Hunter said:
Christ said no man reached the Father but through him. He didn't say no man reached the father but through accepting the dogmas of the various christian denominations. I have a hard time believing that a Deity which is nothing less than pure, unalloyed love would condemn to hell good individuals who have spent their lives promoting and perpetuating love in their lives but are not christian. If anything, their commitment to selfless service and love of fellow human beings makes them Christ's disciples by default. I refer back to the scripture which mentions that not everyone calling Christ "Lord" will see heaven, and many who never did will be in Paradise because they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, etc.
Hunter
It's not about 'accepting dogmas.' Mainstream Christianity will have you to believe that, but I do not believe this. The 'accepting Christ' movement is flawed, in my opinion.
A mere intellectual assent for the Gospel facts is not what saves you. Pure true repentence, followed by belief in Jesus' work for you saves you. A dynamic faith in Christ that lasts your whole life in which you constantly rely on the grace of God should follow.
God is love, but God also set His guidelines. It is clear from Scripture that grace through faith saves us, not works. Works as a fruit must be shown if the salvation is true, but these works are not saving works.
If works saved us, Christ's work was in vain. Humans don't really need to Him for salvation, if this is true. You are right, not everyone who calls Christ 'Lord' will be in heaven, because they are fake Christians. They are of the 'accepting' and 'assenting' crowd, and not the repentent, whole-hearted believing crowd. Many will be deceived by Satan.
No matter how much we work and do good things, we will all have sin that needs to be forgiven. This is why Jesus died, so we may be forgiven. On top of that, He empowers us to be truly good thereafter. How can someone, who may do good things, but does not give themselves to God in Christ be saved? Do not the Scriptures teach we need Him? Do they not teach no man is truly righteous, and that all have sinned? If all have sinned, do not all need Jesus, including the atheist, the buddhist, etc?
"Christ said no man reached the Father but through him. " Indeed He did. What do you think this means? A doctrinal assent? A denominational membership? Surely not, it's faith in Him. Nothing less can save us.
God is love. He loved the world enough to die for them. But His sacrifice for sins is only effective for those who completely give themselves to Him, admitting that they cannot do it themselves, but need Him. This is what a Christian is.
Kyle
