Believers have peace with God. This is everyone's greatest need! Once you have recognized that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself and have then simply believed the Gospel, how that Christ Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again for your justification, then you are saved and this includes having TOTAL PEACE WITH GOD.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of peace, and as believers we have peace with God because of what Christ did for us.
Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Thessalonians 3:16 - Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
Because of the finished work of the cross, believers can also operate in and according to God's love, grace and peace. We have God's Spirit in our spirit and as we also study His word rightly divided, the word produces peace in our inner man.
Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:6 - For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Unbelievers do not have peace with God. God loves them and wants them to be saved but they have free will choice in whether or not to believe the gospel of their salvation. If they choose to never believe the gospel before they die, then they die in their sins and will be punished for all of eternity for their sins in the lake of fire. God is Holy and cannot allow sin to go unpunished.
Amazingly, people in hell do not suddenly decide to love God - they are still totally unrepentant (meaning, they still don't change their minds) and they "gnash their teeth" in hell. Gnashing of teeth means a type of malicious anger. When the religious Jewish leaders stoned Stephen, they gnashed their teeth on him. They were angry about what God was saying through Stephen to and about them. Their gnashing was on him, meaning they literally were filled with so much malicious anger that they were biting him!
Acts 7:54
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
In hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. They will weep because of the unrelenting pain, fright and darkness that they are experiencing, but they will also gnash their teeth because they have malicious anger towards God (and probably also towards the believers that they had ignored, mocked, persecuted etc in their lifetime).
Matthew 8:12 - But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Luke 13:28 - There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
The rich man in the book of Luke that went down into hell (hades), wasn't truly repentant at all. He still had no care for God. All he cared about was getting a cool drink of water, and that His sons won't end up where he was. But nowhere in this story does it even suggest that he had a changed mind about God.
Luke 16:19-31
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
And really this story (which I believe really happened) also tells us that even after Christ rose from the dead, the Jewish religious rulers still did not believe and many others since then do not believe and they are not repentant (they haven't chosen to change their minds and believe God). However, some people have believed in Christ's death, burial and resurrection as atonement for their sins and their faith is counted for righteousness! Believers are the only ones who have peace with God!
*note: children are also accepted into heaven if they die before reaching the age of accountability.
Unbelievers do not know true peace. If they die in their sins, they will never know what its like to even experience God's peace. How awful!
Satan has a counterfeit peace. He is okay with satisfying our fleshly desires if it also means keeping unbelievers from the gospel truth or even if it means keeping believers from earning rewards. The false prosperity gospel is one example of Satan’s false peace! It's a perversion of the gospel that focuses primarily on carnal, earthly things like health and wealth.
2 Corinthians 11:14
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
The anti-christ will also deceive people during the tribulation period (the church the Body of Christ is raptured out before the tribulation begins) with promises of "peace".
1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJB
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But praise the Lord, believers today have total peace with God! To have true peace with God, recognize that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and then simply believe how that Christ Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again for your justification.
Because believers have peace with God we can now also experience the peace of God.
Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Praise the Lord!
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