Hi to my Forum Friends,
The difference between a liberal and a conservative: I read the Scripture passage below and believe that God truly authored this -- through Holy Spirit inspiration guiding the apostle Paul as he wrote. A liberal reads it and then turns back to man-written prayer books and man-made traditions and rituals.
In 2 Timothy 3:12-17 the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, and to you, and to me, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
Prayer books, traditions, and rituals may make one feel holy -- but, only in the God-authored Bible will one find the true Way of Salvation.
It always amazes me how some folks absolutely refuse to believe the simplicity of the free gift of salvation "paid in full" by Jesus Christ on the cross. They insist upon doing works, creating mazes of rituals and traditions in attempts to earn the free gift of salvation; when, in reality a free gift cannot be earned. No amount of work can earn a gift which was given freely.
And, then, there are those who will say that they believe in God -- but, they do not have to go to church, they do not have to be part of a Christian fellowship, and, they do not have to, in any other way, worship God. All they have to do is to acknowledge that He truly exists and be a good person -- and, in this way, they are saved. The only problem with this is that Satan and all his demonic angels know better than any of us that God is real. They were actually in heaven with Him, face to face -- before they, too, rebelled against serving and worshiping the one true God.
"But, Bill, you said that salvation is simple, all one has to do is to believe." That is true, but, what is one believing? We are told in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
What is grace? It is the undeserved mercy of God which no man can earn, no man can be righteous enough to attain. We cannot earn grace, God's mercy, no matter how much we work, no matter how many good deeds we do, no matter how many traditions and rituals we observe -- no man can earn the grace of God.
However, He is willing to give grace, His mercy, to you when, through faith you believe on the name of Jesus Christ -- when you believe and receive HIs free gift of salvation. How does one believe in Jesus Christ; what does it mean to believe on the name of Jesus Christ?
The name "Jesus" in Hebrew is "Yehowshuwa`" which in English is Joshua or Jehoshua and means: "Jehovah is salvation"
And, in Greek is "Iesous" -- Jesus = "Jehovah is salvation"
The name "Christ" in Greek is "Christos" and means: "Anointed, the Messiah, the Son of God"
Messiah in Hebrew is "Mashiyach" and in Greek is "Messias" -- both mean: "Anointed or the Anointed One."
So when we read, "For by grace you have been saved through faith" -- this means that God has given His grace, His undeserved, unearned mercy -- to all who, through faith, will believe on the name of Jesus Christ: That He is Jehovah, that He is salvation, that He is the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Son of God.
And, in believing this, we also believe that He came to earth in the infant, mortal body of man; that He suffered a horrible death on the cross to pay the sin debt you and I could never pay; that He rose from the grave, i.e., was resurrected to defeat Satan, to defeat death, and to assure that all mankind would also have a resurrection into immortal bodies.
Yes, He did all of this for you, for me, for all who will, by grace, though faith -- believe and receive His "paid in full" free gift of salvation. This is what it means to "believe on the name of Jesus Christ" -- and this is the simple formula for attaining eternal life with God and eternal security through Jesus Christ.
And for those who do, by grace, through faith -- believe and receive His free gift of salvation; He gives His unbreakable promise of eternal life with God. He has promised that all who believe will be resurrected into eternal salvation.
However, for those who still insist that believing God exists is enough to gain eternal life; who still believe that doing good works is enough to earn eternal salvation -- and, that one does not have to believe the Bible, that one does not have to acknowledge and invite Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior -- those folks will also be resurrected into immortal, eternal bodies. However, they will not be spending eternity in the presence of God. To learn more about their destiny, read Luke 16:19-31.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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