I'm *BEYOND* Terrified of Going to Hell; Please Help!!!!

[Temirlan]

I'm SOOOOO sorry if this is in the wrong category. I just didn't know where to put this. But this is an urgent, super serious need of help!

For years I've been terrified of going to hell.

I believe 110% with ALL my heart that God exists. I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I have a Bible that I love dearly and take THE BEST CARE of it as I can. It has NO rips or any harm to it WHATSOEVER and I've had it for years!

I don't pray often, which I know i should. Should I start lpraying every morning and night?

I don't believe in the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah and such, but I do try my VERY HARDEST to believe in it. I just can't seem too. I respect EVERY story in the BIble fully, but I can't force myself to believe it. I mean, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but the other stories... I just can't.

Does God understand that I'm trying my hardest to believe everything?

I do absolutely NO wrong. I've never hurt anyone in my WHOLE life with words or anything; my hands have never touched a person harmfully. I always help homeless people when I see them. I respect everybody. I never express hatred.

I just want God to know that I love Him more than anything. I have never once put anyone BEFORE Him.

I suffer from severe depression, severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts on a daily basis. Practically every second. The only reason why I haven't killed myself is that's going against God and I would never do that! I respect God and I would never throw away what He blessed me with. Even if I struggle everyday.

But I'm still SO terrified of going to hell. Can someone help me with knowing for sure that I'll go to Heaven? Because I want to be with God. I want to be with my family that has passed.

Please don't tell me to go to church. I REALLY REALLY would LOVE to, but with my severe anxiety, I don't want to have anxiety attacks there and ruin the whole thing. That would be disrespectful to God. (I've trie deverything to cure my anxiety FOR YEARS AND YEARS. Please don't give me any ideas on curing it, as I've tried everything and I've given up.)

Thank you.

If a loving God exists, He will not send anybody to hell. Hell-condemning God is like sweet grandmother torturing kittens. Impossible!

 

[JIMINZ]

If a loving God exists, He will not send anybody to hell. Hell-condemning God is like sweet grandmother torturing kittens. Impossible!

The Loving God and Creator of the Universe does in fact LIVE.

"WE" are the ones who send ourselves to Hell, for not accepting His Son Jesus the Christ, for the Forgiveness of sins, and by so doing, become reconciled to God.

 

[Temirlan]

The Loving God and Creator of the Universe does in fact LIVE.

"WE" are the ones who send ourselves to Hell, for not accepting His Son Jesus the Christ, for the Forgiveness of sins, and by so doing, become reconciled to God.

No. God sends to hell, according to Christianity. I don't think a loving supreme being would do smth like that. It's like a doctor euthanizing patients instead of treating them, terrible.

 

[JIMINZ]

No. God sends to hell, according to Christianity. I don't think a loving supreme being would do smth like that. It's like a doctor euthanizing patients instead of treating them, terrible.

And, just what is the reason God is the one who sends people to Hell?
Do you have a particular verse of Scripture to back up that belief, such as this?

Mat. 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:

 

[JackRT]

If a loving God exists, He will not send anybody to hell. Hell-condemning God is like sweet grandmother torturing kittens. Impossible!

As human beings we are bounded in both time and place. That is to say, we are finite. On the other hand we think of God as completely unbounded. God exists outside of both time and space. God is present everywhere and at all times. That is to say, God is infinite. This is the orthodox theistic understanding of God. To compare the finite to the infinite is beyond our human comprehension. Even to compare a grain of sand to Mount Everest falls far, far, far short. All of this brings up a number of questions in my mind.

The first question being “How is it even possible for a finite creature to offend an infinite God?” Could a grain of sand offend Mount Everest?

The second question being “Even if it were possible for the finite to offend the infinite, would the infinite punishment of a finite creature be just?” I will attempt to craft an analogy. You are in a park enjoying a picnic lunch when you glance down and notice an ant crawling across your sandwich. You are offended. How do you react? You have a number of options. You could ignore the ant. You could brush the ant away. You could move to a different location. You could kill the ant. You could kill the entire ant colony. You could capture the ant and confine it and proceed to torture it for several weeks until it finally dies. That last option is quite inadequate as a comparison to hell because hell is infinite in duration whereas the ant can only be tortured for a finite length of time.

To me the concept of hell flies in the face of any concept of a just and compassionate God. Hell would seem to be an entirely human invention based on a vindictive concept of retributory justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of hell. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of God. I completely reject the concept of hell as it is traditionally understood in most Christian churches.
When most modern Christians think of hell, they, without thinking,almost always have Dante's lurid medieval fiction in mind.

Hell is never mentioned in the Bible --- no, not even once. Sheole, Gehenna and Hades are but none of them carry the freight of hell. Hell is not a Biblical doctrine but rather is a conflation of all the understandings above.

 

[rockytopva]

I Say! Once the soul drops out of the body there is no returning to it! And....

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

If you be led away in error you do so at your own destruction.

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. - 2 Peter 3

 

[rockytopva]

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! - Isaiah 14:12

Lucifer - heylel in the Hebrew (light bearer) from halal - Or to shine
***Note as this is a Hebrew word it is not a king of Babylon

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. - Revelation 12:3-4

I believe that before the big bang there were three sets of Arch-Angels....

1. Michael - Over strong angels
2. Gabriel - Over wise angels
3. Lucifer -Over worshiping angels

Lucifer was the angelic name... The names devil and Satan came after the fall, along with their evil connotations. We can know the ways of Lucifer by examining his ways on earth. If you look into the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil you can see a lot of ways manifest by the lyrics of the song, including, "Just as every cop is a criminal And all the sinners saints As heads is tails Just call me Lucifer 'Cause I'm in need of some restraint."

In reading over the true story behind the movie "The Exorcist" I find the Catholic priest stating this to the demonic forces...

Priests: In the name of the one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I order you to depart and worship the Holiest Virgin. In the name of the Holiest Virgin and in the name of Jesus… I order you to leave! In the name of the one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I order you to worship the Holiest Virgin.

The Voice: No.

Priests: You didn’t want to submit to the Heavens, but you had to. To the One God in three Persons, the Holiest Virgin, the Holy Angels, and to Michael the Archangel. Withdraw… In the name of the one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Notice that the priest brought Michael the Archangel into the situation. Michael's third are greater in power than Lucifers third.

There was a powerful and drawn out sigh and then silence afterwards. As this process endured, at the end was finally Lucifer, and he was the last one left. When he was asked why he was there, his response was “Because I wanted to reign. To be the only creature on Earth. I didn’t want to serve anyone.” At the end, he stammered and stuttered through the “Hail Mary” like those before him, and he too left Anneliese. - from The Entire Case History of Anneliese Michel – The REAL “Emily Rose”. [Warning: Shocking Content]

In the story of the Exorcist we also find Lucifer's reason for the rebellion, in his own words, "I did not want to serve anymore."

We humans were created to replace the vacated heavens left by Lucifer and his third of the angels. Heaven is ours to gain, or ours to loose.

 

[rockytopva]

If you want to test these words you will soon do so....

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 13:41-42

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 13:49-50

 

[JackRT]

[

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! - Isaiah 14:12

Lucifer - heylel in the Hebrew (light bearer) from halal - Or to shine
***Note as this is a Hebrew word it is not a king of Babylon

You make the mistake of quoting out of context. Here is the full context:

Isaiah

3 On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage,
4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury [1] has ended!
5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression.
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.
8 Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, "Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to cut us down."
9 The grave [2] below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you-- all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones-- all those who were kings over the nations.
10 They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. [3]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
15 But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land and killed your people. The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities.
22 "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares the LORD.
23 "I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD Almighty.
24 The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.
25 I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders."

The passage clearly refers to the King of Babylon.

 

[rockytopva]

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. - Hebrews 9:27-28

 

[JIMINZ]

No. God sends to hell, according to Christianity. I don't think a loving supreme being would do smth like that. It's like a doctor euthanizing patients instead of treating them, terrible.

And, just what is the reason God sends people to Hell?

 

[JIMINZ]

As human beings we are bounded in both time and place. That is to say, we are finite. On the other hand we think of God as completely unbounded. God exists outside of both time and space. God is present everywhere and at all times. That is to say, God is infinite. This is the orthodox theistic understanding of God. To compare the finite to the infinite is beyond our human comprehension. Even to compare a grain of sand to Mount Everest falls far, far, far short. All of this brings up a number of questions in my mind.

The first question being “How is it even possible for a finite creature to offend an infinite God?” Could a grain of sand offend Mount Everest?

The second question being “Even if it were possible for the finite to offend the infinite, would the infinite punishment of a finite creature be just?” I will attempt to craft an analogy. You are in a park enjoying a picnic lunch when you glance down and notice an ant crawling across your sandwich. You are offended. How do you react? You have a number of options. You could ignore the ant. You could brush the ant away. You could move to a different location. You could kill the ant. You could kill the entire ant colony. You could capture the ant and confine it and proceed to torture it for several weeks until it finally dies. That last option is quite inadequate as a comparison to hell because hell is infinite in duration whereas the ant can only be tortured for a finite length of time.

To me the concept of hell flies in the face of any concept of a just and compassionate God. Hell would seem to be an entirely human invention based on a vindictive concept of retributory justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of hell. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of God. I completely reject the concept of hell as it is traditionally understood in most Christian churches.
When most modern Christians think of hell, they, without thinking,almost always have Dante's lurid medieval fiction in mind.

Hell is never mentioned in the Bible --- no, not even once. Sheole, Gehenna and Hades are but none of them carry the freight of hell. Hell is not a Biblical doctrine but rather is a conflation of all the understandings above.

You have made the same mistake most people do, HELL is not a place of Torment, it's a place of separation.

What everyone equates as the place of Torment is actually "The Lake Of Fire"

Re. 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

You can call it Sheole, Gehenna, Hades, or even Hell for that matter, we all understand these words are speaking of the same place, if you insist on making some distinction between Hell and the other three words describing the same place, then you are just splitting hairs, and your point is moot.

HELL:
GREEK
G86
ᾅδης
hadēs
hah'-dace
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell.

The following word (Ghehennah) = (Hell) is probably used because, it is understood, it will end up in The Lake Of Fire, where there will be the gnashing of teeth.

HELL:
GREEK
G1067
γέεννα
geenna
gheh'-en-nah
Of Hebrew origin ([H1516] and [H2011]); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment: - hell.

Now we see WHY a person is in Hell and ultimately The Lake Of Fire.
So it is understood, Sin does not send someone to Hell, it is Un-Belief which condemns a man.

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

2 Pet. 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

2 Pet. 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

 

[Temirlan]

And, just what is the reason God is the one who sends people to Hell?

I don't know exactly. Seems to be either bad deeds or unbeleif, depending on part of the Bible.

 

[JIMINZ]

I don't know exactly. Seems to be either bad deeds or unbeleif, depending on part of the Bible.

Lets make it simple then.

What bad deeds?
How many bad deeds?
Are some bad deeds worse than others and would only require 1 where other bad deeds aren't as bad and would take 10?

 

[JIMINZ]

I don't know exactly. Seems to be either bad deeds or unbeleif, depending on part of the Bible.

Would this verse clarify it more?
Mar 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Where is sin in either of those statements?

 

[Temirlan]

Would this verse clarify it more?
Mar 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Where is sin in either of those statements?

"for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."

“You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."

Etc etc etc

 

[JIMINZ]

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Jesus was making a very specific point with this parable.
Who actually are the (Least of these) spoken of in this Parable?
What is it that makes them so important to Jesus?

 

[Lukaris]

The Lord says that those who have done good will be saved & those who were evil will not. See: John 5:22-30 (note an earlier revelation in Daniel 12:1-4).

For Christians we are saved by grace unto good works. See: Ephesians 2:8-10

For the non Christian God will judge them as to how their conscience led them to good or evil. see Romans 2

The Lord said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. See John 14:15-18, Matthew 6:1-14, Matthew 19:16-19, Matthew 7:1-12, Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 13:8-10 etc.

Christians are called to commitment in living our faith or we will be cast off ( Matthew 24:45-51, Romans 11:22 etc.).

While the non Christian faces greater peril, that person can still be saved as the Lord judges their works ( Revelation 20:11-15 etc. ).

The prophet Ezekiel noted the uncertainty of our fate according to our works ( Ezekiel 33:12-20).

 

[JIMINZ]

The Lord says that those who have done good will be saved & those who were evil will not. See: John 5:22-30 (note an earlier revelation in Daniel 12:1-4).

For Christians we are saved by grace unto good works. See: Ephesians 2:8-10

For the non Christian God will judge them as to how their conscience led them to good or evil. see Romans 2

The Lord said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. See John 14:15-18, Matthew 6:1-14, Matthew 19:16-19, Matthew 7:1-12, Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 13:8-10 etc.

Christians are called to commitment in living our faith or we will be cast off ( Matthew 24:45-51, Romans 11:22 etc.).

While the non Christian faces greater peril, that person can still be saved as the Lord judges their works ( Revelation 20:11-15 etc. ).

The prophet Ezekiel noted the uncertainty of our fate according to our works ( Ezekiel 33:12-20).

So what your saying is, what we do is what determines our Salvation, not what Jesus did for us?

 

[JIMINZ]

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Who actually are the (Least of these) spoken of in this Parable?
What is it that makes them so important to Jesus?