Board index ‹ Salvation

[Newbie]

Yes, but even like that, if I CAN STOP the fire, I WILL! Jesus can!

[jimwalton]

Well, it's just an analogy. The point is that the person has to choose. Jesus can't make us love him. Then it's not love. Have you seen the movie "Ruby Sparks"? It's exactly that point very well portrayed. Watch it if you get a chance. It's out on DVD now. But you know the truth of what I'm saying, anyway. You can't force people to love you, and if you do, then it's not love.

[Newbie]

And if u don't love Jesus, u r DOOMED? Kind of drastic if you ask me.

[jimwalton]

If someone doesn't love him, they don't want to spend eternity with him anyway. Would you choose to spend eternity with a wife who didn't love you? Who wants to be stuck in a bad situation? If you don't love Jesus, then that's not where you'd want to be.

[Newbie]

No, but because she doesn't love me, I wouldn't send her to hell!! She wants different things than just to adore me every day. So because of that, I condemn her?

[jimwalton]

Hell is where God is not, where God is rejected, where God doesn't make his presence known. It's the only other choice. You're either with God, or you'r not.
God doesn't condemn you to it. A person chooses not to want to be with God, and God won't force him to love Him and be with Him. OK, so the only other choice is that you're not in heaven with God. It's a choice YOU make. For those who choose to love God, they get to be with Him. For those who choose not to love God, they don't have to be with Him. NO one is force; each person gets to decide.

[Newbie]

Religions suck!! I don't agree with religions, but I'm still a good person. IT IS NOT MY FAULT, and I'm still good person. I don't believe what the bible says because religions have shown me how "profitable" and mean they are—the Inquisition, etc. So, because I choose a path free of religion, I'm doomed?

[jimwalton]

You're right. That's why religions suck. Religions mislead. I don't agree with religions either. I follow Jesus. It's a whole different thing.

[Newbie]

For example, I know some people who were raised in such a way that their church and their parents didn't help them like religion (God), so it's not their fault to have doubts. But still they are doomed because of that?! So, if people follow God according to their religion, but it's wrong... so.. are they doomed?

[jimwalton]

You gotta know the truth. Back to an analogy I gave earlier. Suppose someone wants to visit a foreign country. They have to have a passport. It doesn't matter if they're a good person or not. But then suppose they are flying into your city to see you, but then take off in the wrong direction. Will they find you? No. They have to go the right way if they're going to find you. They have to make the right choices. The truth is knowable. They need a passport, and they need an address, and they need to follow that. And if someone knows what is right and chooses something else, then that's their choice. And if it gets them in trouble, well, they CHOSE it. Suppose there is a civil war in the direction they choose to go, or a tsunami, and you had told them, "Do not go that way." But when they land, they go that way anyway. Are they doomed? Yes, because they knew the truth, but ignored it, by their own choice, to their own doom. Are you to blame? Are you being cruel? Are you being narcissistic? No, you're doing everything you can to help them travel and land safely. It's their own fault.