OBJECTOR>> You Are a Heretical Pope Pronouncing Salvation Without Faith!
ME>> Just to be clear there will be no one in Heaven without faith in Christ or without love for God and mankind. Heaven is the eternal home of the glorified redeemed people of God. There will be no death, sin, mourning, crying, pain, or unbelief! Instead there will be life, perfection, joy, celebration, health, and unwavering trust. There will be unending love from God to us and from us to God and each other. There will be eternal praise and worship by every single inhabitant of Heaven for Jesus, our humble savior, King of Kings, God Almighty!
The confusion is simply this. Many have been led astray to believe that their choice of faith in Christ is the condition to God's unconditional love. Friends, faith is not the condition to God's love, but instead faith is trust in his unconditional love! Modern "evangelical" heresy has redefined "faith" to be the ticket to Heaven that you provide. This twisted gospel has taken the spotlight off of Christ and his gracious decision and focused it on man and our decision. The Scriptures proclaim that Christ will be exalted as the gracious savior of every individual and ALL mankind. Christ will be exalted, not human will!
Christian faith of course is a decision, but it is the decision trust that Christ loved us before we loved him, in fact while we hated God. It is the decision to believe that Christ chose to die on the cross in our place, even though we chose to crucify him. It is the decision to receive the gift of forgiveness already given, instead of begging for forgiveness. It is the decision to know that our eternal destiny is not in jeopardy or conditioned on our choices, but instead it is secure and guaranteed through the choice that Christ already made at the cross. It is the decision to know by faith that we were chosen for grace before the creation of the world. Our faith certainly did not cause that, but instead faith enables us to the see this good news. Faith, properly defined, is our decision to live a life trusting that Christ already gave us his eternal love at the cross. Our decision does not change God's heart for us, but it certainly does change our hearts for God. Have you made the decision to believe? I pray that you have! Friends, it is a simple decision, though no one will decide without the touch from the Holy Spirit.
And if you do trust Christ, then you must also see that Jesus also loves all mankind, even those who have not yet trusted him. Just as Christ loved you and guaranteed your destiny before you believed, so he also loves all mankind and has guaranteed their happy destiny. Faith never changed anyone's eternal destiny, but instead it changes our hearts and opens our eyes to see our wonderful destiny from God. Faith is not your personal ticket to Heaven, but instead faith is eyes opened to see our Heavenly Father's love and his eternal happy home given to all his people!
You still might accuse me of saying that Heaven is guaranteed even for the unbelieving. In my defense the Scriptures do say concerning the unbelieving, "For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, 'That you might be justified in your words, and might PREVAIL when you come into judgment' " (Romans 3:3-4 WEB) and also "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29 WEB). Even so, just to be clear my position properly stated is that ONLY believers will ever gain entrance to Heaven. It just happens I also believe it will be IMPOSSIBLE for even one human being to pass through the final judgment of Jesus Christ without an immediate wholehearted response of faith and worship. The Great White Throne Judgment will be the happiest surprise for the Sheep on Jesus' right. Read the account yourself in Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20:11-15.
Who are the Sheep on Jesus' right? Obviously they are not Christians! Christians would not evidence the surprise of these people over their salvation! Christians already believe and have confidence in our salvation through Jesus Christ. At this point in the story we Christians already had our joyful reunion with Christ raptured in the air! Do you think we will face doubt and judgment at the Great White Throne after that? Instead, Revelation 20:11-15 and Jude 6 make it plain that the wicked dead human beings are finally extracted from Hades and the imprisoned fallen angels held for judgment are extracted from Thalaasa to stand before the Great White Throne Judgment. The Sheep on Jesus' right are the wicked dead human beings, now finally with eyes opened to see their savior and receive grace. The Goats on Jesus' left, however, are the demons now finally sentenced to the Lake of Fire for The Ages of The Ages as explicitly stated in Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:10,15.
Furthermore, this is not a second chance salvation! Instead the gracious God of the Universe will one day determine that the time for mankind's unbelief, pain, and punishment is officially and finally over! Praise God! Presently, most of mankind creeps along through this life with eyes lifted no higher than the mud that we crawl through. However, on that Great Day the Lord of Glory will lay the earth bare, roll up the Universe like a tattered cloth, and empty even the depths of Hell itself. While unbelievers stumble like blind men now, there will be no veil between us and Christ on that day. Nor will there be any trace of unbelief among God's people standing in front of the Lord in all his Glory. Because of grace alone, Christ will read the roll call from the Book of Life and find the name of EVERY human being penned with the ink from his own veins and purchased from before the creation of the world. The God of all grace will be finally and fully revealed in blazing glory to ALL his chosen people, that is ALL mankind, and worshiped by ALL!
I am certainly not a Pope. However, you will have to decide whether it is heretical to believe that Jesus signed, sealed, and delivered salvation for ALL mankind at his cross when he breathed his last and said, "It is finished." Friends, you can believe now or believe then for there is no escape from the love of Jesus Christ and his victory!
