Something that has been bothering me...

[angelofmusicfan]

The more I've embraced Christianity, I've realized how it has changed my life and how I should live everything in my life to God's glory. One problem for me that has arisen out of this is that I excessively worry about people who might be going to hell. I know I can't really know if they're going to hell and should not judge them anyways. But everytime I hear someone I know saying Oh my G--! or someone I know lying or someone I know doing something else all these thoughts fill my mind. I usually first think this isn't what they're supposed to be doing. Then (I know this will sound awful of me) I think are they going to hell? If they were Christians they wouldn't be doing these things would they? Once again, I know I shouldn't judge others but I get so worried. I also know that if you believe in Jesus and love him you will have your sins forgotten. But this brings me back to the question if they loved Jesus wouldn't they try to change? I've had this problem for a while and it has begun to make me increasingly sad to the point where I can hardly bear it any longer. I don't know how God wants me to embrace these thoughts and I don't know what to do. Are there any scriptures on this topic?

I hope this post was not too confusing. All replies are greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

 

[God_follower]

Pray to God, Also... read Romans 7, its a lil confusing but its basicaly Paul saying, hey i screw up.. so everyone messes up sometime or the other, thats why Jesus gave us the ability to repent. To turn back to God, because although we shouldnt do some things that doent always stop us from doing them. Then we have to repent later. I havent met a perfect Christian yet. although i know a few who are getting close. Hope i have helped

God bless

 

[Aningat]

cross-preacher.com

 

[WashedClean]

Hey angelofmusicfan

Praise God that he drew you back to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit!

I know how you feel. I'm around non-believers constantly and I'm married to one. I carry a burden for the lost like you wouldn't believe. This is a good thing in some ways because you will have compassion for others. Don't get obsessive about it though. God doesn't hold you responsible for their salvation. Just pray for them that God would open their eyes to the truth that can set them free in Christ!

 

[ceedaisy]

It is good you have compassion for those who are not saved. And yes if you love Jesus you should try to change. I have had these same thoughts you have. I don't believe you are judging people when they are lying or saying the wrong thing. You are caring for their eternal salvation. You are not condeming them, you feel sorry for them. Two different things. And I do believe that we are responsible as Brothers and Sisters in Christ to those who are unsaved. If God brings someone into your life who does not know Jesus as their personal savior, and the opportunity feels right in your heart to share with them the Good News then do so. But if they don't feel convicted to accept Jesus, there is nothing more you can do but pray. You did your witnessing and tried. They did not have the ears to hear you or God. That is when the responsibilty stops. Maybe your calling is to be friends with other teens and through after school activities or hanging out you can share God's love. I bet you have great ability to do this and you certainly are filled with enough love to do so!!

 

[Honibee]

Hi Angelofmusicfan,

Your heart for the lost is a precious thing. Not too long ago,
when I had the same burdens you have, a portion of scripture
really helped me. Jesus said this, 'All that the Father has given
Me will come to Me; and whosoever comes to Me, I will in no
wise cast out.'

I saw in those words, Jesus' trust of His Father. The invitation
for salvation is for ALL people. But the focus for US is the
merciful heart of God, to trust Him, as Jesus did. The very sad
reality is that not all people will come to know God. While we
work with those who we see responding to God's love, we can
know God is drawing others, those who seem alittle resistant.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sketcher]

You have compassion that I wish I had.

 

[njcl]

LOL..going to hell because you lie...........sheesh every person ever born must be heading there then...........as for your problem,your concern over people being thrown into the fiery depths of hell,be assured that place is reserved for the wicked of the wicked,sub humans,beasts who have no natural compassion,blasphemers of christ and obedient to satan and his demonic works............dont really sound like your friends im thinking.......peace

 

[Tenorvoice]

as for your problem,your concern over people being thrown into the fiery depths of hell,be assured that place is reserved for the wicked of the wicked,sub humans,beasts who have no natural compassion,blasphemers of christ and obedient to satan and his demonic works............dont really sound like your friends im thinking.......peace

Can you Chapter and verse that for me???

I ask you to read Matthew 25:31-46 this is Jesus speaking here:

MT 25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

MT 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are 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 something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 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, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 " The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

MT 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 "Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Jesus is called the Shepard and we as Christians are called His sheep or His flock. So in this passage Jesus is refering to the saved and the lost.

If you notice you have two groups here the sheep and the goats. THe Saved people are the sheep, and the lost are the goats. What happens to the sheep, they are shown the way into Heaven. What happens to the goats...incase you missed it here it is again:

MT 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 "Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

But as for the OP you have a very comassionate heart my dear I wish that more people (including myself) had more of that same heart. I hope and pray that you never loose that, and that no one ever tries to shuff out your flame from sharing the message of Hope that you have for them.

Show them you love for them, and when they ask you why you act the way that you do or why you love them the way that you do. Tell them it is because of your Lord Jesus Christ that you are able to do this.

In His Name

 

[Simonline]

The more I've embraced Christianity, I've realized how it has changed my life and how I should live everything in my life to God's glory. One problem for me that has arisen out of this is that I excessively worry about people who might be going to hell. I know I can't really know if they're going to hell and should not judge them anyways. But everytime I hear someone I know saying Oh my G--! or someone I know lying or someone I know doing something else all these thoughts fill my mind. I usually first think this isn't what they're supposed to be doing. Then (I know this will sound awful of me) I think are they going to hell? If they were Christians they wouldn't be doing these things would they? Once again, I know I shouldn't judge others but I get so worried. I also know that if you believe in Jesus and love him you will have your sins forgotten. But this brings me back to the question if they loved Jesus wouldn't they try to change? I've had this problem for a while and it has begun to make me increasingly sad to the point where I can hardly bear it any longer. I don't know how God wants me to embrace these thoughts and I don't know what to do. Are there any scriptures on this topic?

I hope this post was not too confusing. All replies are greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

Hi, welcome to the Father heart of God. What you are experiencing has, for centuries, motivated Christians to make a difference in their world by how they live and the proclamation of the gospel. What you are experiencing is how God really feels about sin. Sadly, many older Christians have become extremely complacent about sin and as a result have become inefective in their ministries (every Christian has a ministry of some sort). As a Church we have very much stopped being salt and light to the world. Thought there are some notable exceptions. many Christians are really not much different to the non-Christians around them, except that they have a religious veneer over all that they are and all that they do. This is not the same as being transformed and subsequently constantly renewed from within.

Many Christians were initially transformed but sadly are nolonger constantly renewed from within. As a result they continue to wear the Christian 'shell' but inside revert back to the 'old man', the fight to live by the Spirit getting weaker and weaker until finally, it dies altogether. They have reverted back to being 'dead in their trespasses and sins'.

You however are still being lead by the Spirit of God as evidenced by your heartache for the lost. This is often the primary motivation for those whom God calls to be Evangelists. If you've never considered your calling as a Christian then this might be a good time and area to start?

Don't let the fire go out. Always feed it and starve the sinful nature.

Every blessing in Christ (Eph.1:3)

Simonline.

 

[Simonline]

as for your problem,your concern over people being thrown into the fiery depths of hell,be assured that place is reserved for the wicked of the wicked,sub humans,beasts who have no natural compassion,blasphemers of christ and obedient to satan and his demonic works............dont really sound like your friends im thinking.......peace

Can you Chapter and verse that for me???

No. Because it isn't Scriptural. The everlasting Lake of Fire is reserved not only for people who are 'wicked' but for those who are ['good'] sinners but who refuse to repent of their sin and enter into living faith in God through the Messiah or to maintain the relationship they have already.

This is not limited to the human 'dregs' of society by any stretch of the imagination, indeed it will also include many 'good' people including lapsed believers who do not go on living by faith in the living God.

Unlike evil, which is relative, sin is absolute and only those who are Perfect are not sinners and therefore have nothing to fear from the everlasting Lake of Fire (Jn.3:23; 6:23(a)). As far as I am aware, only the Messiah fits into this category?!

See the book: The Road To Hell by David Pawson, available online from www.anchor-recordings.com (UK) and www.Goodseed.org (USA) or from your local Christian bookstore or public lending library.

Simonline.