Bible Question (short): Do Jesus and Paul agree on salv by faith |
Question (full): I am a relatively new Bible reader and one big question keeps hitting me -- I see a difference between Jesus' words on heaven and Paul's. Let me explain... Paul says "If you confess w/your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9, TLB) And also, "For it is by grace you have been saved thru faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works..." (Eph 2:8, NKJV) But I don't see Jesus talking that way in the gospels. For example, in Mt 7:21, Jesus said that "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. they may refer to me as Lord, but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Fathers in heaven". And again, in Mt 5:22, He says "if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell". See also Luke 12:35-49, where He discusses being prepared about his coming. If the servant isn't behaving well, the master will tear the servant apart and banish him. These statements of Jesus seem to indicate that much more than simply announcing and believing in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God is required for the Kingdom of Heaven. He clearly states that the key issue is whether you obey his Father in heaven. Is this to be interpreted as living a good life, following the commandments, etc., as additional requirements for heaven? Does that jive w/Paul's statements? Note that it's not that I'm against trying to live a good, holy life, but this seems to lead down the road of salvation by faith-and-works. Please help me understand this better, because my life was changed by Eph 2:8-9, but this is confusing me. Thanks! |
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Questions and/or Subjects for NT general Archive 1 | Author | ||
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reilly1041 | ||
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reilly1041 | ||
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Emmaus | ||
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Chusarcik | ||
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krzyhors | ||
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sepiatoned90 | ||
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flh | ||
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milty | ||
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eddies | ||
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norbay61 | ||
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Asis |