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To: Salvation

It would be better if it were more accurate. I cannot speak for the Catholic summaries, but the Protestant ones seem a bit off.

The evangelicals I know say that, to be saved, one must respond to the revelation of God by his grace by repenting and believing in Jesus Christ. This assumes God is at work in our lives before we realize it. We do not list a set of facts about Jesus that must be believed, but the person himself. As one grows in knowledge, he will know more about Jesus - but, in my own case, I was saved at 12 but didn’t know much about the details of Jesus until later.

Obviously, if as someone grows they ‘grow’ to believe that Jesus is someone different from the one revealed in scripture, then they never truly believed in Him at all.

Repentance isn’t intellectual, but with the whole being or not at all.

Baptism with water is underemphasized, IMHO, but it isn’t water baptism that saves, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Faith is NOT a gift of God, as far as I can tell from scripture, but is the description of what we have when we believe - for faith means that person A believes in person B.

There is no suggestion that one is saved and finished with naught more to do, for salvation starts with justification (which is finished) and continues with sanctification. Salvation can refer to simply justification, but often refers to justification, sanctification, and glorification.


5 posted on 02/09/2010 6:26:38 PM PST by Mr Rogers (I loathe the ground he slithers on!)
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To: Mr Rogers

And I can’t truthfully speak to the evangelical and Protestant approaches to Christian initiation.

However, I do agree with the Catholic viewpoints put forth here.

Posting the introduction with these threads, I believe, is important, because it lets all readers know that the authors have some evangelical and Protestant background. To me, both sides of issues are presented, and we can be the judge.


6 posted on 02/09/2010 6:34:31 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Mr Rogers

I have witnessed a couple of Christian service altar calls, however. And what I was reading here seemed to go along with what I saw happening there.


7 posted on 02/09/2010 6:47:20 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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