10-13-2016, 09:26 PM
(10-13-2016, 11:42 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: If you are "saved" by grace through faith you will go to Heaven. It's the golden ticket into the chocolate factory. Which means you're not struggling to get into Heaven, you're struggling to do __________?
http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-Captain-Nails-It-On-Patriotism?pid=256663#pid256663
(Sorry everyone for posting three times in a row)
Well you have to remember that not all Christians believe the same things.
You're talking about the concept of "being saved by faith alone" which is predominantly a Protestant view of being saved by just believing in God. Something I don't believe in, for various reasons. One of the reasons I don't believe the concept of being saved "because you believe in God" is because it doesn't make sense to me. If we can go to heaven just by believing in God, then why did God bother telling us we can go to hell for not repenting of our sins?
Jesus himself states "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
If we can go to heaven by just believing, why would Jesus say "Repent or you will perish?" Perishing does not sound like "go to heaven" to me. I personally feel that believing in Jesus is the first step to receiving God's grace, but just believing doesn't get us all the way there.
I believe the verse in Ephesians about "Being saved by grace through faith" is being taken out of context. I don't believe the bible is telling us that we are saved "because we believe". I believe the bible is telling us we are saved because God has mercy on us through the death of Jesus, not because we believed in him. Belief in him just helps us to receive that mercy, but it is not why God has mercy on us. Jesus's death is why he has mercy on us or in biblical words (saves us through grace) and by believing in Him, we have a chance of getting to heaven.
