Subject: And what about those who will die before |
Bible Note: Greetings Dachande! You wrote: "To merely GIVE salvation underminds all the teachings of Christ, and his Apostles..." Which teachings are you referring to exactly? I ask because the teachings of Christ and the Apostles actually goes against what you said. What did Christ say about salvation? John 6:28 - "Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' 29 Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" John 1:12 - "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—" John 3:15 - " that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.'" John 6:40 - "For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:47 - "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." John 8:24 - "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." John 11:25 - "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" What about the Apostles? Acts 16:30 - "He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' 31 They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.'" Eph. 2:8 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." I could go on and on, but these Scriptures are sufficient to demonstrate that both Christ and the Apostles taught that salvation is a free gift received by faith alone, not by any work or merit on our part. There seems to be an almost universal desire to 'earn' our salvation in some way or some manner. I believe it is because we simply can't accept that there is nothing we can do, but that is what Scripture teaches. Salvation is a free gift, based upon what Christ did on the cross. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |