the wind does indeed exist is to point to the effects the wind has on material objects. No, I can’t see God, but I can tell of how He has changed my life and others. I see His hand in the intricacies of creation, life, and each day I live. Careful study has led me to believe in the God who has revealed Himself to mankind through His Son Jesus and the Holy Bible.
At Hallelujahs Unlimited, we believe that there is Absolute Truth and that there is a God who created all of this and His message to mankind is recorded in the Holy Bible. No, the Bible does not contain all of the answers to the questions of mankind but it is sufficient for salvation to all who believe. For more info on the authority of the Bible…Click Here)
So, What does the Bible say about eternity and how to be saved?
Once we have come to the conclusion that the Bible is indeed the authority on the answers to life’s most important questions about God, salvation, etc…we then must read and apply what it says. Well, what does it say about:
Man
- That man is to serve and worship God and Him only: Deuteronomy 6:4-5,13 (NIV) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” 13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.”
John 4:23 (NIV) “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
- That man is sinful and in need of God’s grace: Romans 3:9-26 (NIV) 9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better[b]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."[c]13"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit."[d] "The poison of vipers is on their lips."[e] 14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[f] 15"Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know."[g] 18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."[h] 19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
- That sin separates us from God and brings spiritual death but Christ’s free gift brings us spiritual life if we accept Him: Romans 6:23 (NIV) 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation
-That God loves the people of the world: 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g]
- God desires that all be saved: 1 Timothy 2:1-6 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.”
- That we must put our faith in Jesus to be saved from spiritual death: Acts 4:12 (NIV) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Romans 10:9-13 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scriptures says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So, really the answer to the question of where you and I are going when we leave this world rests in what you put your faith in. God has made ONLY ONE WAY, THE WAY JESUS. It isn’t up to any scholar to negate or make the decision whether this statement is correct. If the Bible is true, then we must understand and believe that only faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross can save someone from the judgment that awaits all mankind for our actions. If we choose to put our faith in anything else other than what God has provided for salvation, then we spit in the face of God for His provision and will face eternity on our own in a place called Hell. Hell was not created for you and I but we will go there if we choose to reject God’s provision for us through the Cross. It was His loving way to bring us to Him because He was not going to allow sin to go unpunished. What loving parent allows a child to deliberately disobey them without consequences? God is a just and merciful God. His justice brought punishment for sin but His mercy brought forgiveness through the Cross. No one can look at the brutality of the Cross and come to the conclusion that God does not love them or is a hateful God. He loved you and I so much to the point of taking our punishment for us if we accept His free gift of salvation. The good news is that if we choose to put our faith solely in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross on our behalf and accept His forgiveness, then we can KNOW where we will go when we leave this world. Not because of anything that we have done but because of Christ extending His forgiveness to us through acceptance and faith in His work on the cross. Yes, you can know that you will be with God one day if you put your faith and trust in Him! 1 John 5:13 (NIV) “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
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