GOD'S GIFT OF EVERLASTING LIFE: DIVIDING GOD'S SPIRIT FROM RELIGION

[barnicus]

GODS GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE

If we believe that our sins keep seperating us from God, we remain in "unbelief". But if we believe Jesus paid the full price of our sins on a cross and invite his Holy Spirit into our heart, we have the life of God living in us.

God's gift of life is eternal. It cannot be broken because the only thing capable of bringing death was sin. And Jesus dealt with sin in full. God no longer condemns us when we sin. Rather, he changes our hearts by placing his Holy Spirit into us.

SALVATION BY GRACE, JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS

According to Paul, "If grace is of works, it is no more grace”. Rom 11:6 Yet, James writes, "...by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Jam 2:12 Therefore many say "See! We do have to work for our salvation!"

Is this a Contradiction?

1) Salvation is a free gift through faith in Jesus' resurrection, which is apart from works of the law. But having been saved, what good would it be for us to return to our evil ways?

2) God justifies saving us because his spirit has come to live inside us. He changes our heart from a desire to do evil works, to a desire to do the works of love from a sincere heart.

In both instances, God is doing the saving and the justifying. God has works prepared for us once we come to faith. It's not on our shoulders to invent a work that pleases God. If you have truly been saved through faith without works, God will not abandon your faith, but will put on your heart, works he wants you to do.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

HOW DO I FIX THINGS WHEN I SIN?

There is no set of rituals or hoops you have to jump through to enter back into salvation. If God lives in you, he lives in you when you sin as well as when you don't. He is not a yo-yo bouncing in and out of you every time you sin and repent. His spirit is simply talking with you, letting you know whether your behavior is pleasing to him. Because you believe in God, you will want to leave those things that God is not pleased with.

Follow the example of Abraham, who was considered, "the friend of God". In the end, all God wants is friendship. Not a religious construct of an angry God who is difficult to appease.

* For those seeking the truth, please disregard those who arrogantly flame and discern the truth for yourself.

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

Good post. A lot of people on FR need to realize that the only lasting party, political or otherwise, is a person redeemed by Christ's sacrifice, on a restored earth, in a perfect PHYSICAL body, FOREVER. "And of the INCREASE of His peace there shall be NO END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Is it possible to lose your salvation ?
How do you know if you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and have forgotten that you did ?
The Bible says that we are " SEALED " with the Holy Spirit when we get saved or " Born Again " .... So that means we are his forever ?

[barnicus]

Regarding, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

In John's book, Jesus says, we need to be born again of the Spirit.
In another place, Jesus says those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit never have forgiveness.

The point Jesus is driving home, is that we need to be born of the Holy Spirit to have eternal life. Those who are fighting against the Spirit find themselves in the peculiar area of not being able to be forgiven, because they are rejecting the very one who is trying to give them eternal life.

Have you committed the unpardonable sin by speaking bad about the Spirit? That is probably the question that forms in many people's minds.

A more correct understanding is, "Am I rejecting the Spirit that is trying to bring me forgiveness?"

You can't be forgiven by the Spirit if you are rejecting/blaspheming him, but you are forgiven if you receive him.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I became Born Again in 1984.

[barnicus]

Praise God.

[Conservative til I die]

Born-Againism is Easy-Believism. It's an unfair lie that has tricked people into knowing they are saved (Christ will judge our salvation, not us), thus turning the Commandments and all of Christ's other admonitions and commands into mere suggestions (since you can't lose your salvation, can they be anything but suggestions without consequences?).

There are a myriad of quotes from the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament where Jesus and His inspired authors talk about all the things that must be done to gain and keep salvation.

[Conservative til I die]

Follow the example of Abraham, who was considered, "the friend of God". In the end, all God wants is friendship. Not a religious construct of an angry God who is difficult to appease.

This is a false dichotomy. (BTW, Abraham was the friend of God because He did what God asked) God does not exist to be a friend, though there are friendly elements to Him. God is our Father. The ultimate father, really. And His relationship to us mirrors that of an earthly father. His laws for us are not meant as the test of an angry God hoping to trip us up and send us to Hell. They are the rules that any loving father would use to guide us firmly but all the time knowing what is best for us. When we trip up and break His rules, it upsets God, just as it would upset any father. But God wants us to be united to Him as His children. That is why He gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation, which allows us to come back to the fold, come back from a "time out" so to speak.

To say that His rules are just those of an angry God almost looking for us to screw up is to turn God into some sort of petty crank, which He is most certainly not. But He is also not just our buddy from next door, looking to hang out with us on the street corner. That's degrading to Him.

[barnicus]

God justifies saving us because his spirit has come to live inside us. He changes our heart from a desire to do evil works, to a desire to do the works of love from a sincere heart.

Can you gain eternal life by working for it and expect God to reward you according to your works? There are those who with closed hearts will not hear God. It is harder to believe than to work.

Let God Spirit reign in your hearts and he will convict us both, of those things he hates and of love.

It is not easy-believism, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth shall have everlasting life.


Many will say they think they are saved because Jesus died for their sins. If this were the extent of the gospel, then YES, we are all hellbound and there is no life. But if we believe that Christ rose from the dead and have his Spirit dwell in our hearts we receive eternal life. God's Spirit is ALIVE in our hearts

[Rhadaghast]

so you are working for your salvation because Jesus could not do it for you? You add to his sacrifice because God is too impotent to accomplish it?

I John says he writes so that you will "KNOW" you have eternal life.

Are you disregarding the verses that state you have eternal life.

Your pride is getting in the way of your empowerment by God. Read John 10:27

Enter into his rest
Heb 4

Don't live with the LIE of unbelief in your salvation either.

[Rhadaghast]

I think we also need to talk about relationship. Jesus said, "I never knew you". It is more than just a head acknowledgment of his Deity, act or desire.

We as Christians are meant to dwell in his presence. Sup with him, Rev 3:20. Continue to abide in him. I think this is missing from the protestant and catholic admonitions.

We have his eternal grace, adoption as sons, for the purpose of continuous communion with Christ.

[Logophile]

so you are working for your salvation because Jesus could not do it for you? You add to his sacrifice because God is too impotent to accomplish it?

Could it be that Jesus requires something of us as well? It would seem so:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven . . . . (Matthew 5:44, 45)

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

[Conservative til I die]

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

Just thought I'd mention that in the CATHOLIC Churches this Sunday, this was the Gospel reading (one of three Scripture readings for the day) and was sermonized upon by my priest for 15 minutes.

[Rhadaghast]

Sorry, wrong answer two problems with that: A) Jesus is speaking to the Jews that thought they had perfect favor with God, because they were Jews. B) These are evidences of salvation not qualifications for Salvation. Salvation is free gift, which can not be gained or lost due to what you add to it.

I do not write this because I am arrogant. But because Jesus has made me righteousness. Past present and future, I am with him, perfected in spirit before God. Able to boldly stand before MY FATHER, with no shame guilt or condemnation. Romans 8:1.

When we look at works we must look at John 15:5. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Balance that with James. Lastly, what qualifications are included in the following verses? Look at them without the spirit of religion, but with the Holy Spirit that will lead you into all truth.

Mark 11:23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
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.

John 3:18 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 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

John 6:29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

John 10:26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

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;

John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Acts 13:39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Acts 15:11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

Acts 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

Acts 19:18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Romans 10:4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Galatians 3:7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.

1 Timothy 1:16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Hebrews 4:3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

1 Peter 1:21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

1 John 5:1 [ Faith in the Son of God ] Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

1 John 5:10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

1 John 5:13 [ Concluding Remarks ] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

These are not even all the verses. They are not out of context because they each context the others, as well as consistency with in their verses. We cannot even call our selves Christians with out assurance of salvation.

Heb 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God,

2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

3And God permitting, we will do so.

Heb 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,

6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

If your salvation is never to be sure, when did you loose it? What did you do to destroy it? Could something outside of yourself have taken it from you?

Until you can answer those questions you cannot deny your salvation.

The mere fact that you greive over your sin is evidence that the Spirit dwells in you and that your salvation continues.

I ask you to step forward into the Joy of security in Christ, and that joy will draw all men to Jesus. Renounce your unbelief, rejoice, and enter his rest.

I say these thing to encourage you not to debase the grace but to live in the power of his love to everyone that you see.

[Rhadaghast]

Great post, don't comprimise.
The spirit of religion persists for those whose god is 'Being Right'. None of them even allow the Holy Spirit the ability to lead them into all truth.

[Logophile]

Sorry, wrong answer two problems with that: A) Jesus is speaking to the Jews that thought they had perfect favor with God, because they were Jews. B) These are evidences of salvation not qualifications for Salvation. Salvation is free gift, which can not be gained or lost due to what you add to it.

What could be wrong with my answer? I simply quoted the words of Jesus. He was speaking to any and all who would follow him (not just a certain group of Jews, as you assert.) I believe that one must love and follow Jesus to be saved. Would you disagree?

[Rhadaghast]

No I would not disagree with following Jesus, but that is not the condition of salvation. It is the by product of salvation. Salvation causes us to follow Jesus, Salvation that we do not earn thrusts us into denying our selves and taking up our cross.
The verse you had posted were to the Jews, and a warning to all that you will be taking on the cross and denying yourself. But too many use it to say that unless you take on your cross you do not get salvation. Others use it to say that we cannot know if we have salvation, take up your cross and if you did it well, consistently perfectly you maybe might, win the lottery of salvation and enter heaven.

That is why I posted those other verse for you to consider. Yes balance all of the verses and you will find that very phew have a qualification for salvation. The vast majority say, you have it, now demonstrate it!

[barnicus]

bookmark