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To: imardmd1
Just believing that He exits will not get you to salvation. What is saving is knowing that after you have received the gift of eternal life, your good works will then please God, prove it, and glorify God.

You mean prove it to you...We don't need to prove it to God...He already knows...He knows our heart...I'd like to see a list of those good works some of y'all refer to...

The Bema Seat Judgment is for Christians only...No one at that judgment goes to hell...

How do you determine if you've done enough works...To which judgment will you go to find out???

71 posted on 10/07/2020 5:39:23 PM PDT by Iscool
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To: Iscool; MHGinTN
How do you determine if you've done enough works...To which judgment will you go to find out???

My goodness, Don't you know the simple answer to that issue?

Luke 12I42-48 (AV):

42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 
43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 
44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 
45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 
46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 
47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 
Being saved is eternally important, but it is only the starting line of eternal life, an abundant one of which our Lord and His Father give something no one else can. That life is only based on one's faith in a future changed by knowing and mimicking Him. Should we get just past the starting line and then quit? Forever? They Who gave us much expect much, knowing that "abundant" means having plenty to do to advance God's program on earth.

He knows what one is capable of, with the Holy Ghost guiding and empowering the faithful servant. There are no other laborers. Only the selfish ones work for their own benefit and not for the One who gave them something, the price of which was paid for in the Blood of His Innocent Lamb.

Now, the person saved is not merely saved into a limbo in which he/she determines his/her own course disregarding God's guidance, is it? No. God has a plan for everyone, a best plan; but the person can degrade it by choosing a course that wasn't what God intended.

Here's a comparison (by parable) what happens when His plan involving participation is followed by the servant, and when it is not:

Luke 19:12-27 (AV):

12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 
19  And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 
20  And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 
23  Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. 
So he that was assembling with other spiritual laborers shirked the task assigned to him, did nothing with it, and was allotted the same punishment as those who never professed Christ. Yes, God knows, but He needs the person to know also that the example of the other faithful ones was not enough for shame in his laziness to prod himself on to glory, but to utter darkness. Read Matthew 25:14-30 on it.

The Bema Seat Judgment is for Christians only...No one at that judgment goes to hell...

No? Explain the above references in Matthew and Luke.

How do you determine if you've done enough works...To which judgment will you go to find out???

You only need to account for what God gives to and expects from you, not someone else. He knows what He can expect from you, and never expects something that He and you cannot do together. But here are some examples of what He desires:

"Finally, brethren(plural, includes all true believers and challenges those who are only professors and not possessors of salvation, though claiming to be Christians), whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Php. 4:8-9 AV).

"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. 
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 
And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 
Rejoice evermore. 
Pray without ceasing. 
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 
Quench not the Spirit. 
Despise not prophesyings. 
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 
Abstain from all appearance of evil. 
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 
Brethren, pray for us.
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss" 
(1 Thess. 5:6-26 AV).

"Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Mat 19:19 AV).

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (Jn. 13:34-35 AV).

"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me (Mat 10:37-38 AV).

There are more Father-loving and respectful things to do, but like Jesus, these are things we ought to do that please Him, and for which He rewards us both now and in Heaven.
"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And (H)e that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please(H)im" (Jn. 8:29 AV).

"Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD, that walketh in (H)is ways" (Ps. 128:1 AV).

"When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with (H)im" (Prov. 16:7 AV).

"Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more" (1 Thess. 4:1 AV).

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom_8:8 AV).

There are lots of things one can do or not do that please God, as He enjoys, and dozens of ways that we can do or not do that displease Him.

So what does it mean, "to fear the LORD?" It is simply this: it is to dread to displease, distress, or disobey Him. It is not a terror of "losing one's salvation," as some very wrongly presume and teach others, subverting the Gospel that Jesus paid for all of one's sins.

What it is, is loving The Father for His goodness and grace to us that--just as we feel about anyone else that we love and want to please--so it is with God and His Son. We should desire to be in a happy relationship with Him. And the Bible tells us how.

Being "in the flesh" means keeping on behaving the same way after He saves you as you did before his saving, which lack of grateful response cancels the cost to Him and others of our displeasing disobedience. When He sets you apart and becomes your Father and Friend, He also gives you the power, the strength of character, to deny your own contrariness. But it is you who must exercise that strength, and make it grow over larger and larger parts of your life. In contrast, an unsaved person simply has not the ability to please God, to gain power over inborn Sin. This pre-existing condition bears the sentence of physical death, of spiritual death, and of eternal death.

It would seem by now to you that this chat we're having here is a chance to learn something that will make your life in Christ more pleasing to you, as it has to me and many others. If you reject what the Bible says about this, it opens up the question of a need for personal self examination:

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Cor. 13:5 AV).
You don't have to answer to me on this; but you do, as I do, have to answer to God, Who is continually watching you. If you really possess eternal life, then the Indwelling Holy Spirit senses every thought and every premeditated action that you display. Observing spiritually discerning fellow believers have the charter to evaluate your behavior, and treat you accordingly; whether you need correction and can bear it, or whether your compliance to Christ's character glorifies God. They are not judging your soul, only your actions as to whether you have overcome your inner "old man" and the Wicked One, or not.

Those who say that they have become saved, that they are Christ-followers, and claim a place in the assembly of members of His Body, but show no difference in their walk and talk years after the moment they claim to have converted, must be treated as though they haven't.

Eh?

Not questioning your status, just presenting some salien facts regarding your questions and statements that indicate a certain lack of depth in applying doctrine.

 

81 posted on 10/08/2020 1:58:40 AM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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