(10) Oblivion vs. Salvation

Chapter 10: Oblivion vs. SalvationShow more

It is naïve to think that all people choose what to believe based on what has more evidence and a better rational argument supporting it. In a perfect world everyone would be trustworthy and have the integrity to accept the truth even if it was inconvenient at the time. We do not live in such a perfect world. The Biblical Christian might add “yet”. The Atheist might add “because of religion”. The point is that people are not convinced of something simply because it is true. People are convinced of something because they think it is both beneficial and true.
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It would be difficult to convince people to identify with Atheism even if they believed it were true because there is no beneficial reward it if was true, just oblivion. If the consciousness of a person’s mind is caused only by processes within the material brain, then it will cease after the person’s brain dies. If the mind is caused only by the brain, then a dead person will not even know that he or she is dead. If the mind is caused only by the brain, then a dead person will know nothing, think nothing, feel nothing, and be nothing. The probability of living an infinite amount of time within a decaying universe is 0%. The chance of dying when we are trapped in our decaying universe is 100%. If Atheism were true, the outcome would be very grim and very certain. If we cannot relocate to an imperishable eternal universe, then eventually some calamity will occur and every person will be dead. If we cannot relocate to an imperishable eternal universe, then eventually some calamity will occur and everything we created will be destroyed. If every person is dead, then there is no one to remember us and we will all be forgotten. If every person is dead and everything we created is destroyed, then there is no evidence that we ever existed in the first place. An Atheist must think that he or she is the living dead, a zombie, a ghost that doesn’t actually exist but is a temporary illusion.

Quite the contrary, the Atheists feel superior and takes great pride in being so psychologically strong that they can cope with certain permanent death. The Atheist believes it is just making the most of a bad situation because it is not like we have any other choice do we? Many Atheists dream of technology to increase comfort and pleasure. Many Atheists also dream of technologies to postpone death and colonize the universe with humanity or other intelligent life. Atheists want to be proud of everything they were able to cleverly accomplish all by themselves, and they want to be remembered and honored for it as long as possible.

The Atheist feels liberated and independent knowing that he or she can now do anything he or she wants in this life; a full-fledged rebel living life to the fullest since it won’t matter in the end anyway; cosmic abortion.

1 Corinthians 15:32
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If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

1 Corinthians 15:13-19

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

It would have to be extremely frustrating for an honest person working in marketing or sales for a company that sells a lousy product. A dishonest person wouldn’t care because he or she could just lie or put a dishonest spin on facts that are true. However, an honest person would have to provide only truthful information while avoiding hinting at the fact that the product is lousy and it probably not that beneficial. Either way, there is little reason for people to trust a person who sells lousy products because his or her motivation is obviously not to benefit the customer.
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It is for this reason that people who identify as Atheists have earned a reputation of being prideful, selfish, and untrustworthy. They are stuck trying to sell a lousy product and they know it. The marketing scheme of the Atheists is very simple, “it may be a lousy product, but it is the only product that actually works; all the other products that promise more are merely scams”. The Atheists are careful to use a term synonymous with “scam” and not use the more elegant terms such as “counterfeits or forgeries”. A “counterfeit” or “forgery” would imply that there actually was actually a true and beneficial religion but there were also many fake destructive imitations of it.

The Atheists do not want to imply that all religions are a counterfeit of Biblical Christianity. Rather the Atheists want to make Christianity seem like a scam just like all the other religions. The Atheists do not want to imply that the hypocrites and occults who claim to be Christian are counterfeits of Biblical Christianity. Rather the Atheists want to make Biblical Christianity seem like a scam just like the hypocrites and occults. If something such “a great deal” never existed, then no one would fall for scams that pretend to be “a great deal”. In medicine there is quackery. In science there are falsified experiments. In art there are forgeries. In religion there are hypocrites and occults.

Matthew 6:2

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:5
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[ Prayer ] “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:16

[ Fasting ] “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 15:7

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

Matthew 23:13

[ Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees ] “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
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Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Matthew 23:25

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23:27

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

Matthew 24:51
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He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mark 7:6

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

It would be much more gratifying for an honest person to be working in marketing or sales for a company that sells the best product. It would probably even be self-destructive to be dishonest when working for a company that sells the best product because it might tannish the reputation of the company. Even if a company sells the best product and can get away with being dishonest, there is no advantage for the company to encourage dishonesty because it will tarnish the reputation of the company. Therefore, there is some cause for people to trust a person who sells the best product because it is mutually advantageous to him or her to benefit the customer.

We all have free will, which occurs through the interface between mind and material brain. Not all memories need to be recorded in the material brain if a backup copy is recorded in the mind preserved for when our material brain dies. When a person sleeps, he or she still dreams. When a person sleeps, he or she still has a consciousness even if those memories are hidden, inaccessible, or forgotten. When the brain is damaged a person becomes like someone trying to communicate using a damaged keyboard, cracked screen, or a defective computer. When the brain is destroyed, the backup copy in the mind can be reviewed, purified, and downloaded into a new imperishable body if the backup copy is not judged to be virulent by Jesus Christ. If we are arrogant, prideful, virulent, and ungrateful when we are given a perishable body, how much more arrogant, prideful, virulent, and ungrateful would we be if we were given an imperishable body?
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John 5:24-27

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

Matthew 28:18

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

John 7:28-29

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

John 10:18

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
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The famous author C.S. Lewis wrote in his classic book “Mere Christianity” that we live in an “enemy-occupied world”. That is exactly what this world is “enemy-occupied”; even though God has the ultimate power, our world is occupied by the enemy. The demons are rebel angels lead by the devil, Lucifer, who God has allowed to rule this world for a short time in order to test whether we our trustworthy citizens or wither we are also treasonous rebels. If Biblical Christianity is true, then death will be mind-blowingly spectacular for the loyal trustworthy citizen and horribly dreadful for the treasonous rebels.

Mere Christianity (Book II Chapter 2) by C. S Lewis

Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not known when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side.

Matthew 13:24-30
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Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:36-43

Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Matthew 13:47-50
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“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 10:15

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Luke 8:10

He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

John 18:36
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Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

This world has definitely gone horribly wrong and is full of pain and suffering. Sometimes it just seems like nothing could ever justify God allowing so much pain and suffering to occur in the world or ever make it worthwhile. The clear response is that it was designed to appear that way; if it was easy to see through the immersive simulation, it wouldn’t be able to test our true character. Every legitimate military sends its new recruits through a “boot camp”, which Jesus Christ went through and was arrested, beaten, tortured, and killed. When Jesus Christ rose from the dead he opened the path for naturalization into the Kingdom of God. When we are living in the Eternal Kingdom of God for all eternity, then all the pain and suffer in this world may seem like less than a finger prick or a vaccination shot in comparison.

1 Corinthians 11:32

Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

Hebrews 12:6

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
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Hebrews 12:7

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

Hebrews 12:8

If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Hebrews 12:9

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

Hebrews 12:10

They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.
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Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

There is a reason why companies tend to register their trademarks. It would be very tempting for parasitic companies to take advantage of a more established company by stealing its trademark. Furthermore, the reputation of the more established company could be tarnished by being associated with the inferior counterfeit products. Unfortunately, Biblical Christianity does not hold a trademark for the word “Christianity”. Anyone and everyone can claim they are “Christian”. Every single Atheist could claim they were “Christian” and still live like an Atheist. What would they be? They would be hypocrites. The word “Christian” was originally supposed to someone who believed and strived to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible. However, now many people who claim to be “Christian” have never even read or heard the teachings of Jesus Christ, let alone believe and strive to live according to them; many hypocrites only pretend to be reading the best-selling book of all time and only pretend they are not actually ignorant of what it actually says. When I was in college, I made a promise to myself that I would live with two sets of conflicting beliefs, but rather I would continue to genuinely investigate the facts and evidence and sort through them until I arrived at one unified consistent intact worldview based on what the evidence actually reveals. There is only one way that reality actually is even if we are ignorant of what it is. We will still have to bear the consequences of the way reality actually is even if we choose to remain ignorant of what it actually is. A person can still be convicted of a crime even if they claim to be ignorant of that law. It is not only lawyers who can be convicted of a crime. In the same way our choices will still have consequences even if we choose to remain ignorant of how reality actually is. There is only one kind of truth that matters, true truth. Therefore, it is wise to genuinely choose to investigate to determine how reality actually is. The choice to investigate for ourselves how reality actually is could be one of the most important choices we make in life.
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2 Peter 2:1-5

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

Matthew 7:15-23

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Romans 3:5-8
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But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

2 Corinthians 4:2

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

2 Timothy 4:2-4

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Ephesians 6:17

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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James 3:1

[ Taming the Tongue ] Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

1 Peter 4:17-18

For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Romans 2:12-16

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Hebrews 13:4
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Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Romans 14:10

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Romans 2:1

[ God’s Righteous Judgment ] You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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James 4:12

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

1 Corinthians 5:12-132

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

1 Corinthians 6:3-5

Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

John 8:9-11

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
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Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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