"I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Everyone of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done. (15) Anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown into the fire." -Revelation 20:12, 15 (CEV)
When facing questions concerning Christianity, there is only one question that everyone asks and very few give an answers, which is "If God is such a loving God, why does He send people to Hell?" The answer to this question is that He doesn't but DO NOT take my word for it, let's check out what the Bible says about this question. 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NLT) is a great place to start, and it says, "But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. (9) The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want ANYONE to perish, so he is giving more time for EVERYONE to repent." Verse 9 clearly tells us that God doesn't want anyone to go to Hell but He's giving us time to repent and be saved. So if God doesn't send us to Hell, who does?
Let's take another look at Revelation 20:12, which states, "I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Everyone of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done." In this scripture, we know 3 things: We will be judged, God will judge us, and there are books involved. What is contained in these books that are opened? Every deed, thought, and word we ever did in our lives. We will be judged by OUR own actions. Why? Because God is being fair. He's going to judge us based on our actions and not by the Law. If our actions reveal that we lived a holy lifestyle, we will be rewarded but if we lived a sinful lifestyle, we will be punished. Picture this: You're driving 70 mph on a beautiful summer day, windows down, music blasting. You look in your rear view mirror to find a police car with its sirens on behind you. The officer approaches you and tells you that you were going 70 in a 55 mph zone. Who is responsible for the ticket? The cop is simply doing his job.
We cannot blame God for sending people to Hell because He already provided a way to escape Hell through His Precious Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 says, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." God did his part by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, but He went even further by giving us more time to repent and be saved from Hell even though we don't deserve it. Jesus is the only way to Heaven, but if you reject Him how can you get there? God does not force us to choose, but we must make that decision. If a person has rejected Jesus Christ, there is NO hope for him on Judgement Day because he rejected the only way to Heaven. We send ourselves to Hell by choosing to reject Christ and live a sinful lifestyle.
God doesn't want to see anyone go to Hell, so He gave His Son to save us. However, when we reject His Son we reject the only way to salvation. Hell was never made for man, it was made for Satan and his angels but Satan doesn't want to be there alone, and is dragging tons of people to Hell everyday. We must all stand before Christ and be judged, and be rewarded or punished ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS. No longer can we blame God for simply giving us the consequences of our actions. Romans 6:23 states, "For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
It is true that Jesus died for everyone but everyone is not automatically saved. You must accept what Christ did for YOURSELF. You cannot be saved by going to church, having Christian parents, etc. You must accept Christ as YOUR Lord and Savior. If someone wrote you a check for a million dollars, you aren't a millionaire unless you accept the check. God was so desperate to save you from Hell that He gave His own Son to take your place. Romans 10:9 (NLT) says, "For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." It's that easy: Admit that you're a sinner (Romans 3:23), that Jesus was God in the flesh who died upon the cross for your sins (Philippians 2:6-8), and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day (Matthew 28:5-6) and you will be saved. Don't reject the only way to be saved from Hell because you will regret it on Judgement Day
P.S. Do not assume that because I post scripture that it is correct, pick up your Bible (or google it) for yourself. I believe the Bible is the ONLY source of true salvation and I want you to know that I am not making this up. Double check EVERY scripture so you will know the truth. Be Blessed
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