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Post by Aeliana on Aug 31, 2022 10:37:46 GMT -8
Sorry for the long copy&paste story, but it is just so good I couldn't resist.
Imagine for a moment that you are at the scene of a burning building. You notice a crowd of people shouting and pointing up at one end of the building, so you run to see what all the commotion is about. When you arrive, you are told by firemen that a woman is trapped on a ledge three floors up. Her only hope is to jump into the net that has been set up right below her.
As you peer through the smoke, you finally catch a glimpse of the woman. She is obviously scared and confused. You see the net not too far from where you are standing. It certainly looks strong enough to hold the woman, and apparently, the firemen are confident that if she will simply jump, her life will be spared.
Suddenly, without warning the woman screams and leaps from the building. The firemen brace themselves to help absorb the impact of the woman’s body as she hits the safety net. As the sides of the net are lowered, you see that the woman escaped with only minor injuries. The crowd cheers, and you go on your merry way.
Now, think for a moment. What saved the woman’s life?
The net, of course. No one would credit her with saving her own life. Fortunately for her, trained firemen were on the spot who knew how to handle emergency situations. They formulated a plan, went to work on it, and carried it out.
But what bridged the gap between her need and the provision waiting below? One desperate leap! However, leaping did not save her. Many people have jumped from burning buildings only to end up dead on the pavement below. The net and the firemen saved her.
So it is with faith. Faith does not save a person. Everybody has expressed faith at some point or another. Yet not everyone will spend eternity in heaven. God’s grace is what saves us. Our faith, however, is the thing that bridges the gap between our need and God’s provision; specifically, it is appoint in time at which the expression of faith in Christ brings God’s provision together with our need. Once the woman jumped, she was safe. Once we believe, we are saved.
I imagine a woman who went through an experience such as the one described would always have faith in firemen and their nets. But even if she did not, the fact remains that she was saved from the fire. In the same way, in all probability, a Christian who has expressed faith in Christ and experienced forgiveness of sin will always believe that forgiveness is found through Christ. But even if he does not, the fact remains that he is forgiven!
It is true that the same woman could find herself caught in a different fire. And it is equally true that the degeneration of her faith in firemen and their nets could be deadly. But a man or woman who has been rescued once from a state of unforgiveness need not worry. For once 100 percent of a man’s or woman’s sins have been forgiven, the potential for being unforgiven has been done away with. The risk factor is zero. There are no more fires from which the believer needs to be saved.
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Post by Theophilus on Aug 31, 2022 11:42:20 GMT -8
The Bible teaches “once saved, always saved” — that we can be saved once and for all only through a repentant, saving faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person has accepted Christ as Savior, they may wonder if it is possible to lose that salvation. What if they commit a sin? What if they commit a lot of sins? What if they do something very, very wrong? Is it possible to be saved, and then lose that salvation? Fortunately, the answer is a resounding “no.” Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, he/she is forever saved. This fact is referred to as the doctrine of “eternal security,” often summarized as “once saved, always saved.”
There are several reasons why a person can be confident in their “eternal security.” First and foremost is the evidence of Scripture. John 3:15-18 says about Christ: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 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.” The salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is eternal.
In John 10:28-30, Jesus says: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The forgiveness of God through Christ is sufficient to cover all of our sins — past, present, and future. There is nothing a person can do that God cannot forgive. This doctrine is supported by Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 4:30, and Jude 24, among others.
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Post by Aeliana on Aug 31, 2022 12:56:22 GMT -8
The Bible teaches “once saved, always saved” — that we can be saved once and for all only through a repentant, saving faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person has accepted Christ as Savior, they may wonder if it is possible to lose that salvation. What if they commit a sin? What if they commit a lot of sins? What if they do something very, very wrong? Is it possible to be saved, and then lose that salvation? Fortunately, the answer is a resounding “no.” Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, he/she is forever saved. This fact is referred to as the doctrine of “eternal security,” often summarized as “once saved, always saved.” Once Saved, Always Saved is the logical evidence as you see in a lot of other scriptural doctrines, the idea of “once saved, always saved” is also supported logically. Eternal security is consistent with everything else the Bible teaches about mankind, and God. If you look at this doctrine in relation to the rest of the Bible, it shows that it is consistent with all other biblically sound teachings. This idea of losing our salvation is not only unscriptural, but it creates many problems with other doctrines, including salvation by faith, the sin nature of man, and the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice.
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Post by Obadiah on Aug 31, 2022 17:52:23 GMT -8
Not to dispute the point you are really trying to make, but I have tried to walk away from Christ, and found myself unable to do so. That's what I'm talking about. Been there done that, got the same results.
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Post by bloodbought1953 on Aug 31, 2022 23:27:42 GMT -8
bloodbought1953 Searching out iniquities are we?Your measure of truth should be the Holy Bible, not a man’s wife. Or did you forget the scripture that a man’s foes can be those of his very household? “And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:36) But this is my meditation this morning after reading your provocative post: “Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.” (Psalms 64:2-6) Try to deflect all you want—— just let me talk to your Wife......even if she is your “Foe”..... There is nothing wrong with going outside of the Bible to prove a man is a Liar (or at least very Blind and Deceived)........We with brains can’t allow guys like you to perhaps Fool a Newbie with you Ignorant claims of “ Sinless Perfection”......YOUR “ measure of truth” does not come from the Bible either—- it comes straight from Hell
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Post by michaiah on Sept 1, 2022 2:22:13 GMT -8
bloodbought1953 said You with brains? Use it to deny sin then. You know, like Jesus said? “…sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5:14) Has something worse happened to you since you first believed?
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Post by eternallygrateful on Sept 1, 2022 3:38:46 GMT -8
Sorry for the long copy&paste story, but it is just so good I couldn't resist. Imagine for a moment that you are at the scene of a burning building. You notice a crowd of people shouting and pointing up at one end of the building, so you run to see what all the commotion is about. When you arrive, you are told by firemen that a woman is trapped on a ledge three floors up. Her only hope is to jump into the net that has been set up right below her. As you peer through the smoke, you finally catch a glimpse of the woman. She is obviously scared and confused. You see the net not too far from where you are standing. It certainly looks strong enough to hold the woman, and apparently, the firemen are confident that if she will simply jump, her life will be spared. Suddenly, without warning the woman screams and leaps from the building. The firemen brace themselves to help absorb the impact of the woman’s body as she hits the safety net. As the sides of the net are lowered, you see that the woman escaped with only minor injuries. The crowd cheers, and you go on your merry way. Now, think for a moment. What saved the woman’s life? The net, of course. No one would credit her with saving her own life. Fortunately for her, trained firemen were on the spot who knew how to handle emergency situations. They formulated a plan, went to work on it, and carried it out. But what bridged the gap between her need and the provision waiting below? One desperate leap! However, leaping did not save her. Many people have jumped from burning buildings only to end up dead on the pavement below. The net and the firemen saved her. So it is with faith. Faith does not save a person. Everybody has expressed faith at some point or another. Yet not everyone will spend eternity in heaven. God’s grace is what saves us. Our faith, however, is the thing that bridges the gap between our need and God’s provision; specifically, it is appoint in time at which the expression of faith in Christ brings God’s provision together with our need. Once the woman jumped, she was safe. Once we believe, we are saved. I imagine a woman who went through an experience such as the one described would always have faith in firemen and their nets. But even if she did not, the fact remains that she was saved from the fire. In the same way, in all probability, a Christian who has expressed faith in Christ and experienced forgiveness of sin will always believe that forgiveness is found through Christ. But even if he does not, the fact remains that he is forgiven! It is true that the same woman could find herself caught in a different fire. And it is equally true that the degeneration of her faith in firemen and their nets could be deadly. But a man or woman who has been rescued once from a state of unforgiveness need not worry. For once 100 percent of a man’s or woman’s sins have been forgiven, the potential for being unforgiven has been done away with. The risk factor is zero. There are no more fires from which the believer needs to be saved. I love this the fire is our life, and the eternity we look forward to. As we look through eternity. we see the fire. and we see the net below. Will we succumb to the fire due to lack of faith (he who does not believe is condemned already) or do we by grace trust the net and fireman to save us.. (he who believes is not condemned)
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Post by eternallygrateful on Sept 1, 2022 3:42:01 GMT -8
I find it odd the one who deny's sin, is calling someone out who confesses his sin, that he is using something to deny sin.
hypocrisy at its finest
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Post by gomer on Sept 1, 2022 5:01:03 GMT -8
Sorry for the long copy&paste story, but it is just so good I couldn't resist. Imagine for a moment that you are at the scene of a burning building. You notice a crowd of people shouting and pointing up at one end of the building, so you run to see what all the commotion is about. When you arrive, you are told by firemen that a woman is trapped on a ledge three floors up. Her only hope is to jump into the net that has been set up right below her. As you peer through the smoke, you finally catch a glimpse of the woman. She is obviously scared and confused. You see the net not too far from where you are standing. It certainly looks strong enough to hold the woman, and apparently, the firemen are confident that if she will simply jump, her life will be spared. Suddenly, without warning the woman screams and leaps from the building. The firemen brace themselves to help absorb the impact of the woman’s body as she hits the safety net. As the sides of the net are lowered, you see that the woman escaped with only minor injuries. The crowd cheers, and you go on your merry way. Now, think for a moment. What saved the woman’s life? The net, of course. No one would credit her with saving her own life. Fortunately for her, trained firemen were on the spot who knew how to handle emergency situations. They formulated a plan, went to work on it, and carried it out. But what bridged the gap between her need and the provision waiting below? One desperate leap! However, leaping did not save her. Many people have jumped from burning buildings only to end up dead on the pavement below. The net and the firemen saved her. So it is with faith. Faith does not save a person. Everybody has expressed faith at some point or another. Yet not everyone will spend eternity in heaven. God’s grace is what saves us. Our faith, however, is the thing that bridges the gap between our need and God’s provision; specifically, it is appoint in time at which the expression of faith in Christ brings God’s provision together with our need. Once the woman jumped, she was safe. Once we believe, we are saved. I imagine a woman who went through an experience such as the one described would always have faith in firemen and their nets. But even if she did not, the fact remains that she was saved from the fire. In the same way, in all probability, a Christian who has expressed faith in Christ and experienced forgiveness of sin will always believe that forgiveness is found through Christ. But even if he does not, the fact remains that he is forgiven! It is true that the same woman could find herself caught in a different fire. And it is equally true that the degeneration of her faith in firemen and their nets could be deadly. But a man or woman who has been rescued once from a state of unforgiveness need not worry. For once 100 percent of a man’s or woman’s sins have been forgiven, the potential for being unforgiven has been done away with. The risk factor is zero. There are no more fires from which the believer needs to be saved. Hi, I am curious how you reached the conclusion " Faith does not save a person" when there are many verses in the Bible that do say faith/belief saves? In Rom 5:1-2 Paul says faith is what gives access to grace....no faith = no grace. Grace does save but faith is necessary to access that grace, hence in that sense faith does save for without faith there is no grace. One either has a NT faith or is faithless. If NT faith does not save then does faithlessness save? Does God save the faithless? I am also curious when you say the woman's leaping did not save her. How could she have been saved by not leaping but instead stay in the burning building? Even though a net and firemen were in place to catch her, they would have been useless had the woman not leaped, she would have died in the fire without leaping. Her leaping was just as necessary to her being saved as was the net and firemen. She may have had faith the firemen would catch her, but if she did not put that faith in action and leap she would have died.....faith only would have killed her in having faith apart from work in leaping. Much like faith gives access to grace/salvation (Rom 5:1-2) her faith, as proven by her leaping (James 2:18), gave her access to the salvation below provided by the net and fireman......no faith = no leaping = no salvation. A person is drowning. I am standing on the shore and throw that person a lifeline and yell "save yourself and grab the line and I will pull you to safety". Myself, the rope and the person grabbing the lifeline all played a role in the salvation of the drowning person. Since salvation would not have occurred if the person did not grab the rope, then it can be said the person "saved himself" by grabbing the rope. The drowning person did not save themselves by themselves for salvation would not occurred apart from me and the life line but they saved themselves by choosing to use the means of salvation offered them. In Acts 2 Peter threw a lifeline (repent and be baptized for remission of sins) to men who were lost drowning in sin and yelled "save yourselves" (Acts 2:40). They could not save themselves by themselves but saved themselves in grabbing the lifeline provided them by repenting and being baptized. There is an obvious synergism between God and man in salvation.....God provides the grace (lifeline) and man provides the faith (grabbing the lifeline). Lastly, where is the certified guarantee made to the woman that she would never find herself in a burning building ever again? According to 1 John 1:7-10 Christians sin therefore it is necessary for Christians to continue to walk in the light whereby the blood of Christ continues to cleanse away all sins. How are sins forgiven apart from walking in the light, that is, apart from walking in Christ and by His word. If all sins, past present and future, have been forgiven then why did John even say to walk in the light to have sins cleanse if all sins have ALREADY been forgiven? When one is baptized all his sins he has committed in the past are forgiven yet for future sins to be forgiven one must continue to walk in the light and those future sins are forgiven "IF" (conditional word) continues to walk in the light.
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Post by gomer on Sept 1, 2022 5:26:48 GMT -8
The Bible teaches “once saved, always saved” — that we can be saved once and for all only through a repentant, saving faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person has accepted Christ as Savior, they may wonder if it is possible to lose that salvation. What if they commit a sin? What if they commit a lot of sins? What if they do something very, very wrong? Is it possible to be saved, and then lose that salvation? Fortunately, the answer is a resounding “no.” Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, he/she is forever saved. This fact is referred to as the doctrine of “eternal security,” often summarized as “once saved, always saved.” There are several reasons why a person can be confident in their “eternal security.” First and foremost is the evidence of Scripture. John 3:15-18 says about Christ: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 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.” The salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is eternal. In John 10:28-30, Jesus says: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The forgiveness of God through Christ is sufficient to cover all of our sins — past, present, and future. There is nothing a person can do that God cannot forgive. This doctrine is supported by Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 4:30, and Jude 24, among others. In John 3:16 one cannot have the present tense 'eternal life' apart from having the present tense 'believeth'. The same is true in Jn 10:28ff, one cannot have the present tense 'eternal life' apart from having the necessary present tense of 'hear' and 'follow'. The present tense plays an important role in these verses for without CONTINUED belief, hearing and following there cannot be a present tense eternal life. Charles Stanley false claims a Christian can still be saved even if the Christian quits believing, quits hearing and following Christ. Yet Stanley struggled with the present tense..if one must have belief to have eternal life, then doesn't it make sense one must continue to believe to keep eternal life: "Charles Stanley is not unaware of the weakness of his argument. He raises this question: “If our salvation is gained through believing in Christ, doesn’t it make sense that salvation would be lost if we quit believing?” (Eternal Security — Can You Be Sure?, Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1990, p. 73).
He concedes that such arguments sound “convincing,” but he believes he has a solution to the problem, and he spends several chapters in his book struggling with it.
As suggested in our discussion of John 3:18 (above), the promise of security is conditioned upon our sustained belief. The present tense form pisteuo (believe) is found several times in John’s Gospel within this type of context (cf. 3:14-16,18; 5:24; 6:29; 6:40).
Now what is the significance of the present tense in Greek? Dana & Mantey (two Baptist scholars) note that the “principle tense” for representing “action as continuous” is the present tense (A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, New York: Macmillan, 1968, p. 178). A.T. Robertson, the greatest Baptist grammarian ever, wrote: “the present tense expresses incompleted action” (A Short Grammar of the Greek New Testament, New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1908, p. 140).
Quotations of this nature could be multiplied many times over.
I introduce this matter to emphasize that it is incredible that Mr. Stanley, in attempting to avoid the force of the present tense, should say: “The normal use of the present tense does not denote continuous, uninterrupted action” (p. 85).
The gentleman introduces John 4:13 in attempting to sustain his point. Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks [present tense] of this water [from Jacob’s well] shall thirst again.” He declares that it is ridiculous to suggest that those folks were “continuously drinking from Jacob’s well” (p. 86).
He will have to dispute the matter with one of his own spiritual kinsmen — a top Baptist scholar whose scholarship considerably eclipsed that of the Atlanta “Pastor.” Professor Kenneth Wuest translated John 4:13 in this way:
“Whosoever keeps on drinking of this water shall thirst again” (his emp.). He then comments: “Continual drinking at the wells of the world never quenches the soul’s thirst for heart satisfaction” (The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, Chicago: Moody Press, 1946, p. 43).
Of course the people of Sychar were not drinking in an “uninterrupted” fashion; they were, however, drinking on a sustained basis. And that is what we must do. In spite of temporary lapses of faith due to weakness, we must progressively persevere — if we expect to enjoy eternal life. The tenses make this certain.
What is the point of all this? Mr. Stanley is trying to prove that one does not have to keep on believing in order to make his salvation secure. He advocates the notion that a Christian can completely abandon his faith in God and Christ, become a rank atheist, and the Lord will save him anyhow. Hear him:
“Even those who walk away from the faith have not the slightest chance of slipping from His hand” (p. 74). Is this not an incredible statement? www.christiancourier.com/articles/1131-can-a-christian-ever-be-lost Wayne Jackson(my emp) If the present tense is not important, then that means one can quit believing yet still be saved. How many proponents of eternal security on this forum think salvation is possible apart from faith?
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Post by civic on Sept 1, 2022 5:35:53 GMT -8
good point about the present tense gomer
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Post by Theophilus on Sept 1, 2022 7:26:15 GMT -8
gomerCharles Stanley false claims a Christian can still be saved even if the Christian quits believing, quits hearing and following Christ. Yet Stanley struggled with the present tense..if one must have belief to have eternal life, then doesn't it make sense one must continue to believe to keep eternal life:Sounds like a false claim to me. To continue to have eternal life you must remain in Christ. You have to abide, abide, abide in Christ. so what happens if you stop abiding in Christ and go back to abiding in the world and walking in the flesh? Think of the parable of the Prodigal son. When he got tired of feeding the pigs, When he had made of mess of his life he went home. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” It's not that we can't blow it, It's more like God Can Make A way were there seems to be no way.
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Post by rickstudies on Sept 1, 2022 7:37:56 GMT -8
you claim your sins are meaningless in the following ways 1. You deny perfection is Gods standard 2. You deny the penalty of sin (death) is the only thing that can redeem you from every sin you commit 3. You claim you can sin yourself out of salvation if you commit these sins , but these other sins are ok. as long as you make penance. if you cared what God said, you would look at his inspired word. and not listen to men. It’s hard to know where to even begin here. The church has never taught that sin is meaningless. It taught that sin can keep you from heaven!!! And still teaches that. Some Sola Fide adherents, OTOH, because the doctrine insists that righteousness is merely imputed or declared anyway at justification, may see themselves as sinless even though they’re not: “simul justus et peccator”, etc. And this is nothing but pretense, hypocrisy, nothing to do with the gospel; God doesn’t deal in falsehoods. Anyway, the idea that the believer is free from the penalties of sin as long as they have faith has also led some to think that grace/the gospel is a license to sin as Jude 1:4, for example, makes clear was already a threat at the beginning. But the church always opposed this, as Paul and others did, of course. And the early church opposed it so severely that, across the board, throughout the church world, it was considered that, if someone sinned in some grave and serious manner: adultery, murder, etc, they were no longer part of God’s fold, and repentance was impossible. Christians had turned away from the world and its sin, often at great cost. Persecution and martyrdom were normal occurrences. Certain New Testament passages support this idea that repentance is impossible, and, as well, it was simply the consensus that was received and held at the beginning. So much for forgiveness being some sort of carte blanc already-ever-accomplished deal as long as one believes.In the 200s AD, however, the overseer/bishop of Rome, Callistus, ruled that a person could, with a sincere change of heart, come to repentance and return to fellowship with God and His followers, even as this was allowed only over time and after much penance was involved. This was very controversial, causing no little storm within the church. He based this on the understanding of God’s mercy and love and desire that all come to Him. Eventually this teaching would take root and be accepted throughout the church, everywhere. Either way, sin continued to have much meaning in the church, quite different from today’s climate in general I might add. Other actions would be required of the church, in the east and west, as the need arose, sometimes driven by other controversies. The canon of the new testament would be assembled at council in the 300s, as well as the doctrine of the Trinty and the nature of Christ being hammered out due to the Arian controversy. In the 400s the Pelagian controversy arose over the role of man’s will vs grace in his salvation. A big plus that came out of it all was that, based mainly on the arguments that ensued, most of them from Augustine, doctrines on grace were set down in the following century at council. Using 25 canons or statements it was solidly maintained that fallen man cannot possibly move himself to God in any way, that he has not the power to find God to begin with, or to please Him, to come to faith in Him, to justify himself, to live out the righteousness demanded by the law because he doesn’t possess that righteousness within himself to begin with, on his own. And yet the law is holy and good; man was made for it; he wasn’t created to be a sinner after all. The real distinction between fallen and redeemed man is that fallen man lacks God, union with Him, due to his own ignorance and pride-driven preference for himself over God, initated by Adam. Man cannot pull himself up by his own bootstraps; he needs grace, he needs God to find him, to inform him, to call him, to move him, to justify him. What Paul means by saying that we’re justified and saved by faith is that we’re justified by grace, by God, as opposed to ourselves, because faith makes God our God again. Faith is to say yes to God, placing us into right stead and order with Him. Adam had said no to God, and He’s been patiently working with mankind ever since to bring us back around to yes, definitively made available to all with the advent of His Son who reveals and reconciles us with Him. That faith, that agreement, that yes, that unity, is what pleased God first above all else about Abraham’s response. It’s a game-changer for man- it’s the basis of justice for man, it’s what we were all made for. But the church also maintained that man, even when called by God, can still say no. He can resist grace at any time. He’s not just saved but on a journey to salvation, to his purpose, to fulfilling that which he was made for which can be summed by loving God with his whole heart, soul, mind and strength and his neighbor as himself. In this profound, supernatural love, in this transformation into God’s image, is found all the purpose, satisfaction, and happiness a human can know and possess. Within that he has finally obtained the true and priceless Object of all human desire. But it’s also a journey that he can jump off of at any time, returning to the flesh, departing from the Spirit. So it’s a struggle, between our pride/desire to sin and our choice for good over that evil. So, after the 25 canons the church stated thusly: “According to the catholic [universal] faith we also believe that after grace has been received through baptism, all baptized persons have the ability and responsibility, if they desire to labor faithfully, to perform with the aid and cooperation of Christ what is of essential importance in regard to the salvation of their soul. We not only do not believe that any are foreordained to evil by the power of God, but even state with utter abhorrence that if there are those who want to believe so evil a thing, they are anathema. We also believe and confess to our benefit that in every good work it is not we who take the initiative and are then assisted through the mercy of God, but God Himself first inspires in us both faith in Him and love for Him without any previous good works of our own that deserve reward, so that we may both faithfully seek the sacrament of baptism, and after baptism be able by His help to do what is pleasing to Him.” While baptismal regeneration was the normal belief held by all the churches from antiquity, those going by Scripture alone in these later days often argue with each other over it. Either way baptism, aka “the sacrament of faith”, was considered to be the moment a person is born again, dying to the old man and coming up from the waters as a new creation in obedience to Christ’s command. At baptism one is forgiven and cleansed of sin. It’s taught that, at that moment, providing that faith is genuine, nothing would stand between the believer and heaven if they were to die then and there. Sacraments, BTW, are theology “set in stone” so that even the simple, often illiterate man down through the centuries, can know and live out God’s will in the most basic ways: the need for rebirth, the need for continuous communion with and nurturing from God, the need to reconcile with Him again if need. All grace, and yet grace that must be “claimed” as it’s accepted and acted upon daily. We must walk the walk-and that’s both a gift and a choice. As we proceed on that journey, growing in the knowledge and love of God, our choice for good is becoming firmer, more sure, more complete, and so is our salvation. The problem with expecting someone to accept your opinion is tha lack of any kind of proof text. You are giving your opinion of what the church says which is by definition heresay. I would be interested in the superior doctrine but if scripture is absent you could maybe back it up with some historical references.
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Post by Aeliana on Sept 1, 2022 8:40:10 GMT -8
gomerIt's a story, I must not have made myself clear. It's not my story. Therefore, feel free to interpret it any way you like. I don't think our faith is what saves us it's our faith in what Jesus did on the cross that saves us. The shedding of his blood. His finished work on the cross. So our Salvation is by faith in what he did.
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Post by eternallygrateful on Sept 1, 2022 8:53:56 GMT -8
gomerIt's a story, I must not have made myself clear. It's not my story. Therefore, feel free to interpret it any way you like. I don't think our faith is what saves us it's our faith in what Jesus did on the cross that saves us. The shedding of his blood. His finished work on the cross. So our Salvation is by faith in what he did. amen for it is by GRACE we have been saved. We are saved by grace.. it is through faith we trust God to recieve that grace. the woman did not deserve to be saved.. or earn it.. The firefighters out of love chose to offer her the gift of salvation. She said yes..
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