Why did God create hell? Why will he condumn some people (the majority of us) there? Is there any way out?

WHY DID GOD CREATE HELL?  

WHY WILL HE CONDEMN SOME PEOPLE (the majority of us!) THERE?  

IS THERE ANY WAY OUT?

God never intended for man to have to go to hell!  That's a decision we consciously make ourselves!  God made hell for the devil and his kind!

Matthew 25:41  "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"

So, if hell was NOT prepared for mankind, why does man go there?

Matthew 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:  14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

The fact is...most people think that you need to be very religious to enter into heaven!  Nothing could be farther from the truth!

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;"

Hell is where God isn't!  Think about that for a while.  

NO LIGHT, because God IS light! (1 John 1:5 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.")

No LOVE, because God is love! (1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.")

NO HOPE because eternal life is based upon the one hope and way which is ONLY through Jesus Christ!  (1 Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,")

Hell is a place where there is no light, no love, and no hope!  Just that alone would be bad enough.  But it gets WORSE!  

You will also be burning in the Lake of Fire!

FOREVER!

Revelation 20: 15  "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

BUT YOUR LIFE DOESN'T HAVE TO END THIS WAY!  OBEY THE GOSPEL!

WHAT'S OBEYING THE GOSPEL?  

IT'S BELIEVING THE ACCOUNT ABOUT JESUS CHRIST WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART!

READ ON IF YOU WANT TO BE SAVED!

Mankind CHOOSES hell over heaven when he refuses to believe and rejects the gospel of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, and His gift of life (or salvation!)

SO...is there a way out once I am sent to hell?

NO!

WHY?

Because you rejected the ONE HOPE that you had to be saved, Jesus righteousness given to you the moment that you believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and humbly ask God to save you!  

There are NO works that you have to do to obtain glory (Ephesians 2:8-9) and no amount of money that you have to give to gain eternal life!  It's a free gift God gives to everyone who trusts His Son with their lives and completely believing the gospel!

Just simply believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, that He died victorious over sin, death, hell, and the grave.  But the most amazing part of the gospel is you must believe the Bible that He arose from the grave of His own power!

If you believe this gospel account of Jesus' life AND ask Him to save you, He will!

John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

So...what are you waiting for?  Enroll your name into the Book of Life by receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour!  

AND tomorrow is promised to NO ONE!  James 4:14  "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

Ask Jesus Christ to save you today!  THIS MATTER CAN'T WAIT!  WHERE YOU SPEND YOUR ETERNITY DEPENDS UPON IT!

AND WHY AM I SO ADAMANT ABOUT THIS TOPIC?

BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO THERE!

Why do we preach so strongly against Hell, the Devil?

WHY DO WE PREACH SO STRONGLY AGAINST HELL, THE DEVIL, BUT SPEAK SO FAVORABLY ABOUT HEAVEN?

1) Because God wants you there!  2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Jesus Christ died that you could have eternal life!

John 3:15-16  "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 6:29  "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

2) Because we who are witnessing to you WANT you there!  

2 John 1:4 "I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

1 John 4:7-8  "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

We Christians are commanded to witness to all the world!

Mark 16:15  "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

We respond to God's commission and follow his commands because we love God and seek to tell those who don't know God that He is love!

Here is the dividing line between believers and unbelievers.

Mark 16:16  "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."  (This echos 1 John 4:8!)

3) Because the angels desire to look into the things of salvation and rejoice when one soul is saved!  

1 Peter 1:12 b "...them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into."

Luke 15:10 "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Luke 15:7 "I say unto you, I that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

If you desire to know God in a personal way, understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross, paying for your sins.  He was buried, but three days later He arose from the grave according to the scriptures!  This is called, the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Believing this can save you if you desire to be saved.

DO YOU?

 

If so, ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins!  (He died paying the cost for them!)  Ask Jesus to save you and invite Him to come into your life!

HE WILL!

God will rejoice!

The Christians who know you will rejoice!

ALL of the angels in heaven will also rejoice!

Don't delay!

Do it today!

What is meant by "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive"?

1 Corinthians 15:22  "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

WHAT IS MEANT BY THIS?

(Let's take it part by part!)

"For as in Adam all die..."

We all have one life to live!  Only ONE!  No coming back as a Princess or a King!  

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

Reincarnation is a trick of the devil that you can have multiple lives to, "Get it right," and eventually get saved!

Galatians 3:24 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

Why this life is so important is because IN THIS LIFE we have to choose between Heaven and hell!  One life to make this most important decision!  We learn about Jesus Christ through hearing (or reading articles like this)!  

Romans 10:14 "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

We hear (or read) and our faith in God grows!  We learn that God cares about us and wants none of us to die without knowing Jesus personally!

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

The more of an interest that we show toward God, the more of Himself He reveals to us!

Romans 1:19  "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them."

(We ALREADY have the ability to know God as proof through that last verse!)

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

We must believe that God is real, that He is a rewarder of those who seek after Him!

Once we are saved, we are no longer under the bondage of the law.  Galatians 3:25 "But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."

It's faith in Jesus Christ that saves us and places us under a new law, the law of, "Grace"!

Simply restated Grace means:

"God's Riches At Christ's Expense"!

Without Christ's righteousness, our soul is eternally dead!

Ezekiel 18:4 "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

These Christ rejectors will suffer an eternity by burning in darkness!  NO ESCAPE!  FOREVER!

Now the rest of the verse...

"...even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

When we believe the gospel of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) we are granted salvation from our sins (wrongs committed against God)!

Once we receive Jesus Christ as our friend, LORD, and Saviour, we are placed into God's universal church!  Christ's righteousness is applied to our soul.  We become permanently the children of God!  (He knows ALL THINGS anyway!)

Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

It's placing our faith completely in Jesus Christ that saves us!

When you are saved by believing the gospel, you are forever saved.

Briefly, the gospel is as follows!

Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life!  He died on the cross paying for our sins (as He was SINLESS, He was able to do this for us all)!  Three days later He arose from the grave according to the scriptures!  This proved that He WAS God!

When you believe this gospel about Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive your sins and save you, He will!

Did Jesus mean that we should never refer to our earthly father as “father” (Matthew 23:9)?

Question: "Did Jesus mean that we should never refer to our earthly father as 'father' (Matthew 23:9)? Is it wrong for Catholics to refer to their priests as 'father'?"

Answer: It would be confusing for God to give the fifth commandment in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother” and then later restrict us from calling our earthly father “father.” Matthew 23:9 states, “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and He is in heaven.” The context of Matthew 23:9 tells us that referring to one’s biological father as “father” is not what Jesus is speaking about.

In Matthew 23:1–12, Jesus is denouncing the Jewish scribes and Pharisees for rejecting Him as their Messiah, in particular for their hypocrisy in elevating themselves above others with titles such as “teacher” and “master.” The Jewish teachers affected those titles because they supposed that a teacher formed the man or gave him real life. They sought, therefore, to be called “father,” as if they were the source of truth rather than God. Christ taught that the source of all life and truth is God, and no one ought to seek or receive a title that properly belongs to Him. No one should be as revered as God is.

This denunciation is equally relevant today. In no way should any person look up to, follow, or elevate a human leader in any religious or church organization above Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is His body. He alone is the author of our salvation, source of comfort in difficulties, and strength to live the Christian life. He is the only One to whom our prayers should be directed. No one else has the right to say, “Look to me to meet your spiritual needs.” Jesus’ warning against calling men “father” is a caution against ostentation, pride, and hypocrisy.

Roman Catholics call their priests “father,” and the Pope is the “holy father.” Abbots take their title from the Aramaic word abba, which means “father.” This is clearly unbiblical. The priest as “father” is problematic. In the case of “holy father,” there is no doubt this title is unbiblical. No man can take on the title of “holy” anything, because only God is holy. This title gives the Pope a status that is never intended for any man on earth. Even the apostle Paul made no claim to holiness, referring to himself as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Although as Christians we have exchanged our sin for the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), holiness will not be attained until we are in heaven and have left the last vestiges of our sin natures behind. Until then, the Pope has no more holiness than the average Christian and is not entitled to be called “holy father.”

What about the apostle Paul’s reference to “our father Abraham” and his implication that he himself is a father to Timothy and Titus? When Paul refers to Abraham as “our father” in Romans 4:12, he is not making the same mistake as the Pharisees. Paul is saying that the promise that saves us was first given to Abraham who in faith believed. Paul is pointing out that God began His plan of redemption of all nations with Abraham and that Abraham is the model of justification by faith, apart from the Law (verse 3). Paul is not raising Abraham to God’s level or assigning an official title to Abraham but merely acknowledging his faith. Abraham is the metaphorical “father” of all who believe in Christ in the sense that he is the prototype of faith.

When Paul calls Timothy and Titus his “sons” (see 1 Timothy 1:2, 18; 2 Timothy 1:2; and Titus 1:4), he is merely stating that he was a father figure to those whom he taught the gospel to. Paul committed himself to teaching, correcting, and training his protégés. He was more than a teacher to Timothy and Titus; he was like a father because he loved them so much and was a guide to them in their ministries. Paul was not putting himself in the place of God, and he never required anyone to call him “father.” In referring to Timothy and Titus as his children, Paul was expressing his love for them. Paul cared for them as a father loves his children and seeks their welfare.

Just as there is nothing wrong with using the word father metaphorically, there is nothing wrong with calling our earthly parents “father” and “mother.” In doing so we are not giving our parents an elevated title or position that belongs only to God. Our earthly parents are worthy of honor, and we are to honor our parents daily in the spirit of Exodus 20:12, Matthew 15:4, and Ephesians 6:1-3

What is the origin of the Roman Catholic Church?

Question: "What is the origin of the Roman Catholic Church?"

Answer: The Roman Catholic Church contends that its origin is the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ in approximately AD 30. The Catholic Church proclaims itself to be the church that Jesus Christ died for, the church that was established and built by the apostles. Is that the true origin of the Catholic Church?

On the contrary. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have its origin in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy, worship/adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning saints in heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession, the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments, infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory, indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture. So, if the origin of the Catholic Church is not in the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, what is the true origin of the Catholic Church?

For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine provided religious toleration with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, effectively lifting the ban on Christianity. Later, in AD 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicea in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine and his successors promoted progressively became a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism.

Following are a few examples:

Most Roman Catholic beliefs and practices regarding Mary are completely absent from the Bible. Where did those beliefs come from? The Roman Catholic view of Mary has far more in common with the Isis mother-goddess religion of Egypt than it does with anything taught in the New Testament. Interestingly, the first hints of Catholic Mariology occur in the writings of Origen, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which happened to be the focal point of Isis worship.

The Lord’s Supper being a consumption of the literal body and blood of Jesus is not taught in the Bible. The idea that bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the literal body and blood of Jesus (transubstantiation) is not biblical. However, several ancient pagan religions, including Mithraism, which was very popular in the Roman Empire, had some form of “theophagy” (the eating of one’s god) as a ritualistic practice.

Roman Catholicism has “saints” one can pray to in order to gain a particular blessing. For example, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is the patron saint of fertility. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. There are multiple patron saints of healing and comfort. Nowhere is even a hint of this taught in Scripture. Just as the Roman pantheon of gods had a god of love, a god of peace, a god of war, a god of strength, a god of wisdom, etc., so the Catholic Church has a saint who is “in charge” over each of these and many other categories. Many Roman cities had a god specific to the city, and the Catholic Church provided “patron saints” for cities as well.

The idea that the Roman bishop is the vicar of Christ, the supreme leader of the Christian Church, is utterly foreign to the Word of God. The supremacy of the Roman bishop (the papacy) was created with the support of the Roman emperors. While most other bishops (and Christians) resisted the idea of the Roman bishop being supreme, the Roman bishop eventually rose to supremacy, again, due to the power and influence of the Roman emperors. After the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, the popes took on the title that had previously belonged to the Roman emperors—Pontifex Maximus.

Many more examples could be given. These four should suffice in demonstrating the origin of the Catholic Church. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church denies the pagan origin of its beliefs and practices. The Catholic Church disguises its pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology and church tradition. Recognizing that many of its beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

The origin of the Catholic Church is the tragic compromise of Christianity with the pagan religions that surrounded it. Instead of proclaiming the gospel and converting the pagans, the Catholic Church “Christianized” the pagan religions and “paganized” Christianity. By blurring the differences and erasing the distinctions, the Catholic Church made itself attractive to the idolatrous people of the Roman Empire. One result was the Catholic Church becoming the supreme religion in the Roman world for centuries. However, another result was the most dominant form of Christianity apostatizing from the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the true proclamation of God’s Word.

Second Timothy 4:3–4 declares, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

To the unknown God

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD!

by The Apostle Paul

Most hope for a dream they will never see.

Perhaps they would consult you or me!

We'll tell them all salvation's plan.

God's design for woman and man!

But "Too busy, we are!" they often say.

"Perhaps you may come another day!"

"To an unknown God," Paul rightly said!

"You've loads of gods!

All of them dead!

My God's alive forevermore!

But you buy yours in the general store!

My Jesus lives within the soul 

of everyone who seeks to be whole.

Believe He died

and rose on day three.  

He gave his life for you and me!  He left his Glory up above 

to teach us all through his great love!

Paul's few words were passed on by...

"For worldly vanities 

they cry!

Lust of the eyes, the flesh and pride 

Keep us daily satisfied!"

Little they listen to God's tender voice.

He pleads, If only they make me their choice!

Turn from your idols, 

who can't hear or see.  

I know you all, 

and can set you free!

IF ONLY THEY WOULD HEAR AND THEN CHOOSE ME! 

Acts 17:16-34