[Orthodox Christianity] Why does God force all people to live, even though a lot of us will be damned for all eternity?

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Dec 28, 2016
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#63
The salvation of Jesus Christ is a gift.

Even a gift must be received.
Yes, glory! You did it! You decided! You chose!

God saw you would choose! He "looked down the corridors of time" :rolleyes: and saw you would choose, and he rewarded you for your effort! Isn't it wonderful? We can call it a gift though and make pretense, right, even though it was a reward for our choosing? Yes, as some say; "God didn't want robots, so he waited to see who would come to him out of their genuine love for him!"

You did it, congrats! To all of you who did it? CONGRATS!!!!
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#64
Where are ñyou so I may offer. Actually I do not need be near. Jesus Christ has already offered to you.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#65
Yes, glory! You did it! You decided! You chose!

God saw you would choose! He "looked down the corridors of time" :rolleyes: and saw you would choose, and he rewarded you for your effort! Isn't it wonderful? We can call it a gift though and make pretense, right, even though it was a reward for our choosing? Yes, as some say; "God didn't want robots, so he waited to see who would come to him out of their genuine love for him!"

You did it, congrats! To all of you who did it? CONGRATS!!!!
God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. It is free, salvation, but it must be received to be had.
 
Oct 25, 2018
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#66
God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. It is free, salvation, but it must be received to be had.
Dead people can not receive the free gift of salvation my friend. They can not reach out and receive it is what I mean.
 

NayborBear

Banned Serpent Seed Heresy
#67
Dead people can not receive the free gift of salvation my friend. They can not reach out and receive it is what I mean.

John 6
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
 
Oct 25, 2018
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#68
John 6
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
I agree with this. What point are you making my friend?
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,441
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#69
Dead people can not receive the free gift of salvation my friend. They can not reach out and receive it is what I mean.
God is always good, always. Remember that. His goodness is perfect, not what you or I could ever conceive, so try not to judge Him......
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#71
Who said I tried to judge Him my friend?

Questioning God's willingness to save in any circumstances is judging, yes, judging God.

I would not preternd to be authorized to question Him in such a manner with no knowledge of Him

I believe the subject itself has becom sacrilege, and this is what I think and believe. YOu may continue with others but I elect to be in communion with God.
 
Oct 25, 2018
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#72
Questioning God's willingness to save in any circumstances is judging, yes, judging God.

I would not preternd to be authorized to question Him in such a manner with no knowledge of Him

I believe the subject itself has becom sacrilege, and this is what I think and believe. YOu may continue with others but I elect to be in communion with God.
God saves whomever He chooses to save my friend(John 5:21).
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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#73
God saves whomever He chooses to save my friend(John 5:21).
God saves WHOSOEVER obeys the Gospel. If all would repent and believe all would be saved.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev 22:17)
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#74
αἴρω (airō)

to take up, lift, raise; bear, carry; take away, remove; destroy, kill


Τῇ ἐπαύριον βλέπει τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ λέγει· Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.



The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!(John 1:29)

Now my friend, if Jesus took the sin of everyone away, everyone is saved. There is no getting around this.

20 In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’(Jeremiah 50)

This is speaking of expiation, the removal of one’s guilt. Jesus expiated the sins of His sheep upon the cross. Their sins, post salvation, can not be found. Why? Jesus took them away, expiated them.[/QUOTE}There is one problem with your argument, Something you have yet to respond to.

people go to hell BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. (He who does not believe is condemned already, because HE DOES NOT BELIEVE)

Now if sin caused a person to be condemned, Then jesus woudl have said, He who does nto believe is condemned already because of THEIR SIN. He does not say this.
So once again your wrong. If jesus took all the sins, they WOULD STILL NOT BE SAVED, Because jesus did not pay for the sin of UNBELIEF.
 
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eternally-gratefull

Guest
#75
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.(Proverbs 22)

Wrong my friend. Discipline in the NASB is correction in the KJV.
1. The penalty of sin is death, The ONY punishment for all sin is death
2. God gave PENALTIES for certain crimes under law Those are punishments (also called judgments)
3. A parent correct a child when they sin, that CORRECTION or CHASTENING is meant as a teachingn tool. To teach a child in the way he should go.

God punished Isreal because of her sin, Yet Daniel and many who did not sin still were still punished.

There is a difference, and I think we as the church should learn the difference beause we are tasked with explaining it to the word.


 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#76
Go up to a corpse and hold out a gift and see what reaction you get.
You have now twice in two threads refused to acknowledge my testimony and they way I feel people come to christ, and shown how I take credit for saving myself. Is there a reason for this?


This corpse excuse is invalid. A corse can do no bad or good. He can not chose one way or the other. A corpse has lost the ability to chose to reject God and continue in sin and all the things he loves, Because he can not do ANYTHING. You need to find a better argument, and once again, Can you please (since you and your brothers judge me as trying to save myself or take glory away from God) show me how I did that by responding to what I posted?

If you continue to ignore I will just have to assume you refuse because you can not show

 

Deade

Called of God
Dec 17, 2017
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Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#77
Orthodoxy does not quite believe that he punishes people, rather - he lets bad things happen in order to prove to people that without him they are pretty much nothing...
If that was the case, though, if God actually punishes us, measly, weak, mortals for not being so great and holy like him - then he is not a loving God, just a self-loving, psychopathic tyrant... In that case, i wouldn't be interested in knowing him or seeking answers about him - id simply spit in his face...
You have a point about Orthodox Christianity. Satan has going to these folks and managed to water down God's plan of salvation. Tradition has taught us that God is battling with the fallen angels for souls. God is not doing that. If He were then He has prophesied His own defeat.

Matt. 7:13 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"

There is no place of everlasting torment. Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Death is just death: you cease to be. We do not have an immortal soul as most teach. Those that have partaken of Christ's salvation have God's promise of immortality, but that is still future. God's salvation plan is this:

Heb. 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

Until we learn what this judgment entails, we will never put all the scripture together properly. Spiritually speaking, God is not dealing with most people today. Their whole lives are vain and useless. The Great White Throne Judgment is where most will learn the true way to serve the Lord. That is when the majority of people will be harvested from the earth. This will no doubt draw a lot of fire, but the truth always does. :)
 

louis

Senior Member
Nov 1, 2017
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#78
Im asking this from an Orthodox Christian perspective where hell is not a place but our own experience of God's love (for some its hell, for some heaven)...

I find it hard to understand how God can be a "loving God", and at the same time force people to live, even though their eternity turns out to be hell everlasting...
If people (due to their own fault or not, it doesn't matter at all) are made sick by Him, and His presence and His love - wouldn't it be a "loving" thing then to end their misery by making them go back into nothingness/nonexistence?

It is already clear people like that will never learn to accept him and will eternally have a problem with him, and i doubt they will enjoy hanging out with demons and other wicked either... why keep them in existence then, what is the point?

Since it is established (as far as i know, anyway, correct me if im wrong) in Orthodoxy that God does not seek to punish people - the argument of punishment does not hold up, and even if that was the case - there wouldn't be any logic in punishing people eternally for just one short human life of sin, so in that case - God would, without a doubt, be a psychopatic autocrat, so the punishment argument is pretty much senseless to me...
How I see it Rhombus, is those who choose other than God who is love, choose instead their carnal natures.
When the resurrection comes, they who have lived their lives for themselves (their carnal natures), will go with all others who have chosen the same.
There will be no spirit of God (who is love), within those then as there is now.
This is when the Lord comes like a thief in the night and removes Himself, and His illumination from they who have chosen the wrong instead of the right.

Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
 

Ahwatukee

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2015
11,159
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#79
Im asking this from an Orthodox Christian perspective where hell is not a place but our own experience of God's love (for some its hell, for some heaven)...

I find it hard to understand how God can be a "loving God", and at the same time force people to live, even though their eternity turns out to be hell everlasting...
If people (due to their own fault or not, it doesn't matter at all) are made sick by Him, and His presence and His love - wouldn't it be a "loving" thing then to end their misery by making them go back into nothingness/nonexistence?

It is already clear people like that will never learn to accept him and will eternally have a problem with him, and i doubt they will enjoy hanging out with demons and other wicked either... why keep them in existence then, what is the point?

Since it is established (as far as i know, anyway, correct me if im wrong) in Orthodoxy that God does not seek to punish people - the argument of punishment does not hold up, and even if that was the case - there wouldn't be any logic in punishing people eternally for just one short human life of sin, so in that case - God would, without a doubt, be a psychopatic autocrat, so the punishment argument is pretty much senseless to me...
Greetings Rhombus,

First of all, you are assuming that God's love extends to the sinner after death, which it does not. Once a person dies in their sins, rejecting God's provision for salvation thought faith in Christ, then that old saying of "the judge throwing the book at you" will be the outcome.

Since Jesus met the righteous requirements of the law, satisfying it completely and fully, when anyone believes in Him, they are credited with that fulfillment. In the same way, Jesus experienced God's wrath on behalf of every believer, therefore God's wrath no longer rests upon the believer, because Jesus was held accountable for the sins of those who believe in Him. By our faith, we are credited with righteousness and have been reconciled to God. However, for those who continue to reject Christ, they will be judged by the Law and they themselves will be held accountable for every sin, every thought and every idle word.

You mention God as being a God of love and you are correct. But, He is also a Holy and Righteous God, which will not override His righteous judgment. Once an individual dies in their sins, rejecting the only way of being reconciled to God, then they will suffer the full wrath of God, without love, mercy or grace being mixed in.

Remember, God created the angels, mankind and everything there is. Therefore, we are not our own, but belong to God as His creation. However, He didn't want robot's and gave us free will. For those who continue in sin, if they die in that sin, they will be responsible for remaining separated from God in eternal punishment in the lake of fire, because of their rejection of His salvation.

there wouldn't be any logic in punishing people eternally for just one short human life of sin,
By your statement above, you would be saying that you have no respect for the Holiness of God. For He is Righteous, Holy and Eternal and His creation has sinned and continues to sin against Him. For after king David had committed adultery and murder against Uriah with Bathsheba David said to God, "against you alone have I sinned." He recognized that all sin is against God. This then is the reason for eternal punishment.

God indeed loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. However, for those who reject His Son, He will judge them for every sin according to the law, which will result in eternal punishment in separation from Him in the Lake of fire.
 
Oct 25, 2018
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#80
You have now twice in two threads refused to acknowledge my testimony and they way I feel people come to christ, and shown how I take credit for saving myself. Is there a reason for this?


This corpse excuse is invalid. A corse can do no bad or good. He can not chose one way or the other. A corpse has lost the ability to chose to reject God and continue in sin and all the things he loves, Because he can not do ANYTHING. You need to find a better argument, and once again, Can you please (since you and your brothers judge me as trying to save myself or take glory away from God) show me how I did that by responding to what I posted?

If you continue to ignore I will just have to assume you refuse because you can not show
You say that by you reaching out, you were saved. And if you did not reach out and receive you would die lost. You have effectively placed the onus on you and not God. God did His part by extending His hand with the gift of salvation, now you must extend out and take it. In your view, God meets you half way, now it is up to you to meet Him half way.

In our view, there is no meeting half way. Seeing we were dead in sins, we could not meet Him, even if it was one step. God must first quicken those dead in sins to life, and then, and only then, will they reach out to Him.