Will people be equal in Heaven?

[Tinkerpeach]

This is for Christian beliefs.

Some people say we will all be equal before the eyes of God while others believe that while we will go to the same Heaven that there will be different levels based on your faithfulness to God.

I take that to mean that the better the Christian are while on Earth the closer you will be to God when you die.

I am having a difficult time trying to find scripture to back this up so if anyone could expand on it I would very much appreciate it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

This is for Christian beliefs.

Some people say we will all be equal before the eyes of God while others believe that while we will go to the same Heaven that there will be different levels based on your faithfulness to God.

I take that to mean that the better the Christian are while on Earth the closer you will be to God when you die.

I am having a difficult time trying to find scripture to back this up so if anyone could expand on it I would very much appreciate it.

Well awards like the five heavenly crowns to those who earned them dosent indicate equality.

I'm not aware of any participation crowns for everyone else so they won't feel left out.

 

[1213]

Some people say we will all be equal before the eyes of God while others believe that while we will go to the same Heaven that there will be different levels based on your faithfulness to God.

It is interesting how differently people understand the word equal. Some think it means, equal pay for equal work, and some think it means, everyone should get the same, regardless of what they have done.

I think everyone is equal in God's eyes. And it means, everyone will be treated with the same principle. For example, if you murder others, you will be judged the same ways as anyone else who murders others.

I think there are different "levels" in heaven. For example someone could have a bigger treasure in heaven than someone else. And some will be greater than others. However, that does not mean that the less great are not loved equally.

"Don't lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don't break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matt. 6:19-21

Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matt. 5:19

 

[Trailblazer]

It is interesting how differently people understand the word equal. Some think it means, equal pay for equal work, and some think it means, everyone should get the same, regardless of what they have done.

I think everyone is equal in God's eyes. And it means, everyone will be treated with the same principle. For example, if you murder others, you will be judged the same ways as anyone else who murders others.

I think there are different "levels" in heaven. For example someone could have a bigger treasure in heaven than someone else. And some will be greater than others. However, that does not mean that the less great are not loved equally.

I believe that God loves everyone, but I don't think everyone is equal in God's eyes.

“Let no one imagine that by Our assertion that all created things are the signs of the revelation of God is meant that—God forbid—all men, be they good or evil, pious or infidel, are equal in the sight of God..” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 187

Presumably all good people will go to heaven but I think they will be at different levels, according to their faith and deeds.

 

[loverofhumanity]

This is for Christian beliefs.

Some people say we will all be equal before the eyes of God while others believe that while we will go to the same Heaven that there will be different levels based on your faithfulness to God.

I take that to mean that the better the Christian are while on Earth the closer you will be to God when you die.

I am having a difficult time trying to find scripture to back this up so if anyone could expand on it I would very much appreciate it.

I know this is for Christian belief but we Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah was Christ returned in the glory of the Father so if that’s true then this is for Christians too! But those who have accepted His return so Baha’is.

The people of Bahá, who are the inmates of the Ark of God, are, one and all, well aware of one another's state and condition, and are united in the bonds of intimacy and fellowship. Such a state, however, must depend upon their faith and their conduct. They that are of the same grade and station are fully aware of one another's capacity, character, accomplishments and merits. They that are of a lower grade, however, are incapable of comprehending adequately the station, or of estimating the merits, of those that rank above them. Each shall receive his share from thy Lord. Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most Powerful, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 170)

know thou for a certainty, that in the divine worlds, the spiritual beloved ones will recognize each other, and will seek union, but a spiritual union. Likewise, a love that one may have entertained for any one will not be forgotten in the world of the Kingdom. Likewise, thou wilt not forget the life that thou hast had in the material world." -Tablets of Abdul-Baha, p 205

159. As to thy question, doth every soul without exception achieve life everlasting? Know thou that immortality belongeth to those souls in whom hath been breathed the spirit of life from God. All save these are lifeless -- they are the dead, even as Christ hath explained in the Gospel text. He whose eyes the Lord hath opened will see the souls of men in the stations they will occupy after their release from the body. He will find the living ones thriving within the precincts of their Lord, and the dead sunk down in the lowest abyss of perdition.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 189

 

[1213]

I believe that God loves everyone, but I don't think everyone is equal in God's eyes.

I think it depends on what is meant with equal. For example this is one way how I think everyone is equal:

But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Matt. 5:44-45

This does not mean He accepts everything.

 

[Trailblazer]

I think it depends on what is meant with equal. For example this is one way how I think everyone is equal:

But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Matt. 5:44-45

This does not mean He accepts everything.

And then that depends upon what you mean my accepts. DO you mean accepts their behavior? Do you mean accepts into heaven?

 

[Trailblazer]

159. As to thy question, doth every soul without exception achieve life everlasting? Know thou that immortality belongeth to those souls in whom hath been breathed the spirit of life from God. All save these are lifeless -- they are the dead, even as Christ hath explained in the Gospel text. He whose eyes the Lord hath opened will see the souls of men in the stations they will occupy after their release from the body. He will find the living ones thriving within the precincts of their Lord, and the dead sunk down in the lowest abyss of perdition.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 189

"To 'get to heaven' as you say is dependent on two things--faith in the Manifestation of God in His Day, in other words in this age in Bahá'u'lláh; and good deeds, in other words living to the best of our ability a noble life and doing unto others as we would be done by. But we must always remember that our existence and everything we have or ever will have is dependent upon the mercy of God and His bounty, and therefore He can accept into His heaven, which is really nearness to Him, even the lowliest if He pleases. We always have the hope of receiving His mercy if we reach out for it."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, January 12, 1957)

Lights of Guidance (second part): A Bahá'í Reference File

 

[Spice]

Matthew 20:1- 16
1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denariusa a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’16So the last will be first, and the first last.”

 

[1213]

And then that depends upon what you mean my accepts. DO you mean accepts their behavior? Do you mean accepts into heaven?

I meant He doesn't accept every action. But, it could be also said that He doesn't accept everyone to heaven, because eternal lie is promised only for righteous children of God.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matt. 25:46
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matt. 5:20
But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me! Don't forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Most assuredly I tell you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it."
Mark 10:14-15
and said, "Most assuredly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matt. 18:3
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13

 

[Aupmanyav]

Reading from what my knowledgeable friends have posted, it won't be a class-less society in God's kingdom.

 

[Dawnofhope]

This is for Christian beliefs.

Some people say we will all be equal before the eyes of God while others believe that while we will go to the same Heaven that there will be different levels based on your faithfulness to God.

I take that to mean that the better the Christian are while on Earth the closer you will be to God when you die.

I am having a difficult time trying to find scripture to back this up so if anyone could expand on it I would very much appreciate it.

In response to your question:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Matthew 25:31-46

 

[Viker]

Don't know 'bout heaven. But birth and death are the great equalizers. So if there is a heaven, sure. Why not?