22Jul/1114
How is it considered free will if the alternative to following your god is hell?
The free will argument totally baffles me.
That's not FREE anything. That's terrorizing people not only in this life but the next. You always have a choice??? What choice is that?
So in other words slaves have free will. They have two choices obey their master or be beaten or killed.
July 22nd, 2011 - 05:56
You have free will to jump off a cliff and fall a thousand feet or stay away from the edge. Which will you choose?
July 22nd, 2011 - 06:19
It’s not — in legal circles, it’s what’s known as “duress”, and it can get you acquitted of crimes up to and including murder…
July 22nd, 2011 - 06:36
It’s free will if they’re are no punishments but since punishment is involved it’s no longer “free will”. If you use fear to force people listen to love you than you’re a terrorist but if you let them decide rather they love you or not than it’s free will.
July 22nd, 2011 - 07:03
It’s only considered free will by those who don’t have any.
July 22nd, 2011 - 07:34
Destruction is the inevitable consequence of living wrong, is it not something God “does” to anybody.
July 22nd, 2011 - 08:24
That is not free will.Some people consider it as free will because they just can’t see what is wrong and what is right.
July 22nd, 2011 - 09:06
Simple: do you want to follow God (choice one) or go to Hell (choice two)
Simple counting. Honestly, I’m starting to worry about this nation…
July 22nd, 2011 - 09:09
We live in a free country. Our options are obey the laws of this country or go to jail.
God gives us free will. Our options are do what God says to do to get saved or go to hell.
Would you say you don’t have freedom in this country? If not, how can you hypocritically say God does not give you freedom?
July 22nd, 2011 - 09:37
When ridiculous religious dogma runs smack into logical fallacies and contradiction, irrational conclusions are passed on the followers. These followers are told not to question the dogma under risk of eternal damnation.
It take a person without fear of death to point these fallacies out to them.
July 22nd, 2011 - 10:19
To begin with, think about this: Do you appreciate having the freedom to choose what you will do and say, what you will eat and wear, what kind of work you will do, and where and how you will live? Or would you want someone to dictate your every word and action every moment of your life?
No normal person wants his life taken out of his control so completely. Why not? Because of the way God made us. The Bible tells us that God created man in his ‘image and likeness,’ and one of the faculties God himself has is freedom of choice. (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 7:6) When he created humans, he gave them that same wonderful faculty—the gift of free will. That is one reason why we find it frustrating to be enslaved by oppressive rulers.
So the desire for freedom is no accident, for God is a God of freedom. The Bible says: “Where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) Hence, God gave us free will as part of our very makeup. Since he knew the way our minds and emotions would work, he knew that we would be happiest with free will.
To go with the gift of free will, God gave us the ability to think, weigh matters, make decisions, and know right from wrong. (Hebrews 5:14) Thus, free will was to be based on intelligent choice. We were not made like mindless robots having no will of their own. Nor were we created to act out of instinct as were the animals. Instead, our marvelous brain was designed to work in harmony with our freedom of choice.
July 22nd, 2011 - 11:10
If I don’t believe in obama do I go to prison? Common since goes a long way. To bad many humans in this day have lost it. Their sheep led to the slaughter because they are blinded by the spirit of sin. Jesus is the gate keeper. A man reaps what he sews. If you worship Pagan Gods you will suffer along with the NWO. The Holy spirit has been given to those who receive christ. It is the seal of the living God. I would except it if I were you. It is the spirit of God Almighty / the counselor!
July 22nd, 2011 - 11:12
Of course you have a choice. You either choose to accept God’s pardon and avoid hell or refuse God’s pardon and jump into the fire. If there is a third alternative, I’m not aware of it. Are you?
What good will it do you to complain? Or charge God with being unfair? Did you create the Universe? You are a mere spec in the cosmos. So am I. And yet God loves us both so much that He paid the ultimate price for your sins and mine. It’s a price we couldn’t pay ourselves.
Now God is saying trust me and I’ll take full responsibility for your eternal future. But He won’t force you. If you deny Him He’ll simply allow you to take full responsibility for your own eternal future. That’s fair, isn’t it?
In the end I’ll get exactly what I want which is to be with my Lord forever. And you’ll get exactly what you want which is to be apart from God forever. What’s to complain about?
The only one who loses out is God because it’s His desire that all come to repentance.
Take a few minutes and listen to this mp3: http://gracethrufaith.com/gift-shop/mp3-the-incomparable-richness-of-his-grace/ I hope you’ll gain a better understanding of what’s really going on.
July 22nd, 2011 - 12:01
I totally understand your confusion. First take the matter of free will. This government is a land of freedom. But that freedom has limits. There are laws. We can choose to obey or disobey those laws.But there are consequences if we disobey. The same applies to the free will God created us with. If we don’t obey God’s laws there are consequences.
As for torment in a hellfire, Jesus said there would be false teachings and that is one of them. Please consider the following scriptures that prove there is no such Bible teaching. Hell is the common grave of humankind. All those in hell will be resurrected (brought back to life ). Revelation 20:13 says: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and DEATH AND HELL DELIVERED UP THE DEAD which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” And then the following verses informs us that “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Notice that hell and death are to be destroyed in the lake of fire – this shows that the lake of fire SYMBOLIZES eternal destruction.
So there is NO place of torment for the dead. Who else but God knows the truth about what happens after we die? Only He can reveal this information, and He has done so in his written Word, the Bible.
Here is what the Bible says: “As the [beast] dies, so the [man] dies; and they all have but one spirit . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust—to nonexistence—when they die.
In order to be tormented, an individual has to be conscious. The Bible says, “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all – - – - – .” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It is impossible for the dead, “conscious of nothing at all,” to experience the agonies of a hellfire. God’s Word does not say that such a place exists. When a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”—Psalm 146:4.
Our holy God punishes sinners, but he does not torture them. And when sinners repent, he forgives them. What is the punishment for sin? The Bible gives a forthright answer: “The wages sin pays is death.” Romans 6:23
We cease to exist when we die. But that does not mean that everything is finished. Jesus said: “The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.”—John 5:28, 29.
And Acts 24:15 says, “- – - there is going to be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous”. So even those who did bad things because they had not come to know the righteous standards of God , will be brought back to life to be given that opportunity. What a just and merciful God!
When will the resurrection begin? According to the Bible, very soon. Bible prophecy indicates that in 1914 this world entered into its “last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1) In what many call ‘the end of the world,’ God will very shortly remove wickedness and establish a new world under heavenly rulership.—Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Revelation 16:14.
The result will be a paradise covering the whole earth and inhabited by those who have sincerely tried to serve God. Wicked people will not burn in hellfire, but they will have no place in the coming Paradise. At Psalm 37:10, 11, we read: “The wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”
That is God’s promise. The Bible says: “I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”—Revelation 21:3, 4. God’s word always comes true. (Isaiah 55:11)
I hope this has helped a little. dorcus@juno.com
July 22nd, 2011 - 12:50
Cartoons don’t portray hell very accurately, just so you know.
Hell is separation from God. Heaven is eternal unity. That is all.