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There are only two things "required to go to heaven":
Ah, so this faith that ebia talks about is just frosting on the cake? The important thing is love?
Ah, faith is just a prerequisite to meeting the requirements. That is quite different from the words of ebia, who says it is faith alone.
Again, that's a non-answerable question. What happens if a white thing is black. How can I trust someone yet not trust them.
Once you have personally met God "face-to-face" and experienced for yourself His Glory and Love, you cannot help but desire with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit to change and become what He makes it possible to become--His adopted child and Jesus Christ's brother/sister.
Am not God, but would imagine that depends on the person and the life He judges.doubtingmerle said:
Yes, God must be Just and Fair. Which means regardless of what path I am on, ultimately the Knowledge of whether it was a question of my will or Thy Will at the end of the journey makes all the difference.
Whatever I say is somewhat shorthand. Trust in Jesus .... includes trusting him to do stuff, like transform us.
Faith is much more than simply belief. Belief is an acceptance of something as a fact or truth. Faith is trusting someone - that requires belief but is a lot more than simply belief. As St James puts it, "even the demons believe..."
Natural languages have ambiguities. I can't do much about that except explain what I mean as clearly as I can to the questions you ask. I can't say everything in every post or they would be so long I would never stop writting them, let alone expect you to read them.
I'm certainly not trying to bob and weave, but some of your questions are such that a direct answer isn't possible. If one trusts Jesus (has faith in him) then he does transform you, so I can't answer the question - "what if he doesn't". It's like being asked "ok, if you step off the cliff but don't fall, what then?"
If you aren't trusting Christ then it isn't faith - it may be that you believe, but it's trust and faith that are near synonyms, not faith and belief.
Faith itself is a gift. But gift is simply a metaphor for trying to explain what is going on (not one I personally like much) - like all metaphors one can press it to the point of sillyness.
Use of the word required and heaven, both of which I've already mentioned
Issues with the word 'hell'. There is some truth, but the thing is written completely backwards.
We need to talk about faith or trust, not simply belief, and about resurrection, not just death.
About the closest option, if combined with a revamped version of the previous and the words "of your life" are removed. With those words it's much too individualistic and potentially private. The Judeo/Christian tradition is first and formost about communities, not individuals.
As the saviour. Not first and formost my saviour, but the saviour of all creation.
In the end, the only people who will be kept out of God's Kingdom are the people who don't want to be part of it; who refuse the putting-to-rights that is necessary to be part of it. Who won't put their trust in Jesus and his resurrection that is the anticipation of ours. A world put right cannot include people who aren't.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
