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I have always been told: "be good and you go to heaven; be bad and you go to hell." Now you're saying that that's a lie. Behaviour doesn't matter!

Behavior doesn't matter where salvation is concerned.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemnd:but he that believeth not is condemned alreay, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

What does this verse say? It is exactly opposite of what you have been told. It is belief that saves and unbelief that condemns.

But if obedience is irrelevant, why bother to have commandments in the first place?

Do you understand what you are being saved from? Eternal punishment. Punishment that we cannot even imagine. Now being saved from that by someone who did not have to do it, who was perfect and would never have been punished himself but took your punishment deserves at least your obedince, thanksgiving and praise?

You're suggesting that there is a correlation between behaviour and salvation. Is there now, really? Think about it.

I am suggesting no such thing. Our behavior is important. But not FOR salvation but because of it. Think about it.:)

Becky

"Behavior doesn't matter where salvation is concerned."

Bunk! Our behavior DOES matter. Not because God is giving us merits and demerits but because our behavior affects who we are. It's true that in believing we have salvation... but salvation can be lost. Don't believe me? It would have been better for the 12th apostle had he never been born. Jesus didn't call nonbelievers. One of his friends betrayed Him in an act of weakness and then committed suicide over his actions.

God can bring us all to heaven right now, if that was His plan for salvation. It's not. The whole of history is Him developing us as His people. He doesn't wipe our faults under the rug, he accepts them and teaches us to grow. We, on the other hand, can reject Him through our own failings. Like a good parent, He wants us to succeed... but we have choices to make by our free will. Salvation is a free gift but sin can keep us from accepting the gift out of our own feelings of unworthiness and abandonment. God doesn't change, we do.

Jesus told us that what we do for the least of His people, we do unto Him. He taught us to pray. He commanded the apostles to make disciples of all the nations. All of these are actions. We're not earning browny points in doing God's work, we are learning about His plan and growing in our faith. God gave us works to train us. Are works a requirement for gaining salvation? No. But they may keep you from losing it.

If God didn't care how we conducted our lives, there would be no book of Proverbs.

Thanks for setting the record straight.

It is exactly opposite of what you have been told.

So the whole idea that being "good" gets us to heaven, and being "bad" gets us to hell is False Doctrine.

I wonder how many other false doctrines are being promoted in order to keep people in line.