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    Two Paths to Eternity
    Two Paths to Eternity
    Two Paths to Eternity
    Ebook113 pages1 hour

    Two Paths to Eternity

    By Jim Allen

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    About this ebook


    Eternity clearly means forever. It is a physical place, a destination, as well as a state of being. Heaven is the forever life destination. Hell is the forever death destination.
    Questions arise when you consider these forever destinations. For instance, why does a person go to heaven? How does he get there? You can ask the same questions about hell. Defining eternal life will help answer these questions.
    Jesus defined eternal life when He said: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) What Jesus is referring to is a personal relationship between man and God that lasts forever. God created man for relationship.
    Taking relationship into account, the answer to the above questions becomes: You go to heaven because you have a relationship with God and you go to hell because you don’t.
    Choice is required for relationships to exist. You must choose whether to enter into a relationship. In this book I examine how choices in relationships leads to the eternal destinations of either heaven or hell. God has placed humans into a world of choice from which it is impossible to escape. You cannot choose to not choose because even that is a choice!
    Overall, this book is about what it means to be a Christian.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJan 9, 2024
    ISBN9798385015207
    Two Paths to Eternity

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      Book preview

      Two Paths to Eternity - Jim Allen

      Copyright © 2024 Jim Allen.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      844-714-3454

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

      Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

      New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

      Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

      Unless otherwise noted to NASB citation.

      All emphases in quotations have been added by the author.

      ISBN: 979-8-3850-1518-4 (sc)

      ISBN: 979-8-3850-1519-1 (hc)

      ISBN: 979-8-3850-1520-7 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2023924252

      WestBow Press rev. date: 1/9/2024

      CONTENTS

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      1   Does God Exist?

      2   Who Is God?

      3   Who Are Humans?

      4   The God-Human Relationship

      Choice, Vulnerability, and Responsibility

      Choice, Relationship, and the Human Construction

      Choice, Heart, and Soul

      Choice, Human Will, and God’s Will

      Choice and Spiritual Relationship

      Choice and God’s Requirements of Humans

      Choice and Responding to God’s Voice

      Choice and Faith

      Choice, Faith, Application, and Works

      Choice, Temptation, and Testing

      Choice, Facts, and Truth

      Choice and God’s Promises

      Choice and Iniquity

      Choice and Eternity

      Choices That Fail, Grace, and Mercy

      5   God’s Amazing Grace

      6   Relationship, Baptism, and Communion

      7   Coming to Know God

      Addendum: Faith/Works

      Notes

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      I am most thankful for my wife, Linda, for her insightful contributions to this book, for providing the initial editing expertise that I needed and for her patient endurance as I became consumed with writing this book.

      I would also like to thank Dr. Harold Delaney for his extensive critique of the original manuscript. His comments were very helpful and much appreciated.

      INTRODUCTION

      Eternity clearly means forever. It is a physical place, a destination, and a state of being. Heaven is the forever life destination. Hell is the forever death destination.

      Questions arise when you consider these forever destinations. For instance, why does a person go to heaven? How does he get there? You can ask the same questions about hell. Defining eternal life will help answer these questions.

      Jesus defined eternal life when He said, This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3). What Jesus is referring to is a personal relationship between humans and God that lasts forever. God created humans for forever relationship. Therefore, taking relationship into account, the answer to the above questions becomes this: you go to heaven because you have a relationship with God, and you go to hell because you don’t.

      Choice is required for relationships to exist. You must choose whether to enter into a relationship. In this book I examine how choices in relationships lead to the eternal destinations of either heaven or hell. God has placed humans into a world of choice from which it is impossible to escape. You cannot decide to not choose because even that is a choice!

      It’s the nature of humans to constantly think, question, and choose. The outcome of these activities will eventually lead to the question of God’s existence.

      ONE

      DOES GOD EXIST?

      And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

      —Hebrews 11:6, ESV

      T o begin, we must ask the question Does God exist? ¹ This is the most important question any person can consider. Human opinions on God are everywhere. Therefore, answering this question demands more than a few seconds of attention and involves a wide range of ideas and evidence.

      I’ve read books and have been taught by several theologians who have provided insight into this question. I’ve also done a fair amount of people watching, hearing what they say and comparing that with what they do. I’ve observed that, with people, encountering facts and accepting them are profoundly different. Airtight, sound arguments are still unconvincing to those determined to disbelieve. For those people, it’s not proof, even if it would convince almost anyone else. A person’s intent is more influential than any evidence encountered.

      Therefore, whether or not one acknowledges God’s existence, the decision involves faith. We choose to believe despite what we don’t know because of what we do know. That’s the essence of all forms of faith, including biblical faith, which includes faith in the existence of God.

      Perfect knowledge is beyond our ability. Bias and prejudice cloud our views. There will always be a gap between what we can know and what we believe. For this reason, we need to point to human experience, logic, and empirical evidence to investigate the answer to the question Does God exist?

      1. Human experience: People interpret life based on the world around them. Looking at the existence of God ought to start with experiences. Evidence of God exists in daily human experiences, including our innate sense of morality. The overwhelming majority of people throughout history are inclined to believe in a reality greater than the physical (Rom. 1:19–20; Ps. 19:1; Eccles. 3:11).

      2. Human logic: Three of the more powerful logical suggestions of God’s existence are the cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments:

      a. The cosmological argument considers the principle of cause and effect. Each effect is the result of some cause, and each cause is the effect of a prior cause. However, that chain of causes cannot go on infinitely into the past, or else the chain will never actually start. Logic demands something eternally existent and not the effect of anything else. Our universe clearly is not eternal or uncaused. Logic points to God, the uncreated, eternal origin of all other things, the first cause of our reality

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