Posted on 08/27/2006 12:41:00 AM PDT by Crazieman
Exactly, that is what OT 'the law' taught us. That it is impossible to work one's way into heaven. Jesus paid the price for us, through his grace, his way, not our deeds, and he will bring us home one day. There is one road to these mansions, (not many roads to the mansions). When we think we have done good deeds to get into heaven, we have pride in our works, not in Christ's completed work on the cross.
But, as it is written also, for us not to use the grace as a reason or an excuse to continue on sinning.
29Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die."[d] 33Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 34Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
35But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we[f] bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=53&chapter=15&version=31
"Absent faith in Jesus, or a covenant with God, it is a pretty poor lookout. There remain justification by works (virtually impossible for most, which is why Jesus died for us) and outright mercy (not impossible)."
God is merciful. Moreover, as I've tried to suggest before, the Christ-is-the-only-way-to-heaven belief is based on the writings by men who claimed to know the word of God. God reveals Himself to people in different ways at different times, and men often distort His message.
It flies in the face of what I believe I know about God to think that, for example, he would have created so much human life, but then condemn nearly all of it to hell based on what one might call a magic password system--yes, I know I'll catch it for that. But God is merciful, forgiving, understanding, and, I believe, wise; too wise in my opinion to engage in massive condemnation of good people.
You and others can certainly reject the non-fundamentalist Christian view, but there it is, at least one version of it.
The 'conversion' of the Fox reporters is just another proof to the enemy that the West stands for nothing. I wonder if Centanni will ever realize that he doesn't stand for anything and that he has no faith. This is not to be judgemental or critical of Centanni but this is a critique of our culture, our godless, faithless culture. This confirms to our enemy how weak we really are (the West). I think God will require us to be brave in these days, not in defeating the enemy through military power, but in how we die. God is showing us that our culture is morally and spiritually bankrupt. I remember that Italian that was captured in Iraq by them and just before he was shot, said "I'll show you how Italians die". What bravery.
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