Originally posted by Spartin
I am agnostic. I don't believe the Bible is factual. I believe in alot of the lessons that the bible teaches. I just don't think that it is correct. I basically live my life according to the bibles rules. I try not to lie, I don't steal kill do the adultery thing. I accept people for who they are. I enjoy the world around me. I am not a bad person. I am not spiteful or rude (I could name a couple of the bible ppl in here as that). I don't even have the urge to even hurt anyone. I volunteer my time to help others. Now according to One eyed, I am still not bound for heaven even though I have lived my life according to the major laws of the bible. I have to believe in the Cristian god in order for eternal salvation. Doesn't that strike you as a little harsh? A murderer confesses just before he gets the chair and starts to believe in the faith of god. He gets in. I would murder nobody and I would be out of luck. I would act with honor honesty all my life and be burning in hell for the rest of eternity for a just and forgiving god. Just because I didn't believe in a book of words. That is petty. According to Jack Jesus is the ONLY way.
Spartin,
First of all, I appreciate your honesty and sincerity. I have read some of your other posts than this.
If you are an Agnostic, than you must believe in some form of a Higher Power. In other words, you probably feel that the universe was created a supreme being and also probably feel that this supreme being created man as well. So basically, you don't conform to any one religion on the planet and choose to form an image of this higher power into your own making. Am I off the mark? If I am, please let me know. When I was an Agnostic, this was how I felt.
A lot of what the Bible states was hard for me to swallow growing up. I also felt the Bible to be just a book; a book that was meant to make people feel comfortable about their current lives as well as their afterlife. I also felt that I was a pretty good guy. I had a serious problem with people as well as the Bible telling me that I had to believe something and admit to something in order for me to be accepted into heaven. So, I chose to believe that this supreme being, whoever or whatever he was, was not nearly as harsh as the Bible and Christians made Him out to be.
I changed my mind, obviously, about these beliefs when I learned the truth about God. I learned the truth after He helped me with something. What I came to realize about myself is that I was guilty of being arrogant by thinking I knew God's (the supreme being) mind. I mean, I am obviously not a supreme being. My knowledge is limited to earthly things and my emotions as well are earthly. The supreme being, who I now choose to believe is God or Jesus Christ, is tremendously above me and my petty thoughts. Who am I to claim what God is all about? Who am I to questions his motives and plans? After all, he is Supreme. He made the universe, he made the earth, and he made man.
After coming to this realization, I also realized that God does love me and wishes for me to be saved. He wishes to have communion with me. However, in order for this to happen, I need to accept His son, who he sent to pave the way for his children to have communion with him again. We lost this communion with the original sin. Since God gave us freewill after this, we can choose to believe in His son or not. Again, God wishes for all men to be saved. Remember, humans are ones who screw up and not God. It is up to us to make amends for our sins. We do that by accetping the awesome gift of Jesus and asking for forgiveness. I suddenly realized what a tremendous gift God gave. I stopped looking at the "harshness" of this choice and realized it was a gift because there was no way for man to repair the damage which was done and still is done to this relationship with God. Jesus was and is the only way.
Also, if you are willing to believe in some form of a higher power, isn't it safe to assume that He or It is tremendously more powerful than you and I are? I mean, sheesh, he made the universe. What I am getting at here is that common sense would dictate that we should be obdient to this higher power just as a child should respect the parents as an authority figure. It's ok to fear God. We should fear Him. Fear motivates me to be accountable for my actions and behaviors; to take ownership for these behaviors and ask for forgiveness. I think I am a "good guy" for the most part but I still screw up quite a bit. I am very far from being perfect. So, if God says I should do something, or not do something, or to believe that the things He says as being exactly what he means, than I better do it. Just because I am a Christian and know that I am going to heaven, doesn't mean that I am not accountable to God for the things I've done while on earth.
So, Spartin, to answer your question, "Will I go to hell for not believing what Christians believe eventhough I am a good guy?", yes, you will unfortunately. We have all been told what Jesus said and we should all know why he existed. We have the choice to believe in this or not. Remember, God wants everyone to be saved but you are going to have to believe in His son and be obedient to Him if you want to have communion with Him.
Sorry, I know I got on my soap box but I hope I wrote something that may be of use to you.
Sincerely,
SOTKForever