RE: To those who believe in Heaven and hell
November 8, 2013 at 4:47 pm
(This post was last modified: November 8, 2013 at 4:47 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
In Heaven time is not experienced by duration nor is space understood by extension. Both change in accordance with our spiritual state. Time reflects the measure of our delight in goodness and truth. It is similar to how, in earthly existence, you can feel outside of time while in the flow of an activity you love.
Your spiritual body will have all the features it had during your earthly existence, including sex. In the spiritual world your appearance will perfectly reflect your spiritual character. There can be no pretense. Thus, the righteous in their glorified state will appear beautiful in accordance with their purified thoughts and loves. The wicked will appear gross and deformed by their filthy compulsions and obsessions.
The time you have on earth and how you use it does indeed determine your ultimate fate. You really should not consider this a timed entrance exam. You are provided as much time as you need to prepare yourself for eternity, which is really just an extension of your earthly existence. You just become more and more of the person that you are based on the choices you have made. In orthodox terms, this is what it means to “profess with your mouth…and believe in your heart…” Profession of faith is calling on the name of Jesus Christ. Believing in your heart means action according to that conviction.
If you believe in and love the Lord, refrain from evils as sins, and love your neighbor like yourself you will be allowed to continue doing so in the spiritual world. That is Heaven. If you reject the Lord, either by disbelief or defiance, and love yourself and the world, the Lord will allow you to continue along this path of your own free will. That is Hell.
Will you meet God? In Heaven, the Lord is its sun. He is the Light and Warmth within which you live. To the extent that you love the Lord, you are in His warmth and to the extent that you are in His truth, you are in His light. This is similar to your earthly experiences. You feel spiritual warmth from pure and chaste love and you experience a sense of enlightenment when you understand the truth. It is not like this for the wicked, even here on earth. They burn in the unquenchable fire of their own lust and love to live in the darkness of the false beliefs that justify their evil desires.
I take minor exception to Godschild. There is marriage in Heaven, but it is not like earthly marriage. That is what the Lord meant when he said, “Angels in heaven do not marry nor are they given in marriage,.” in reply to the Sadducees. Their minds thought in earthly terms and could not understand that marriage in Heaven is spiritual. References to spiritual marriage are found throughout Scripture: (the Spirit and the bride, the bride of the lamb, the parable comparison of the Lord with a bridegroom, etc.)
Your spiritual body will have all the features it had during your earthly existence, including sex. In the spiritual world your appearance will perfectly reflect your spiritual character. There can be no pretense. Thus, the righteous in their glorified state will appear beautiful in accordance with their purified thoughts and loves. The wicked will appear gross and deformed by their filthy compulsions and obsessions.
The time you have on earth and how you use it does indeed determine your ultimate fate. You really should not consider this a timed entrance exam. You are provided as much time as you need to prepare yourself for eternity, which is really just an extension of your earthly existence. You just become more and more of the person that you are based on the choices you have made. In orthodox terms, this is what it means to “profess with your mouth…and believe in your heart…” Profession of faith is calling on the name of Jesus Christ. Believing in your heart means action according to that conviction.
If you believe in and love the Lord, refrain from evils as sins, and love your neighbor like yourself you will be allowed to continue doing so in the spiritual world. That is Heaven. If you reject the Lord, either by disbelief or defiance, and love yourself and the world, the Lord will allow you to continue along this path of your own free will. That is Hell.
Will you meet God? In Heaven, the Lord is its sun. He is the Light and Warmth within which you live. To the extent that you love the Lord, you are in His warmth and to the extent that you are in His truth, you are in His light. This is similar to your earthly experiences. You feel spiritual warmth from pure and chaste love and you experience a sense of enlightenment when you understand the truth. It is not like this for the wicked, even here on earth. They burn in the unquenchable fire of their own lust and love to live in the darkness of the false beliefs that justify their evil desires.
I take minor exception to Godschild. There is marriage in Heaven, but it is not like earthly marriage. That is what the Lord meant when he said, “Angels in heaven do not marry nor are they given in marriage,.” in reply to the Sadducees. Their minds thought in earthly terms and could not understand that marriage in Heaven is spiritual. References to spiritual marriage are found throughout Scripture: (the Spirit and the bride, the bride of the lamb, the parable comparison of the Lord with a bridegroom, etc.)
