So, you'll cherry-pick the easiest route possible to Salvation? The Lord responded to the question of eternal life with the commandments in Matt 19:16, Mark 10:17, and Luke 18:18.
I'm sorry, I don't know what your first statement has to do with what I said. ALL of the passages you quote have to do with a man who loved his riches. Jesus responded exactly as He does to any false questioner. Do you really believe that Jesus was giving straightforward information that Jesus thought could be followed by the people He was talking to??? I really hope not, for if that is the formula you follow for salvation then you are like those men (man). Do you think the way to salvation is to follow the laundry list of deeds that Jesus lays out in these passages? Was that the point to you?
Sorry, the Good Samaritan story is a vital part of the Word. It's the narrow path.
No problem, I LOVE the Good Samaritan story. :) And indeed the path is narrow. That's one way we KNOW that God did not predestine all people to be saved, and indeed that God did not WANT all people to be saved (if He is really omnipotent).
So your argument is the Lord lied to people in His own Word? This is how you reconcile the Gospels to Paul's epistles? And we're "lost"?
I really hope not, for if that is the formula you follow for salvation then you are like those men
The 'formula' for salvation is the same for each and every one of us. The Lord responded differently to each depending where they were on their own path. Therefore, to start at the beginning, one must look to the most complete answer. Shun evils as sins, repent and do the commandments and perform good works because they are of God -- being of service.
Seems I recall a President who said he knew Jesus and was born again named Bill Clinton. He's still talking about himself. Presume he's saved? I use him as an example because his life is very public.
And indeed the path is narrow. That's one way we KNOW that God did not predestine all people to be saved,
Not sure how you got from here to there but I figure it's a Calvinist thing. Sorry, I like my systematic theology where the Lord is upfront in what He expects of me.
False. That's somebody reading their own rationalizations based upon their own presuppositions into Scripture and personally deducing their doctrine, nstead of allowing God the Holy Spirit to grow that doctrine in them. All faith is from God, including doctrine.
The obvious support that God loved ALL men is John 3:16. As sinners we are condemned already. All of us had that from our birth and in our old sin nature, the natural man. All soulish and physical life is permeated by that scarring. He didn't come for the righteous, He came to redeem the sinners. Calvin may have had it right, but Beza amplified it and got it wrong when he promoted a doctrine of double predestination. There will be judgment. The bema seat for believers and the Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers. Forgiveness of all past sins at the moment of salvation saves us from the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire. Salvation from the consequences of post salvation sin and the scarring of our souls from past sins is a continuing process understood in Protestant circles as sanctification. The goal after salvation isn't eternal life. That is simply our first hope. After salvation, we have good works to do through faith in Christ. In order to perform what is considered divinely good as opposed to humanly good, we have to know what God wants. In order to know what He wants, we must remain in fellowship with Him and understand and learn what He reveals to us, both by the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and by His Word. His Word is available to us through Scripture, hence the importance of daily study of Bible doctrine. Salvation is spoken of in three fashions in Scripture and the word refers to and act of saving. Just as we are not the ones saving ourselves, neither are we able to remove the eternal life He creates. We might separate ourselves from fellowship with Him, but that merely results in shame at the bema seat for the believer and judgment at the Great White THrone Judgment for the unbeliever.