Ok I'm going to answer the questions and comments posted on this forum with mostly scripture from the Bible so you know this isn't just coming from me.
It pains me more to hear a christian tell me that I'm wrong for not believing the the bible. I have asked several christians the same question: If I live a good life, if I make myself as best as I can be, and do as much good as possible, but don't believe in Jesus and God, do I deserve to go to hell? All have answered yes!?!?!
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
15 and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. 16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. 17 God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. 18 Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:15-18
So, we are all dirt compared to God (who is perfect), we've all messed up and deserve hell no matter how good or righteous we are, but if you believe what Jesus said and what he did then you will have eternal life in heaven.
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Also I can't stand proselytizing. Trying to convert people, or worse, forcibly converting people makes me feel sick.
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
14 Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15
The Bible does not say to try and convert people to Christ. It says to tell people about what Christ did and the rest is between them and God. In the Bible the one place that I found the word convert was when Jesus was yelling at the pharisees (religious leaders of Jesus' time) for "converting" people to their wicked way of life. It is not a Christian's job to "save" or "convert" people, it is their job to tell others about Jesus and their experiences with God.
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Real question: Is turning to any "God" after tramatic experiences mentally healthy, when before you had no interest in religion? Your mind is in a state of pain anguish and almost anything sounds good to keep your mind off, even drugs. Is it right to change your beliefs to deal with stress?
4 "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. Matthew 5:4
I think that some people have to be at their lowest point in life to realize that they've needed God all along.
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I think the @ORGANIZED_RELIGIONS places $DIETY'S choice of condemnation into the hands of man and his actions, but doesn't give man the ability to excape condemnation through his actions. It's a system that perpetuates man's need of the church, and places a permanent block between man and the $DIETY he claims to serve. All interaction with $DIETY is brokered by middle men, who just happen to pass around a $CASH_RECEPTICLE every meeting.
26 By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Galatians 3:26
As the very first verses above state, we can't
do anything to save ourselves, but believe in Christ. The Bible states that, because of Christ, you don't have to go through anyone to have interaction/relationship with God.