Posted on 12/12/2013 12:59:05 PM PST by DouglasKC
How do you know you're saved?
Imagine you arrive at a most important banquet that's hosted by Christ Himself. After all--you're a Christian. Picture coming to His home and walking right up to the door. Perhaps you're a little surprised that the door is closed and you're shut outside. But not to be deterred, you knock and knock. No response, no reaction. So you call out, "Jesus open the door, Lord it's me." Still, no response, no reaction. At long last, you hear Jesus' voice and He says, "I never knew you!" What a devastating and shocking situation in which to find yourself.
(Excerpt) Read more at ucg.org ...
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Luke 18
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Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
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The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
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I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess .
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And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying , God be merciful to me a sinner.
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I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted .
There are some actions we must perform in order to partake.
Acceptance of the gift is the only action necessary. After that, looking at whether or not your works are “enough” is like walking a high wire and “looking down”. It’s no longer the point. You just learn about your savior, attempt to apply His love on a daily basis, and thank Him every day that in spite of the wretch that you prove you are on a daily basis, you are still His.
All mankind has salvation...by grace, through Faith.
Keep in mind, as Jesus hung on the cross, the moment one of the thieves asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus turned to the man and gave him assurance of salvation. The man had no time to do good works, but was saved.
Or you can go right to the horse's mouth:
I don't really care one way or the other. All I care about is truth.
Our works show our faith. There is no quota for them, however.
Our faith indicates that we want to be like Jesus. The best way to be like Jesus is to believe and act as he did--and with the same motives. Acting because of some reward is the wrong motivation. Acting through love is what is required.
Our actions show our faith. We do not earn our way into Heaven.
You seem to care, since you responded. But, your church does indeed hold to those beliefs which CARM gladly exposes, whether you like it or not. Therefore, it is indeed a cult by Christian standards.
Zactly. One of my absolute favorite Christian songs, and one I performed in my prison ministry band, was Third Day’s “Thief”. Brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.
Another new one is Three Wooden Crosses. The irony of that one is that the way I came across it was a couple months ago I got a suitcase at an estate sale in Seattle on a visit. I used it to ship my “prizes” back home. When we got home and unloaded the suitcase, in the liner was a CD with this as the title song.
When you listen to the theme of the song, you’ll understand why it also makes me tear up even more thant Theif.
Thief: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPqCPMyypI
Three Wooden Crosses (it’s not about what you think): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfdMU2TcxH8
Okay, so by faith you mean they have to know and believe in Christ. Do they need the indwelling of the holy spirit?
Again, why do you work so hard to achieve what Christ has already done for you?
Kind of a loaded question don't you think? :-)
Kind of like "Why are you still beating your wife?"
We don't work to "achieve" salvation at all. We respond to the spirit of God in love and obedience.
Ha seems like it sometimes!
True. He confessed his sins. You can't earn heaven with good works, however, unrepentant bad works will keep you out.
Yeah, blah blah blah. I'll take the teachings of UCG over "mainstream" denominations that espouse homosexual bishops and ministers any day of the week. They're much more of a cult then UCG if you want to use the term "Cult" as deviant from traditional Christianity... :-)
Our actions show our faith. We do not earn our way into Heaven.
I have smoked for over 60 years and i have never been over weight because i worked.
The reason i made that remark is that the preachers do not want to insinuate that some one is committing adultery so they will get onto people about smoking.
Which is not even mentioned in scripture.
Ha seems like it sometimes!
I guess it is none of my business what you did to go to jail but how much time did you spend in there?
smoked = been alive.
I don’t smoke. Sorry about that...
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