What is the difficulty of getting into heaven?

Handmaid for Jesus said:

The gospel is NOT non-sense and the gospel is NOT new.

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Only the real gospel is not nonsense and not new.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

Who determined that they were excluded from eternal life? It is God who justifies not men.

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Of course, and it is man who “de-justifies”, who sins IOW. As long as they remain in Him, living by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, they will live (Rom 8:12-13). The elect are those who persevere and God, alone, knows with perfect certainty who they are.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

Once you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, He never leaves.

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He leaves only those who leave Him. Some think they belong to Him, for whatever reason, but fail to love and live accordingly, which is the mark of a true believer.

Loving and living accordingly. ( the mark of a true believer)...........


1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.


1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

servant7777 said:

There is no condemnation for those who walk after the Spirit, ( who are in Christ Jesus)

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Your understanding is backward. You cannot walk after the Spirit until you are in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit is indwelling you, leading, guiding, and teaching you. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that corrects our walk after Him. The verse you misquoted here actually reads.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

This is why Apostle Paul chided the Galatians and called them foolish. Read Galatians 3. Understand what it says. When you pray, ask our Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit work in you and through you.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

Y

This is why Apostle Paul chided the Galatians and called them foolish. Read Galatians 3. Understand what it says. When you pray, ask our Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit work in you and through you.

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Galatians proves all are under sin, and now we need Christ to set us free from that sin.




Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.




The reason we have no condemnation ( for those who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh) IS BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE FLESH, WHEN WE DID THOSE MOTIONS OF SINS, now we only know CHRIST AND ANY MAN AFTER THE SPIRIT




Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

fhansen said:

He leaves only those who leave Him.

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He does not leave! And once you are born by the Holy Spirit into the family of God, you are in there forever. You cannot mak yourself unborn and you cannot divorce Him. If you become a prodigal He waits patiently until you come to your senses. Read and understand the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. If you go astray, He,the Holy Spirit brings you back to your senses. He is the good Shepherd. He makes sure that He loses none of those who are in Jesus Christ.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

He does not leave! And once you are born by the Holy Spirit into the family of God, you are in there forever. You cannot mak yourself unborn and you cannot divorce Him. If you become a prodigal He waits patiently until you come to your senses. Read and understand the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. If you go astray, He,the Holy Spirit brings you back to your senses. He is the good Shepherd. He makes sure that He loses none of those who are in Jesus Christ.

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The prodigal son was us all going astray, now we have all returned to the Shepherd, He leads them after this, they wont go astray now that they returned from being the prodigal straying son.



Ezekiel 34:11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

John 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

1 Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

servant7777 said:

The reason we have no condemnation ( for those who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh) IS BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE FLESH, WHEN WE DID THOSE MOTIONS OF SINS, now we only know CHRIST AND ANY MAN AFTER THE SPIRIT

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I will say it again. We cannot walk after the Spirit until we are IN CHRIST JESUS. The Holy Spirit has to indwell us enabling us to walk after Him.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

He does not leave! And once you are born by the Holy Spirit into the family of God, you are in there forever. You cannot mak yourself unborn and you cannot divorce Him. If you become a prodigal He waits patiently until you come to your senses. Read and understand the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. If you go astray, He,the Holy Spirit brings you back to your senses. He is the good Shepherd. He makes sure that He loses none of those who are in Jesus Christ.

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He waits patiently. God will always seek to draw us to Himself, to keep us-or to draw us back if we stray. But He will not override the will at the end of the day. Sin will still separate us from God and there are way to many passages telling us that fact, and warning, admonishing, encouraging, exhorting believers not to return to the flesh, to remain in Him, to put to death the deeds of the flesh, to persevere, to be vigilant, to be holy, etc. Again, love is the true mark of that holiness and the nearness to God that keeps one holy.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

I will say it again. We cannot walk after the Spirit until we are IN CHRIST JESUS. The Holy Spirit has to indwell us enabling us to walk after Him.

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From the beginning, that notion had nothing to do with our understanding of the gospel. The church in the east and in the west and the ECFs understood and taught no such thing.

The Shepherd ( after coming to seek His sheep) feeds the sheep in a good pasture ( in Him, in Christ, fed the Spirit) and He causes them to lie down ( to be in peace)


All before Jesus are thieves and robbers, the sheep did not hear them.

Jesus Christ is the door, by Him if anyone will be saved, it is by going in and around ( Him) and finding pasture ( they find pasture and are in peace and don't stray because of what the Shepherd have them His life)




Ezekiel 34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.


John 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. John 15:5-6

“You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.” Rom 11:19-22

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame." Heb 6:4-6

"If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb 10:26-31

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Heb12:14

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” Rom 2:7

If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” 2 Pet 2:20-22

And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:3-4

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Rom 8:12-13

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Cor10:12

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Cor 5:10

fhansen said:

He waits patiently. God will always seek to draw us to Himself, to keep us-or to draw us back if we stray.

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Yes it is the Holy Spirit that draws mankind into Himself. It is the Holy Spirit that keeos us. It is not hard to understand

servant7777 said:

The Shepherd ( after coming to seek His sheep) feeds the sheep in a good pasture ( in Him, in Christ, fed the Spirit) and He causes them to lie down ( to be in peace)

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My! I think you got it finally. It is He who keeps us,not we keeping Him.

fhansen said:

From the beginning, that notion had nothing to do with our understanding of the gospel. The church in the east and in the west and the ECFs understood and taught no such thing.

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Then the good news of the gospel is not being taught. Read the scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what it means. Who are the ECFs?

mndgn.j said:

So than the narrow path that few are on is Christianity? 2.3 billion christians in all denominations out of 8 billion people on this planet thats like 30 percent of people going to heaven if every christian is born again meaning they accepted the truth and confessed jesus christ as lord and savior. Belief is all that is needed to be saved and what of the lukewarm christians? what of the hypocritical christians that jesus will say i never knew you?

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Yes, it is narrow because there's only one way to enter. Of course there's fake Christians so the numbers aren't completely accurate. If Jesus said he never knew them it's because they were trying to get in another way, in fact that passage indicates they were relying on their works for salvation.

Soyeong said:

I said that love is inclusive of everything that God has commanded, so unlike you, I am not setting it against the rest of the counsel of God. In Matthew 24:12-14, Jesus said that because of lawlessness the love of many will draw cold, so
you should not try to use love to justify lawlessness to God's other laws.

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As you use Scripture against itself.
You set the Scriptures against the all-inclusive Scripture of Romans 13:8-10.

That is de facto contra-Biblical.

mndgn.j said:

The law can be simplified down to love. In love we fulfill all the commandments. the two most important is love god and your neighbor as yourself. So then in doing these things we fulfill the law but thats not to say we have earned our salvation. it wouldnt be a free gift if we worked for it. therefore, Gods free gift should bring fourth wells of living water of life and love and truth bringing you to do the will of the father which is love. we can love anyone until we love God and we can love God unless we know God so its like we must first know God and love him before we can be saved. In my mind the only people who don't make it will be the ones who see God coming in the clouds and still deny him.

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God could have simply given just the greatest two commandments, but they are a lot easier said than done, so thankfully God gave us all of the other commandments to paint us a picture of what that looks like, and then sent Jesus to show us how to correctly obey them by spending his ministry setting a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to them. For example, if we love God and our neighbor, then won't commit theft, murder, adultery, idolatry, rape, kidnapping, favoritism, and so forth, so love fulfills the entire law because it is inclusive of everything in it and because everything in it is an example of what it means to correctly obey the greatest two commandments. For example, if someone's obedience to the command to love was not inclusive of helping the poor, then they would have an incomplete understanding of what is being commanded by the the command to love. The existence of the greatest two commandments implies that there are still other commandments that are not the greatest two. Someone who correctly lived in obedience to the greatest two commandments would be indistinguishable from someone who lived in obedience to the Mosaic Law because they would both be following the same example that Jesus set for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21-22). It is God's will for us to love, which is why all of His commands were given for the purpose of teaching us how to love and it is through expressing God's law and other aspects of His nature in obedience to His law that we know Him. In Matthew 24:12-14, Jesus said that because of lawlessness the love of many will grow cold, which completely undermines someone thinking that we just need to obey God's law to love and don't need to obey all of God's other commands for teaching us how love.

Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4), so while we do not earn our salvation by obeying it, living in obedience to it is nevertheless inherently the content of the gift of Jesus saving us from not living in obedience to it.

Clare73 said:

As you use Scripture against itself.
You set the Scriptures against the all-inclusive Scripture of Romans 13:8-10.

That is de facto contra-Biblical.

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When you interpret Romans 13:8-10 as excluding other parts of Scripture, then you are using Scripture against itself, but when I interpret Romans 13:8-10 as being inclusive of all of Scripture, then I am not using it against other parts of Scripture, so I am innocent of what you accuse me of doing while you are guilty of what you accuse me of doing.