Hi again.
I'm back with another question from my professor. This week's question is "Do you believe in a literal heaven and hell? What happens to people who die without a saving knowledge of Christ?"
Heaven is not only mentioned in the very first verse of the Bible, it is also mentioned over 600 other times. In Genesis 1:1 it says, "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth." In this instance, it sounds more like the "heavens" are the sky and everything above ground. So how do we know that Heaven is a place where people who have a relationship with God go when they die?
In Matthew 5:12 it says, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great..." This gives a little clue that there is something better for us once we are gone.
Matthew 18:3 says, "...Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." If we take the Bible to be truth, then this means unless we give our sins to God and repent and become like children, who trust their Father with everything and learn from Him, then we can't enter heaven.
Still, how do we know that heaven isn't a state of mind? How do we know it is an actual place? The Bible often talks about "a voice descending from heaven", or "he descended from heaven." This suggest heaven is an actual place.
In John 6:51 it says, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." If Jesus came out of heaven to show man how he could have a more intimate relationship with God the Father, then this verse means that anyone who accepts that relationship will live forever with God. It would only seem fitting that we would live in God's dwelling place Heaven.
Hell is mentioned multiple times in the Bible. In Matthew 10:27-29 it says, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
2 Peter 2:4 says, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment."
To make a long story short, here's my answer: yes, I do believe in a heaven and hell. I could go on and on spouting verses from the Bible that prove that there is a heaven and hell, but I don't think that would make much difference. If we believe the Bible to be true, then we believe that when we die, we will have eternal life spent with God (John 3:16).
The opposite side of that is that people who did not repent and live a life with God will spend eternity in punishment in Hell.
No, it's not a nice thing to think about. No one truly could wish for someone to spend eternity in suffering, but without God, that is exactly what will happen.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A follow up to thoughts on Sanctification...
In class today, our teacher urged us to probe deeper into the question of sanctification.
He asked: "if sanctification is God's responsibility, then why don't we see more "sanctified" persons around us -- especially among older adults, those who are supposed to be more mature Christians?
"Conversely, if sanctification is primarily our responsibility, does this possibly explain why we don't see more sanctified people?"
Here are some of my thoughts:
If sanctification means "the process of becoming holy," how can we sanctify ourselves? Only God is holy and can make us holy. Who am I to say, "Alright, I have declared myself holy" ?
Yes. We have to put forth effort, a lot in fact, but it really is only God who can sanctify us. We should be working on maintaining a solid relationship with God because the closer we are to Him, the more he can work in our lives and change us from within.
I'm not trying to step on toes when I say this, but I believe the reason that we are not seeing more "sanctified" persons around us is because they are not truly living a life with God. There are many people out there who have said the words, but did not mean the words and make no attempt to maintain a relationship with God or make life changes from their old ways.
James 2:14-26 talks about how faith without works and works without faith cannot function. My favorite part of the passage is verses 15-16, where it says, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"
Verse 26 says, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
A friend visiting my house has the view that we must sanctify ourselves and he used Joshua 3:5 as an example. The problem with using this verse is that in different translations, it has different meanings. For example, in the Message, it says, "Then joshua addressed the people: 'Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.'" If you take a look at the New American Standard Bible, which I have had multiple Bible scholars tell me is the closest translation to the original meaning, it says, "Then Joshua said to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"
Consecrate means that you are dedicating something formally to a religious purpose (taken from my handy Apple computer dashboard dictionary). Isn't that such a different meaning from Santification? One means that you are declaring yourself the Lord's child and the other means that you are declaring yourselves Holy.
So here's the bare bones answer: Only God can sanctify us, but we must truly have dedicated ourselves to Him and desire a life-change and allow Him to work within us. This means that we want to spend time with Him in His word and we want to become more like Him.
The reason we aren't seeing more "sanctified" persons around us is because many people are living a life pretending to be something they are not. It sounds good to say that you are a Christian, but to truly live the life of a Christian means facing persecution and standing up for a God that you have let into your life to change you from the inside out.
The process of sanctification is one that happens over a lifetime. It doesn't happen overnight and will never be completed until the day you go to be with the Lord.
I would like to leave you with a favorite verse of mine from the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
He asked: "if sanctification is God's responsibility, then why don't we see more "sanctified" persons around us -- especially among older adults, those who are supposed to be more mature Christians?
"Conversely, if sanctification is primarily our responsibility, does this possibly explain why we don't see more sanctified people?"
Here are some of my thoughts:
If sanctification means "the process of becoming holy," how can we sanctify ourselves? Only God is holy and can make us holy. Who am I to say, "Alright, I have declared myself holy" ?
Yes. We have to put forth effort, a lot in fact, but it really is only God who can sanctify us. We should be working on maintaining a solid relationship with God because the closer we are to Him, the more he can work in our lives and change us from within.
I'm not trying to step on toes when I say this, but I believe the reason that we are not seeing more "sanctified" persons around us is because they are not truly living a life with God. There are many people out there who have said the words, but did not mean the words and make no attempt to maintain a relationship with God or make life changes from their old ways.
James 2:14-26 talks about how faith without works and works without faith cannot function. My favorite part of the passage is verses 15-16, where it says, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"
Verse 26 says, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
A friend visiting my house has the view that we must sanctify ourselves and he used Joshua 3:5 as an example. The problem with using this verse is that in different translations, it has different meanings. For example, in the Message, it says, "Then joshua addressed the people: 'Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.'" If you take a look at the New American Standard Bible, which I have had multiple Bible scholars tell me is the closest translation to the original meaning, it says, "Then Joshua said to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"
Consecrate means that you are dedicating something formally to a religious purpose (taken from my handy Apple computer dashboard dictionary). Isn't that such a different meaning from Santification? One means that you are declaring yourself the Lord's child and the other means that you are declaring yourselves Holy.
So here's the bare bones answer: Only God can sanctify us, but we must truly have dedicated ourselves to Him and desire a life-change and allow Him to work within us. This means that we want to spend time with Him in His word and we want to become more like Him.
The reason we aren't seeing more "sanctified" persons around us is because many people are living a life pretending to be something they are not. It sounds good to say that you are a Christian, but to truly live the life of a Christian means facing persecution and standing up for a God that you have let into your life to change you from the inside out.
The process of sanctification is one that happens over a lifetime. It doesn't happen overnight and will never be completed until the day you go to be with the Lord.
I would like to leave you with a favorite verse of mine from the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
Monday, September 14, 2009
A thoughtful question...
Hello again!
Over the past few days, I have been thinking about a question posed by a teacher in my Web Writing class. It isn't an easy question, but one that deserves an answer.
So here's the question: Is sanctification our responsibility or God's?
According to www.biblegateway.com, Sanctification is "the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration" which in laymen's terms means that after you have accepted God as your Lord and Saviour and have taken his offer to be freed from sin and death, God will keep working in your life to mold you into something better.
As my dad put it, "If I were to forgive you, I couldn't change you into a better person. But if God forgives you, He has the power to keep working in your life to make you more like Him."
Some verses that illustrate this are: Philippians 2:13, which says, "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." In Galatians 2:20 it says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
If Christ is living within you, then He is transforming you from the inside out to be a clearer reflection of His likeness. This means that while God is the one responsible for your sanctification, you must have already accepted his free gift of salvation.
What are your thoughts?
Over the past few days, I have been thinking about a question posed by a teacher in my Web Writing class. It isn't an easy question, but one that deserves an answer.
So here's the question: Is sanctification our responsibility or God's?
According to www.biblegateway.com, Sanctification is "the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration" which in laymen's terms means that after you have accepted God as your Lord and Saviour and have taken his offer to be freed from sin and death, God will keep working in your life to mold you into something better.
As my dad put it, "If I were to forgive you, I couldn't change you into a better person. But if God forgives you, He has the power to keep working in your life to make you more like Him."
Some verses that illustrate this are: Philippians 2:13, which says, "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." In Galatians 2:20 it says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
If Christ is living within you, then He is transforming you from the inside out to be a clearer reflection of His likeness. This means that while God is the one responsible for your sanctification, you must have already accepted his free gift of salvation.
What are your thoughts?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Welcome
Hi there world.
I would like to welcome you to some of the inner workings of my mind. From time to time, I will be updating my blog with declairations (yes, I know it is spelled incorrectly) of everything from my beliefs, to my favorite hobbies, and advice on how to search for the best cars, or anything else that suites my fancy.
The reason behind the name...
My middle name is Claire, so I thought it only fitting to change the spelling of declaration to something a little quirkier. I think it is important to take a stance on issues, even if they seem insignificant and as of late, I have become too apathetic...so this is more of a way for me to train myself to speak my mind.
The reason behind the name...
My middle name is Claire, so I thought it only fitting to change the spelling of declaration to something a little quirkier. I think it is important to take a stance on issues, even if they seem insignificant and as of late, I have become too apathetic...so this is more of a way for me to train myself to speak my mind.
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