Remember the two criminals on Jesus' left and right at His crucifixion?
One of them repented for his life of sin, and begged for forgiveness before he died. Jesus knew he was truthful so He told him that he would be saved.

Just like many people said, if the criminal truly repents for his/her sins then they will be saved. That is the beauty of God's love... He forgives everyone's sins, and allows everyone to come to heaven, so long they truly believe that Jesus Christ saved them from their sins

I just reread the entire thread and I appreciate everyone's opinion on this....however my original feelings on this situation still hasnt changed. No matter how much you believe in Jesus or any god, I still think murderers, rapists, etc, shouldn't get a free ride to heaven because they claim to have found god. But I totally agree that Jesus or god would be able to see thru someone's lies.

btw, i think some may have mis-interpreted my questions to make it seem as if this is the deciding question that will change my religion....sorry, it is not.. i do not practice any one religion so there's no converting likely to happen..so don't try.

My whole problem with this "Jesus died to forgive sins" philosophy lies within the NT. It doesn't make sense, because Jesus forgave people of their sins before the crucifixion. he told them, your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more. all before the cross. So how can the purpose of the crucifixion be to forgive sins?. I think the only thing that gets you forgiven is your heart. If a person has really changed they'll be forgiven but it ain't as simple as Jesus takes away all my sin

There is some random theology going on here. I'm not sure where some people are getting this stuff because it's certainly not the Bible.

The Bible clearly states that any sin, no matter how outrageous, is forgiven and forgotten in God's eyes upon repentance as long it is sincere and heartfelt. And God can see into a person's heart so He knows when a person is honestly repenting as opposed to just making excuses. As a result of this forgiveness, even Hitler could have gone to heaven had he repented from his sins and dedicated his life to the Lord and Savior of all humanity, Jesus Christ.

This is hard to take considering many "good" and "moral" people who do not accept Christ and repent for their sins are eternally separated from God after death in hell. However, this so-called good person still sins, perhaps not to the degree of someone like Hitler (we'd hope not), but any amount of sin results in death without Christ's forgiveness.

In terms of the continuity of the Old Testament into the New Testament, Jesus is the link. He is present throughout the Old Testament as the Word of God that is made flesh in the new Testament. It is through the Word (Jesus) that God created the world and more specifically, man. Because of this, the Word HAD to become flesh in order to fulfill the Old Covenant law (10 Commandments) and die for the sins of all. Because Jesus did not break any of the Old Testament laws, therefore did not sin, his death conquered death. As a result, all sinners (everyone, no matter how much they sin) can go to heaven through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior.

THIS IS NOT A WORKS-BASED SALVATION. Meaning, a person will not go to heaven or not according to how many good works he or she did. Now it only makes logical sense that if a person loved Jesus, he or she would live a life that reflects this love, doing good works consequently out of this love, but it is not a requirement for entering heaven. The Pharisees believed in a works-based salvation and Jesus berated them on many occasions for it.

Biblical text for Jesus being present in the Old Testament: John 1:1-18

for salvation based on faith alone:
Romans 3:21-31
Romans 4:1-25

world watcher needs to realise her own fascination with Him lol,yes he is wonderful, i hope the following helps:
reincarnation.simple.u may have been a murderer in a past life world watcher, how would u know? get it. all SOULS are to be considered EQUAL. the purpose of life is to learn and there is no hell as many believe it to be u really think HE would create such a place to eternally torture u for your faults? also u are being predujiced against others(murderers etc) when u dont know if u were one of those who shouted crucify him in a past life?lol listen to your conscience if u can still hear it's voice lol
good luck in your life and may u realise that u too have sinned and need to accept Him as saviour(genuinely) to be saved. may we all ascend
there is more joy to be found in a sinner who has realised the error of his ways and repents as opposed to the one who led an exemplary life. why? because he has learned more and is another found sheep the other never left the flock imagine Him as a sheperd who has lost his sheep (the murdurers etc)
after searching he cannot find them(they wont let him into their hearts) he becomes distressed and cries, then, lo he sees his sheep returning to him(finding their way to HIM accepting HIM finally) and his tears become tears of joy as he and his sheep reunite and he hugs them. do u think the sheperd would have turned the sheep away vexed with them departing the flock? not one who truly loved avery one of his sheep. hope i helped.

there are acouple of passages that clearly say faith without works are dead.


this is because faith is works, and vice versa. you cannot have one without the other.


peace.

You dont have to call me omnipotent,but if you like it's o.k. You guys and gals are funny.
Do you really think ,,blah,blah blah or do you think that maybe your heaven is here on earth? Maybe by whats written in your bible and whats repeated here, your heaven is actually prison for people that worship. Doesnt it say somewhere you are not suposed to worship...Oh yeah ,thats only idols. Oh dont worry your safe. Jesus was far from an idol.

Where would I stand at the gate of hell. My parents never lied to me about jesus,god, krishna ,buddha whatever? Can i get in still if i havent perpetuated the lie? Hell please. 24/7 pat boone scares me.

Originally posted by retardedgenius
world watcher needs to realise her own fascination with Him lol,yes he is wonderful, i hope the following helps:
reincarnation.simple.u may have been a murderer in a past life world watcher, how would u know? get it. all SOULS are to be considered EQUAL. the purpose of life is to learn and there is no hell as many believe it to be u really think HE would create such a place to eternally torture u for your faults? also u are being predujiced against others(murderers etc) when u dont know if u were one of those who shouted crucify him in a past life?lol listen to your conscience if u can still hear it's voice lol
good luck in your life and may u realise that u too have sinned and need to accept Him as saviour(genuinely) to be saved. may we all ascend
there is more joy to be found in a sinner who has realised the error of his ways and repents as opposed to the one who led an exemplary life. why? because he has learned more and is another found sheep the other never left the flock imagine Him as a sheperd who has lost his sheep (the murdurers etc)
after searching he cannot find them(they wont let him into their hearts) he becomes distressed and cries, then, lo he sees his sheep returning to him(finding their way to HIM accepting HIM finally) and his tears become tears of joy as he and his sheep reunite and he hugs them. do u think the sheperd would have turned the sheep away vexed with them departing the flock? not one who truly loved avery one of his sheep. hope i helped.

i admit it, i have a fascination with jesus, the bible but i also share the same amount of fascination with mohammed and the koran, siddharta and buddhism, krishna and hinduism.

and yes it is very possible that i was a murderer in my past life...maybe that is why i have to live the hell that is on earth right now. the point is i am not in heaven and am being duly punished for my sins. according to the bible, if i had in my last life accepted Jesus, i would be in heaven right now..doing whatever heavenly things Christians do.

so your point is?

A sinner must be genuinely sorry for his sins. You can't deceive God.

Let's imagine one of your children at a very early age kills another child. As he matures, he begins to admit to suffering from severe guilt and you truly believe that he is sorry for what he's done. Do you forgive him?