Can a person save themselves?

devin553344

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Can a person save themselves or just attempt to prolong their life? No one actually knowing when their death will come.

I have this belief that only God can save a person. This idea comes from the fact that I am set to die in the end of this life and cannot resurrect myself. Salvation of the body comes from God resurrecting me. Although one can commit suicide, thus killing one's self. So I can in a way take part in my own salvation by attempting to prolong my life.

So I also think there is spiritual death: Matthew 10:28

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

This parallel is similar to the body, in that I can perhaps kill myself spiritually thru sinning. And once I have done such, only God can then save me, and heal my spirit or even resurrect it: 1 Corinthians 15:43-44

43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

That said, how many times can one kill the spirit by sinning? I'm imagining a body walking around that is still alive with a dead spirit or dark spirit.

God can bring us back to life physically and spiritually. And his spirit is life. And keeps us from sinning.

Anyways... thoughts?
 

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I have this belief that only God can save a person.


This idea comes from the fact that I am set to die in the end of this life and cannot resurrect myself. Salvation of the body comes from God resurrecting me. Although one can commit suicide, thus killing one's self. So I can in a way take part in my own salvation by attempting to prolong my life.

So I also think there is spiritual death: Matthew 10:28

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

This parallel is similar to the body, in that I can perhaps kill myself spiritually thru sinning. And once I have done such, only God can then save me, and heal my spirit or even resurrect it: 1 Corinthians 15:43-44

43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

That said, how many times can one kill the spirit by sinning? I'm imagining a body walking around that is still alive with a dead spirit or dark spirit.

God can bring us back to life physically and spiritually. And his spirit is life. And keeps us from sinning.

Anyways... thoughts?

I agree.
M-Bob
 
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Soyeong

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Can a person save themselves or just attempt to prolong their life? No one actually knowing when their death will come.

I have this belief that only God can save a person. This idea comes from the fact that I am set to die in the end of this life and cannot resurrect myself. Salvation of the body comes from God resurrecting me. Although one can commit suicide, thus killing one's self. So I can in a way take part in my own salvation by attempting to prolong my life.

So I also think there is spiritual death: Matthew 10:28

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

This parallel is similar to the body, in that I can perhaps kill myself spiritually thru sinning. And once I have done such, only God can then save me, and heal my spirit or even resurrect it: 1 Corinthians 15:43-44

43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

That said, how many times can one kill the spirit by sinning? I'm imagining a body walking around that is still alive with a dead spirit or dark spirit.

God can bring us back to life physically and spiritually. And his spirit is life. And keeps us from sinning.

Anyways... thoughts?

To use an analogy, if a professional musician were to teach me how to play an instrument as a free gift to me, then the teaching itself is the content of the gift and by participating in this training I would be doing nothing to earn their gift, but rather that is what it would look like to receive their free gift. No matter how much I practiced they would not owe me their lessons.

In the same way, in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is essentially what God's Law was given to instruct us how to do, so being trained by God to obey His Law is itself the content of the free gift of salvation. By participating in this trait, I would be doing nothing to earn my salvation, but rather that is what it looks like to receive the free gift of salvation. No matter how many good works I did, I would never save myself. Likewise, in Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His Law, so that is how God is gracious to us.

Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is defined as disobedience to God's Law, so being trained by grace to live in obedience to God's Law through faith is what being saved from living in disobedience to God's Law looks like.
 
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Anyways... thoughts?

I don’t think people can save themselves from the judgment that would come because of sin.


These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Mat. 25:46


For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23
 
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devin553344

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I don’t think people can save themselves from the judgment that would come because of sin.


These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Mat. 25:46


For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

That's interesting to me. There are some here on these forums that say once you're born again you have been forgiven. Then can a person save themselves by not sinning after being born again? Or is it God that saves the born again?

The reason I ask this is because we have had quite a lot of threads recently regarding that to be saved you must not sin.

And those threads remind us that sin leads to the lake of fire and spiritual death. And that born again Christians do not sin.

Is it within our power to not sin?
 
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That's interesting to me. There are some here on these forums that say once you're born again you have been forgiven. Then can a person save themselves by not sinning after being born again? ...

If person doesn’t have sin, there is no need for saving. Person needs saving, if he has sin, because the wage of sin is death.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Salvation or saving means that person is saved from the judgment and that his sin is forgiven. Person can’t forgive his own sins without God’s authority. The forgiveness comes from God. But person can gain the judgment, if he sin.

…Is it within our power to not sin?

Bible tells:

He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother.
1 John 3:7-10

It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
John 6:63

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13

If person is born of God, he doesn’t commit sin. I believe that is possible with God’s help. But I also think sin means that person rejects God or lives apart from God. If person doesn’t reject God, he doesn’t have sin.
 
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