If Josef Stalin had "truly repented & accepted Christ" on his death bed...

Devils don't repent. Not to worry.

 

Yes if his faith was genuine he'd get into heaven, but "as one escaping through the flames"

The biggest shock of our lives is going to becwho is in heaven and who isn't.

 

Nope, "Abraham believed God and itcwas credited to him as righteousness. "

God has seen it all. He's seen good people He's seen bad people. He's seen good people go bad and bad people go good.

Entrance i to heaven is not based on bad or good but based on faith. However faith will have action.
Abraham believed God when He told him that he'd be the father of many nations inspite of being well beyond the age of human reproduction.
Then later Abraham believed that God could still make him a great nation even if he sacrificed his only son so he took his son up the mountain.

Abraham isn't going to heaven because he was good, but because believed God.

He believed God and it credited to him as the righteousness he needed to get into heaven.

Righteousness = lifelong moral perfection from conception to death absolute moral perfection. And it's required for entrance into heaven.
One minor sin and you are disqualified.
So how does one become righteous when they have already messed that up?

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
If a person believes God is willing and capable of doing what He has promised itvis credited to that person as the righteousness he or she needs to enter heaven.
The question then becomes, what has God promised?

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved."

" If you confesd your sins He is faithful and just to foregive your sin and purify you from all unrighteousness"

So yes if someone was explaining this to Stalin on his death bed, if he read Gods promises and with all that he had left (not much) believed thoes promises yes he'd be in heaven.

 

You speak of those who speak for God. Not God

 

The Russian Orthodox church, like all Christians believe that a sincere penitent is forgiven. The degree of evil is not on a scale.

 

Depends on whether he means it or not and considering his history, probably not.

 

Please, you have no idea.

 

The fault was not in the Church, but that the Church was not doing its job. There was an outside show of religion in Russia, but not the inner sensibility of Christianity - this is why the Church in Russia doesn't blame the Bolsheviks for the revolution, but rather the priests for not teaching the people properly - otherwise the country would not have fallen.

The occult and especially necromancy was fashionable in Europe at the time, and it entered Russia when two Montenegrin princesses married Grand Dukes. Yussopov when pointing out one of their mansions, said that it contained all the evil in the world. As for Stalin, he was really following the policies put forth by Lenin and Trotsky. The only difference is that he survived longer, and was able to kill off the others - or so I believe.

 

Being saved by Grace and through our hearts is the message Christ gave us. He also gave us the formula for it; prayers and repentance.

 

First of all why would Stalin or anyone fake repentance - for whose benefit?

Anyway since humility is a perquisite in Christianity, and arrogance/pride its antithesis, wouldn't it mean that if Stalin lessened his pride and asked for forgiveness he would be redeemed - or at least he would be on the road to redemption. How it could be otherwise?

 

A Saint said that those in the darkness can see those in the light, but those in the light cannot see those in darkness which is a good thing. That way they won't see the sufferings of those they knew and loved.

I'm going to assume that there are degrees of light and darkness and that it changes depending on the direction someone is going in.

 

Oh how I disagree.
When Oscar Pistorius was trying to compete in the "normie" Olympics
I had friends who were of the "Militant Disabled".
But, Oscar just "made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up".
I really sensed a darkness / evil around him or of him.

There have been other times when I have "sensed" evil and
just did not want to be around a person. Sometimes it is a horrible
sense of odor - like Al Swearengen "Deadwood", talking about smelling
cat piss when someone is lying.

Our Divinity is not only in being able to know right from wrong,
but also to see "the darkness" as it may occur.

Too much "non judgmental"
and the Devil walks among us, laughing
more and more.
Witness Wall St. shenanigans, etc.
Obviously, no colleague tells another colleague
maybe they shouldn't.
Everything is "okay".


Moi

​

 

Attaining Divinity and unity with God, has nothing to do with a person's intelligence or knowledge. A simpleton with an open heart, has a greater chance than a prideful and knowledgeable Christian.

 

I disagree with voth of you.

1. Every believer is a saint, there are so special believers that are above others. Some are called to ministry but that doesn't make them in any way better or privy to any special knowledge.

2. Nothing in Christianity is based on experiences. Now God may give you special insight from time to time. But i find it most helpful to disregard most of how i feel and make decisions based on the revealed word of God, that is to say the bibles old and new testaments and that's all. Everthing anyone else writes or says must square up with the Bible.
How one person feels about another is entitely irrelevant to salvation

 

Moi when I said those in darkness will be able to see those in the light, but those in the light will not be able to see those in darkness I meant after they die.

Jesus said that the eyes are a reflection of one's soul, and believe me I can the 'possession' in Hitler's eyes, Lenin's eyes, etc. But I can also see it in the eyes of certain politicians - Democrats. I did read accounts where people said that Clinton and Obama 'stunk'. I read one account by a guard that said he was also petrified when Obama walked the halls at night.

Okay I wasn't going to get into politics, but I did.

 

I heard tell one time from a cousin of the sister of a guy that saw the White House once, that Bushs Moms niece felt "Funny" every time Obamas name was stated by Muslims.

 

Killing in Christianity is a sin, since the passions and hatred in one's heart is the same whether it's towards a Christian or a non Christian. The same goes for any sinful act towards another human being whether it's stealing, calumniating them etc.

 

Murder is a sin, not killing. But i agree it doesn't matter who you kill.

But remember there was a man who God God said was after His own heart.

He had onevof his best soldiers murdered in battle just to cover up the scandalous relationship he had with the mans wife.

Good theology doesn't come from personal experience. It comes from the Bible alone.

 

My understanding of Christianity is that one must accept Jesus Christ as one's savior, accepting the sacrifice of the son of God on the cross.

Issues of behavior such as pride would have more to do with reward in heaven, as I understand Christianity.

There IS a question in my mind concerning what Christianity believes a successfully converted human might do to cause God's rejection from heaven. I know some who believe that would be impossible - that once converted one will go to heaven regardless. However, this seems unlikely to me as surely a human could demonstrate rejection of the sacrifice of Jesus as easily as one could be saved.

 

Gee, that seems familiar somehow.

No dispute there, with the important caveat that Stalin believed in "socialism in one country" and Trotsky supported a World Revolution. This kept the West from feeling it had to destroy communism. It was also why Stalin had Trotsky killed.

 

Murder is called a sin.
Killing not, that's why Christian priest, bless soldiers and guns, before battle

 

You kill the enemy
You murder your neighbor

The commandment from ancient Hebrew to
Modern English is

Murder, not Kill.​

 

Murder, or killing, is not against the Ten Commandments.

 

I agree with CS Lewis, who said he could never become RC because there too many new doctrines.

 

Murder is, killing isn't.