Death, Heaven and Hell - Part 1

One of the most common tactics of churches is to convince people that the reward for attending their church (and paying your tithing) is heaven. Of course, the other side of that coin is the threat of hell - but I will get to that later. So how does one gain the privilege of going to heaven after death? Well, the answer can be one or all of the following:

"Get right with God"
"Believe in the Gospel"
"Have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ"
"Ask Jesus into your heart"
Repeat some carefully worded prayer

What does the Bible say about this matter? Certainly there are verses that talk about ones going to heaven, but do they apply to everyone who has "faith in Christ Jesus"? According to mainstream Christianity it does, you simply need to have a relationship with Jesus. Need to gave faith in him. Need to believe in the gospel. Have him live inside of you - figuratively speaking?

It would seem that John the Baptist would meet these qualifications. He was prophesied about by God Himself at Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. He was called "a prophet of the Most High" (Luke 1:78) and was "strong in spirit" (Luke 1:80). He was "sent from God" (John 1:6). The "word of God came unto" him (Luke 3:2). John spent countless hours preaching about repentance and forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). There is no question that John the Baptist had faith in Jesus Christ - being his baptist (Matthew 3:13). John undoubtedly had more faith in Jesus than most of us could even imagine witnessing what he had at Jesus' baptism. It seems, by the guidelines set out by Christendom, that John the Baptist would be as qualified as any person in history to go to heaven at death. Yet, notice what the Bible says:

"...Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." - Matthew 11:11 (KJV)

John the Baptist is considered here, by Jesus, to be "great". So great, in fact, there has not been anyone "born of women" that is greater. Yet Jesus says that even the "least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he". Clearly stating that John is not in the kingdom of heaven. How is it that a man - a prophet, strong in spirit, sent from God, written about in the Bible, the baptizer of Jesus - was not chosen to go to heaven, yet your average everyday "Christian" who simply "has faith in Jesus" are chosen?

Who else can this be said about? King David. Mind you Jesus is a descendant of David's royal blood line. At Matthew 1:1, Jesus was called the "son of David". God "chose David as His servant" (Psalm 78:70). David was a prophet of God (Acts 2:30) and wrote several Psalms. He defeated Goliath and waged wars in the name of God. Undoubtedly, David had God's favor. Yet, did this faithful servant to God go to heaven?

Certainly both David and John were worthy, according to Christendom's qualifications, of going to heaven. But they didn't according to scripture. Therefore, also according to Christendom, there is only one other option for where these to loyal servants of God could be: hell. But now wait a minute, how does that make sense? Does it seem realistic to think that these 2 men would be experiencing eternal torment in a fiery hell? Really, think about that for a minute. Does that make any sense what so ever? Any reasonably thinking person would undoubtedly answer no. So if they are not in heaven and not in hell, WHERE ARE THEY? Well, the answer to that is quite simple.


Part 2

Part 3