What are the real requirements to keep you out of hell?

I only ask because there are soo many different opinions on hell and takes on it, it just really hurts my faith thinking about it... mostly cause, I had this uncle. All my childhood, he was really cool, he would take me to movies and the arcade, always send my family gifts, he was very selfless and an overall good person, in 2002 we found out he had hiv, and cancer in his longs and heart, as this happened we found out that he was gay, because of this my grandfather refused to see his own son or lend him any money. I never knew he was gay(mostly due to ignorance). Growing up I was taught that gay people go to hell, yet i have met alot of gay people with strong christian values. I don't understand because, I really don't believe as most christians do that it is a choice because who would choose to live a life of pursecution and damnation. I got to a christian university so i know that God is a vengeful God at times and a God of Wrath, but why isn't being a good person enough?

by lend money he needed money for cancer drugs(really expensive btw) and he ran out of money and thats why he passed away, which ill nvr forgive my grandad for

There are a lot of areas in The Word of God that can be interpreted to mean that our salvation isn鈥檛 secure, but there are also verses like Eph 1:13-14, John 6:37, John 17:12 and John 10:29. I would like to take a look at these areas, and discuss the different ways that they can be interpreted. If we can loose our salvation, what exactly is it that can take it away. Can sin?

Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

From this in my understanding we are no longer governed by the law, so there is no more sin.

1Cr 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 1Cr 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

From this in my understanding nothing is sin to us anymore, but those things that were when we were without Christ are still harmful to us.

I was taught that salvation is free, but crowns are earned.

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Following Rom 7 is Rom 8:1 which says 鈥淸There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.鈥?br>
How about apostasy?

In my background I was taught how to look at this subject from only one side. I鈥檇 like to look at it from both sides, but I would like for those who study this with me to look at it from both sides as well.

Even if our salvation is secure, that doesn鈥檛 mean that we are free to live like hell. We have a job to do, and that is to bring God glory, and we are to do the best that we can at it. We don鈥檛 do it to keep our salvation, though. We do it because we love the Lord.

Beg forgivness, no matter what you did in your life and all is forgiven.....but live a good life and don't accept Jesus and off to hell you go.

Since hell is translated roughly as the grave, thats where we are all headed, no exceptions. Once there, it's the end. No
thing you can do about it. Just accept it

It is good enough. Your uncle is probably smiling at your growth.

Since your christian, remember what christ actually said on the subject instead of eveything else negative you've been told.

The only important requirement is that hell exists. As it doesn't the rest is moot.

Edit:
Sorry didn't read your full question. But seriously, "gayness" is found in many animals and is linked to genetics. This means not only do gay people have no choice but that evidently god made them that way and he made various other animals that way. This is obviously not the act of a loving god.

The point being is that the concept of "god" evolved through the years and many accept it just because. There is no evidence for any miracle in the Bible, and to a great extent, it is questionable that Jesus existed.

While I feel for your uncle and especially since his father rejected him, at least he is not in pain now.

I don't think I will ever understand people who abandon their mothers, sons, brothers, friends just because of the way they are born.

There are none. Hell as you know it doesn't exist. Dante invented the idea in his fictional work "The Inferno".

you've discovered a very hypocritical side of Christianity, you should really consider coming up with your own brand of faith that you can actually believe in without feeling terrible about yourself. My apologies about your uncle too, that's a terrible way to die. Rest assured, he's not in hell, I can promise you that.

Greetings to all

obedience to God will never fail...

Peace

no one can ever be a good enough person, because we all fall short of the glory of god, we all sin in one way or another, just being nice doesn't cut it, we can't work our way to heaven, the only way in is by accepting jesus as our savior, if your uncle was saved then he will go to heaven, god forgives his children of their sins, being gay is a sin, but still forgivable, just like every other sin, hat is why jesus had to die for us, so when god looks at our lives all he see' is his son's perfect life and nothing that we did wrong, jesus took it all for us, because he loves us. so the minute one gets saved, they leave all their sins at the cross, no matter how many times they sin, the sins are cleared, wiped clean as soon as we ask for forgiveness. god bless you, and remember, your uncle is only human, and we are all sinners.

You're trying to explain rampant, illogical hatred of gays, of whom they know nothing about nor care to learn, have no interest in the science of behavioral studies; they simply want to damn and hate at the same time professing a God of love and forgiveness (which is why it's a-ok to screw around before marriage).

Being utterly scared and confused is a good sign - it means your thinking for yourself and seeing total hypocrisy for what it is.

Be careful, you are on the verge of waking up from the delusion of Christianity and the lie that it is righteous. If you want to keep your faith, you must stop thinking and reasoning now or you will come to see it for what it really is, oppression and suppression of the natural human spirit. You will even come to realize that there are no minimum requirements to keep you out of hell because there is no hell.

Added note: If there is by some freak chance that such a place as hell should exist, I seriously believe that your Grandfather is in as much danger of its fires as anyone around for his unforgiveness and judgement of his son, which is not at all like what I'm sure he feels from his savior.

I believe in the Catholic religion the requirements are to live the laws of the ten commandments.

Christian University? That's your first mistake right there ... the girls don't "put out". And if they DO, you know they're evil ho's anyway. Catch 22!

But ... as others say ... I hate to bust your bubble, Junior, but there is no Heaven, or Hell, or God, or Devil, or anything. We are biochemical machines, the end result of tens of thousands of years of evolution and Darwinism.

No soul ... when we die, we just "cease to be." And that's not a bad thing. Does your college offer a course on Biological Anthropology? Of course not. That would raise too much doubt. But you should really seek out a class on this subject. You will be enlightened.

Wow, and that is why christianity scares me sometimes and why for the most part I have left it. However the beliefs I was taught as a child and continueing through high school (both were Catholic schools). We were taught people did not go to hell for their actions, rather they went to hell for not accepting Jesus and God, also they could go to hell for never asking for God's foregiveness and dying with sin.

Whether your uncle was a "good" person or not is irrelevant to his state of salvation. Whether he was gay or not is irrelevant to his salvation. The question that is relevant is this: Did he accept Jesus Christ as Lord and personal savior?

If the answer to the question is yes, then your uncle is in heaven. If the answer is no, then, sadly, he is in hell.

Despite what some may say, the issue of baptism, Lord's supper, works, deeds, actions, and so forth are completely separate from the issue of salvation.

Besides, no works or deeds can be considered "good" unless the person doing them has been saved.

If you read about the theif on the cross next to Jesus, you will see that he calls Jesus "Lord", indicating that he trusts in Jesus to save his eternal soul. Jesus told the theif that they would be together in Paradise.The theif died on the cross, but he never was baptized, never took Lord's Supper, never had any good works, etc.

In other words, it didn't matter to Jesus what the thief did before he accepted Jesus, and it didn't matter that he didn't do any good works after he accepted Jesus. All that mattered was that the theif called upon the Lord Jesus for his salvation.

That's all that matters for any of us.

take a fire insurance policy!!!

I'm going to tell you that I have had much confusion also on this subject. Please don't believe all the people here that tell you that Christianity is just bull and that no one is worth anything but millions of years of evolution and is nothing but dust of dead monkeys when they die. I DO believe that homosexuality is a choice. AND that is is choice that God does not advocate. But I do NOT believe that it is worse than many of the other sins that we all engage in. adultery, stealing, abuse etc. BUT, here is the thing, God does not condemn us for our sins if we accept the payment he made for them, ie: his son. THAT is the measureing stick. Imagine if you were a train controller , and you brought your son to work, and he wandered off onto a train track which a train was coming to. You would have to choose to route the train away from your son or let him be killed in order to save the hundreds of people on the train. Then imagine that you chose to save the people and let your son die for them, and they just glided along, like nothing ever happened. All you wouuld have to do is thank this man for letting his son die to save your life. But you wouldn't do it. I think that is sort of how it is with life. God knows that we are sinful beings. He sent his son to pay for our sins, and most people reject it. Your uncle may have been a wonderful person. Bu tGod is not unjust. He may very well have accepted God's gift and you just don't know abou tit. God would not send him to hell unless it was just. I know its hard to understand. But God made the people, made the way, gave the path, begged the people to follow and promised eternal life to those who did. Those who didn't take their chance. I guess we really won't know until we die.

I'm writing a book about hell entitled, "What the Hell? Simple Answers to Life's Most Burning Questions."

You can read about it on my blog. It should be released sometime in mid February.

But to the immediate need in your question.
The Bible says Homosexuality (as well as a number of other sexual behaviors) is a sin. Not my take, not my spin. It is what it is.

However, keep this in mind. ANY sin, big or little, keeps us separated from God. The good news? Jesus died in our place, so we don't have to. And no sin is too great that his blood doesn't cover it.
The rub is, your uncle needs to accept that sacrifice and let Jesus into his life.

He is suffering the temporal effects of the sin, which we all do. But, let's pray that it doesn't have eternal consequences, which it will if he doesn't accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Again, not my take, not my spin. It is what the bible says.

I'll be praying for both of you.

JC Masters

I imagine this must be a very difficult subject for you - I am so sorry that you went through this. I have seen others go through similar situations, and my thoughts and prayers really do go out to you. I have only begun to recently think about my own faith and Christianity as a whole. The Bible, as I understand it, tells us that we have to learn as much about the Bible as possible. That's what teaches us about our origins, our faith, our spirituality, morality, our values, mistakes to stay away from, and how we are supposed to act. As far as others go, I don't think we have the right nor the wisdom to say who goes to Hell or who doesn't. Only God has that knowledge and power, and we have no right to judge others ("Judge not lest ye be judged"). All we know is that we have to accept God as our Father. We have to know and appreciate Jesus dying for ALL of us so that our sins can be forgiven, and believe me,we ALL have sinned. The Bible says that just being a good person isn't enough - you have to study the Bible and learn - then we are able to expand our understanding of Him (there sure is a LOT to understand, too, I'm finding out!). God shows His wrath to the non believers, people who reject Him, and create forms of religion that are self serving (like this new age junk). Overall, God loves us-including your uncle who passed. Why else give your child knowing he will die for all of mankind? I would really consult someone to talk to about how you felt toward your grandfather, also. I'd feel angry, hurt, and confused, too. Also, very few people can spend a gazillion dollars on HIV drugs and still not have enough. It's very very expensive to treat (and manage) - no cure has been found as of yet, either. I have worked with patients with HIV, so I know firsthand. Find help in dealing with the family aspect of this (trust me, your situation is common). Then use the situation to consult with a minister, etc. to ask them about it. Consult with the Bible on forgiveness, judgement, and honesty. Then you will be armed with all the knowledge and peace you need to resolve the problem-maybe teaching your grandf. a thing or two about love, understanding, and peace. Don't doubt that God is carrying you, and don't doubt His existence. He is with you all the way! I'd like to know how you are doing-please keep me posted. Love to you, and best of luck.