God loves people of all religions

My typing got ahead of the computer! The title is God loves people of al religions!

Edit and fix it.

Hi Dwight,

Yes, God most certainly does love all people, even those within false religions and cult religions such as Mormonism.    We see this in 2 Peter 3:9,  "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

However, He also tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

That Scripture passage means faith in Jesus Christ, the Jesus Christ of John 1:1 -- NOT the Jesus Christ of cult churches such as Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.

And, God tells us, in John 3:3,  "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."  

Dwight, how many Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, or those in world religions -- would you guess are BORN AGAIN?  Can you say -- ZERO?

Yes, Dwight, God loves every single person; God wants every single person to be saved, to not perish; He wants everyone to spend eternity with Him.   Yet, He knows, and you and I know -- that a large number of folks will stay in the cult religions and the world religions -- and forfeit their eternal lives.  Sad, but, very true.

However, the way to avoid that eternal destruction -- is to get out of the cult and world religions -- and, by grace, through faith in the real Jesus Christ -- believe and receive His "free gift" of eternal life.   You have until your last breath in this mortal body to do this -- but, be careful of waiting.  For, no one knows when that last breath will occur.  There is no time like NOW to get right with God.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Yes, I agree with Jennifer -- editing and correcting your discussion title WOULD be the intelligent thing to do.  Are YOU up to it?   Just a thought.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Billfire-I'm sure he's up to it. Sad that you aren't up to acting like a decent human.

Don't know why he keeps refering to me as Dwight. I had no idea how to edit my post but just found out. Now for mr. Gray, keep doing your thing. It's all about who God has given His Power and Authority to act in His name for the salvation of mankind and son, your group does not have it no matter what your beliefs are. Truth trumps Belief, every time!

AND THE BIBLE BUMPS ALL CULTS!   ALL THE TIME!!

Yes it does , Im so glad that the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints is Gods one and only church on this earth that has been given His Power and Authority! Those cults dont know what they are missing, oh, by the way, neither are you Mr. Gray!

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But if you don't love him back, he will cast you into the lake of fire.  Nice. 

People greatly missunderstand the scriptures on that subject. There is much symbolism in the Bible. There is no actual Lake of Fire !

OK, God loves you but if you don't love him back he will never, ever let you step foot back into his house ever again.

Does that really sound like a good father to you? Could you EVER do that to one of your children?

____________________________________________________________________________

Y - A - W- N !!!!

"My magic's bigger than your magic."

LOL

Even yours, which is based on a love of the Bible over all else.  Kinda ironic.

I have never had that question answered. I have had others say things like O No does. Such as, you will never understand, you refuse to see the truth....yada yada yada.

Its a simple question. Would you turn your back on your own child and allow them to be punished for eternity in a very horrible and painful way, just because they said they didn't love you?

Oh I almost forgot the other response I have gotten... We can not understand God's plan.

Anybody got anything that is actually a good answer other than those I have already heard?

People lose their children to drugs, and other vices all the time. Do they turn their back on them or do the children turn their back on their family?

We all know of the runaway stories, the mentally ill people (who make the news regularly and the people say "Where was the family?"), those who drop off the face of the earth.

Children, adult children any way, make their own way.

Any one under the age of 18 is still a child to me, but the law says a 14 year old can sign their own health forms.

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.

CS Lewis

No one would expect a person who has been physically blind since birth -- to really appreciate a beautiful sunset, no matter how well we explain it or describe it.

In the same way, no one who has been spiritually blind since birth can truly understand God and His ways.  Everyone is born spiritually blind, i.e., our inherited sin nature which separates us from God.   The Christian has been born again spiritually and can begin to grasp the things of God, although we will not fully understand His teachings until we are in heaven with Him. 

The people who are not believers, i.e., you, the atheists, secularist, cult followers, those mired in world religions, and the plain old vanilla-flavored non-believer -- ARE spiritually blind.   However, He is standing at the door of your heart, waiting for YOU to open the door and invite Him to come in and be your personal Lord and Savior.   At that time, He will open your spiritual eyes, indwell you with the Holy Spirit, and give you His promise of eternal life.  

He will take you from the path of eternal destruction you are currently walking -- and bring you to eternal security, eternal life in Christ.   But, YOU must choose to open the door of your heart and invite Him to come in (Revelation 3:20).  He will not force His way into your heart; YOU have to invite Him.  But, if you do -- He will NOT refuse you.   Now, that is a gift worth accepting!

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

When I was a teen I told my mother once that I hated her. I was angry and hurt that I couldn't do something I really wanted to do. She did not punish me at all. She just calmly said "Well I love you and I am going to do what is best for you even if you think you hate me for it."  That is real love. That is how a parent loves a child. If she had said "Well that is your choice so now you have to go from my house and make your own way, if you suffer horribly for it then that was your choice. "

Bill you say I am spiritually blind. I feel that you are spiritually blind. Blind to how wrong and evil this God would have to be to allow this kind of thing to happen to his own creations. I don't expect you to see it my way at all. You want to believe in your God and that is just fine. I guess it gives you some kind of peace and security. I just can't imagine finding peace and security with that kind of God. Knowing that my parents will always stand by me and love me no matter what is very comforting. There is no way I could have that comfort if I thought they would so easily let me suffer if they had the power to stop it. Does God have that kind of power or not? Can he protect humans from ourselves or not? If we are unable to believe in him or love him will he just allow us to make a "choice" that will result in our eternal suffering?

Just like when I was a teen, I did not understand the reason my Mom would not allow me to do what I wanted, I did not understand why she would not let me just make my own decisions, yet she knew what was best for me. She would not let me make a mistake that would be dangerous or hurtful to myself. Even if that meant I hated her. She would love me anyway and protect me even against my own will. If there was a God that loved me as a Father, he would not allow me to have a choice that could be so dangerous and result in such horror, especially if I did not know (and had no way of knowing) what he did. So if it is some sort of plan that is beyond my feeble human mind, why would God not protect me even against my own will? Are my parents more loving than God is?

Hi Dark,

Let's say you have two son whom you love very much -- and you know they are going boating.  So, you give both a life vest and tell them both to wear the vest.    They leave and later you learned that when they got to the lake, one wore his life vest, but the other left his laying on the beach.   A storm comes up and the boat capsizes.  The son wearing the life vest lives; the other perishes.

Does this mean that you loved the one son more than the other?  Or, does it mean that you told both sons what they needed to do to be safe -- and, one chose to follow your warning, while the other chose to ignore your warning.  

It is the same with God.  He tells each of us what we must do to have eternal life; He tells us that He wants everyone to have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9, ". . . not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.").  And, He tells us what we must do to have eternal life (John 3:3, "be born again" -- Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace (His grace) you are saved through faith" -- Revelation 3:20, "if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I WILL come into him.")

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world (Dark, Jennifer, Deep, Bill, everyone in the world), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

How large does the life vest have to be before you can see it and grasp it?  

Dark, can't you see where God is offering YOU that life vest?  Can't you see that God loves each one of us so much that He wants us to accept His "free gift" of life?   God loves all of us -- like no mortal parent could love us.  He does not want to see any of us perish.  He wants everyone to come to eternal life in Christ.

He cannot put the life vest on us.  We must each one, individually, put on His Divine Life Vest, Jesus Christ.   But, if YOU will do this -- He promises YOU that He will never leave YOU nor can anyone snatch YOU out of His hands.  Once you sincerely confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior -- YOU HAVE eternal life (John 6:47).   Why not give Him a try?

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Your description is not accurate.

Luke 15:11-32 is a good explanation if you're looking for one.

Can you imagine having parents like the god described in the bible? Talk about child abuse!

Bill my understanding of the God of the bible is that he is all powerful, all knowing, the beginning and the end. He created everything. That would have to include sin, heaven and hell. He created this scenario. It is different than what you described above, because he would also create the storm that caused the boat to capsize. He could save both children with or without a life vest. A normal human parent does not have that ability. God supposedly does. If I had that kind of power and knowledge then neither of my children would die, I would protect them no matter what they did.

Why would a loving God make us and then set us up to fail? Why even make sin? Why not just accept us as we are? Or better yet make us more perfect. I am a good person. I try my best to not hurt others and live a honest and caring life. Yet I would be allowed to go to this place of torture and torment just because the only information I have about God does not make sense to me. I have no real reason to believe that God is real. The bible is not enough proof mostly due to the mistakes, lies and contradictions. Also because we know that man wrote it. These men say that God directed them to, but it is still just the word of men. I can not believe in something just because someone tells me I must. I have to have proof. I would assume that the all mighty, all powerful, God made me with this brain and with this ability to question. Why then would he allow me to make a decision that would be so detrimental to my eternal soul with no more information than I have been given? Why would he even allow hell to exist? Why would he have created such a place?

I know I have ask a lot of whys and hows.....that is just who I am. I have always been a very curious person that doesn't take anything at face value. I have to know the ins and outs and whatnots. You don't have to keep trying to answer me, because honestly I really don't think anyone can give me an answer to all I ask. My understanding is that it eventually all has to come down to faith. The bible might be enough for you and others to have faith in God, but to me it only brings up more questions.

Thanks for giving it a shot though.

Dark One,

You asked, “Why even make sin?”  Sin is alienation from God.  God did not create sin, He created free will.  Man chose to separate from God.  God also created love.  If you are forced to love someone at gunpoint, that is not really love.  Love requires a choice in the matter.

When you say you are a "good person", what standard are you using?  Jesus said that there are none good but God.   Are you good by that standard?

God is all knowing. God is all present. God is all powerful. God created everything. Your god is responsible for it all or nothing at all.

According to God's actions against the human race as documented in His bible, all people are by default more good that God. No human has the power to annihilate an entire planet, children/women/men/animals alike, out of anger. No human has the power to prevent said annihilation. God has the power to do both but chose the prior. No human can possibly match the inhumanity of the Christian god.

No, that is a false dichotomy.  I'm responsible for my own choices and actions. Justice would be impossible otherwise.  I've never met anyone who believes that everything is God's fault.  Just imagine an entire society of such folk.  Talk about hell on earth...

But you seem to have a clear idea of the standard of good that God should be judged by.  Where did you get this standard?  It can't come from society since you seem to be judging God universally across time and cultures.  It must be beyond any one of us if it is a standard by which you judge both man and God.  Did you just make it up and impose it on us?  I don't think so since you seem to take it for granted that everyone agrees with your standard.  You seem to treat this notion of "good" as if it were prescriptive and absolute.  Kinda like the will of God.  Curious.

Very powerful arguements from both sides! But there is a problem that is keeping things confusing!  It appears that both sides are using the bible and teachings of how God is, in  order to support their arguement. Problem is,  their understanding of the bible is fouled.

      First question is, what is the nature of God? For one that doesn't believe in Him, to understand that, would be next to impossible. And for one such as BG, that thinks he fully understands the bible and is so closed minded,  it is also impossible for him.

      We are not creations of God, we are His children that were literaly born to him.  God has to abide by the laws of nature just like all of us do. God just understands ALL the laws of nature perfectly, we don't. There are natural consiquences attached to every choice we make, these conciquences cannot be changed, not even by God.  The bible uses symbolism all through it and HELL is one of those.  We all had our memories of living with God before we came to earth, blocked so we would live here by faith. The HELL, if you will,  or lake of fire and brimstone, will actually be the mental torment we will go through for eternity, after we have made our choices here. The torment comes about by a natural consiquence when our pre earth life  memories are restored. We will seperate ourselves from God because we won't be able to stand in his presence with all the guilt, and shame we will have as a natural consiquence for the choices we make here on this earth.

God does love us and want all of us to return, ( RETURN), home to Him after we  finish school here on this earth, but, we, through natural consiquences can make it impossible because of choices made here! 

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In your religious view, we are responsible for our choices and actions, but you also presumably believe that your god has always known what we would choose and has always known that the majority of His creation, in His image, would fail and be eternally tortured for it. Yet, He is fine with this. If you god is responsible for our creation and design and knows the outcome of each individual experiment, why create and design such inherent failure in such a flawed system? Why so much waste? He must have got his engineering degree from some bible college.

Oh, and I judge your god by our modern ethical standards which are much evolved and improved and humane since the time of your god's creation by the relatively infantile minds of bronze age men.

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Hey shorty,

An eyewitness[ there were several] tells me that one of your church members in the humanist group had ****ographic pictures of young boys on his cell-phone. Did you enjoy them? Sick sick sick. No wonder y’all don’t want anyone to know where you meet.

Just copying this one for the mods here.

b50m don't get yourself caught up in this because it is true. or maybe you got a look yourself. huh?

saved

i don't think you are saved.