(February 1, 2016 at 2:21 pm)Nihilist Virus Wrote:(February 1, 2016 at 1:40 pm)Lek Wrote: Pascal's wager is irrelevant. It's true that you can't make yourself believe in Christ. That belief comes from God to a person who is open to it. Also, we don't follow Christ simply because we want to go to heaven, but because we believe he is the son of God, and as such we belong to him. Even if there was no heaven we would still be bound to follow him. Jesus spoke sparingly of hell and the writers of the new testament never preached "fire and brimstone". If a person professes christianity simply to avoid hell, I would seriously doubt that he is a true believer.
No one on this thread seems to have read the OP, but since the rest are atheists it hardly applies to them. As a Christian, I think you need to answer to the twist on Pascal's wager as I outlined in the OP.
Okay. There is no set amount of works that one must do to 100% guarantee admission into heaven. We're saved because we accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for us because no amount of works will get us into heaven. One who has faith in Christ will do good works because he is a follower of Christ and also loves his neighbor. One who doesn't do any works is obviously not a follower of Christ. Also, one can do all the good works he wants, but if he denies Christ then he won't enter heaven. We don't need to give away everything we have. That was Jesus' command to the "rich young man" because his riches were keeping him from giving himself over to God. He walked walked away sad because he loved his riches. What we are required to do is acknowledge that everything we have belongs to God and to use our wealth to serve God and his creation. Part of that purpose is to take care of ourselves and our families and also to care for those in need. Do most of us keep too much for ourselves? Yes, even when we try not to. That's why we need Christ for our salvation - because we'd never make it otherwise.
