Get Stumping
When I first began this blog about 9 months ago, I wasn't sure what it should be about. Being new to blogging, I felt like it needed to have a theme of some sort to maintain regular readership and continued interest. If you read this blog regularly, I'm sure you've noticed that it really doesn't have much of a theme.
Originally I had thought it would be fun to discuss theology/the Bible/Christian living in a question and answer format with readers. I play the game "Stump the Pastor" with my church, youth group and camp staff where they are allowed to ask any question about the Bible or the Christian life and I do my best to answer it. (I don't accept questions like, "How many semi-colons are in the book of Deuteronomy?" or really any question about colons).
So, just for fun, if you have a genuine question about the Bible or the Christian life that you would like to hear some commentary on, please leave a quick comment and I will do my best to respond with a quick reply.
posted by Pastor John @ 7:39 AM
11 Comments:
I'll tell Tommy you are allowing people to do so because he will probably have a question.
I would like a good explaination as to why people who are otherwise "good" but not technically "Christian" aren't going to Heaven upon death. Is this fair?
man being "good" on his own is impossible......"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" since all have sinned and "the wages of sin is death" then unless we are redeemed by the blood of christ we have no right to enter into heaven.....being "good" by human standards means nothing its what God sees, and God sees the heart
good question though...............sorry pastor john i didnt have a question so i figured id answer one
In Romans 3:10-20, it says that no one is good. No one can be good enough for God. But God has redeemed us through Jesus Christ because He loves us.
way to be unique maranda.....not
Pastor John,
I've been wondering a lot about Heaven and whether or not we enter as soon as we die or if we remain in our graves until the second coming of Christ? I always thought that it was the previous of the two, but I have also heard scripture (most likely from Revelations) that talks about people walking out of their graves to be judged again...
To dannae_duck,
Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Romans 3:10-11, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."
Mark 10:17-18, As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone."
I think what Scripture is telling us is that apart from Christ living within us, we don't have the capacity to do the kind of "good" that would please God. In fact, without genuine faith in Jesus Christ, it's not even possible to please God, no matter how "noble" our deeds may seem.
Truly, it would have been "fair" for God to punish us forever without any hope of a second chance. Yet in His grace and mercy, He chose to bear our penalty upon Himself so that through faith in Him, we will not be condemned (Romans 8:1).
Those who respond to Christ's invitation are "declared righteous" by God. Those who spend their lives doing nice things, but never respond to Christ in faith will find that though their actions may have pleased other people, deeds done outside of faith can never please God.
I hope this helps.
Erin, I will answer your question next.
My $.02
I'm with you guys. DD asked for a "good" explaination, we are wholly unqualified. Also since "fair" is a human concept, and a relativley new concept I might add, it is not a God concept. God is just and merciful, not fair, as we define fair anyhow.
Erin is thinking linear, us finite beings tend to do that sometimes. Heaven exists apart from time and space, it is in eternity (NO, Heaven is not a place on earth, despite what Belinda Carlisle would lead you to believe, also there will be no Bananarama reunion). Time has a beginning and will have and end (think of it like a single piece of string). Heaven is infinite, eternal. So... we will all enter Heaven at the exact same "time" (as you understand time). I guess the word simultaneous would be the more understandable nomenclature. If you think linear, this explaination will create more questions than it answers, sorry about that, hope it helps though.
Hi Erin,
Here’s the answer to your question. It’s a little lengthy so try not to fall asleep during it.
Scripture tells us that the moment we are absent from our bodies, we will be present with
the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). This means that we will be in Heaven the very moment we,
Christians, experience physical death.
In the future, we will be given a brand new physical body which will be united with our
spirit and we will spend eternity in a similar fashion as we experience life now, being
both body and spirit. The difference will be that our new body won’t be in bondage to
decay like our current body is (Romans 8:21). We won’t experience sorrow, illness or
pain, yet we will be both physical and spiritual.
Many Christians believe, based on 1 Thes. 4 and 1 Cor. 15, that we will receive our new
bodies at the Rapture when the bodies of those who are dead in Christ will rise from the
grave, be united with their spirit, and the body will be recreated into a new permanent
one. Living Christians would then receive their new bodies as they are Raptured from
their earthly life.
The Heaven that we will enter upon death is not the eternal and permanent Heaven.
Scripture tells us that God will create a new Heaven and a New Earth. Both have been
currently affected by sin, but the new ones will never be. The New Heaven and Earth will
be united as one permanent place where believers will live forever. That will be the
permanent Heaven.
In the New Heaven/New Earth we will be creative. We will be busy. We will work and
enjoy meals together. We won’t be floating robots without distinctive talents and ideas.
Basically, just picture what Earth would be like if sin never entered the human race.
Adam and Eve worked and enjoyed their surroundings. They ate and enjoyed
conversation and fellowship with God. They enjoyed the animals and had no conflict
with them.
In a nutshell, I’m am thorougly looking forward to the New Heaven/New Earth. But in
the meantime, if we were to die today, we would immediately go to the present Heaven
which will one day be recreated.
Hope this helps.
Pastor John
Pastor John,
That helps a lot! So basically, when we Christians die, our souls go to Heaven but our bodies remain in the grave. In Heaven we are given a temporary body to go with the "temporary" Heaven. And when the rapture comes, the bodies "walking out of their graves" are our bodies which will meet up with us and form a permanent body?
That puts me at ease because I'm psyched about Heaven but I was scared about being aware of being in a grave...like waiting for something amazing to come. Does that make sense?
Anyway, thanks again. I've been checking back at least 20 times a day to see if you answered it. Colored me obsessed.
Hi Erin. Glad to know that helped. Sorry it took me a few days to respond. I didn't want to glaze the answer over, so I waited until I had the time to give a substantive answer.
This was fun. I'll have to do a Stump the Pastor segment on this blog from time to time.
After writing my answer, I listened to today's episode of the Bible Answer Man broadcast (www.equip.org). One of the people who called with a question asked about Heaven as well. I thought that was interesting.
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