The gospel is "believe in/on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved"...?

Neogaia777

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Look, accuse me of whatever you want, but I'm not really purposely trying to muddy the waters here, but this a search for truth is all...

I suspect some of you are upset though, because you may realize that you do not fully have all of the answers to these very simple and most basic of simple foundational questions with the Faith, I suspect anyway...

God Bless!
 
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klutedavid

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Yes, I do know scripture you know, and that is the gospel, but then one asks, what about confession and repentance for the remission or forgiveness of sins, or to be saved, ect...

God Bless!
That confession is the testimony of the belief in the death and resurrection of the Christ.

Repentance is more the turning to Jesus Christ for salvation. A repentance from sin is the domain of the Holy Spirit and He will inform you of any adjustment to one's lifestyle.
 
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Neogaia777

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It is not enough to simply believe in Jesus because "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." (James 2:19). However, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9). See the difference? It is not enough to believe in Jesus. Rather, you must believe and confess that He is Lord. If one truly believes that Jesus is Lord, they WILL submit to His Lordship by "dying to self". If one claims to believe in Jesus yet refuse to "die to self", "carry their cross", and regard Jesus as Lord in their lives, they are still in rebellion against God with a false sense of security.
What about confession and repentance for the remission or forgiveness of sins, ect...?

Being baptized, ect...?

What if one never fully dies to self perfectly in this life, IOW's...?

God Bless!
 
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klutedavid

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What about confession and repentance for the remission or forgiveness of sins, ect...?

Being baptized, ect...?

What if one never fully dies to self perfectly in this life, IOW's...?

God Bless!
I believe in a baptism of fire via the Holy Spirit rather than a foot washing episode.
 
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klutedavid

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The gospel is "believe in/on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved"...?


And that's it, that's the good news, however, questions come up, like "believe how" for one, maybe even "believe what" (about or with Jesus Christ) for another, and do we all have to believe or all believe the exact same thing when it comes to Jesus or God, or in having our Christian beliefs about God or whatever, do they have to be the same, or, can they be different?

Then, some will say if you are truly one of His, that confession and repentance must be involved or is a part of the deal as well, and they would be right, mostly or for the most part. We all pretty much agree and there is not much disagreement about the "confession" and confessing part, but, we get hung up and argue quite a bit and there is a lot of disagreement about the whole repentance and repenting part.

So can we resolve these issues or discuss them maybe....?

Is our salvation dependent upon right (or wrong) believing or not...? Or our (confession and) repentance or our being "repentant" in and throughout our lives, and which one is it, if it is...?

Comments...?

God Bless!
These kind of threads are so important.

It is good to simplify where ever possible the gospel of Jesus Christ. The history of the church has been one of complicating the gospel far beyond the initial proclamation, of the apostles in the book of Acts.

Believe in the risen Christ and be saved.
 
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Mathetes66

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'Why do you call me Lord, Lord & not do what I tell you?'

'Unless you believe that I AM--you will die in your sins.'

Luke 13:1-9 At that time, some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
(Isaiah 5:1-7)

6Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree & haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it & fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”

2 Tim 2:23-26 But reject foolish & ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach & forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them REPENTANCE LEADING TO THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH. Then they will come to their senses & escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them CAPTIVE to his will.

Repentance means a change of mind that leads to a change in direction & behavior because of the changing one's mind.

People change their mind concerning WHO Jesus is. People change their mind concerning Jesus is holy & His death on the cross & His shed blood can atone for their trespasses against a holy God, whose laws we have broken. This breaking of His laws separates us from a right relationship with God. Only Jesus Christ can remove & bring reconciliation with Him & forgiveness of sins.

As one evangelist once said: "In order to get a person thoroughly saved one must get them to recognize they are thoroughly lost & in need of the Savior of the world." (as those in Samaria discovered in John 4).
 
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Neogaia777

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It would seem that some difference might be between "what must I (or you or one) confess or believe or say they believe to be saved", and then, "what must one "do" (or practice) to be saved", ect...?

And not practice evil, or what is evil, ect...

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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It would seem that some difference might be between "what must I (or you or one) confess or believe or say they believe to be saved", and then, "what must one "do" (or practice) to be saved", ect...?

And not practice evil, or what is evil, ect...

God Bless!
If anyone asks of any of these, we should be fully prepared to give an answer, and the right answer(s) as well...

And that, is the purpose of this thread and my words here...

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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These kind of threads are so important.

It is good to simplify where ever possible the gospel of Jesus Christ. The history of the church has been one of complicating the gospel far beyond the initial proclamation, of the apostles in the book of Acts.

Yes, and so many men have prided themselves on supposedly knowing these things, that, when it is shown out that they hardly know at all, they get "upset"...

God Bless!
 
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dms1972

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Neogaia777

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Perhaps I should tell them (for witnessing purposes) "Believe in/on and get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and eventually come to having a personal relationship with Him, and get to know Him, and you shall be saved"...?

But then they may ask me "how they do that?", and they may ask me "what they need to know, or what they should come to know, and maybe even eventually "do", by or through getting to know Him and having a personal relationship with Him, and what they may need to know or do or what might be required after that, or "during" it...?

How do I answer that or those...?

What do I tell them as to what to expect, or eventually do, ect...?

God Bless!
 
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dms1972

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I find RC Sproul's book Getting the Gospel Right helpful on what the Gospel is.

When one gets into the area of theology its true men have complicated things an awful lot at times, And sometimes it has got complicated because heresies have crept in. I think one can show the basic Gospel as its preached from a chapter such as Acts 17.

Paul has to go into more detail to explain the relationship of Law and Gospel to defend the Gospel and the Apostles preaching from criticisms, which he does in the letter to the Romans.

Faith according to William Barclay is "The settled conviction that certain things are true. It is the conviction that Jesus Christ showed men what God is like, and that He by His life and His death made possible a new relationship in which estrangement has turned into reconciliation. Without this conviction, faith cannot even make a beginning. Faith is based on the discovery of the possibility of a new relationship to God made possible by Jesus Christ."

But its also more than bare assent to propositions, even biblical propositions, its trust in a Person, the one who is making those propositions, because we could not really believe those propositions if we did not have confidence in the Person making them - Jesus Christ.
 
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dms1972

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Perhaps I should tell them (for witnessing purposes) "Believe in/on and get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and eventually come to having a personal relationship with Him, and get to know Him, and you shall be saved"...?

But then they may ask me "how they do that?", and they may ask me "what they need to know, or what they should come to know, and maybe even eventually "do", by or through getting to know Him and having a personal relationship with Him, and what they may need to know or do or what might be required after that, or "during" it...?

How do I answer that or those...?

What do I tell them as to what to expect, or eventually do, ect...?

God Bless!

I think you can't tell them what to expect, but they need to at least begin by reading one of the New Testament Gospels - perhaps Mark's Gospel, or a paraphrase of it such as William Barclay's Daily Study Bible.

I mean there is a cost as one goes on in discipleship, we may suffer in various ways - and its a good question how much that needs to be talked about and at what point to someone seeking.
 
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Neogaia777

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I think you can't tell them what to expect, but they need to at least begin by reading one of the New Testament Gospels - perhaps Mark's Gospel, or a paraphrase of it such as William Barclay's Daily Study Bible.
I agree we need to tell them to get into the Word of God most definitely, but they may have more questions as well, and as of right now, I feel unprepared to answer them...?

I know the questions that might come up, but I don't feel like I can answer all of them right now...?

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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I find RC Sproul's book Getting the Gospel Right helpful on what the Gospel is.

When one gets into the area of theology its true men have complicated things an awful lot at times, And sometimes it has got complicated because heresies have crept in. I think one can show the basic Gospel as its preached from a chapter such as Acts 17.

Paul has to go into more detail to explain the relationship of Law and Gospel to defend the Gospel and the Apostles preaching from criticisms, which he does in the letter to the Romans.

Faith according to William Barclay is "The settled conviction that certain things are true. It is the conviction that Jesus Christ showed men what God is like, and that He by His life and His death made possible a new relationship in which estrangement has turned into reconciliation. Without this conviction, faith cannot even make a beginning. Faith is based on the discovery of the possibility of a new relationship to God made possible by Jesus Christ."

But its also more than bare assent to propositions, even biblical propositions, its trust in a Person, the one who is making those propositions, because we could not really believe those propositions if we did not have confidence in the Person making them - Jesus Christ.
If a person is feeling that conviction or those convictions, then what do we tell them from there...?

They may doubt them at the point where they are at, and may have questions for you, that we should be prepared to answer...?

How do we do that...?

Do we let our own inner convictions be our guide, and just "wing it" or what...? Or should we be prepared ahead of time to answer them...?

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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Repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ.

"I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

Acts 20:21 testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
Is it total repentance, or just being totally "repentant"...?

Or is it being totally repentant, until you achieve total repentance...?

And then, what about after that, assuming it is even possible, do you no longer have a need of repentance any longer...?

And if you don't, how do you keep from walking in pride...?

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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You have to be able to anticipate and/or think of the kind of questions that might come up in witnessing or you wont be a very good witness for Christ or the Gospel...

Then hopefully you know some answers beforehand as well...

Some, even on here, either do not want to, or don't even seem to have the ability to do this, which is kind of "disappointing" to say the least, yet they think they are excellent witness for Christ...

And then some think they have all the answers, when their answers are, well, let's just say, "inadequate", to say the least, which is very "disappointing" to say the least, and other people can see that and see right through that too, and what does that do to the witness you are being or are proclaiming to be for Christ...?

After all, what if the witness you are being for Christ, is somehow "damaging" their view of Christ, and God, and the Bible, and Christian beliefs, and Christians, or the Church, ect, in general, or in any way whatsoever...?

Anyway,

God Bless!
 
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Danthemailman

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The gospel is the “good news” of the death, burial and resurrection oof Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that BELIEVES.. (Romans 1:16) To “believe” the gospel is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
 
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Neogaia777

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The gospel is the “good news” of the death, burial and resurrection oof Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that BELIEVES.. (Romans 1:16) To “believe” the gospel is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
Just simply believing that there was this man named Jesus that existed who died and was buried and was resurrected or raised from the dead, is, "all there is", or is "everything to it", so to speak, and not any, or anything "more" than just that at all...?

That you must believe (and/or practice, or not practice) to be saved, ect...?

Just simply trusting/believing in the fact that there was this man named Jesus, who died or was put to death, but came back to life, or was resurrected ect, and that's all and it and there is nothing more, or what...?

God Bless!
 
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Danthemailman

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Just simply believing that there was this man named Jesus that existed who died and was buried and was resurrected or raised from the dead, is, "all there is", or is "everything to it", so to speak, and not any, or anything "more" than just that at all...?

That you must believe (and/or practice, or not practice) to be saved, ect...?

Just simply trusting/believing in the fact that there was this man named Jesus, who died or was put to death, but came back to life, or was resurrected ect, and that's all and it and there is nothing more, or what...?

God Bless!
It’s not enough to simply believe that Jesus was just a man (Jesus was God in the flesh - John 1:1,14) and it’s also not enough to merely believe “mental assent” that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ “happened.” That is merely believing in your head. We must also trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation. That is believing in your heart.
 
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