Today Doug and I are answering two more questions from this post. Feel free to jump in and post more questions if you have them. Also feel free to throw in your two cents worth on any of the questions or answers. Love a good discussion!! Love it!!
Ok, here are the next two questions and the answers that Doug and I have come up with.
Question #1 – I Have A Question About God and It Is…?Is there a PROOF in the Bible to tell us what happens during the time between after we died and before we enter the gates of the Heaven in case it’s not Jesus’ time yet to come back to bring all of us home? I mean, is God going to quiz us to make sure we’re believe in Him instead of sending us in hell before we enter the gates of Heaven? I’m worried about waking up in hell someday instead of heaven so that’s why I want to know what happens in between the time of death and the time we enter the gates of Heaven.
I hope you will answer this question because it’s pretty much what I wonder all the time thinking what will happen when I die. Thank you so much for your time to read this and and hopefully answer it.
Doug’s answer: Scripture is clear, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5: 8). There isn’t an ‘in-between time’.
Leah’s answer: I wholeheartedly agree with Doug. Allow me to add two parts to this answer. First, the Bible is very clear that when Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection, He returned to heaven to be with the Father. See Hebrews 8: 1-2, Hebrews 10: 12-13, Hebrews 12: 1-3 to reference a few.
Second, in Luke 23: 29 – 43 we are told the story of the two thieves who are crucified with Jesus. One of them rebukes the other for mocking Jesus. He then turns to Jesus and asks for Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. You see, that thief believed that Jesus was exactly Who He said He was. Jesus words to the thief are very telling. In verse 43 Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” (NKJV – emphasis, mine). Jesus does not say to the thief, “after you have gone to such and such a place for a period of time, you will be with me.” No , He says, TODAY you will be with me in paradise.
Question #3 – I have a Question About God and it is….?I have a loved one that simply won’t go to church because of the way “church people” act. This person did go to church at one time-and even walked the aisle to be saved.I know, we can’t honestly say who is saved and who is not. That is between that person and God. However,can a person be saved but not show any fruits of the spirit? Can a person be saved and still have a miserable life?
Doug’s answer: “I don’t blame them!! Church people can be down right nasty. But that aside, the real issue is salvation and fruit! Scripture is clear: fruit is a result of a growing relationship with Christ. I am not saying that your loved one is not save. I am saying that they are not growing in their relationship. The ‘miserable life’ comes out of a fruitless life. Church is not the point. A relationship with the Father is the real issue!”
Leah’s answer: Again, I agree with Doug, but I can take it a bit further and say that “Yes, absolutely a person can be saved and headed for heaven and not show ANY of the fruit of the Spirit”. How do I know? I lived this one!
I was saved when I was 15 years of age. I walked with the Lord for several years. In my 20’s however, I strayed. No, let me change that. I flat out walked away from the Lord. I went through a divorce, engaged in sexual immorality, used alcohol excessively, was incredibly prideful, used horrendous profanity and wrestled with an eating disorder. I still went to church most Sundays, but I probably was not fooling anyone other than myself. Especially since those sitting around me likely smelled alcohol on me from the previous night’s escapades.
Again, I was saved and I have no doubt that if I had died in that period of my life, I would have gone to heaven. However, I was not walking with the Lord and producing fruit. Did the Lord abandon me? Not on your life. He waited on this prodigal daughter to get so disgusted with her lifestyle that she could do nothing other than come running home to Him. Was I miserable? Yes, and I tried to find happiness down any road I could. However, ultimately true happiness was only found back with Jesus.
Thanks to all who submitted questions. I believe that this is how we learn and grow. Feel free to ask questions at The Point any time. If you have questions about our answers here, please do not hesitate to post them. Thanks again.
