Not that you're listening, but the original greek word "Pisteuon" here translated "Believe" means more than just "believe". It means casting your whole faith upon. Even demons "believe" in Christ, in Matthew 8:29 "Legion" called out to Jesus who had just gotten out of the boat and was walking toward them. The leader yells out, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?!" They know who He is, but aren't heading for Heaven, I can assure you.
No, the best explanation that I've ever heard is from Ray Comfort (cited earlier). If you're falling out of a plane, the "belief" in parachutes won't help you at all, you'd better be wearing one! There's "belief" and then there's trusting your *life* to it. No conflict exists. Merely "professing" to be a Christian, yet still living your sinful life is called hypocrisy. When you accept Jesus, you become a new human (born again) with a new heart and new desires to please Him who saved my sorry, unworthy self.
You seem to be missing the forest for the trees. There are no conflicts in the Bible. All through the Old Testament, God tells us that He will destroy death. Then the New Testament tells us how He did it! He's the incomprehensibly brilliant Creator of all! He made it so simple that a child can understand it, yet confound even the most intelligent people on earth.
The truth is, like stated previously, you *need* Him not to exist, because you have *everything* riding on that. I'll bet there's no other area of your life that you put "all of your eggs in one basket". I'll bet you're smartly invested, you probably don't live on eating candy and desserts, you're probably somewhat active to keep your body functional, yet you're gambling eternity that your sin will someday pay off for you and you'll just cease to exist, peacefully going nowhere but the ground.
Everyone who dies gets an immortal body. For those who placed their lives with The Lord, its so they'll be acceptable to be in His presence. For those who *choose* not to be with Him, its so they cannot be destroyed with the fire of Hades... Jesus told the story of Lazarus and the "rich man" almost 2,000 years ago. People say that this is simply a "parable", yet this is the only one of His stories that He *names* some of the participants... I don't believe its just a parable. The rich man ends up begging Father Abraham to send Lazarus to him so he can place a single drop of water on his tongue (he's dead, but has a physical tongue), he says that he's literally burning... now, almost 2,000 years later, its a sobering thought that he is still there... no sweet relief of death... burning for eternity with full knowledge of each time that he had the opportunity to accept God into his life, yet *chose* not to.
Not that you're listening...
Last edited by CAPITALIST; 07/20/22. Reason: I wrote "over" instead of "almost"
"Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry." - Thomas Jefferson
