I’ve read many comments on this thread that God is a “monster” or “b*stard” or “evil.” No one who truly understood how amazing our God of the Bible is would ever dare say such a thing. They have both a warped view of God and a warped view of mankind. Exodus 34:6-7 states, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to a thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” Our God is loving & kind & good & faithful & patient & compassionate. But He is also righteous & holy & pure & sinless & just & wrathful. The problem with sinful mankind’s warped view of God is that we underestimate our sinfulness, and we underestimate the holiness of God. We fail to appreciate how utterly abhorrent our sin is to God. And if God were to allow even one sin to go unpunished, He would not be the holy, perfect God of the Bible. Isaiah, who was a very righteous man by human standards, stated in a heavenly vision, “Woe is me!…I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5).

We humans are quick to embrace the love & forgiveness of God, but we ignore His holiness & righteous judgment. And let me tell you with all of the truth & love I can muster: His judgment will be terrible for those whose sins are not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus spoke on the topic of Hell more than any other person in the Bible. And He spoke on Hell a lot more than He did Heaven. While you are still alive & draw breath, it is critical that you appreciate what’s at stake when you reject Jesus. If you are putting your faith in yourself (or a false religion) rather than Jesus Christ, then you are destined to spend eternity in Hell.

Let’s take a second to consider just how long eternity is. Let’s say you live to be 100 years old on earth. That may be considered a long life, but it’s just a blink of an eye compared to eternity. Imagine if every grain of sand on earth represented 1 trillion years. That still wouldn’t begin to scratch the surface of how long eternity is! Let’s take it a step further. Imagine if every atom in the universe represented 1 trillion years. Well how small is an atom? It’s really tiny – there are 30 quadrillion atoms in a single grain of sand! And how large is the universe? It’s really big – there are over 100 billion galaxies in the known universe, with an average of 100 million stars in each galaxy. And let’s assume each atom represented not just 1 trillion years, but rather 1 trillion to the trillionth power number of years! That UNFATHOMABLY large number still wouldn’t begin to scratch the surface of how long eternity is!

When we die, the Bible teaches that everyone will be judged by God, and based on that judgment, he or she will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell. That’s it – there’s no reincarnation, no purgatory, no soul sleep, no annihilation, no second chance. Those are just lies concocted by humans to avoid having to think about the consequences of our sin. The Bible states, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-28). So it’s absolutely CRITICAL that we get this thing called eternity right!

And let me tell you – Hell is not a nice place! The Bible uses the following graphic words to describe it: “there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28) and “the worm never dies” (Mark 9:48) and “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12) and “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12) and “eternal torment” (Revelation 20:10) and “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46) and “eternal judgment” (Hebrews 6:2) and “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9) and “lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15) and “fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 21:8) and “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). It is a TERRIBLE place, and there is no hope of escape, and there is nothing but pain and regret, and you don’t want to end up there for all of ETERNITY!

Now some on this thread think that God is evil for sending someone to Hell. Let’s be clear – you send yourself to Hell! If you hate God and/or brazenly deny His obvious existence, then you wouldn’t be happy in Heaven. And there can be no unforgiven sin in Heaven. God is not going to force you to worship Him. Love requires free will. And you have the freedom to reject Him. But when you reject Him, you are ultimately relying on yourself to save you from the punishment for your sins. And you are completely & utterly powerless to do that.

So how can we be saved from Hell? First, you must realize that you are a sinner. In fact, we all are. We lie, we cheat, we steal, we cuss, we gossip, we slander, we lust, we commit sexual sin, we hate, we envy, we disobey our parents…and so much more! We are all SINNERS in need of a SAVIOR! God will judge all of us – and He does not grade on the curve! And there is no amount of good works that can overcome our sin. At the judgment, we will make all sorts of excuses for our sins, but they won’t help! The Bible states, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). The Bible states, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10) and “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So the first step is to admit that you are a sinner.

Second, you need to realize that there must be a blood sacrifice for your sin. Otherwise, you will be judged GUILTY. The Bible states, “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). And this shedding of blood must take the form of a sinless, blameless sacrifice. So you are POWERLESS to save yourself. And so is Buddha and Mohamed and Allah and Krishna and Confucius and the Pope and Joseph Smith and the Dalai Lama. They are nothing but false gods and false prophets. The false gods don’t exist. And the false prophets were mere sinful humans who died and were buried, and their bodies turned to dust.

But Jesus Christ came to earth and lived the perfect, sinless, blameless life! He is fully God and fully man. And He performed many amazing miracles during His life, which were a testimony to His deity. He demonstrated power over disease, demons, nature, and even death! His opponents couldn’t deny the miracles, because thousands saw them. All they could do was attribute them to Satan, which is ridiculous. Satan doesn’t have the power to heal or give life. He only comes to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). And Satan would never perform a miracle and give glory to God in the process.

But the greatest miracle Jesus performed was the RESURRECTION! He rose from the dead after three days in the tomb. The Bible states, “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.’” (Matthew 28:5-6). The Bible also states, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

And once again, His opponents couldn’t deny the resurrection! They could have simply produced the body, and that would have stopped the spread of Christianity dead in its tracks. But they couldn’t produce the body, because He had risen! So they lied and said the disciples stole the body in the middle of the night while the soldiers guarding the tomb were asleep. But this explanation is so ridiculous – how did the soldiers know what happened if they were asleep?

The best explanation for what happened is what the Bible teaches us. Jesus is ALIVE! He conquered death since He is God and has always been God since before creation. The Bible states of Jesus, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

And Jesus came to earth willingly for the express purpose of living a sinless, blameless life – yet He died a horrible, painful, brutal death on the cross as punishment for our sins. He did this, because He created us and loves us and wanted to provide a way – the only way – to REDEEM us. The Bible states, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Imagine if you had a disease, and Jesus took it out of your body and put it in His body – that is how much He loves you. The Bible states, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We nailed Him to that cross, because of our sin! But we were “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20) – the “precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). The Bible states, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

Third, you must recognize that Jesus is the ONLY way to have eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). All religions are NOT the same, and they do NOT end up at the same place! They contradict each other, so they cannot all be true. In fact, if Christianity is true, then NO other religion is true! And if even one other religion were true, then Christianity could not be true. Christianity is exclusive, because Jesus is exclusive!

The Bible states, “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Fourth, you must accept the free gift that Jesus offers. The Bible states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). ALL of the other religions in the world, be it Islam or Hinduism or Judaism or Roman Catholicism, say “do this,” so you can “earn” your way into Heaven. But Christianity says, there’s no way you can “earn” your way into Heaven. Jesus Christ already “did it” for us through His death on the cross. He offers salvation to you as a FREE GIFT! But you must open your hand to accept it. He is ready to enter into a relationship with you. The Bible states, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in” (Revelation 3:20). He wants to come and live on the inside of you, but you must decide to make Jesus the Lord & Savior of your life. The Bible states, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

There are really only two “religions” in life – you either make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, or you make yourself the lord of your life. So on the day of judgment, you are either relying on the blood of Jesus to save you, or you are relying on yourself & your good works to save you. But as we’ve discussed, there’s no amount of good works that can overcome your sin. Sure, good works are great. But they are the EFFECT of our salvation, not the CAUSE of our salvation. The Bible states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). In this passage, grace means MERCY, and faith means TRUST.

So friends, I encourage you, in the strongest way I know how, to turn AWAY from your sin and turn TOWARD Jesus. Decide now to make Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life! It is the best decision you could ever make, and it is the most important decision in your life that you MUST make – one way or the other!

The Bible states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).

If you are ready to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior, please pray this prayer: Dear Jesus, as best as I know how, I transfer my trust to You alone. Jesus, please come into my heart and take over as Lord of my life. I believe You died and rose from the dead to purchase a place in Heaven for me. I know I’m a sinner, and I know I can’t save myself, and I’m truly sorry for my sins. I believe that forgiveness is found in You alone. Thank You for the gift of eternal life. I know I didn’t earn it, and I know I don’t deserve it. But I am grateful for it. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

If you truly meant these words in your heart, then you are now saved by the precious blood of Jesus! The Bible states, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). So congratulations! You are a NEW person in Christ Jesus! The Bible states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

You are now a “born again” believer (1 Peter 2:3). You are saved by “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And you now have ETERNAL LIFE! The Bible states, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). Please check out the link below for more information on the next steps in the life of a new believer. May God richly bless you!

https://www.gotquestions.org/new-Christian.html

@JamesCantu You only need to be saved from hell if you allow yourself to be duped into believing there is a hell.

Actually hell is real, and it's here on Earth, created in the name of your God. It's Gaza. Not the only hell, but one most directly created in the name of Abrahamic God.



Btw I find this rather hilarious

Let’s take a second to consider just how long eternity is. Let’s say you live to be 100 years old on earth. That may be considered a long life, but it’s just a blink of an eye compared to eternity. Imagine if every grain of sand on earth represented 1 trillion years. That still wouldn’t begin to scratch the surface of how long eternity is! Let’s take it a step further. Imagine if every atom in the universe represented 1 trillion years. Well how small is an atom? It’s really tiny – there are 30 quadrillion atoms in a single grain of sand! And how large is the universe? It’s really big – there are over 100 billion galaxies in the known universe, with an average of 100 million stars in each galaxy. And let’s assume each atom represented not just 1 trillion years, but rather 1 trillion to the trillionth power number of years! That UNFATHOMABLY large number still wouldn’t begin to scratch the surface of how long eternity is!

So Christians are well aware of large numbers and large time spans, but can't fathom how evolution can evolve single cell amoeba's into humans in 3.5 billion years?

And spending eternity in 'heaven' doesn't sound any different from hell. What are you going to do for trillions of years???


If believing is some higher power makes you feel better, great for you. Yet can't you see the irony in telling people they will spend eternity in hell unless... That's a terrorist threat, plain and simple. That's not a message of God, that's the message of a Dictator. 

Nobody is born an atheist. An atheist is a person who believes that the universe came into existence from a magical firecracker (Big Bang) that appeared out of nowhere and exploded for no reason. Nobody is born believing that, they are indoctrinated into it.

I believe you mentioned that there is a person at your station that believes in God. Do you hate him for believing in God?

Everyone is born a blank slate, and for reasons humans think it's fun to trick children into believing in Santa Claus, Easter bunny, Tooth Fairy and so on. Yeah life sucks, try to make it magical for your kids to enjoy their childhood in blissful ignorance. 

But most kids grow up and see all these 'higher powers' for what they are, fantasies. But just as I can't prove God does not exist, I can't proof Santa Clause doesn't exist either. That doesn't make either real. 

An atheist is not someone who believes in the Big Bang. An atheist is someone who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods.Atheism is the absence of belief in deities. 

Atheists are also not indoctrinated with the Big Bang. It's called the Big Bang theory for a reason. It's a plausible explanation, just like the theory of evolution. Although the latter has actual proof in fossils, DNA and historical records. Still it's a work in progress, there are still plenty questions about the origins of life, as well as the origin of the universe. It could have always been there, time could merely be an illusion, we simply don't know. 

And that's OK. It's ok to say you don't know. That's how theories come about and evolve. Once you shut the door to critical thinking by claiming "it was God" that's when it's not OK to tell other people to stop thinking. Or tell them they are indoctrinated by science...



Atheist do not hate people that believe in God for believing in God. It's the actions of certain religious people that deserve hate. Luckily those are the minority. All the religious people I know are great to be with. I don't mind Jehova witnesses either, always friendly to chat with.

One time after I got robbed at gun point back in Amsterdam by a group of teenagers, a garbage man from a religious community found my discarded driver's license. He invited me to join for a community dinner to give me my things back. Free meal, pleasant company, everyone welcome. I declined to come along for a bible study, heartily thanked them and filed it away as a positive experience.

Religion is great as a community, it's the fanatics that ruin it.

Nobody is born religious either. It is taught.

The way you describe this God fella makes me wonder if you've accidentally worshipped Satan instead.

Yes, a God who sends people to be tortured for all eternity for the crime of not blindly believing in him is a bastard. Sorry to say, he would be a bastard by most human morality standards. But this God is maybe something which does not have a concept of right or wrong, good or evil, in essence this God would be more like a Lovecraftian monster and would not really care about humans one way or another.

And yes, God is sending me to Hell for not believing in him according to you, no I am not sending myself to Hell, Hell is a creation of God and God decides who goes where apparently, he has the power to not send me to Hell and yet apparently he will. You can't absolve him of all responsibility for a bullshit punishment, Lol. Like if I had a kid, vanished from his life and later thrown him in a volcano for not worshipping me when I was never around and then I said "I didn't send that kid into the volcano! He did it! By rejecting me!" Lol. C'mon.

"God is not going to force you to worship him" Idk, the threat of eternal torture sounds a bit like coercion to me!

I am not forcing you to give me all your money, but if you don't I'm going to beat the shit out of you - Religion Logic.

God gave me free will, then throws a tantrum when I use my free will as I see fit, by not believing in him, even if I don't harm another human, or another animal, even if I am a good person my entire life, I'm going to Hell for not believing in him, Lmao. This dude is a wanker, and if this is the God that you believe in then I would say he's more like an uncaring Lovecraftian monster.

An Atheist is a person who doesn't believe in God before we even get into belief of how the universe started. You don't necessarily have to believe in the Big Bang to be an Atheist. Humans are born with a fear of falling and a fear of loud noises, but not born with "I believe in God" Lol. Babies and Kids have no concept of God until it is taught to them.

Also, God appeared out of nowhere.

Do we have any Christians here who aren't extremists? Lmao.

In my view, being a good Christian would mean helping out your community, being a nice person, respecting other religions and not telling other religions that their religion is total horseshit and only your religion is the one true religion based on the same amount of evidence as their religion and if they don't switch to your religion then they're going to Hell to be tortured for all eternity.

Respecting and loving all people and not being bigoted towards LGBTQ+ people. Being respectful and kind to non-believers and not saying that all non-believers are destined to be skinned alive for all eternity for the crime of not believing in God. Accepting Atheists as they are and loving them and not saying all Atheists are hedonistic, selfish people, living distasteful lifestyles filled with drugs, alcohol and sex. Understanding all people have difficulties and nott saying that Atheists have never had hardship in their life. Accepting that some people don't want to get married for a variety of reasons and not saying that people who don't get married at selfish and care less about their families, etc.