On Dec. 6, 2003, my youngest sister died after a three year battle with a brain tumor. She was 27. Her death challenged me to confront my faith in a big way. All my life I had been told that if a person had faith, they would go to heaven, and while I've never really believed that a person could earn their way to heaven, I was also taught that part of being faithful was going to church on a regular basis. My sister was not a churchgoer. At the time of her death, she was into a sort of charismatic faith, but had not yet found a church home.
Now, I have no doubts that my sister is spending eternity in the presence of God. But her death brought up the burning question that often comes up at the time of death: Will they go to heaven? And, even for those of us brought up on a "faith only" criteria for getting into heaven, the answer to that question becomes complicated. Somewhere deep in our hearts we know that faith is it; because we are sinful, we are in no way capable of earning our way to heaven with our good deeds. Yet, we also live in a world of rewards and punishments. We know, for instance, that if we come to class or show up to our jobs on time, that we will be rewarded with a better grade or a promotion. We know that if we work hard on the playing field, we will get more playing time in the game. We also know that if we slack off, we will get demoted, fired, or expelled. It is only natural to apply this reasoning to matters of faith. So, if we are good here on earth, we have a better chance of going to heaven. If we are not so good, we will most certainly go to hell.
Paul, in his letters in the New Testament, says just the opposite. The first thing he reminds us of is that everyone is sinful (Romans 3:23). We are simply not capable, by ourselves, of having what it takes to climb the ladder of success right into heaven. We can't get to heaven by going to church every Sunday, or helping the poor, or paying our taxes, or even by being a martyr. Paul says that these things are good, and that the law certainly has its purpose, but it is not the ticket to heaven. Faith is. Faith alone will save us (Romans 3:28).
Of course, this statement raises many questions, but let's focus on only one of them: What does faith entail? In other words, what does faith look like in every day life? Does getting to heaven involve something more than simply saying that you believe that Jesus is the Savior? If so, what is it? In addition, if we say that faith is all it takes to get to heaven, then why do we spend so much time worrying about whether or not other people are "doing" the right things?
25 comments:
I don't think that people go to heaven because they go to church every week. You can still believe in God and respect religion by praying out of a holy establishment. Heaven is won by the way a person acts during their life, and how they treat others. I believe that if a person doesn't do any crimes we al have a chance to rest in peace. God is forgivefull for some things.
Well im sorry to hear about your sister but she is in heaven now and thats one of the main goals in a christian life. To me faith entails a beliefe that no matter what happens to someone, good or bad, that God is beside us on our jorney. When ever im somewhere that is scary like just being outside when its dark and late atnight i start to hear things and i get scared. The only way i can relax is to think about God and that he is watchin over me. THat he isnt goin to let anything bad happen that isnt in his plan. When i broke my back i got really lucky. I could've never walked again and somehow i didnt hit my head on the way down too which would have killed me. So right after i was hurt i was laid on the gorund while everyone tried to figure out what the next step was but i can remember what i was thinking. The whole time i wasnt afraid of dieing, i never saw my life flash before me eyes. So to me faith in everyday life is knowing that God is withus and has a plan for everything and everyone. Also, that faith gave me a calming state of mind the whole time i was laying on the ground in pain and even not being able to feel or move my left leg. I wasnt worry about my life because God was watching over me. I had a gradingangle with me that day.
It's hard to say that faith is enough to get into heaven. I think that havingn faith in God is very important buy also excersing that faith is just as important. You need to help spred the word to others, behelpful, and being a good person. Its hard to say what one must do to get into heaven because only God can tell us what to do. But in a way he doesnt make us do things. He puts us in siutations in which we can choose paths and find ways to help ourselvs and others. He just doesnt give us everything he just gives us hints on what to do.
One of the reasosns why we worry weather or not we are doing the right things or not is because we all want to go to heaven. Its just that simple.
Faith-strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
• a system of religious belief : the Christian faith.
• a strongly held belief or theory : the faith that life will expand until it fills the universe.
Faith is no matter what God Brings your way you keep trust in him. Don't let a Brick wall get in your way. And change your ways from him. Also faith is not putting any other gods before GOD! I have always heard that god is a Jealous God. Another thing it is one thing to say that you are going to do something verses to say you believe but you really don't. I know that God is there and I know from life experiences. I do put all my trust in God as well because I am currently debating about Changing Colleges.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." I agree with adria.kincaid faith entails a great belif that as long as you believe, not matter how hard situations may become you put your strong trust in the Lord everything will be alright. No matter what crosses your path you will never for one second doubt God's work because just like robert lambert says God is a jealous God and you should never put anything ahead of him. Whenever I am placed in scary situations I always remember that God is watching over me and he will never put more on me than I can bare. As far as faith in our everyday, that is just telling us that God is with us everyday and everything that happens, happens for a reason. I really can't say what it takes or how much it costs to get to heaven, but I think that as long as you follow God's word and help others to believe than you have a good chance of going to heaven. Always remember that the finally decision is up to the man upstairs.
I have a friend who is homosexual and goes to church every week. He prays and follows God's word like any other true Christian would. He's a good student and a good member of the community, but I bet that most Christians would say that he's doomed to Hell. Yes, the Bible tells us that homosexuality is wrong, but does doing one "wrong" thing by the Bible's standards doom him? If faith were the only thing getting someone into heaven, why would they bother doing what the Bible says is right or wrong? There must be some other criteria as well or the Bible's teachings would have nearly no meaning.
Hebrew 11.1 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." I disagree with David Guthrie when he said that the only wayt o get to heaven is by acting good in life and treating others good. I totally disagree when she said if you dont commit crimes you will get into heaven. I know prently of people who commit crimes and are still going to heaven. My dad was heavly involved in drugs most of his life, after being diagonsed with cancer he turned to Jesus. The crimes he had made in his past didnt matter. All he had to do was the abc's. A- Admit your a sinner, B- Believe that Jesuse Christ died on the cross to save you from your sins, and C- confess him as lord and savior of your life. As for what cmeiler said... no you will not be doomed to hell for not doing one thing God tells you not to do. He tells us to not do a lot of things that christians do anyway. That is our nature. We are born in sin. A person can have homosexual tendencys and thats not a sin, acting out on them is a sin. I agree with shehilton and adria.kincaid when they say faith entails a great belief that as long as you believe, not matter how hard situations may become you put your strong trust in the Lord everything will be alright.... Because what they are saying is that they have faith that God will see them through each day.
It is through God's amazing grace that we will be raised up to heaven to be with Him. We are unworthy of this grace but we receive it anyway. Why? Because we have faith in God. That is all it takes - faith. I would disagree with Adria when she says that people worry about doing the right things because we all want to go to heaven. It doesn't matter what you do, only that you believe. Now this is not a license to sin; to say that I can do whatever I want and get away with it because God will forgive me. No. This thought is absolutely wrong. We still must obey the Law, but the point is there is nothing you can do to earn your way to heaven. Your place is already guaranteed. It was given to you at baptism, when your old self died and you were born again into Christ so that you may have eternal life.
Getting to heaven does involve something more than faith. As you say even for those of us raised on a “Sola fide” doctrine, faith is not enough. One must heed the call of Jesus Christ without question or second thought. One must turn from his old self bound by sin and follow the call. This is the way to get to heaven.
I agree, i don't think being a homosexual alone will doom a person to hell. There are many laws and commandments in the bible and many of the most well known followers of Christ has broken them. It also says in the bible that no sin is smaller or bigger than another. I believe it there is things that goes with it but faith includes believing in being in the image of God and being in the image of God is being good. God expresses his good through his commandments and laws.
The situation in the passage is tough. I feel that we should not dismiss doing good in life and following God's word. Yet I believe God is using Paul to say we need faith in him; not only faith that Jesus died for our sins so that we will be saved but having faith in his word as well. Faith that good and truth is the light to happiness and wealthiness and through these things we will find the truth (the light) to him.
I disagree, reiterating what I said previously. One thing God is saying is to have faith. Faith in him telling us to go to church and to do the right thing so that we will make it to him and have eternal life. It does not mean to dismiss the things God instructs us to do. We should go to church and do the things it tells us to do in the bible.
Anonymous at 1:03 is J.Boston
I agree completely, the faith that is being described is not just the faith in God. Though it is ultimately that. It is describing the faith of eternal life in him, these thing of the bible such as Gods laws and commandments are just things that are good and that are in his likeness, and is pleasing to him
I am with burtont on this one... Just because you make some of the wrong decisions that dosnt mean you are not going to heaven. I come to realize that a lot of people may look down on others about the decsions they make but that does not mean anything. God said "No one is perfect" You can make mistakes who dont. You dont have to go to church every Sunday or attend bible study and play a major role in the church to get into heaven.You can serve God and still go. You may pray at night, ask the lord to forgive u for your past sins and a lot more come with that. You dont have to go to church to worshipe the lord...
While I understand why people find this idea of heaven comforting I do not believe in an eternal soul (or a soul at all for that matter) so I really cannot justify a heaven.
Really this idea of an immortal soul comes from a psychological discomfort concerning our own inevitable demise. Of course we're going to die, the problem lies in the fact that no one wants to.
Thus, we invent this ideal of heaven where we can go and be at peace for the rest of our lives. It's a very comforting thought which allows many to die in peace.
Yet it leaves something to be desired, personally. I believe that when we die we get one last moment to judge ourselves. In that final moment we may very well witness our lives flash before our eyes(or not, I've never died so I wouldn't know), but right then and there we make judgment upon ourselves.
Now, here's where my very odd system of beliefs come in. Anyone who's familiar with calculus knows the halving trick: no matter how many times you halve something it will never reach zero (the concept of radioactive half-life comes from this). Well, my idea is that our own lives are governed by that same set of rules yet in a more intangible manner. Time also distorts itself in your eyes through this to a point where our consciousness never sees the coming days. Yet our judgment upon ourselves is thusly everlasting.
I realize this belief of mine is crazy, has very little founding, and likely offends many, it is difficult to summarize such a belief in one comment. I don't mean to offend anyone, I hope that others can at least look upon my ideas with an open mind. ^_^
I agree with Robert about the fact that, "Faith is no matter what God Brings your way you keep trust in him." God doesn't give you more than you can handle. And I also agree that just because you sin, you can't go to Heaven. I think that if you do your best to make wrong what you have done, you can still get to Heaven. One sin doesn't mean that you are going to be automatically sent to Hell. I think that you always have a chance to redeem yourself. Our God is a forgiving God.
I believe that if we all could not redeem ourselves and repent after we have committed a sin, then we all would be going straight to hell. I do agree with KFraser. God is a forgiving God, but, I chuckle though at the fact that homosexuals go to church and try to live the life that a Christian should even though they live life everyday in sin.
I belive that as conscious Christians, when we make a mistake, we learn from that and we turn our lives in the proper direction- living in the light of Christ. How can you live a life with Christ when you constantly life a life of the SAME repetitive sin? Those before me have said," One sin doesn't mean that you are going to be automatically sent to Hell" but we are not talking about just one sin ocurring in the life of homosexulity. We are talking about a sin being repeated day, after day, after day, after day until that person's death.
There are many thoughts that I have about homosexuals going to Heaven versus hell, but we are not the ones to judge who will go where. As a human, and as Christ exemplified, I treat all people as I would want to be. Therefore, no matter what the person's sexual orietation or choices they make, I cannot choose to make judgment upon the by dooming them to hell just because of their faults. Their time of ultimate judgment will soon arrive.
I agree with the previous comment on homosexuality though i think that if the person repents for being that way they have a chance.
Faith is something that has to be tested to know if it is really true. I agree that you cant just say that i belive in god to go to heaven. There is a point in everyone's life where they question their faith and that is normal. But it takes strength to keep believing when times are tough and that is true faith. I also disagree that you can do wrong things all the time and go to heaven. For example a mass murderer repents for killing people and has faith in Jesus Christ does that mean he is going to heaven? I think not. I think it is a combination of being a good person and having faith!
Having faith helps you concentrate on living your life to the fullest. When you have faith, and you become old, you can be happy that you have a thought in your mind that you will be happier in another life. I guess it's just the thought that there is something better than this life elsewhere. I hope my friend Shawn had good faith in such a short life.
RIP Shawn Cureton 11-18-07
Faith is a belief in something bigger than yourself. The understanding that there is a higher power over us that we can not see, hear, taste, touch, or smell. Faith is an inate knowledge that there is someone who looks out for you and loves you unconditionally. I feel that just as our parents love us no matter what we do, God loves us the same way. I know that no matter what I do as long as I talk to God, he will guide me on the right path. There is an unrelenting need to always help others so that is why we are always so worried about others. I also feel that the worry is that we really do not know what happens after death. We only can hope that we are right and all of our lost loved ones are going to be in heaven waiting to greet us with open arm. I feel that faith is a life long commitment that enables us as christians to lead devoted and honest lives. I also believe that individual choice guides us in our every day lives. God may have a greater plan for us, but we are the ones who choose the path that we take.
I think it all boils down to a persons faith. Faith is believing in something that you cant see and a lot of the time you can't even explain. The faith in ones religion and God is beleving that there is someone or something bigger and more significant than yourslef. As far as getting into heaven i simply follow the Bible. If you go to church, believe that Jesus Christ is your savior and always try to do the right thing then thats all you can do. There is only so much that a person can do in their lifetime. part of "getting into Heaven" is beliving that if you live you life the way God says you should then you will get into Heaven.
I believe that everyone, no matter how sinful or unfaithful they are, gets the chance to redeem themselves at the gates of heaven. Also I believe that God is a very forgiving person even after a loss of faith because He always has a chance to win you back. Faith is keeping God in your life one a daily basis, and keeping Him in your decision making. After losing my grandfather died I too questioned whether or not he would get into heaven because he was a mean, mean old man, and seemed like he hated the world. But after pondering the idea of getting into heaven or going straight to hell and talking to my parents about it I believed that he got a chance to redeem himself, and he is probably in heaven now with my grandma, looking down on me and keeping me safe. Knowing that he is living the good life keeps my faith in God strong. I also think that a lot of people base their opinions about whether a person is getting into heaven on how MUCH faith a person has. Do they go to church every Sunday? Do they pray before they eat? Do they live by the word of God? Not many people do ALL THE TIME. So the question comes again, do they deserve to get into heaven? No one will ever know!
To me faith is continuing to believe in God through the good times and the bad. It's believing in someone that isn't tangible, and theres no proof even exists. Theres a saying that you can talk the talk but can you walk the walk. I can say i'm a christian and go to church every sunday, but that doesnt really make me a christian. I have to believe in God with my whole heart. I am one of the people that believe faith is all it takes to get to heaven, but i still catch myself wondering all the time if i will make it or if those who predeceased me are waiting on me up there. Too often people focus on whether or not someone is living a holy life and forget about faith. It's all in God's hands.
I believe that faith is something that makes a person who they are. If people truly believe in their faith and keep God in their hearts constantly then that makes them a faithful person. Faith is what not only christians but just about everyone turns to when times get hard. If you don't have faith to turn to when things are really bad, then that is just like turning your back on God and telling him you do not need his help to get you through this tough time in your life, because God will never turn his back on you, he will be there through the good and the bad all the same. So if you believe in God and have a strong faith in him and heaven then most likely you will go to heaven, but that is just my opinion and nobody will ever know until our day actually comes.
faith to me is everything. faith is also what keeps a lot of people going because they are suffering or struggling in this life. so they keep there head up because they know things will get better in this life or the next. I believe that after dying that there is more, and that it does not end there. I also think faith is a big key for people to go to heaven because why should you go to something you do not believe in.
i agree with marvan when he says faith is everything. what paul is trying to say is that, just because someone go to church, do good deeds etc means that the person has a ticket into heaven. paul is saying that faith is what gets us into heaven. i think faith is believing that God is real and because he loves us so much, he send his son to die for us. faith is believing deep in your heart that God loves us and he is the creator and almighty. People should do good because it is the right thing to do, it come with ethics.
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