Information Related to "Questions and Answers - Jul/Sep 2001"
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Question: Where are the people that died before Jesus? Heaven or hell?
Answer: Understanding how God is working with people to grant them eternal life in His coming Kingdom is a most important and precious truth. Jesus, the Son of God, came to the earth as a human to die for our sins and to preach this message. Believing in Jesus and the message He brought makes it possible for us to become God's children and receive everlasting life (John 1:12; 3:16). When we repent of our sins and are baptized, we receive God's Spirit—the promise that we will receive eternal life in the future (Romans 8:9-11). The Holy Spirit is thus the identifying key as to who belongs to Christ and who will receive eternal life.
Prior to Jesus coming to this earth, the Bible reveals that only a very few had God's Spirit. These included some of the prophets and individuals, such as David, with whom God specifically worked (1 Peter 1:10-11; Psalm 51:11).
Now we must determine when people enter the Kingdom of God. Many people today assume that people who have died with the Spirit of God are now in heaven. But the Bible reveals that this is a mistaken assumption.
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