The Rapture goes “BAMF!”?! :eek:
I don’t claim to have it all figured out when it comes to this topic, but here is my thinking.
The Holy Spirit guides a person into truth of the scriptures regardless of whether it is the OT or the NT. There are many ‘types’ of Jesus (that is, symbolic pictures or representatives) in the OT, so I am not just writing off the OT. As for the Jews and Muslims, it is not a popular view, but I do not believe that they have a ‘true’ understanding of the OT.
I completely realize how arrogant and exclusionary that last sentence sounds. To claim that Jews, many of whom are taught to memorize significant portions of the OT, and Muslims, who can be extremely devout, do not understand the OT, sounds condescending and dismissive. However, I can’t resolve my understanding of the scriptures in any other manner. Christ spoke of the road to heaven being narrow, and the path to destruction being broad. I believe that Jews and Muslims are capable of going to heaven, but only by believing on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection and confessing their sins (i.e., just like everybody else).
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. It has been (and still is) a busy week.
Because it is.
To claim that Jews, many of whom are taught to memorize significant portions of the OT, and Muslims, who can be extremely devout, do not understand the OT, sounds condescending and dismissive.
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Becauise it is…it’s also ignorant.
In other words, Muslims and Jews can still go to heaven as long as they become Christians.
Hoe wonderfully this God of yours is. :rolleyes:
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. It has been (and still is) a busy week.
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:smack: D’oh!
My Dad got saved as a Baptist and then lost the faith, but the way he explains it, once you’re saved you can’t get unsaved. So, if you’re already right with Jesus, and the Rapture’s coming, I’d advise buying lots of stuff on credit. Preferably whores, drugs, and other things you probably can’t get in Heaven unless you’re a Muslim.
Revelation 21:27
Becauise it is…it’s also ignorant.
In other words, Muslims and Jews can still go to heaven as long as they become Christians.
Hoe wonderfully this God of yours is. :rolleyes:
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. It has been (and still is) a busy week.
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I guess that means God’s covenant with Abraham was false and He never intended to honor it? :eek: I have a problem with that just as you do. :rolleyes:
Revelation 21:27: “but nothing unclean shall enter, nor anyone whose ways are false or foul, but only those who are inscribed in the Lamb’s roll of the living.”
You know, I know some pretty unclean and foul Christians, and I know at least one pure and good Wiccan. If you’re going to cite verses, it might be a good idea to post what they say, or at least link to it.
Here’s a good website for doing that.
CJ
You ain’t just a-whistlin’ Dixie!
Frankly Diogenes, your opinion on my alleged ignorance of the Bible is totally meaningless. How do you propose Muslims and Jews will go to heaven? Keep in mind John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
It may sound ignorant to you, but we can’t all be right. When two or more “truths” collide, they can’t all be truths.
I apologize for not being clearer. I did not mean to imply this at all. I believe that Abraham went to Heaven (Paradise or Abraham’s bosom first, but you get my idea). I believe that faithful Jews went to Paradise upon death. I think that they believed on God’s faithfulness to His covenant, and on the promise of the Messiah. Though Abraham never heard the name of Jesus, He saw Him in the near-sacrifice of Isaac, and God’s provision of a sacrifice to take Isaac’s place. Certainly God’s covenant with the Jews will be honored. One of David’s seed will reign in Jerusalem forever. I believe that person to be Jesus Christ.
From the KJV, Revelation 3:3 says
If thou shalt not watch, I will come as a theif, and you will not know what hour I come upon thee.
So…if we DO watch, we WILL know when.
Interesting.
Anyway, the OP’s query has been answered.
It doesn’t say “watch,” it says gregoreses- “awake.”
This verse is from a letter to the Church at Sardis which was wealthy and had reputedly slid into hedonistic behaviors. The letter says to “remember what you have recieved” (the Gospel) and “repent.”
It then says, [symbol]Ean oun mh grhgorhshV[/symbol]
Sorry, I hit submit when I meant to hit preview. Anyway, it says [symbol]Ean oun mh grhgorhshV[/symbol] (“If you do not therefore awake” i.e. stop the partying and get back to the Gospel) “I will come like a thief in the night.”
It’s a warning to Sardis but in a more general sense, this is just a warning that you have to follow the Gospel at all times because you never know when you’re going to die.
That WAS cryptic, there.
I’m still waiting for the cite where it says we hang around on clouds in Heaven. 