And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Much like Cornelious was instantly saved when the Holy Ghost fell on him BEFORE he was baptized.
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I did not read the word “instantly” in my Bible.
If you believe in Jesus you can be saved. The Devil too believes but is he saved? I think not. Believing only is a start. It’s like starting a car to go to a distant city.
I don’t understand where this fiction comes from. I don’t understand why people think that just wanting Eternal Life will give it to you. I don’t understand why people don’t think there are any strings attached.
Faith comes before believing. Desire to believe comes before faith. Believing comes by testing your faith through works. Soon you begin to realize that it is true and your faith grows and you have works. Your faith becomes stronger and stronger, it becomes belief. Soon you KNOW.
The person who has lived a sinful life with no remorse but fear on their death bed can cry “Jesus” all they want, it won’t get it done, I don’t think. Jesus will forgive who He will and I hope it is more than less, but if you think it is automatic just because you want it you are wrong. If you believe then you will have it because of what the belief causes you to do. The Apostles didn’t go from town to town getting people to say they believed, they went around trying to get people to exercise their faith because that is what would allow them to have access to the Grace of The Savior.
It isn’t like we can sign a book somewhere that says “we believe” and then walk away to our sinful lives. There will be a lot of surprises when people realize that they signed the book but didn’t get “the promise”.
The people that teach this stuff will help people be ignorant of the truth and keep them from being what they could be, perhaps keep them from being able to take advantage of the Grace that He so fully offers us.
All these scriptures that say believe and be saved don’t say believe and don’t do anything else and be saved. The scriptures don’t say do nothing else but confess the name of Jesus. The scripture don’t say just repent, nothing else is required. They don’t say just stop sinning and you will be saved without doing anything else.
When Scriptures say repent and be saved they are correct because they know if you repent you did it because you Loved The Lord and decided to follow Him. It is understood that after you feel sorrow for your sins you will repent and then be baptized and follow The Lord to the best of your ability. It is taken for granted that you will make mistakes again and plead to God to be forgiven and He will forgive you, again and again, but, you must ask. You must repent. You must have faith enough to do those things.
I was 15 years old when I first read the Holy Bible and realized that my minister was preaching information from a source other than The Bible. When you mix scripture with the feel good desires of philosophers, error creeps in. The error does not necessarily come because of evil desire, just the opposite. The error comes from a desire to love all people and wish the best for all people.
There are people who believe that The Bible teaches that homosexuals should be able to become preachers and be married to their same sex companions.
When the homosexual goes to church and confesses Christ Jesus as Lord but goes home to his same sex lover he sins and doesn’t repent or desire to repent. At the last day when the Homosexual complains that he knew The Lord, that he went to church and made big donations, that he taught Sunday School, The Lord will still say He never knew him.
So someone can tell me they went to seminary for as long as they want. To me what they learned were the philosophies of man not of God. That is why every seminary seems to have a different version of the truth, but there can only be one version of the truth. Wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so. The philosophers in the Catholic School in California who recently took down the Statues of Christ and Mary because they didn’t want to offend anyone are perfect examples of what I’m speaking of. The “professors” know well the scriptures but they also know well the centuries of the philosophies of men that they use to interpret the scriptures and come up with these stupid ideas.
Now, to any homosexuals I have offended. I believe you have every right to live whatever lifestyle you want, I also believe that just because you want to live that way does not make it God’s way. I fortunately don’t have to pay for your sin, Someone else already did that, if you are willing to accept it.
If He decides to pay someone the same wage He offered you, and they only show up at the end of the day and work an hour vs. your eight, what is that to you? Are you envious because He’s generous with his money?
None of God’s truth makes sense to the sensual mind, we need the mind renewed via his WORD, not claptrap from preachers making patchwork quilts out of it (how most of us end up in confusion).
If we aren’t building on the expert foundation of Paul—who most certainly did preach faith APART from works before enjoining us to good works!—then we’re lost in confusion. Human reasoning misses the grace of God.
Now, to any homosexuals I have offended. I believe you have every right to live whatever lifestyle you want, I also believe that just because you want to live that way does not make it God’s way.
I fortunately don’t have to pay for your sin, Someone else already did that, if you are willing to accept it.
BINGO!
A BIBLICAL Message to LGBT folks EVERYWHERE!
Genesis 13:13
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Leviticus niv
18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
Psalms 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.
Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
Romans 1 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
18 The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.
24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper. 29 They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite.
2 Peter 2
1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
But there IS hope!!!
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...
