Do Non-Christians Have the Possibility of Going to Heaven?

[Basil the Great]

This same poll is being posted in other forums. Your vote is deeply appreciated.

 

[AMR]

Assuming by "Christians" you mean those that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then I would vote, "No, all non-Christians are lost and doomed to Hell".

Christianity, per Scripture, the one true religion, is quite exclusive, so if you are using the word "Christian" in some ecumenical fashion, you would need to elaborate.

You have also posted this in a safe-haven forum for Presbyterians, so advocating something other that what we hold dear is not permitted.

 

[sdowney717]

Do the 'people of this world' know the Lord who is above all other gods?

Psalm 95New King James Version (NKJV)
A Call to Worship and Obedience
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

 

[JM]

Polls like this should have "I am a confessional Presbyterian who believes all non-Christians are lost and doomed to Hell"

It makes things less confussing.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

this would hinge on our understanding of original sin.

I would vote no as i'm not a universalist and would understand that people go to hell for being fallen sons and daughters in adam regardless of whether or not they hear the gospel.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

This same poll is being posted in other forums. Your vote is deeply appreciated.

Are you asking if there is salvation in any other way than through Christ's atoning sacrifice? If so, the answer is no, and that comes directly from Jesus himself, in various places, but the most convincing one to me was in the garden when he asked if there was any other way. The answer was, No.

 

[bsd058]

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "Christian." I'm quite sure that there are some babies who do not have the capacity to understand the Gospel, let alone confess him as Lord, or even understand what that means, necessarily. But excluding the incapacitated, I would think that all those perishing without faith in Christ through the grace given by God would be damned.

 

[PurrestInnocent]

I always believe, and still do, if any soul, base on Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV,

"..... love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

would go to Heaven. People who acknowledged and have relationship with God. People who know God and Jesus and the other Messangers and God's Word, people who try to repent from Sin and do good.

Peraonally I believe it is wicked people and atheists who don't go to Heaven. People who love to do wickedness, who has no thought to try and repent and atheists who not only deny the Existance of God but don't want to acknowledge nor submit to Him.

 

[bsd058]

I always believe, and still do, if any soul, base on Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV,

"..... love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

would go to Heaven. People who acknowledged and have relationship with God. People who know God and Jesus and the other Messangers and God's Word, people who try to repent from Sin and do good.

Peraonally I believe it is wicked people and atheists who don't go to Heaven. People who love to do wickedness, who has no thought to try and repent and atheists who not only deny the Existance of God but don't want to acknowledge nor submit to Him.

This is legalism. The belief that good deeds can get you into heaven. Paul wrote in Romans 3:28 that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (good deeds). In Galatians 2:21, he wrote that if righteousness could be attained by the law, then Christ died for nothing.

 

[CrystalDragon]

I think the mere existence of hell is awful, barbaric, malevolent and immoral, so of course I voted the third option.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

This same poll is being posted in other forums. Your vote is deeply appreciated.

I didn't vote because there should probably be a fourth option:

• Yes, but only those who have responded positively to the light that God has provided in their lives ....

Just sayin'

 

[Basil the Great]

I appreciate your concern and reply. I would say that option #3 covers your proposed fourth option. However, I will try and remember to add your idea as a 4th option, if I do the poll again in a year or so.

 

[HighCherub]

I personally think that there are non-Christian people in Heaven, because I also think that Christ can live in people without them knowingly submitting to his Deity.

I've never found the 'only people who have never heard of him' to be sincere or legitimate- it seems more like an overly rigid and possessive notion to favor a certain culture or construct.

God is unfathomable in His will and understanding- if there's one thing a lot of churches make the mistake of doing, it's consistently talking about Hell and who's going to it. God never taught us to obsess over Hell.

 

[amariselle]

I personally think that there are non-Christian people in Heaven, because I also think that Christ can live in people without them knowingly submitting to his Deity.

I've never found the 'only people who have never heard of him' to be sincere or legitimate- it seems more like an overly rigid and possessive notion to favor a certain culture or construct.

God is unfathomable in His will and understanding- if there's one thing a lot of churches make the mistake of doing, it's consistently talking about Hell and who's going to it. God never taught us to obsess over Hell.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 7:21

"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." - John 6:38-40

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

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.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:14-18

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:9-13

We must believe. We are saved by grace through faith.

God bless.