buddha did not say he was God. in fact, he said he was not God. he said he was NOT the way. he told people NOT TO WORSHIP him.
buddha even said, that the WAY will come after him. and that you will recognise THE SAVIOUR(OR THE WAY), by marks on His hands and feet.
Jesus had marks on His hands and feet, from the nails and the Cross. He was crucified to the Cross for our sin. Jesus came after buddha(prince Gurthama).
so today if you follow buddha when he told you he is not God and not The Way, where will you go when you die?
taoism is not a religion. taoism originally is about teachings, and balance of life. it was not suposed to be about gods, and goddesses. no "gods" in taoism ever said that they are gods. Humans made them gods.
so now, if you follow taoism, who are you following really? will these "gods" who never claim to be gods bring you to heaven or hell?
if you believe that you do not need any gods or God to bring you to heaven, that you can go to heaven with your own GOOD WORKS, and good merits, then you are very wrong too.
can you imagine when you die, you stand before God, a perfect God, a holy God, and say,"yes God, let me into heaven, i was a good person when i was alive."
God will then say,"since you claim to be good, when i say NO ONE IS GOOD IN MY WORD, then i will show you your own life in front of the whole human race, in front of all nations and peoples, and angels."
and then God will show you
how you threw a tantrum the minute you came out of your mother's womb,
how you snatch your toys from your siblings when you were nine,
how you were so disrespectful and rude to your parents when you were fifteen,
what you did in the secret when you were seventeen years old,
how you cut the queue when you were twenty,
how you pretend to be sleeping on the bus when you saw a pregnant lady when you were thirty,
how you cursed your friend in your mind and heart when you were fifty,
how you thought of stealing and robbing when you were sixty,
how you lust over girls when you were seventy and so on.
and God will ask you,"you call yourself good? you think you can justify yourself?"
then maybe by then you will have regretted and say to God," God, i am sorry, i know i cannot justify myself now. i cannot even justify myself with my own religion! i am a sinner. bring me to heaven please!"
but on that Day, God will say, "but i gave you YOUR WHOLE LIFE when you were on earth to make the choice to believe in Me. but you reject everytime my people come and tell you about the Name of Christ. do you remember?"
my friends, for all of us, when we die, have to stand before the Judgment seat of Christ, and account to Him.
if you choose to be judged by your own good works and your life, you will fail by any standards.
but if you choose to be judged by faith in Jesus Christ who took away our sins, you will be saved.
for it is by grace we have been saved, not through good works or religion, so that no one can BOAST.
