I always wonder why the criteria to get into heaven is? That is literally my only problem with Christianity. It’s an arbitrary cutoff.
But the messages otherwise are great (minus the homophobia)
Discussion
Nothing is arbitrary. Getting into heaven is based on repentance and faith. It has nothing to do with works. That being said, if the repentance and faith is true, works will result because of the transforming of our hearts and minds to be more like Christ and out of gratefulness.
So do I have to repent all things 100%? What if I die before I change my mind and try to repent? What about young people that die before they have a chance?
What’s the cutoff?
I think Luke 23:39-43 has the answer your looking for. The thief was on the cross with Christ and was saved in his last moments because he had faith. Its about believing that Jesus Christ is the savior and has died on your behalf. Its about what he did not what you can do. We all deserve death as the payment for sin is death. He alone can make that payment on your behalf so you can have eternal life.
So do babies and toddlers and young children and those who were never exposed to Christianity or those who aren’t Christian (the majority of the world) not go to heaven?
Everything I've read in the Bible says we must repent and believe. I know lots of people believe that kids that haven't reached mental maturity all go to heaven. I honestly don't know for sure.
"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1)
There are lots of verses like this explaining that God's creation makes it clear that He exists. Maybe (?) He accepts belief in a holy creator God in those who have never heard a word of the gospel, even though He says we must believe in Jesus. I tend to believe actual faith in Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection is required, but God can save who He wishes. I have heard stories of Jesus appearing directly to Muslims in countries where there are basically no Christians, so He can call a person to Himself even if there are no witnesses available.
Read the Bible.
But what you’re describing is supporting my point. If god gets to decide, what are the criteria? It’s not really spelled out. It’s vague and arbitrary.
And what’s the cutoff for mental maturity?
And what if people would have changed, but died before they got the chance?
I’m with HODL. I think the Bible is great and it has many good messages. But to take it literally is plagued with issues.
And what brand of Christianity is the best? Is it Catholicism or mormanism or jehovas witness?
I personally believe that if there is a heaven, we will all go because we’re all god’s children. Otherwise, why did he create such flawed individuals?
God is specific about repenting and having faith.
It is sad that the Christian church has gotten so divided. Unfortunately, when you have any human organization, those who seek power seek positions of leadership. Those who care about the mission stay workers. Whether you are talking a church or something like the AARP, this happens. Most of the old church denominations, including the Catholic church, have totally corrupted leadership. I don't believe the current Pope is even a Christian (God knows). Mormanism and Jehovas Witness are both severely corrupted cults that I would not call Christian. Catholicism has some good points and bad. I know a good number of good Christians, but the leadership is a mess. I believe the Protestant church is closest to Jesus, the Bible, and right understanding, but even among the Protestants, there are some really messed up churches that are churches in name only. They have become more cultural organizations than followers of Jesus, which is sad.
I wish I could answer your question on salvation. When you have it, it isn't arbitrary. It is obvious, but it is harder to explain. It is kind of like explaining how you know something is true love. You know it when you find the real thing.
Since I am doing such a poor job of explaining, let me leave you with some Bible verses. It is always best to go to the source -- the God breathed truth of Scripture.
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)
We don't get to pick how we go to heaven. God had defined it as only through Jesus.
"They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”" (Acts 16:31)
This is what most people use to justify the salvation of children. (If they use the Bible as the foundation of their belief. Most just say, "I don't believe God would ...")
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)
"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;" (Acts 3:19)
"Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”" (John 3:3)
"16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”" (John 3:16-21)
This passage addresses one of your concerns:
"13for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
16However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
18But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have;
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the world.”" (Romans 10:13-18)
"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)
I hope this is helpful.
"...what are the criteria?", "...why did he create such flawed individuals?", "...what brand of Christianity is the best?"
"it's vague and arbitrary"
"...It is sad that the Christian church has gotten so divided. "
The church has always been divided. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about divisions, that people were saying I belong to Cephus, or I to Paul, or I to Appolos, or I to Christ. Christ exists divided. -
1 Corinthians 1:12
Trying to make sense of twisted doctrine and tradition will only serve to confuse. I think that is why Paul said:
"...and so I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come with an extravagance of speech or of wisdom declaring the sacred secret of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him impaled. - 1 Corinthians 2:2-3
The bible is the preserved word of God. It's not a bunch of stories as some in this thread assert. It is full of prophesy for the future, not just historical record of the past. It contains the answers you seek. It is true and is no lie, and for those truly seeking, it is the annointing from God that is teaching you. - John 2:26-27
However, the truth found in the bible is examined spiritually:
"...physical men don’t recognize the Spirit of The God, because these are just foolishness to them and they can’t understand them, since such things can only be understood spiritually." 1 Corinthians 2:14
Keep on seeking friends.
“...ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" - Luke 11:9
Not trying to be a prick here. If Jesus and god love all, then I assume there is no hell because everyone can be forgiven. And that’s a good thing. That’s how it should be.
Hell exists not because God refuses us, but because we refuse God. In heaven we are united with God who is perfect. What if we don't want to be perfect? What if we spent our lives defining ourselves by lies and self-serving desires? Then union with God becomes worse than hell because everything that we are would be burned away. If we value the creature we have become, more than we want to be with God, then God will honor that choice by allowing us to choose to exist apart from Him.
The trouble is that since God is All Good, not merely a good being, but a being who IS goodness itself, then hell is devoid of good. Not completely since existence itself is a good, but enough to keep those souls that will not change, from having to change. Heaven for them would be abject horror, but the little love that remains in hell is still a torment for them.
The most common complaints about God are "How could God send all of those people to Hell?" and "How could God allow all of those bad things to happen to people?" and "Why is God so authoritarian as to force people to do what He wants?". To be consistent we need to follow the Bible as written rather than as interpreted by many people. God created everyone and everything, including time and space. He has the authority to use His creation as He wishes. It is not evil for Him to create things for good and bad uses. God is holy, which means He is very good and can't allow evil in His presence. Adam and Eve sinned, corrupting His creation, so it is no longer perfect. In addition to being holy, He is also merciful, which is why He has given us time to repent instead of punishing us with instant death and banishment to Hell at the first sin we commit as we deserve. His holiness does not let those who reject Him be in His presences, so those who reject Him are sent to Hell. His mercy led Him to send His son to pay the penalty for our sins and to reconcile us to Himself, so God sees Jesus's righteousness rather than our own sinfulness. Our only part in salvation is belief, which leads to repentance. We can't say "God is evil because He allows bad things to happen." and "God is evil because He punishes people in Hell." A holy, good God has to punish evil and we have all sinned with no exceptions.
When you say things are unclear, it is only unclear if you want it to be unclear. For the purpose of you personally, all you need to know is that faith leading to repentance means you will be saved, have a close relationship with your God and Creator, and will someday join Him in Heaven. If you refuse to do this, you will be punished by being separated from Him in Hell. (I'm not trying to be harsh, just truthful).
Another thing is that a lot of people have a problem with God and the Bible because they can't understand Him perfectly. Who wants a God that is perfectly understandable? I want a God that is so awesome, so infinite and that is a Creator that His creation can never fully comprehend. That is a God worth worshipping. A superhero God, who is just a stronger, smarter person than us isn't worthy of submission or worship.
“We need to follow the Bible as written”
That takes interpretation. You can’t get around that.
The way you read the Bible is different than the next person. That’s my .2c
The Bible means what it says. The overwhelming majority of the Bible is easily interpreted and has a very clear meaning. We can't make it say whatever we want it to say. We have to seek what the author, God, was communicating.
There are a few things that are less clear, especially prophecy, but the basics are clear and specific. We don't get to interpret God's word any way we want. We have to seek to understand what God was communicating to us. If we pick and choose or intentionally change the meaning because we don't like what God said, then we will experience the consequences.
That doesn't mean that the fine tuned details may be a little unclear and we may make mistakes. (Obviously mistakes are made because not all Christians agree about every little detail.) Despite that, the majority of the Bible was clearly communicated by God or that we can find the truth if we carefully study His word and use scripture to interpret scripture (not our feelings, preferences, or what the "experts" tell us).