Believers Who Stop Going To Church

[Traze77]

What happens to believers who stop going to church? Do they go to hell or are there consequences?

 

[NBB]

Hi, the bible tell us to no stop congregating. But there are people who can't find a church, so God understand that and he is not going to abandon you.
I actually believe we can't survive as christians too well with all the difficulties if we don't congregate.
Jesus promised to be with us when we get together, to send eternal life and blessings and His presence.

'When 2 or 3 of you are gathered, i am there in the middle with you'

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

What happens to believers who stop going to church? Do they go to hell or are there consequences?

First of all, there are valid reasons for Christians to leave the church, such as false gospel is preached, the church is wordly, sinful etc.

Second of all, you cannot lose your salvation. Jesus Christ fully paid and atoned for all the sins of every believer, He fully satisfied God's wrath, He is the perfect sacrifice. Thus salvation cannot be lost. Once a person becomes a believer, the person is sealed by the Holy Spirit, and no one can break this seal.
Now, there are still consequences for believer's sins, and we will all have to give acount to God, but salvation cannot be lost, as Christ already paid for that sin.

 

[eleos1954]

What happens to believers who stop going to church? Do they go to hell or are there consequences?

“church” in the New Testament, it designates the people (ekklēsia), not a building.

According to the Bible, the church is the people of God, the assembly and body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”2 Various biblical metaphors for the church—the family, the body, the temple, the flock (“congregation” originally meant “gathered flock”), and the nation—all serve to connect our understanding of “the church” to God’s people.

There is the visible church and the invisible church.

When Jesus returns, separating the sheep from the goats, will the invisible church and the visible church be entirely one and the same—from then to all eternity (Matt. 7:21–23; 25:31–46).

If one chooses to not go to a "building church" they should continue their studies in the Word of God themselves and live their lives accordingly.

The Bible lets us know that congregating with like minded people is beneficial, but it does not condemn us for not going. You do not lose your salvation when you do not go to church. Conversely, you cannot “earn” your salvation by attending church.

 

[timothyu]

Congregating need not be in a building or among denominations. Putting the will of the Father ahead of our own and loving all as self requires none of the above. Controlling the narrative however does require such and congregations to be governed by those in control are a must for their governmental authourity

 

[d taylor]

What happens to believers who stop going to church? Do they go to hell or are there consequences?

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I am a born again child of God and i have not been to church in about 4, 5, maybe 6 years. The very moment i believed in Jesus, i crossed over from death to life, so i am a permanent child of God. As will i have consequences at the judgment seat of The Messiah for not going to church, I do not know.

 

[kbmonday]

I stopped attending in 2020 when all of the local churches shut down. Then my family and I started to read the Bible together and keep the Sabbath. I now have a home church and Bible study. We are a small congregation, but when the going gets tough and the mark is enforced, we will still meet. I became very wary of churches who will follow government dictates, and have since noticed that almost none teach and study the whole Bible. Not one in my area anyway. I would like to add that meeting and reasoning with one another is important. God will provide you with a congregation in time, though you may be in a period of isolation to draw you closer to Him. Blessed is the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

[timothyu]

I became very wary of churches who will follow government dictates

That is exactly what happened when the new Christianity rejected the Kingdom and teamed up with the Roman Empire. The result was 1700 years of worldly Christianity

 

[kbmonday]

That is exactly what happened when the new Christianity rejected the Kingdom and teamed up with the Roman Empire. The result was 1700 years of worldly Christianity

Yes. It also resulted in a Paganized Christianity as well. May Almighty God bless you and yours my dear brother in Christ

 

[dzheremi]

In the Orthodox Church, the sacraments may be taken to the elderly and/or infirm who cannot physically attend liturgy. Otherwise, it is expected that everyone will attend to worship God as one people, in so far as we are able to do so. The state of the believer's soul is known only to God in all cases, and so we pray for those who are together with us that day and those who are infirm (these are prayers found in the liturgy itself).

 

[ViaCrucis]

What happens to believers who stop going to church? Do they go to hell or are there consequences?

It's not a binary on-off switch situation.

What happens to a person if they stop eating? They become malnourished, it negatively affects their health. It can, of course, result in death, that's the worst thing that could happen.

When we stop going to church it's very similar, we are depriving ourselves of the spiritual nourishment we need, and it negatively affects our spiritual health. The worst case scenario is that we make shipwreck of our faith, and we abandon Jesus, throwing away His promises--in which case we may very well find ourselves in hell. But it's not because "I stopped going to church, now I'm going to hell", it's that I am starving myself of God's grace, I am starving myself of God's word, I am quenching the Holy Spirit, and I am walking away from the hope and eternal life I have in Christ. It's why the Scriptures constantly tell us to be at the receiving end of grace--to hear God's word, to come together, partake together of God's gifts, to share life together as the Body of Christ--because this is God's ordered means for how we have a healthy, growing relationship with Him where our faith is being strengthened. Because out in the world our faith is being assailed daily by temptation, by lies, but the spiritual wrongness that exists--both within ourselves and in a world broken by sin. The devil is a scavenger, a liar, and preys on us when we are outside the safety of the sheepfold.

It's not about "Do X or else". The Church is not a social club of saints, but a hospital for sinners. The Good Physician is here in our midst. We deprive ourselves of good medicine, of spiritual nourishment, when we cease to partake of the many good things which God has given and provided for us.

-CryptoLutheran