Some say, "I don't believe God loves us. If He did, He wouldn't want to judge and condemn us."
John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world, through Him.”
In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is telling us that He came into the world, to save the people of the world — not to condemn them.
That verse also tells us of God the Father and His Son's great love for us. Let me give you an example of salvation, condemnation, and justice, for reference:
Two boys were swimming in an abandoned coal mine lake. One was a pretty good swimmer than the other. The one boy began to drown and his friend quickly dove in and saved him.
Years later, the men met again, as one came in as a criminal before the court of his now, Judge-seated friend.
The accused man was greatly relieved, when he saw that the Judge he stood before, was none other than his friend that had saved him from drowning long ago.
However, the Judge found him "Guilty!", and proceeded to sentence him to life imprisonment. With a look of bewilderment and shock, the accused looked at his Judge friend and said, "Don't you remember me!!?? It's ME, your long lost friend, whom you loved so much! How could you do this to me and charge me as guilty?"
Sadly, the Judge looked at him and said, "Because at that time, I was your savior. Today....I am your Judge."
Was the Judge wrong in serving Justice? Did he love his friend any less? The answer to both, is a resounding no! He still loved his long time friend, but because of who he was and the position he was in...to be fair to all...he had to serve Justice. This is love and honesty. Had he allowed his friend to get by with a deadly crime, he would have had to allow all the other criminals the same leniency, and that would have been a lie, unjust, and not following the law. The man would have learned nothing AND gotten by with murder.
Deuteronomy 32:4 "Christ, our Rock, His work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright, is He."
GOD is Fair - SIN, Is Not! Sin brings nothing but condemnation.
There are spiritual laws, just as there are man-made laws, that must be abided by, to be fair. Justice demands it. God's laws are much more perfect than man's, as HE is perfect. He cannot err. We reap what we sow, in both worlds, by our own choices and actions. The consequences of sin is always death, in the spiritual world. Sin is the most serious offence, because it keeps us seperated from our Father in heaven, UNTIL we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins. He WANTS to do so. Jesus wants only to save us, as He is not willing that ANY should perish.
Make no mistake. God does not make the choice of where we shall spend eternal life, FOR us. Just as the criminal was responsible for his own decision and actions before his earthly appointed Judge, so are we each responsible before God, for our choice to accept God's plan of salvation, or not. If we decide we want absolutely nothing to do with God or His Plan of Salvation....but instead, reject Him, His plan, and mock and/or curse Him....God will honor our choice. It was Jesus, that said no one else can save us, as it is only He, that God approved and appointed as Savior and Meditator of the world.
Now, don't get that wrong. God the Father did not force Jesus to pay for our sins on the cross. Jesus didn't have to do that. He wanted to. In fact, out of His great love for us, Jesus volunteered to go to the cross and pay for our sins, so that we would not have to suffer the consequences of our sins. Sin always separates us from God the Father, until our sins are forgiven by Jesus, when we ask Him, through prayer. So as you can see, there are not many roads to Christ, salvation and Heaven. God is not willing that ANY PERISH, but have everlasting life in heaven with Him. He turns no one away.
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@MoveAlong Heaven is described in great detail in the Bible, including measurements and what each foundation is made of and some of what we'll see in heaven.
@LadyGrace "Streets of gold, gates of pearl, and walls adorned with precious stones." Pass, there's plenty of shiny stuff on earth that doesn't interest me at all. The weirdest thing is this supposedly intelligent being in charge who for some reason wants or needs to be worshiped for eternity. That's incredibly small of him or it IMO.
@MoveAlong But that's not the point. I'm sure you probably take care of yourself physically but the point is, not only are you a physical being, you have a spiritual side of you as well, that needs to be attended to so that you know where you shall be spending eternity. This Earth is not going to be here too much longer and anyone can see that, from the way it is dying down. It's important not to leave your soul to chance, but prepare it for eternity, because once you get there, they'll be no second chances or changing your mind once you see what's there. The Bible prepares us for this. If you do not prepare your soul or eternity, you will not be able to get into heaven because there's no sin in heaven and we are all every one of us sinners that need to be saved by God's grace. That is done by inviting him into your heart and life as Savior. Contrary to belief, it is not God that keeps people out of heaven. It is unforgiven sin. There can be no sin in heaven or would not be called heaven.
@MoveAlong I can understand how you feel but I hope you give it a second thought because that's one thing we can't control and that is death is imminent and we do want to make sure we go to the right place. Eternity is an awfully long time. The one thing we can control is what choice we make as to where we wish to spend eternity. Thank you for talking about this civally.
@LadyGrace Lady, do you realize it's probable you are Christian instead of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or something else by virtue of where you were born and who you born to? I see no reason why a person should accept one over the other or even none at all.
@MoveAlong Well, I think you're right, sir. Salvation has nothing to do with denomination or what religion you were brought up in. One must study all and make up their own mind whom they wish to serve, no matter how they were brought up, however, the Bible makes it clear that salvation certainly has nothing to do with one's denomination. John 3:16 does not say unless you are Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or any other religion, you can't go to heaven. It's specifically says that Jesus died to save the whole world, not just some and he tells us exactly how to be saved, so we don't have to guess. God is the God of the universe and he died for the whole world. No other religions are necessary. None, because no religion can save us... only the grace of God by faith. That's what God said and who better would know? I trust him over any man-made philosophy. Religion did not die on the cross to save me from the condemnation that sin placed on me. The person of Jesus did.