OutNFree said:
(Quoting UnDisfellowshipped:) I am a pathetic sinner who deserves to burn in Hell for eternity. (End of Quote)
How sad!
Why do you think so little of yourself, UnDisfellowshipped? What have you done deserving of death by eternal burning? Been born human?
Did not God create you? Did you ASK to be born of sinful ancestors (Adam and Eve)? Did YOU have any control over that AT ALL???? No? Yet you think of yourself as a marred creation who is deserving of a death that even human parents wouldn't plan for their offspring!!!
Does the rest of creation grovel in this "I am not worthy" way? No? Because they are LOWER than humans, they don't have to worry about a worse fate?
If the punishment is more severe for humans because our forefathers (but not us) knew better, then (to borrow another poster's topic), just why DOES Satan get to survive Armageddon? Surely, being a fallen angel (angels being higher creatures than humans, right?), he deserves an even worse fate than fallen man? So -- is the abyss worse than eternal hellfire? And will you get to roam the heavens for millenia before you eventually get sent to hell?
Ohhhhh! But you're not going to hell. But I am. Because you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and me? I'm questioning all that I ever once took for granted.
One thing I'm sure of, however, there is NO WAY that you OR I "deserve to burn in hell for eternity."
outnfree (who went from the JWs to a born-again church and had the same *warning!* *warning!* bells go off as the hidden agenda came to light: control by fear, control by conformity, control by diminishing one's self-esteem)
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According to the Bible, every human being, in God's eyes, deserves to go to Hell as the punishment for their own individual sins, as well as for the inherited sins of Adam.
God has absolute Justice, absolute Wisdom, absolute Love, absolute Mercy, absolute Grace.
God is absolutely Sovereign.
Humans cannot even begin to understand all of the things God does.
I have complete faith, trust, and hope in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Since Jesus Christ saved me, I am a "New Creation" -- it is no longer I living, but Christ living in me.
Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
Even though, in the eyes of God, I was a pathetic sinner, God loved me so much that He died for me.
I will never judge whether another person is going to Hell or not.
JESUS is the Judge.
Romans 14:10-13: But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account concerning himself to God. Therefore let us no longer judge one another, but judge this rather, not to put a stumbling block or an offense before our brother.
I do not believe that the Devil is going to be having a party inside "The Abyss" for 1,000 years.
In fact, the Bible shows that "The Abyss" where Satan and the demons are going to for 1,000 years is a place of torment:
Luke 8:28-31: And seeing Jesus and crying out, he fell down before Him, and with a loud voice he said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For it had seized him at times, and he was bound, kept under guard, with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into him. And he kept imploring Him that He would not command them to go out into the Abyss.
Also, after the 1,000 years, the Devil is going to receive the most severe punishment imaginable inside of the Lake of Fire forever and ever.