Do Non-Christians go to Heaven?
Christianity - 06
The short answer is yes, they do. Christians, Buddhists, even atheists, all go to Heaven. Everybody.
I know, I know, I am well aware that conventional thinking says that the one and ONLY way to Heaven is through the grace of Jesus, and the Bible reveals that truth to us. But the Bible also says that when Jesus died on the Cross, the work of salvation was completed, and we cannot add anything to His perfection.
Many Christian authorities will tell us that in order for us to benefit from Jesus’s sacrifice, we must “accept Him as our Savior.” That, however, would mean that we would have to do something to complete Jesus’s work, which as we already said, is impossible. The work of salvation is already complete, and we cannot add anything to it.
Now wait just a minute here, someone might say, are you saying that you can reject Jesus and still go to heaven?
Not at all. That’s why I said the SHORT answer is yes. The short answer is that Jesus died on the Cross to save all of humanity—everyone, no exceptions. We cannot do anything to be saved, because we already are saved. Indeed, we cannot even lose our Salvation, even if we sin.
The Bible does say, however, that we can reject our salvation. That may sound like the same thing as losing it, but there is a difference, and the Bible tells us what that difference is.
There are two unforgivable sins that can condemn someone to eternal Hell. They are, one, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and two, taking the mark of the beast. My reading of the Bible has convinced me that both of these are the exact same sin, just different ways of describing it.
Is this unforgivable sin a loop-hole? Is this an exception to the rule that Jesus saved us all?
No, it isn’t, and here is why. Each of us can assure that we will never, never ever, under any conditions, reject our salvation. Never. We can do this by doing what I said is not necessary to our salvation—but it does prevent us from rejecting it. We can formally, through prayer, ask Jesus to shield us from ever rejecting Him. We can pray something like this: “Jesus, I am not deserving of salvation. I can never earn it. Only by your shed blood am I saved. Lord Jesus, please keep me firmly in your hand forever. Come what may, may I forever and eternally be grateful to you.”
This prayer does not save us, because we are already saved—but it seals us from ever turning against God. God does the rest, for us. We, in our gratitude, will seek to avoid sin, not from fear of Hell, but for love of God. We will stumble and fall, but Jesus always rescues us, even from ourselves.
The unforgivable sin cannot be committed by accident, nor in a moment of weakness, nor through the deceptions of evildoers. Anyone who commits such a sin must do it knowingly, willingly, and persistently over a long period of time. It is a painful process which the soul will resist with all its strength. The very angels will intervene to prevent this sin. Anyone who commits the unforgivable sin will never repent, will never ask forgiveness. This is why the demons are not redeemable. They reject forgiveness. They have permanently transfixed themselves into evil.
Although we can never lose our salvation, we can lose the joy of it. We can begin to doubt that God will protect us. This doubt causes us to suffer. Through prayer and scripture, however, we can know that we are saved, and that Jesus will never forsake us.
We know this, not as a maybe, but as a definitely.
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