What is the true path to salvation?

[wwjdn]

I would like to encourage Christians in a discussion, if you are an atheist then please go to another post.

As a Christian I wanted to discuss what I now consider false teachings that I have heard in my own churches over the past forty years. I have been in a Christian family since birth and it has been a great experience. Please know that I am learning more each day about God and I am but his humble servant trying to spread his word.

Unfortunately today churches are becoming more and more politically correct (PC) which is denying God his authority. He has been very specific in the path to redemption.

Here is the path to heaven “as I see it” in the New Testament:

Salvation: John 3:16- 18. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 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.

So salvation comes only from belief in the Son of God, Jesus

Then comes baptism: John 3:3-7 ; 3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.'

Therefore, you must be born again of water and spirit.

Then comes the harder part, living for God in his body (works). Luke 9:23-26 - 23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 14:26-27 - "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Matthew 10:38-42 - 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Mark 8:33-38 - 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

So it would seem to me that following God's will and taking up the cross is also necessary.

I have always been taught that salvation was accepting Jesus and baptism, and yet these scriptures appear to me to state an entirely different path.

I have been a Christian most of my life and until recently I cannot say that I have been in the presence of God. The difference is following God, obediently and faithfully. To do his works, to let him work through me has been a blessing. The verse John 14:10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. speaks to me and lets me know that anything I accomplish is God working through me, not me by myself.

So I ask that you pray diligently and faithfully to seek God’s wisdom before you fall into today’s “feel good religions”. If you truly have God in your heart, you will be lifted up on angel’s wings. On the other hand if you go to church to feel good, then Satan is knocking on your door.

[wwjdn]

Bump to you.

[yooper]

Thank you for the hard work which went into posting this.

[RaceBannon]

Salvation is by Grace, through faith, and nothing else.

Living it consists of believeing what God said, and acting like you believe it.

[Heartlander]

I do agree...

It is only by God's grace that we enter heaven. It is not by our works or deeds. We are currently seeing religions that base thier redemption on works.

What could we possibly do that would allow us to stand in front of God and say "look at these great things that I have done"? It is humbling to know that there is nothing we can do that is worthy and that he has done everything for us - we need only recieve His forgiveness and let Him change our lives.

[VRWC_minion]

Desiring to follow Jesus is a natural consequence of being saved. One cannot avoid it.

[Khepera]

bimp

[Kale]

http://www.711.net/john316/

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

It's ironic that many Christians have taken a simple message of salvation and made it incredibly complex.

If becoming a Christian required extended Bible study, it would not be a religion for the masses. The truth is the simple message of salvation thru Christ can be understood by all. Why are so many trying to make salvation so difficult to understand or achieve?

[jmccoy1252]

The only way to heaven is through accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. Your good works will not get you into heaven. There are alot of "good" people who are not in heaven because they did not accept Jesus as savior. The flip side of that is there are alot of people we would deem as "bad" people who are in heaven. On judgement day, our lives will flash before us, the Lord will judge us on our deeds, but, our deeds will not prevent us from going to heaven. Think of it like this, lets say a son has a falling out with his father. They have a disagreeement, the son does not communicate with his father, he falls out of fellowship with his father, but this does not mean that his father does not love him. To the contrary, the father loves his son, and will forgive him his transgressions.

[jgrubbs]

It's more than just a head knowledge of Jesus Christ, it's a matter of FAITH

F is for FORGIVENESS
We cannot have eternal life and heaven without God's forgiveness.—In Him [meaning Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins - Ephesians 1:7a, NKJV.

A is for AVAILABLE
Forgiveness is available. It is—
• Available for All.—For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life - John 3:16, NKJV.
• But Not Automatic—Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven—Matthew 7:21a, NKJV.

I is for IMPOSSIBLE
It is impossible for God to allow sin into heaven.
• Because of who He is: God is loving and just. His judgement is against sin.—For judgement is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy - James 2:13a, NKJV.
• Because of who we are: Every person is a sinner.—For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23, NKJV.
But how can a sinful person enter heaven, when God allows no sin?

T is for TURN
Turn means repent.
• Turn from something-sin and self.—But unless you repent you will all likewise perish - Luke 13:3b, NKJV.
• Turn to Someone: trust Christ only.—If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved - Romans 10:9, NKJV.

H is for HEAVEN
Heaven is eternal life.
• Here—I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly - John 10:10b, NKJV.
• Hereafter—And if I go and prepaare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also - John 14:3, NKJV.
• How? How can a person have God's forgiveness, heaven and eternal life, and Jesus as personal Savior and Lord?

By trusting in Christ and asking Him for forgiveness.
Take the step of faith described by another meaning of FAITH:
Forsaking All I Trust Him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and have displeased You in many ways. I believe You died for my sin and only through faith in Your death and resurrection can I be forgiven. I want to turn from my sin and ask You to come into my life as my Savior and Lord. From this day on, I will follow You by living a life that pleases You. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen.

After you have received Jesus Christ into your life, tell a Christian friend about the important decision you have made. Follow Christ in believer's baptism and church membership. Grow in faith and enjoy new friends in Christ by becoming a part of His church and attending the Sunday School class a church has just for you. You'll find others who will love and support you.

[americalost]

Thank you for posting this, as it gives us some things to think about. I personally am trying to decide which Christian denomination to visit and hopefully join. I really don't know where to start. I wasn't raised that way and that makes it difficult. Sorry this is a bit off-topic.

It is nice to know I'm not the only one that questions big and important personal religious decisions.

[Khepera]

Why don't you try a non-denominational Christian church?

[wwjdn]

Not at all...please keep searching.

[IronJack]

What is the true path to salvation?

Simple. You must become a Libertarian.

[spoosman]

If you know the answer, than why ask? BTW, wouldn't an atheist want to know the answer?

[JustNuts]

You did an excellent job of posting, in a sincere quest to know what God requires to be saved. I've been a Christian for 27+ years, and have far from perfect sight, so I am His humble servant, as you described yourself. In my time as a Christian, I have read the Bible in search of this same answer, and have also observed and experienced many things, which have given what I have read new, and I believe deeper meaning. Jesus admonishes us not to "judge" others. Contrary to popular opinion, this has nothing to do with judging another's behavior, it has to do with judging a person's soul, or eternal destination, in other words, judging where a person is headed after this life. Jesus says that he is the judge (John 5:25-27 among several). I also believe that John 14: 6 refers to Jesus' judgment of all people for their fitness for heaven. Certainly belief in Jesus insures the believer eternal life, as you quoted in your post. But one must remember that one can be in three different positions of belief; 1. a believer, 2. an unbeliever, and 3. someone who isn't sure, or who believes in God but not necessarily in Jesus. At the risk of sounding heretical, let me say that God alone will judge, and there are two pivotal portions of scripture, which sum up for me, anyway, what God will look for when our time comes to be judged. These are Psalm 24:3-6 and Matthew 22:34-40. How impossible it is for any of us to know or understand another's heart/motives/desire/LOVE. Of course, the Bible states many other commandments, but I beileve these two sum them all up. If you did what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments, and did them with clean hands and a pure heart, then this, I believe is what Jesus will look for and the standard by which you will be judged, irrespective of your belief on this earth, assuming this belief was undertaken with a pure heart and desire to know and serve God. In other words, a devout Muslim will be judged by these two things, irrespective of his cultural bias against Christianity, so long as he his heart is pure in his pursuit of God. A Muslim terrorist, who is displacing so many of God's teachings, appears not to have a pure heart, nor clean hands, nor is he fulfilling what Jesus says are the greatest commands. Nonetheless, a person's entry into heaven is for Jesus to decide, neither you nor I will get a call asking for our opinion of this, and we are strongly cautioned to avoid such judgments (Matt 7:1-5). In all things, God is and wants LOVE. This has nothing to do with civil wrongs, crimes, ill treatment, etc., and requiring judgment and earthly punishment for these things. But in your spirit, you are called to forgive when asked, and to LOVE, and to conduct yourself and your attitude toward God in accordance with Psalm 24 and Matt 22. Hope this makes some sense, sure would appreciate your comments.

[americalost]

Why don't you try a non-denominational Christian church?

Hmm...this is a relatively small town and I'm not sure there are any. If so, you're right, that's probably the best thing to do.