Guys, please lets stay on topic and keep this thread civil and about the O.P. For those who reply- we assume that 1. You believe there is a God and 2. want to go to Heaven. Thanks in advance.....
so, why should God let you into Heaven after you die? (serious replies only please).
Actually, there is absolutely no requirement for anyone's going to Heaven. Christ is coming back and will set up an earthly kingdom here where those who partake of the first resurrection will reign with Christ. It is Christ's very mission, given Him by the Father, that He save all. The Bible clearly states that Christ will save all in due time.
He doesn't save all- what are you talking about? Only those who accept Him as Savior are saved. And the reason you go to Heaven is because of Jesus- that is it. Hell is a real place and everyone is going there who are not born again believers.
Could you give me directions as to exactly where Hell is? I looked it up on my world globe and could not find it anywhere. Hell is merely the grave. The dead are dead period.
Actually, it is you fundamentalist who have proclaimed Christ to have failed miserably in the very mission the Father sent Him to accomplish.
This is Christ's mission as dictated by the Father:
1Jn_4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son
to be the Saviour of the world.
This is what Paul said about that mission and its final outcome:
1Ti_4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
hell is a real place.
Sadly, there are countless people who twist the Scriptures in an attempt to teach that Hell is not what the Bible says it is... a place of flaming torment.
The Bible contains an overwhelming amount of irrefutable evidence teaching that Hell is indeed a literal place of torment, where those who die in their sins without Jesus Christ are punished in flaming fire and vengeance by God (2nd Thessalonians 1:8,9).
Here are many Scriptures to consider...
Numbers 26:10…
“And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.”
Korah and the men who rebelled with him against Moses were swallowed into Hell beneath.
Psalm 9:17…
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Carefully notice that "hell" here cannot merely mean "the grave" as some foolishly teach. For if "hell" only means the grave, then where do the righteous go? The Bible plainly teaches that the righteous and the wicked do NOT go to the same place. The wicked are turned into Hell; but the righteous unto life eternal.
Psalm 139:8…
“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
The contrast here is between Heaven and Hell; not between Heaven and the grave. Also notice the interesting phrase... "If I make my bed in hell." Everyone who goes to Hell chooses to go there by rejecting Jesus as their Christ. It is sinful men who make their own bed in Hell. No sinner must go to Hell. The gift of eternal life is freely offered to all mankind through faith in Christ Jesus (John 14:6; Acts 10:43; Revelation 22:17).
Isaiah 5:14…
“Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.”
It wouldn't make any sense if "hell" merely meant the grave. What point would there be in condemning the wicked to hell if that's the same place where the righteous go? Clearly, Hell is a place only for the wicked who die in their sins. The righteous go to heaven to be with the Lord (2nd Corinthians 5:8).
Ezekiel 31:16…
“I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit…”
Clearly, this Scripture defines "hell" as being more than the grave. The Bible speaks about "descending into the pit." The Bible also speaks of being "cast into Hell," which clearly implies judgment from a holy God. If "hell" merely meant grave as Mormons, Jehovah's Witness and other false prophets teach, then God would have said that the righteous shall be cast into hell too; but the Bible NEVER says that anywhere!!! Only the wicked shall be cast into Hell, a bottomless pit, where Satan is called "the angel of the bottomless pit" (Revelation 9:11).
Matthew 5:28,29…
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
The Bible plainly teaches that all sinners are condemned to Hell. If "hell" simply means grave, then what harm or worry is there in fornicating, getting drunk, raping, murdering, partying with illegal drugs and committing all sorts of other sins? There would be none. If there is NO place of punishment in eternity, then there is NO justice for all the victims of crimes committed in this earthly life. So then what advantage is there to being righteous? If one believes that the Bible is God's Word, then you absolutely must believe that Hell is a literal place of torment and anguish, that burns with searing flames of fire and brimstone, where sinners are punished for their sins against a holy God.
Matthew 16:18…
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
This is a very interesting Scripture. The word "gates" denotes the entrance (also the exit) of Hell. I heard one preacher say that the gates of Hell cannot prevent the Gospel from snatching souls from the depths of Hell. Of course, one who dies in their sins without the Lord is hopelessly lost for ever and ever. There are no second chances once a soul leaves this earthly life. There is NO such place as Purgatory and no amount of prayer or contributions to one's church can lessen God's flaming vengeance upon those who die in their sins without Jesus Christ.
This Scripture plainly teaches that the Church's arch enemy is Satan and the forces of Hell. We also see this evidenced by Ephesians 6:12. Our battle is not against flesh and blood (humanity); but against principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places (the gates of Hell).