Results 1 - 2 of 2
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | when is someone saved? | Rom 10:9 | respectHim | 58900 | ||
John, You wrote "Do you not see that this mis-interpretation of the gospel is a return to salvation by works! What happened to the GOOD NEWS that we have been saved by GRACE not WORKS?" Please let me clarify that we CANNOT earn our salvation through works. To have Jesus Christ as our Savior we must acknowledge that we have sinned, that our sins have placed us under a sentence of death and that we need forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice. We must then accept Jesus as our personal Savior, recognizing that He died for us. Regrettably, many people stop right there and think that's all there is to it. They fail to recognize the crucial necessity of personal repentance. In recognition of Christ's sacrifice and a desire to change our lives to please God, each of us must forsake the sinful ways that brought the death penalty upon us and made Jesus' sacrifice necessary in the first place. We cannot continue to live as we lived before. We must undergo a life transforming change of heart and direction, a process the Bible calls repentance. Peter said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Remission means release, that is, release from guilt for your sins. God forgives our past sins and clears our record. After receiving God's Spirit, we are justified, that is we become righteous in God's sight. God counts none of our past sins against us (Romans 3:25). If we stumble and sin, we must ask God's forgiveness so that our state of forgiveness is not lost by our return to our old sinful way of life (1 John 2:1-6). When we are justified, God deals with us as though we had never sinned; the death penalty has no hold on us. However John made it plain that Christians at times will still stumble and sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9). John wrote these words after several decades as a Christian and an apostle of Christ, and he included himself among those who still fell prey to sin. The difference in the life of a Christian is that he no longer practices unrighteousness as a way of life. "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:10). A Christian practices righteousness by obeying God's commandments. Yet our obedience to God's law does not save us. It is God who saves us through Christ. The law cannot save us, but our striving to obey it is a condition of our salvation. If we ultimately refuse to obey God, He will not ultimately save us. You quote the verse on predestination (Romans 8: 29), but this is a very controversial subject with many different ideas and interpretations. Let me tell you I have seen a number of ex-Christians on other forums as well as where I work, who will freely admit they no longer practice Christianity because they believe it is a lie or a fraud or simply a fairy tale. This seems to confirm what Jesus said in the parable of the "sower" in Luke Chapter 8. Much more can be said on this subject but I need to stop here for now. respectHim. |
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2 | when is someone saved? | Rom 10:9 | John Reformed | 58925 | ||
Dear RespectHim, Thank you for your thoughtful and kind reply. I am in total agreement with your emphasis on repentance as an essential part of salvation. Many churches,in their zeal to evangelize, have de-emphasized sin, judgement and repentance and instead "market" the gospel like a cure for all that ails you. "Try Jesus, you'll like Him!" I beleve that this watered down "gospel" has drawn many to give christianity a try. After a while, when health, wealth and happiness failed to appear according to their expectations, they returned the unused portion for a full refund and went shopping elsewhere. These folks were not regenerated believers in the scriptural sense of being "born again" or "born from above". 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." Because I believe that God has chosen (before the foundation of the world) those who would be saved. And because God never fails to accomplish that which He stretches forth His hand to do, I must conclude that He also has provided the means by which all TRUE BELIVERS will spend eternity with Him. A few verses that I base my belief on are: Heb 2:10 " For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory..." If ALL things are for Christ and ALL things are from Christ, then so is our salvation. HE brings US to glory! Heb 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith," We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, not upon ourselves. Our Faith came from Him and He will make it perfect. John 6:35 "Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. I trust what Jesus has said is true: I will NEVER thirst. You must understand, my friend, I place no confidence in myself. I look to Christ for my salvation. If ,God Forbid, I would someday reject my faith in Jesus, it would be because I was never His to begin with, but was merely a christian in name only. This understanding of God's soverignty, (see Romans 9), does not absolve me from striving to be obedient in keeping His commandments. I am not free to sin, but I am free to fight against the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. The defeats are mine; the victory's are Christs' and ultimately we will cast our crowns at His feet and give Him all the glory He so richly deserves. Soli Deo Gloria, John Reformed |
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