Questions Regarding Christianity

[SmEaGoL!]

1) Since I became Christian, I have always learnt that you become a Christian when you accept Christ into your life as Saviour and Lord. I have been wondering about those who die at birth or die extremely young. Those people have not had a chance to know God or Christ. What happens to those souls?

This leads to the other point of those who grow older but are not subjected to the Bible and God. For example, those in 3rd World countries. How does God view those people, whether they have lived a Christian-like life or not?

2) Much easier Q - I'm just not sure because I'm a fairly new christian. How does one know when God want's them to do something, and also in the other context of me asking God what to do and awaiting for a decision from God. The thing is I hear a lot about not relying on feelings and such, so what do I base it on? Also, I do pray and ask for God's decision/preparation for me to my question, but how am I to know His choice for me?

For example, if I have an upcoming event, and have a vital decision regarding this event, and I ask God for His voice and to leave it in His hands - how am I to receive his words? and as the event is occuring, how do I make on the spot decisions if I said to God I have left this whole thing in His hands and willy rely totally on Him? (I have been unsuccessful in this field).

3) This 3rd Q is sorta related to my first Q.

Two people. One has accepted Christ but then leads are villainous and malicious life for around 50 years (say he has killed many people and has gone to jail etc) and has come back to Christ very late in his life, a few years before their death. Whereas another person having no interaction with Christianity, let alone say any religion close to it at all during their whole life, leads a humble, giving and loving life, and in the end, dies without any hint of God or Christ? Does the first person go to heaven and the second to hell? I don't understand this one.

4) I am hearing all the time that God has everything planned for you. Does this mean that he planned your birth? - say you are born with brain damage, is this planned by God? How are you to accept Christ if you don't have the ability to comprehend this type of complexity, altough it was planned by God for you to be born this way.

Also, this lead to another question I have had on my mind. I went to this MYC this year and it was mainly focued on the word 'Eternity'. I learnt that there is no time frame for God and that He is everywhere in time at the same time. i.e as we are here in this time length, God is everywhere before and after this time length and all the time. Basically time is only a human term and God is eternal. Hope that makes sense. This goes back to the point of God planning your life. How does God plan your life if He knows what is going to happen?

My main question is how do we have free will and yet God is everywhere all the time and knows what is going to happen, and has planned certain things way before we were even born?

Thanks.

 

[SarcasmDispenser]

I'll do my best to answer your question, but I'm sure there are more qualified people to do so on this forum. Again, just my opinion regarding what I've been taught.

1. I don't think God sends anyone to hell, if they haven't gotten the chance. That's part of our responsibility here is to spread His word, giving people the chance to hear the Gospel, and make an informed decision.

2. Read the Bible and if it is appliable to the situation apply it. Otherwise, you pray and seek counsel from God, and God will show you an answer. You have to keep your eyes open, and remember that God answers prayers, but not always in the way you expect. Act under your best judgement, "WWJD". ( I know, an overused commercial phrase... but still, a good one.)

3. You have to remember, Christianity is a religion based on forgiveness. We are not saved by good works, but by grace and grace alone. A life of good deeds doesn't get you to heaven, faith in Jesus does. Otherwise God would have to be a cruel and harsh one, having a cut-off line that sends people "just below the bar" to Hell.

4. Time does not apply to God, He is, was, and always will be. He knows what is going to happen, so therefore he has a plan for our life. This is a long, philosophical issue that's been done many times over in "General Apologetics", you should look for a similar topic.

hope i helped some!
-wbs

 

[SmEaGoL!]

Thanks for your reply mate. I will try and look further into them sometime.

 

[Christ's Minister]

You are asking very logical questions of people who have some false beliefs.

The purpose of our worldly existance is to test our faith and loyality to see if we are worthy of eternal life.That's where "free will" comes in,God wants us to make our own decisions;that's part of the moral test of life.Those who think that God is just pushing us around on a big chess board according to His plan,do not have a good explanation for the purpose of life and the reason why so many satanic problems keep hitting us.If we were just toys God is playing with,He long ago would have thrown Satan out of His game because He has no tolerance for people who hate Him.Satan remains an active player in our world because so many people follow his teachings.Want proof?Read the newspaper.God very seldom interfears in our lives and makes decisions for us.If you keep asking God what to do,you won't score well on His test.God wants us to become wise moral agents capable of making our own decisions.Ocassionally God does give people instructions.If that happens to you will know it's God who has contacted you because of the emotional impact His communication has on us.So,if you're not sure if you've heard from God,you haven't.God makes His presence known.This is a huge problem in some people's lives.Frequently people have told me they THINK God led them to do something.Often what they FEEL they are led to do,violates biblical teachings.Guess who made them THINK and FEEL?

The Bible describes quite specifically how the salvation process will work.In brief these are the steps:1.The rapture will take a rather small number of saintly people to heaven to avoid the seven year period of tribulation 2.Jesus will return to earth to establish a 1000 year kingdom bringing back with Him the people who now have received seven years of heaven training and they will join the very small number of people left on earth who made it through the period of tribulation with their Christian loyality and faith intact 3.Near the end of the 1000 year kingdom,the Judgement or trial will be held.Everyone except a small number of people who were sent directly to hell after death,will be judged by Jesus and their eternal fate determined.Those who have lived basically moral lives and are willing to accept Jesus as their Savior,even if they did not do so before death,will receive salvation.So don't worry about the large percentage of people who have no idea who Jesus Christ is,He will treat them with love,mercy and justice.Jesus is the Son of the almighty God,do not sell his goodness short!But here is the other side of that coin;those who have been taught His ways of love,peace and forgiveness and yet have devoted their lives to hate,war and retaliation will be judged harshly because God has next to zero tolerance for hypocrites.

 

[rogsr]

There are no definitive answers on this one my friend. This question has plagued the wisest of men of thousands of years.

Right now, at this point in my life, I look at the relationship between free will and God's providence in the following way.

God sets plans for us, but it is our choice to accept them; if we don't follow them God nudges us until we do, or we reach the end of our lives.

Someone I know was once lost in despair. They asked me, with great sorrow, that if there is a God why do children suffer and starve to death in various parts of the world. Now, at first a question like this can cause some serious problems, until you realize the profound faith that God has for us, in that, God's gift to us is providing the world with it's daily bread, yet it is up to us to spread it around. We, God's children, fail at this and so many children die of starvation.

You asked about the child with deformity. I say, what is stopping us from taking care of that child and loving that child for their entire life? Nothing. Yet, if that child suffers we are quick to judge God. Why do we do that when it is our own decision to hold back love from that child.

This is where contempt for the world comes into play. When you see that the world is full of and run by greedy vipers that hoard everyones daily bread, and then make us pay for what is already ours you will then see that the world is a carcass. The ways of the world, not God's creation but rather the creation of man, are prideful, envious, lustful, hateful, gluttonous, greedy, and lazy ways. So, you must come to terms with the fact that God has given us all free will so that we can freely work together with Him, yet the great majority does not. This is not an easy lesson to learn, but it is very important. This realization brings you into a greater understanding of being "in the world but not of the world." Jesus, in saying this, acknowledged that the world, man's world, was evil, yet it is the only world available for us to live in, so therefore we must strive to break away from it spritually while still living within it physically. This is an even harder lesson, but if you can master these then the world is not worthy of you.

-Peace-

 

[SmEaGoL!]

God sets plans for us, but it is our choice to accept them; if we don't follow them God nudges us until we do, or we reach the end of our lives.

You asked about the child with deformity. I say, what is stopping us from taking care of that child and loving that child for their entire life? Nothing. Yet, if that child suffers we are quick to judge God. Why do we do that when it is our own decision to hold back love from that child.

Thanks for the replies. With the first paragraph I quoted here, my question is still not on the same lines as the explanations. My main questions was: we have free will, yet God plans things in our lives - yes we can either take them on or not - but God is everywhere all the time and he ultimately knows what is going to happen - that is the part which does not fit with any explanation I have heard. You says he nudges IF we don't, but God already knows if we do or do not, and in a sense, he canno 'nudge' us AND wait for OUR action as he knows what will occur already - in a sense, the future cannot be changed to God (remember he is there already as well though - everywhere in time) and hence God cannot really 'wait' for our decision. One cannot give another person legitimate choices if they know what choice the other person is going to make - they are not coherent. I hope I am making sense here.

This paradox is very confusing. The Bible tells stories in time, e.g God knew long long ago that Jesus would be born and that he would die on the cross to pay for the sins of man - so why did he create man if he knew they were going to be so foul and others like you descrived. And the stories of Moses and others, where God decides their paths along their journey and along the way in the Bible. How does God decide along a human's life if they have free will, and God knows that he will decide Moses certain things? There is this huge paradox between free will, God deciding certain things in certain people's lives, and God knowing all that will happen already - and all the time.

Regarding your second paragraph, God knows that the child will be born with the disability right? In my example, I said the child had severe brain damage. Was it God who decided that the child will be born with disabilities, or was it by chance? If it was by chance, then the child could be born any way right? - with or without disabilities. But if there was free will there would be chance, and if there was chance, the future could vary distinctly. So in a sense we don't have free will as God knows what will occur and hence there is only one distince future and path.

 

[SarcasmDispenser]

I always asked this question, and one time someone gave me this answer , I hope it helps. You are a newly wed and you and your partner decide to have a child. Now, even though this child is bound to screw up, you would still have the child anyways. You love them and want them to be able to make their own decisions, God created man because he wanted to have a relationship.

 

[rogsr]

The Bible tells stories in time, e.g God knew long long ago that Jesus would be born and that he would die on the cross to pay for the sins of man - so why did he create man if he knew they were going to be so foul and others like you descrived.

If you read scriptures, particularly the books of the prophets, you learn that God created man like a farmer plants crops. Some crops do not grow, but some grow tall and bear fruit. It seems to me that God would be happy with the results of creation even if only one of us grew to bear fruit. Yet, many of us grow into beautiful vines which bear much fruit for God....out of our free will.

My main questions was: we have free will, yet God plans things in our lives - yes we can either take them on or not - but God is everywhere all the time and he ultimately knows what is going to happen - that is the part which does not fit with any explanation I have heard. You says he nudges IF we don't, but God already knows if we do or do not, and in a sense, he canno 'nudge' us AND wait for OUR action as he knows what will occur already - in a sense, the future cannot be changed to God (remember he is there already as well though - everywhere in time) and hence God cannot really 'wait' for our decision. One cannot give another person legitimate choices if they know what choice the other person is going to make - they are not coherent. I hope I am making sense here.

God allows our free will out of His grace, it is His desire to see us grow and bear fruit that we have absolute freedom to make choices. Secondly, you will save yourself a very long period of turmoil in doubt by realizing the, as scripture states, "His Mind is not our mind..." We cannot know what or why God does things, because the Father is not a man, He is an all powerful, divine being; and though we were created in His image and likeness we are neither all powerful, nor divine in the sense that God is all powerful and divine.

As I also struggled for a long long time with these same doubts/questions I will tell you that Jesus told His apolstle Thomas something at the end of St. John's gospel that fixes this problem. He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." At first we are forced, in a way, to believe without knowing for sure, but if you continue to seek you will find. No human being on earth can answer these questions in any definitive way for you my friend, so in order to hold you faith together I urge to look beyond these paradoxical concepts and find God in your soul, and find Him acting in your life. Then you will know, without fully understanding. You see, one day God was talking with Moses, and Moses wanted to know God's Name. What Moses really wanted was proof, to take back to his people. God did not give him his proof, He told him, "I AM WHO I AM." In other words, we can find Him in the realm of reality, but can not understand Him.

I sincerely hope that you will find God in your soul.

-Peace-

 

[SmEaGoL!]

God allows our free will out of His grace, it is His desire to see us grow and bear fruit that we have absolute freedom to make choices. Secondly, you will save yourself a very long period of turmoil in doubt by realizing the, as scripture states, "His Mind is not our mind..." We cannot know what or why God does things, because the Father is not a man, He is an all powerful, divine being; and though we were created in His image and likeness we are neither all powerful, nor divine in the sense that God is all powerful and divine.

As I also struggled for a long long time with these same doubts/questions I will tell you that Jesus told His apolstle Thomas something at the end of St. John's gospel that fixes this problem. He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." At first we are forced, in a way, to believe without knowing for sure, but if you continue to seek you will find. No human being on earth can answer these questions in any definitive way for you my friend, so in order to hold you faith together I urge to look beyond these paradoxical concepts and find God in your soul, and find Him acting in your life. Then you will know, without fully understanding. You see, one day God was talking with Moses, and Moses wanted to know God's Name. What Moses really wanted was proof, to take back to his people. God did not give him his proof, He told him, "I AM WHO I AM." In other words, we can find Him in the realm of reality, but can not understand Him.

I sincerely hope that you will find God in your soul.

-Peace-

Thanks for replies. A lot of people give me answers of some things are unfathomable to humans and only God will know, and we should leave it at that. And a lot of questions end up being this answer. I have tried to comply with this answer but find it extremely hard. I still wonder at these questions and ponder the proper explanaions. Thanks for sharing your thoughts though.

 

[frost]

Hello SmEaGoL! You ask some good questions.

4) I am hearing all the time that God has everything planned for you. Does this mean that he planned your birth? - say you are born with brain damage, is this planned by God?

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Ephesians 1:4-6
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

How are you to accept Christ if you don't have the ability to comprehend this type of complexity, altough it was planned by God for you to be born this way.

John 6:37-39
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Blessings...

 

[SmEaGoL!]

Hello SmEaGoL! You ask some good questions.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Ephesians 1:4-6
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

[/color][/size][/font][/color][/size][/font]

John 6:37-39
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Blessings...

Thanks a lot for the bible verses.