Are people who do not accept Christ in believers baptism damned to hell?

Answer 1

Christians believe you must believe in Christ. There are two types of Christians and only one type goes to Heaven. They are those who only believe that Christ is the Son of God and those who believe in Christ. Those who believe in Christ not only believe that He is the Son of God, but also do as he does and says.

Read Luke 23:43. Baptism is a good thing, but it is not an absolute requirement.

AnswerThere is only one type of Christian. Sadly there are those who believe they have 'the truth' and look down their noses at anyone else. That is not Christian love; it is bigotry and prejudice.

Jesus himself made it absolutely clear. No one comes to the Father except through him:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [John 14:6]

However, this is not as exclusive as it seems. For in the Greek the 'me' can stand for the personal pronoun 'me' or also 'what I stand for'. So which is it?

Well, Jesus also clears this up by his own teaching. In Matthew's gospel, a wealth of Jesus' teaching, we read the following from chapter 25 (31-40):

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

This shows clearly that it is not in Jesus himself that we are saved, but in what he stands for - God's perfect unconditional love. This love comes from God alone, and so, as we receive it freely so must we feely give it. If we are to be called Christ's disciples, Jesus said (at the end of John's gospel) that we are to love one another - and that by this love we will be known as his disciples.

Finally, the great commandment necessary too be saved is that given by Christ himself: we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength - but we must love also our neighbour as we love ourselves.

So love is the key to salvation. Not bellievers' baptism. Sadly there are too many 'Christians' about who are judgemental and arrogant and are as far from God's kingdom as they can be. Let's not forget the story of two men that Jesus told:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."