Posted on 04/23/2012 6:04:14 PM PDT by Salvation
St. Paul:
Phil 2:12 - work out your salvation in fear and trembling
Matthew25: 31-46, The Judgment of Nations lets people know who will get into Heaven.
Love God above all things & your neighbor as yourself is the commandment.
A belief in Jesus Christ has to be more than talk in the ordinary route to salvation.
The good thief on The Cross praised Jesus, believed in Jesus and had his sins forgiven. (The good-thief suffering death on the cross offered his prayer directly to Jesus Christ.) (The bad thief cursed God and died.)
There are plenty of other of Biblical passages explaining that God is looking doers of the word & just not talkers of the word.
Prior to death, perfect contrition will bring forgiveness of sins.
There is a ‘final exam’ on Judgment Day. The question & the answer is in the Bible.
Q. ‘Do you love me?’
A. ‘Yes Lord, you know I do!’
It’s not possible to deceive God. It’s always pointed-out in regards to the passage cited (Acts15: 31) that there is >more to that passage than simple belief. As beelzebub & his minions believe in Jesus Christ. They couldn’t pass the final exam so they are out of luck.
Did I get saved? (salvation)
Am I still saved?
"...this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God...For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:12, 14.
As a result...
"...if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17.
Therefore...
"...he hath said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Testament, declares that if you have received Jesus Christ, you have the (unearned) gift of righteousness, your sins past, present, and future have been forgiven, and washed by his blood. You are now the righteousness of God by grace.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:18)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
“if sin after receiving truth, judgment remains” What version is this? Your Douay-Rheims Bible says: For if we sin wilfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins. The NIV says: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.
The key word is “willfully” or “deliberately” keep on sinning! Now is that something a Christian would do?
Consider the following scenario:
CynicalBear is born not some time in the 1900's in the United States (I assume) with access to bibles and preachers and internet forums and what have you.
Rather, he is born CynicalRhinoTusk in a small jungle village in Africa in say, 1077 AD. Will you ever hear the word of God or be contacted by a clergyman of any type? Doubtful. So you will you ever be a Christian? Not likely.
So what happens to CynicalRhinoTusk? After all, he has never known Jesus, at least not in the conventional sense.
Hmmm...
Where will I go?
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:17-19)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)
but did you READ Romans chapter 1, starting at verse 18?
After you do, then you can answer your own question about the unknowing.
Work "out" NOT "for".
Do you still walk in the way of the Lord?
Pray and give thanks? Confess your daily trespasses? Reverence the most High? Live your belief rather than just talking about it?
If yes, I figure you are still saved. If no, you might want to fix that.
I used to be a Protestant (not a good one, but I accepted Christ into my life as my savior.) It sort of lapsed after a while, when what C.S Lewis called the honeymoon period was over.
Let me give you a very poor analogy. You shower every day because you get dirty. Our saviour is not a magic shower that cleans you from sin for good - you still need to bathe in His Grace daily, because you will sin each and every day.
I rejected Protestantism for that reason. People saying “Oh, I am saved,” then carrying on as normal. The Church doesn’t let you do that. You must examine your sins and atone for them.
I hope and indeed expect you personally do so and I fully expect to meet you in the fullness of time under His banner. Different battalions maybe, but under the same General.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2875690/posts?page=21#21
I said “out”
What are you talking about?
And how does "The Church" accomplish this?
If there is anything men do to get saved or stay saved, Jesus is not needed.
I'm saved because of what He did and He is the one that has my sins from the east to west remembered no more ... past, present and future.
I know you said "out" because that is what the verse says. What I said is St. Paul said to "Work out your own salvation..." not "Work FOR your own salvation...". Can you understand the difference? Some people quote that verse as if it is saying everyone has to work for their own salvation, but it is not what he said. Working your salvation OUT does not mean you work FOR it. You cannot work out or exercise something you don't already have.
Well, we have confession, for a start. And believe me, confession is rough. Most Priests know all the evasions and half truths and drill right down to the reasons and underlying thoughts.
It is a tool to focus on your daily sins. Not saying it is something you need, but it is something I need. Men are not involved - when you confess you are talking to the Lord. You just get a response you cannot ignore.
So you are implying that because you were saved in ‘81, you would be forgiven if you murdered someone in cold blood tomorrow? You see, this is why I joined the Church.
Our Lord saves. He also said an impossibility for us - “Go forth and Sin no more.”
He knew that. Remember “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?”
I have heard and seen people say that and it steams me.
Salvation is purely through our Jesus. You can no more gain salvation by good works and “following the laws” than you can get to Mars by standing in a field and wishing hard.
Yet ....
We are commanded to walk with the Lord. That means good works, charity, witnessing and living (and sometimes dying) for our faith.
It is not working FOR our salvation. It is something we must do BECAUSE we are saved.
Easy to get flipped over.
He was more than likely in Purgatory and would get out .... eventually ... but no one knows when)
So ... a 33.33% chance my father was in Heaven and a 66.66% chance he wasn't.
Sounded like, "Good luck kid, I hope you make it"
Catholicism ceased to be a valid politic at that point.
Couple of thoughts from one who is neither Catholic nor Protestant: too many forget that little command about repenting. I’ve known some Protestants who think that since they’ve made a profession that Christ is Lord, that they now have a free ticket to sin. I’ve also known some Catholics who think that if they go and confess a sin and say a few hail Mary’s, they can continue in their sin (another “free ticket”)
My thoughts would be, as another previously mentioned, we work our our salvation, but part of that is by repenting from those sins we fall prey to, realizing that no one has a free ticket to sin, that we fight daily to live as God would desire, and have comfort in knowing that when we do mess up, we confess, and know that he is righteous and just in his forgiveness. No amount of good work does it. No membership in a particular church or denomination. Only the blood of Christ.
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