If you have to accept Jesus to go to heaven, what happened to all the people who were alive before he came?
110254
the christians would say.. they GO TO HELL! off with the christians!
525098
No one goes to heaven when they die.  Only Jesus has ascended to heaven.  All dead, whether saved or unsaved, "sleep" until the resurrections, respectively.\n\n"And why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust..." Job 7:21\n\n"So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep." Job 14:12\n\n"If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes." (Job 14:14)  Here we see that Job had some knowledge of the resurrection.\n\n"Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death..." Psalm 13:3  David compares death to sleep.\n\n"As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I AWAKE in Your likeness."  Psalm 17:15  David was aware that the dead IN CHRIST are changed in the twinkling of an eye to become LIKE CHRIST...incorruptible and immortal...when the first resurrection occurs at Christ's return.\n\nThis verse tells us that all dead sleep until the resurrections: "And many of them that SLEEP in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."  Daniel 12:2 \n\n"NO MAN HAS ASCENDED TO HEAVEN but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." (John 3:13)\n\nEveryone else will be resurrected, each in his order, babies included.  Through the miracle of resurrection, God brings back to life those who have died. (Revelation 20:4-5, Ezekiel 37:1-14, I Corinthians 15:20-54, I Thessalonians 4:15-16)\n\nSince Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, an opportunity to hear and believe and be saved awaits those who resurrected after the millenium (the Great Last Day of the Feast, John 7:37-38, Revelation 21:6) \n\nAll will have the same opportunity to respond to God when all is said and done.  Many have already done so in this present age in which we live.  Some have believed and some have rejected.
125379
I'm a Christian, so hopefully if it happenned for real I'd be one of the ones raptured up.  If not, I'd go directly to my church, figuring I'd lost my salvation, and I would pray to accept Jesus again!
982379
First of all, you do not have and immortal soul, if you did, then why had no one gone to Heaven before Jesus came to the Earth, 4000 years had came & gone since Adam & Eve, millions of people had died, what did Jesus say to a man of the Pharisees, Nic·o·de'mus was his name, a ruler of the Jews.\n\nJohn 3:13\nMoreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.\n\nJesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.  1 Corinthians 15:6.\n\n\nThe Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.  John 11:11.\nThe account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle. \n\nThink about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it?—  And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place?   Of course not!\n\nYet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7,  Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.\n\nThe Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.\n\nClearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.
1067238
Ofcoarse they go to heaven.I can't understand why God would send someone to 'hell' because they haven't heard of Jesus.
53530
goodness, you are confused. Let's put religion out of the picture for just a second, okay. It is simple, you either believe Jesus died on the cross for you and God created you or you don't. You can say that only christians will enter into heaven but i believe no matter what religion you call yourself, if you believe in God and have accepted God as your savior then you can call yourself whatever you want and you will still go to heaven. People choose to worship God in many ways. But the key to the door is Have you confessed that you are a sinner? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for you? Do you want to spent eternity in heaven or hell? I'd be too scared not to believe and to not be saved. What if all us "crazy" christians are right? What if we are wrong? Which is worse? right or wrong? heaven or hell, HUM.... lets see, I'll go with heaven and believing in God.
314340
If Jesus comes before I die, i will be called up to meet him in the air. If i die before he comes i will go to Heaven. Why? Because I have been saved By the Grace of God.
1100096
Depends on what you believe.  Under christianity, NO.\n\nBUT nothing says they have the answer.  I'd say you can get into heaven by doing that  - YES.\n(there's just no guarantee it's the same one they are thinking of - we'll all find out one day - one way or another.)
529743
When you die, you'll either go to Heaven or Hell, but that is up to you, you either have Jesus in your life or you don't if you don't you go to Hell if you do you go to Heaven but you have to mean it with all your heart to have Jesus in your life, to go to Heaven.
438684
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews9:27)\n\nAfter death you will be judged , at that judgement God is going to want to know 1 thing and 1 thing only: What did you do with my son, reject Him or accept Him as your savior? Those found guilty of rejecting Jesus Christ will be found guilty of all thier sins and will have to be cut off from God forever in hell for eternity, the accepted in Christ with live with God forever
1083736
u need 2 accept Jesus Christ as ur Savior 2go2 Heaven...Heaven is like...put it this way, if u were 2 c a glimpse of Heaven u wouldnt want 2 b livin down here anymore..
1177840
Jesus has already been on the earth.He now resides in heaven as a spirirt creature,that no human can see.\nBefore his ascension he told his disciples-"A little longer and the world will behold me no more".\nJesus' coming will not be a literal,physical fleshly return,but a spiritual one.\nWe need to prepare our hearts now before the end of this system,so that we can be counted amongst the survivors who will have the hope of everlasting life on earth.
325436
Jesus came to die for the world so that the world through Him might be saved.\nWe have a handbook to go by. It's called a Holy bible. These are the words of God. Everyone can participate. Even the ones that can't read. We do love everyone. However we are instructed to not be conformed to the world. We are not to love the sin of the world. We are to love the sinners, hate the sin, and let God do the judging.
886077
Not in this lifetime. I don't really want to go to heaven anyway. I hear it's very crowded with those Jesus freaks.
1123852
People who lived before Jesus became a man and lived on earth could get to heaven only if they did their very best to obey God's commandments and to follow what God told them to do.  They had to atone for their sins by making animal sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem at least once a year and follow all the Law.  Before God gave the ten commandments and the law to Moses, there were prophets who spoke with God and told the people what they had to do.  If they didn't do what the prophets said and follow the law (once it was written), they went to hell.  \n\nNow that Jesus the Christ has made the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all, there is no more need for animal sacrifices.  He also intercedes for us so there is no need for priests to tell us what God says as we can all now talk to God through prayer.  Of course, pastors and other people who know more about the Bible than a lay person does are still very helpful for helping to explain what the Bible says about specific issues.  Also for leading believers in reaching those who don't know about Jesus yet.  \n\nThose who never hear about Jesus and those who do but reject Him will go to hell when they die.  It isn't P.C. or "fair" or "nice" but that's just how it is.  That's why Christians who are truly commited to their faith try so hard to reach people and teach them about Jesus.  They don't want anybody to go to hell.  \n\nGod doesn't want anyone to go to hell either.  He loves everyone and wants to have a relationship with them similar to that of an earthly father with his child.  He cant do that though because of the curse that He put on the earth when Lucifer (disguised as a snake) decieved Eve and she disobeyed God.  There is no forgiveness of sin except through perfect sacrifice.  That's why He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins.  If we sincerely claim Jesus' death and ressurection as our sacrifice offered to cover our sins, God will forgive them and we can have a relationship with him.  \n\nThat's what heaven is: having an eternal relationship with God both while we are alive in these bodies and later after we die.  Hell is eternal separation from Him.  There is no true happiness, fulfillment or peace without having God in your life.  Why do you think everyone searches for something or someone to "fill the hole in their soul" or to "make them complete" or "satisfied" or "bring meaning to their life"?  God made Adam and Eve for the purpose of having a relationship with Him.  Humans are born with a need for this relationship.  If no one tells them how to find it with God, they will look everywhere else for something to substitute for it.  There is no real substitute for it though.  No drugs, material posessions, other human companions, cults, gangs...nothing to replace it.  Sooner or later, everyone who doesn't have God in their life realizes they are empty and that nothing they have tried really fills them.  That's when many people come to repentance and reach for God, especially if they are afraid they are going to die.  The only real reason that some people fear death is that they don't know what will happen to them after they die.  People who have a real relationship with God don't fear death because they know that they will be with Him forever after they die.  There are lots of great reasons to be a Christian but that is the greatest one.  If you aren't afraid to die, you are free to really live and care for others because you aren't afraid of what they can do to you if they reject you.  What's the worst thing anyone could do to you? That would be to kill you since you can recover from any words or non fatal injuries they might give you.  But if you aren't afraid to die, then there is nothing they can do to you to stop you from reaching out to them.
781210
yes, those who reject it go to hell. but just because someone doesn't reject the Gospel doesn't mean they are saved. they must accept it in order to be saved and believe in Christ. no one really knows what for sure happens to believers and nonbelievers before judgement day, but i think that they are separated, and then we'll all be judged one day and go to 'our place' eternally. some Biblical whiz probably has a better idea more based on the Bible, but either way, once you die, you'll go to heaven or hell. hopefully you'll/you believe the Gospel and live for God!
385312
those who are left behind will be standing around wondering what happened.  God will rapture Christians to heaven and begin judgment on earth for anyone left behind [regardless of their religion] ,because those who had a personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus are all gone [went to heaven with Christ]. \n\nWant to go to heaven? http://www.NeedGod.com