Why Is Atheism So Important?

@hartfire Jesus is really our only hope for this generation and for salvation. I think that's the point he was trying to make. We can't get to heaven on our own, that's for sure.

@LadyGrace Salvation is not necessary if one lives a moral and ethical life:
- Cause no harm,
- nurture the well-being and healthy balances of life as much as possible,
- practice random and anonymous acts of kindness and beauty,
- do not lie or deceive,
- accept 100% responsibility for one's own feelings, thoughts, emotions, words and actions,
- avoid addictions,
- make amends for mistakes,
- and be proactive about learning.

@hartfire I appreciate your kind response.

Here's the way God looks at things. Just want to throw this out there, okay?
He is so much higher than us, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are so much higher, perfect, and without flaw, compared to humans.

Sin always brings physical and spiritual death. It's not about our performance at all. Sin is Sin, no matter what the sin is. God doesn't catagorize sin. We do. All sin separates us from God and that's why we need Jesus to forgive us, so that he can erase our sins. In the spiritual world, no sin can be forgiven except by the shedding of blood. That's how serious God takes sin. That's why God hates sin. God doesn't hate people. He hates sin with a vengeance, because it's separates us from Him and that hurts him more than anything ever could. It is our sin nature that keeps us separated from God, and He said that needs to be remedied. That's why God's Plan of Salvation is perfect, because it works. When Jesus forgives, it's as if we had never sinned before in our whole lives. Not only does he forgive our sins, but he erases them completely and remembers them no more! Now that's really something. He came to make sure that nobody would die in their sins. Heaven is a holy place. There is no sin in heaven, so naturally we can't be dragging our sins into heaven. It's that simple. Every one of us have sinned and so we just need to ask God to forgive us and he's more than willing to do that. It's not about being good and it has nothing to do with our performance. It has everything to do with erasing our sins so that we can come back into fellowship with God. People are good, yes, but that doesn't erase their sins. We can see all this evil in the world and what this tells us is why we need Jesus. Jesus loves you more than words could ever say. No one on this Earth is any smarter nor wiser than yourself, but a decision needs to be made so your beautiful self can be saved. God said, "I did not come into this world to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved, through Me. We can never say one person is any better than the other because we all have sin. If we didn't acknowledge that we have sin, we would all be liars, so we just have to let Jesus save us like he wants to, that's all.

@LadyGrace

I don't accept that death is or ever could be caused by sin.
It is in the nature of living - in the very definition of what the word [i]life[/i] means - that every being that lives was born and will die. It's a natural phenomenon. Without death, life itself would not be possible.
Try to imagine it - every sentient being living eternally. If a being or entity were eternal, it would need no air, water, food, shelter, communication, learning - nor anything at all to sustain itself. It would not need to feel hunger, thirst, fatigue, restlessness, curiosity or pain in order to live. It would not need to be sentient or aware. In fact, by the definition of what it means to be alive, it would not be alive at all. It would be matter or some form of kinetic energy.

I don't say any of the above in order to convert or persuade: it is merely how I think.

I respect every person's right to their faith and belief. Each chooses what is right and what works best for him or herself.

@hartfire
[quote]I don't accept that death is or ever could be caused by sin.[/quote]

There was no sin in the Garden of Eden, until Adam and Eve decided to disobey God. That introduced sin into the world and God said in His Word that sin brings death and condemnation to our souls. We are not without sin ourselves, and we definitely cannot enter Heaven with our sins, or else it wouldn't be heaven. This tells us why we need Jesus to forgive us so we can be brought back into fellowship with God the Father. Unless we do that, God himself said we will not spend eternity in heaven because of our choice to refuse the only salvation from Christ that could have saved us. That's a serious matter and we should take it seriously and think about it seriously because eternity is an awfully long time to spend in the wrong place. God meant what he said. It's not what I say, it's what God says that counts. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, so that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. He said there's no other way to heaven. We all have souls and we're all in the same spiritual boat, in need of Jesus to forgive us of our sins and save us from the condemnation that sin placed on us. No one would know better how to be saved than Jesus and certainly the idols of this world cannot save us. They cannot see, here, nor speak. This is something very serious. We don't want to gamble with our own soul and lose it.