Is it really a choice?

[Tavita]

One of the difficulties of this discussion is that there is a substantial grouping of Christians who don't believe in free will. Personally, I do not understand this view, but this is one of the responses that has shown up a number of times on this thread.

My belief is that God does give us free will, but that He also reveals Himself clearly enough that all people have an opportunity to choose to reject Him.

I would really like to know where the scriptures say we have freewill. I always thought our wills are bound in darkness until we are set free.

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

 

[Zecryphon]

I would really like to know where the scriptures say we have freewill. I always thought our wills are bound in darkness until we are set free.

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

We have no free-will choice when it comes to salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10 makes this clear. We are dead in our sins. How can a person who is spiritually dead in their sins, make a spiritual choice and choose God. Tavi, I'm not in disagreement with you on this so don't take this post as a debate post.

We are saved by God from beginning to end. The only thing we can do is reject God, because that's what the sinful nature, which is the nature we are born with and the only nature we are in possession of prior to regeneration, does, it rejects anything and everything of God.

This "choice" everyone thinks they are making is not really a choice at all. It is a response to the work of God through, perhaps an evangelist, preacher, the written word, etc, and the work of the Holy Spirit. By the time you have a "choice" to make you have already been given the gift of faith in Christ by God. Now you can respond in rejection of that gift because you still have your sinful nature or you can respond in repentance for your sins. But nobody actively chooses Christ or makes Christ their savior, or decides to let Christ into their life, all those are actions or roles that we would be playing in our salvation and Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that we do NOTHING to contribute to or attain our salvation. It is wholly God's work from beginning to end. Some people just can't accept that.

 

[Zebra1552]

We are told that God wanted us to choose to follow him, to believe in him and to obey him...Then we are told that if we dont we will go to hell. Doesnt really sound like a choice to me.

Do people still consciously choose hell?

Why then would it be called free choice and free will when there is a consequence to CHOOSING the other path?

Why do you say to a child, 'This is your first warning, if it happens again you get a 5 min. time out'? To discipline them. So they will not influence other children to hit other people. What happens when they do it again and again and again with complete disregard for the consequences? Let me answer that too- they get kicked out. They don't get to be a part of the school anymore because of how much they threaten its stability.

Its like saying to a kid, you can listen to the story if you want...but if you dont you will spend the rest of the week in detention.

Not really, that's a very poor analogy.

 

[Zebra1552]

I would really like to know where the scriptures say we have freewill. I always thought our wills are bound in darkness until we are set free.

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

It's found throughout the Bible- commands to repent, requests to have faith, admonitions to love others- all of these require that we choose to carry them out, otherwise it's useless to make such commands or requests. God doesn't strike me as the kind of person to talk to walls for no reason, you?

 

[Tavita]

We have no free-will choice when it comes to salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10 makes this clear. We are dead in our sins. How can a person who is spiritually dead in their sins, make a spiritual choice and choose God. Tavi, I'm not in disagreement with you on this so don't take this post as a debate post.

We are saved by God from beginning to end. The only thing we can do is reject God, because that's what the sinful nature, which is the nature we are born with and the only nature we are in possession of prior to regeneration, does, it rejects anything and everything of God.

This "choice" everyone thinks they are making is not really a choice at all. It is a response to the work of God through, perhaps an evangelist, preacher, the written word, etc, and the work of the Holy Spirit. By the time you have a "choice" to make you have already been given the gift of faith in Christ by God. Now you can respond in rejection of that gift because you still have your sinful nature or you can respond in repentance for your sins. But nobody actively chooses Christ or makes Christ their savior, or decides to let Christ into their life, all those are actions or roles that we would be playing in our salvation and Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that we do NOTHING to contribute to or attain our salvation. It is wholly God's work from beginning to end. Some people just can't accept that.

I totally agree with you!

 

[Tavita]

It's found throughout the Bible- commands to repent, requests to have faith, admonitions to love others- all of these require that we choose to carry them out, otherwise it's useless to make such commands or requests. God doesn't strike me as the kind of person to talk to walls for no reason, you?

Sure, we are called upon to carry out those 'requests', but if we had not initially been given the grace and faith to do so we couldn't carry those commands out. We are told to use what we've been given.

These verses show that until we are 'born again' or converted, whatever you want to call it our flesh is totally hostile to God and powerless to submit to God. So unless God 'chooses' us, we are not able to choose anything. He is the one who undergirds our response to Him, we are not able to respond to the call of His Spirit unless He gives that to us too. We do feel like we've made the decision, however He is the one who is molding our wills to conform to His will.

Rom 8:7 That is why the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God. For it refuses to submit to the authority of God's law because it is powerless to do so.
Rom 8:8 Indeed, those who are under the control of the flesh cannot please God.

Col 1:21 You who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
Col 1:22 he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body so that he might present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

 

[Zebra1552]

Sure, we are called upon to carry out those 'requests', but if we had not initially been given the grace and faith to do so we couldn't carry those commands out. We are told to use what we've been given.

And we can't do that without choice. Good job.

These verses show that until we are 'born again' or converted, whatever you want to call it our flesh is totally hostile to God and powerless to submit to God. So unless God 'chooses' us, we are not able to choose anything.

However, we are still able to choose. Everyone is given grace enough to respond. Romans 1:18-19.

He is the one who undergirds our response to Him, we are not able to respond to the call of His Spirit unless He gives that to us too. We do feel like we've made the decision, however He is the one who is molding our wills to conform to His will.

Rom 8:7 That is why the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God. For it refuses to submit to the authority of God's law because it is powerless to do so.
Rom 8:8 Indeed, those who are under the control of the flesh cannot please God.


Col 1:21 You who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
Col 1:22 he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body so that he might present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

Then prove to me that God made you type that.

 

[Tavita]

And we can't do that without choice. Good job.

Yes, we do have choices, but as far as salvation is concerned, do you really think God would put a decision like that into the sole hands of a dead in sins, blind, hostile mind?

The flesh just loves the idea of taking the credit for our salvation.

Then prove to me that God made you type that.

You're kidding... right?

 

[Nadiine]

We are told that God wanted us to choose to follow him, to believe in him and to obey him...Then we are told that if we dont we will go to hell. Doesnt really sound like a choice to me.

Why then would it be called free choice and free will when there is a consequence to CHOOSING the other path?

Its like saying to a kid, you can listen to the story if you want...but if you dont you will spend the rest of the week in detention.

good question,

but yes it IS a choice and I'll tell you why,
you see the majority of the world choosing to reject Christ and
His truth when they DO know about hell and the lake of fire as
a consequence of living in unrepented sin.

IF it weren't a choice and everyone who was told they'de be
punished for it ran to Jesus Christ out of fear, then you'de have
a much better position for this assertion.

But they DO know about hell, they DO know about sin. . . and
what do they do? They reject Christianity anyways.
So clearly it IS a choice.
They also choose to believe that they're "good" and not the "evil"
folks God talks about... they instead compare themselves to
monsters like Hitler or Bin Laden & Charles Manson; "as long as
I dont commit mass murder and ruin people, I'm a good person"

Even knowing what they know, they still live in rebellion.
So clearly it IS a choice - they've been told and they choose
to believe something else instead.

 

[Nadiine]

here's an example too -
a parent tells their child that if they don't do their chores, they'll
be grounded for 2 whole years.

So the child decides to go out w/ their friends & not do them despite
their warning. The parent punishes them for 2 years.

Was that choice? Yes. It's a penalty/consequence of their
disobedience - the harshness of it is not the issue.
The principle is.

 

[Nadiine]

We have no free-will choice when it comes to salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10 makes this clear. We are dead in our sins. How can a person who is spiritually dead in their sins, make a spiritual choice and choose God. Tavi, I'm not in disagreement with you on this so don't take this post as a debate post.

We are saved by God from beginning to end. The only thing we can do is reject God, because that's what the sinful nature, which is the nature we are born with and the only nature we are in possession of prior to regeneration, does, it rejects anything and everything of God.

This "choice" everyone thinks they are making is not really a choice at all. It is a response to the work of God through, perhaps an evangelist, preacher, the written word, etc, and the work of the Holy Spirit. By the time you have a "choice" to make you have already been given the gift of faith in Christ by God. Now you can respond in rejection of that gift because you still have your sinful nature or you can respond in repentance for your sins. But nobody actively chooses Christ or makes Christ their savior, or decides to let Christ into their life, all those are actions or roles that we would be playing in our salvation and Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that we do NOTHING to contribute to or attain our salvation. It is wholly God's work from beginning to end. Some people just can't accept that.

Yes it is and I agree - but this usually leads people to think you're
Calvinist (which starts a whole new discussion on
calvinism), so I don't usually use that type of reply at first.

But when people know the consequences and don't do what God
commands, being punished for it isn't lack of choice,
it's simply a consequence of failure to do what you should have.

I also think God has gone out of His way to provide the way to
eternal life for us - and has gotten His message out to the masses.
Why is it His fault if we refuse to heed His warnings?

 

[one11]

good question,

but yes it IS a choice and I'll tell you why,
you see the majority of the world choosing to reject Christ and
His truth when they DO know about hell and the lake of fire as
a consequence of living in unrepented sin.

IF it weren't a choice and everyone who was told they'de be
punished for it ran to Jesus Christ out of fear, then you'de have
a much better position for this assertion.

But they DO know about hell, they DO know about sin. . . and
what do they do? They reject Christianity anyways.
So clearly it IS a choice.
They also choose to believe that they're "good" and not the "evil"
folks God talks about... they instead compare themselves to
monsters like Hitler or Bin Laden & Charles Manson; "as long as
I dont commit mass murder and ruin people, I'm a good person"

Even knowing what they know, they still live in rebellion.
So clearly it IS a choice - they've been told and they choose
to believe something else instead.

I think some of the above happen because of people trying to conform to the world view instead of God's view. God's view is a narrow view and there truly are not that many things asked of us by God.

I also think the problem with a lot of Christian's today is the internet. Too much spurious information people are believing and believing without checking the Bible to see if the internet info is true or not.

Next, to an outsider looking in Christianity, we as a church body are not in unity, and many people may come to the conclusion that Christianity is too difficult to understand or follow, or that Christians aren't even in harmony over what some scriptures mean so they get turned off by what some have coined as "churchanity".

Churchanity doesn't work, imo, but Christianity (following Christ and loving God and loving people) isn't that hard to understand. The difference being perhaps is that we Christians say we cannot love purely and totally our brethren without the power of the Holy Spirit which is our helper, while the world says we can be totally and completely loving to all people on our own. But, I'd have to disagree. The Christian way is about being loving even when our flesh wages war against the spirit of truth and this is why we have to die to our flesh daily.

Therefore, I say it's a choice every day to follow Christ while asking the Holy Spirit for help.

Another point, I think people want God to love us unconditionally and this is where the rebellion sets in. People are taking too much freedom to test this unconditional love of God. Unconditional love is there from God, but when we hurt people or ourselves, we are being disciplined just as people pointed out between parent and child. A parent loves unconditionally, but not when hurt is involved. When hurt is involved, a parent still loves the child, but punishes the behavior.

Sorry if I'm rambling I'm trying to get my thoughts clear on this but can't quite put my finger on it regarding people testing God because of this need for unconditional love.

 

[Nadiine]

Next, to an outsider looking in Christianity, we as a church body are not in unity, and many people may come to the conclusion that Christianity is too difficult to understand or follow, or that Christians aren't even in harmony over what some scriptures mean so they get turned off by what some have coined as "churchanity".

I actually think Christians are in alot of unity - I personally believe
the problem is people hijacking Christianity while they reject the
central and basic fundamentals of what Christianity is.

That's why nonChristians look at us as not in unity.
NonChristians claim Christianity - so Christians go on the attack
to keep the integrity of the definition of a Christian / faith.

I think there's unity, what's lacking is LOVE for the brethren.
People are more concerned about being right and having their
ego's stroked, that they'll wrong a brother or sister and sit
& nit pick on minor issues that don't need division.

There's doctrinal unity, but when you stick a microscope onto minor
subjects and demand that everyone agree with you in EVERY
SINGLE MINUTE DETAIL or else they need a baseball bat
upside their head, you'll see friction.

God help us to grasp this sad truth of what's going on in the
body of Christ.

Churchanity doesn't work, imo, but Christianity (following Christ and loving God and loving people) isn't that hard to understand. The difference being perhaps is that we Christians say we cannot love purely and totally our brethren without the power of the Holy Spirit which is our helper, while the world says we can be totally and completely loving to all people on our own. But, I'd have to disagree. The Christian way is about being loving even when our flesh wages war against the spirit of truth and this is why we have to die to our flesh daily.

And it's quite possible that some or many who claim Christ, yet
tear the family of God apart aren't of the Holy Spirit.
I HOPE it's just a matter of them being immature and carnal rather
than not saved at all.

This is one religion that makes it a hobby to go to war with their own.

If only we'd major on the majors and stop majoring on the minors.

Therefore, I say it's a choice every day to follow Christ while asking the Holy Spirit for help.

yep.

Another point, I think people want God to love us unconditionally and this is where the rebellion sets in. People are taking too much freedom to test this unconditional love of God. Unconditional love is there from God, but when we hurt people or ourselves, we are being disciplined just as people pointed out between parent and child. A parent loves unconditionally, but not when hurt is involved. When hurt is involved, a parent still loves the child, but punishes the behavior.

This goes back to antinomianism: God loves me just as I am, no
matter what I say or do.
It's apparent to me that those people aren't even convicted of
their sin to repent - that shows me that they completely lack the
Holy Spirit. Or they have seared their consciences to be able to
shut out the Spirit's conviction entirely.

 

[dcipher]

We are told that God wanted us to choose to follow him, to believe in him and to obey him...Then we are told that if we dont we will go to hell. Doesnt really sound like a choice to me.

Why then would it be called free choice and free will when there is a consequence to CHOOSING the other path?

Its like saying to a kid, you can listen to the story if you want...but if you dont you will spend the rest of the week in detention.

[FONT=&quot]I can understand where your coming from because I sue to ask myself the same question. However I was also very angry at that point in my life and was looking to poke holes in the ideology of relationship with God and Jesus. I believe its fair to say that people tend to not want to acknowledge there own ignorance because we approach life in our own eyes as educated and logical individuals but we are still growing up spiritually. Just like when you were a child you did not understand why you were restricted from certain behaviors and actions but looking back you realize you had no clue of what to do without guidance. In my opinion the only the only action that will get you to Hell is your continued denial of Christ and God not your mistakes of bad decisions sporadically. I believe God looks at your “light” and your heart for judgment and it is easy to see when you made a mistake and hurt someone’s feelings and had the best intentions. If I can see these things and forgive my loved ones than I am sure God and Jesus allows that insight for good reason. [/FONT]

 

[Nadiine]

[FONT=&quot]I can understand where your coming from because I sue to ask myself the same question. However I was also very angry at that point in my life and was looking to poke holes in the ideology of relationship with God and Jesus. I believe its fair to say that people tend to not want to acknowledge there own ignorance because we approach life in our own eyes as educated and logical individuals but we are still growing up spiritually. Just like when you were a child you did not understand why you were restricted from certain behaviors and actions but looking back you realize you had no clue of what to do without guidance. In my opinion the only the only action that will get you to Hell is your continued denial of Christ and God not your mistakes of bad decisions sporadically. I believe God looks at your “light” and your heart for judgment and it is easy to see when you made a mistake and hurt someone’s feelings and had the best intentions. If I can see these things and forgive my loved ones than I am sure God and Jesus allows that insight for good reason. [/FONT]

Yes but this would tend to assume that works don't show evidence of the faith tho. (as James was relaying).

Someone living in defiance of God's teachings isn't following Jesus; they're
following Satan or self or both however people want to argue rebellion.

It's very possible someone who is saved can fall into a backslidden
condition and over time God will be able to work them back into
repentance & obedience -
but it's also very possible that some who claim salvation while they
live in chronic sin and have no conviction of it (and most importantly
who exhibit false beliefs that goes along w/ it), aren't a Christian
at all.

In the end, it's a very scary place to be; I lived that way for at least
13 years and it was miserable. To this day I don't know if I was
actually a Christian, but I did live under constant, heavy conviction.
I'm thankful that I didn't continue that way.

I think the most miserable people are true Christians who are living in sin
for a season.

 

[Zebra1552]

Yes, we do have choices, but as far as salvation is concerned, do you really think God would put a decision like that into the sole hands of a dead in sins, blind, hostile mind?

Not entirely in our hands, no, but it is still our responsibility and it's responsibility enough to be condemned by.

The flesh just loves the idea of taking the credit for our salvation.

And the Spirit loves the idea of weak people?

You're kidding... right?

No. I'm dead serious. If you think there's no choice whatsoever, then prove it. Show me.

 

[Tavita]

Not entirely in our hands, no, but it is still our responsibility and it's responsibility enough to be condemned by.

And the Spirit loves the idea of weak people?



No. I'm dead serious. If you think there's no choice whatsoever, then prove it. Show me.

Rom 3:11 No one understands. No one searches for God.

Joh 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him to life on the last day.

Rom 11:32 For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Pro 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

 

[daydreamergurl15]

Not at all. I do believe that Jesus is the only way -- I do not reject orthodoxy in that particular regard. However, I believe that we are judged not on our works, but on our faith. I believe that it is possible to have faith in Jesus without ever having heard His name, and I do not believe that salvation comes from some specific formulaic prayer or religious observance. Rather, it comes from faith, which is a decision to make God (the one True God, as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ) the priority of our life. My belief is that, if a person is truly seeking and following Truth to the best of their ability, based upon the information and resources that are available to that person, then God will honor that, even if the result is that that person ends up on a spiritual path that is quite different from Christianity, just like He honors sincere Christians who buy into some of the garbage that is sold at many Christian churches.

John 14:15
If you love Me, keep My commandments

John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Christ asked that if we love Him then we will keep His commandments and that is what Christianity is, the teachings and commandments of Christ and those striving to follow Him.


You cannot get to heaven by your own works. Christ has already done the work us you by dying on the cross for our sins. He is perfect and His blood is perfect and it is by coming to Him that we are then reconciled back to God. Biblically, there is no where that says that God will honor those who have a sincere heart but does not do the will of the father. On the contrary it says this:

Matthew 7:20-28

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,

Sincerity does not get you into Heaven, Christ blood has done that and we have to come to Him by:
Hearing to gain faith (Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.)

Believing and baptizing subsequently confession and repentance is tied in the verses (Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned, John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.; Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and Romans 10:8-10 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.)

And by living obediently until death (Revelations 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.) And all the while, you will stumble and sin but do not fear for when we repent to Him, Christ blood will cleanse us from sin. (1 John 1:17 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.)


And if someone knows Christ but choose to "follow" Him by going a different path where His teachings is not included (and I mean all of His teachings not the idea that some principles are the same) and He did not command, then they have denied Christ, for they are not keeping His commandments.

 

[Zecryphon]

Yes it is and I agree - but this usually leads people to think you're
Calvinist (which starts a whole new discussion on
calvinism), so I don't usually use that type of reply at first.

But when people know the consequences and don't do what God
commands, being punished for it isn't lack of choice,
it's simply a consequence of failure to do what you should have.

I also think God has gone out of His way to provide the way to
eternal life for us - and has gotten His message out to the masses.
Why is it His fault if we refuse to heed His warnings?

How can you agree when earlier in this thread you said it IS a choice? You can't have it both ways, either it is a choice or it isn't. I say it isn't. The impression I got from that post was that you believe it's a choice to reject God's grace. Remember, by the time you have a "choice" to make, which you never really do, God has already acted in your life and given you the gift of faith. You have only one nature prior to regeneration, the sinful nature. And all the sinful nature knows how to do is reject the things of God. So there is no choice when someone rejects, all they're doing is acting from the one nature.

As far as people thinking I'm promoting Calvinism, that's because most people think there's only two schools of thought on this whole salvation thing, Calvinism and Arminianism. They forget that Luther preceded Calvin and was teaching that there is no choice before Calvin ever came onto the scene. Plus if anyone ever accuses a Lutheran of being a Calvinist, they need to do some research into what the Lutherans believe, teach and confess.

 

[daydreamergurl15]

Buddhism and Christianity do have a similar ideal in mind, but a much different idea as to how that ideal is realized. Nirvana is the cessation of suffering, Eternal life as understood in the Christian faith (the Bible says nothing about believers "going to heaven," but rather says that God will make His dwelling among men) is also the cessation of suffering. In the sense, they are quite similar. Buddhism, however, accepts as a given that existence is suffering and that the only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate existence. Being a non-theistic religion, this makes sense and rings true in the sense that, without an understanding of a personal and perfect God who intervenes in human affairs, the only way to cease suffering would be to cease existing. Certainly, this is quite different from Christian teaching, but like in most world religions, it reflects elements of the Truth.

John 14:2-6
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 6:53-55
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

John 10:27-29
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Heaven is where God dwells. The bible speaks of Christ coming again to take us home (He is from Heaven). Eternal life and crown of life both speaks of being with God forever but not on earth (for earth will be destroyed by fire). We are told countless times do not store for ourselves treasures on earth but store for ourselves treasures in Heaven.

Matthew 25:31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I am probably doing a poor job at connecting these verses, I just want to show you that the bible does say that the believers will go to heaven and that that eternal life is not merely the "cessation of suffering". There are tons more verse that connects it, but I'm not all here this morning.

By the way, I wanted to say that I do not know enough about Buddhism to try and have a long conversation with you, but I know Christianity and I am trying to showcase the passages in scripture because some of the things you said about scripture is not correct. And the reason why I am not answering your post all at once (even though it was not directed towards me, I just saw some things said that was not correct) is because I think some of your points requires a lot more than just one long post that would be too hard to read.