How are you saved?

[Buzzard3]

Of course that is what God wants, that we might be conformed to the image of His Son ...

God doesn't need you to be holy in order to love and accept you in Jesus Christ (He already does that). God wants you to be holy because He is holy

God doesn't need us to be holy, but we need to be holy because we will all be judged according to our conduct/deeds/works on the Last Day:

"be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves WITH FEAR throughout the time of your exile." (1Peter 1:15-17)

You seem to have overlooked the words, "with fear", and their import, in that passage. They imply that our deeds/works can mean the difference between spending eternity in Heaven or spending eternity in Hell - fearful indeed.

So our conduct/holiness is much much more important than simply, as you say, "what God wants"

 

[Buzzard3]

Right. Which is why the call upon our lives from the Lord is to take up our cross and follow Him, by living a life of repentance, faith, and good works. Not as the way we earn God's favor or merit anything from God--but because that is what the regenerated person does.

There's much more to "repentance ... good works" than simply "what the regenerated person does."
Repentance and good works are keeping the commandments of God. Not keeping the commandmens of God is sin, and sin erodes the sanctifying grace we recieved at baptism (faith). Serious (aka mortal) sin can destroy grace entirely, leading to etenal death.

"There is sin which leads to death ... All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which doesn't lead to death." (1 John 5:16-17)

In Gal 5:19-21 and 1Cor 6:9-10, Paul warns believers that their sins can result in not inheriting "the kingdom of God."

1John 2:3-5 says, "And by this we may be sure that we KNOW HIM, if we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a LIAR, and the TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM ... By this we may be sure that we are IN HIM".

 

[Buzzard3]

What you don't seem to understand is that serious sin (disobedience) can destroy the initial justification/grace gained thru faith. That's why Paul, for example, warns believers (who have been initially justified by faith) of the possibly disastrous consequenes of their sins in Gal 5 and 1Cor 6.

Roman Catholic eisegesis

On the contrary, it is an exegesis based on Scripture:

"There is sin which leads to death ... All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which does not lead to death." (1John 5:16-17)

In Gal 5:19-21 and 1Cor 6:9-10, Paul warns believers that their sins can result in not inheriting "the kingdom of God."

1John 2:3-5 says, "And by this we may be sure that we KNOW HIM, if we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a LIAR, and the TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM ... By this we may be sure that we are IN HIM".

 

[Danthemailman]

On the contrary, it is an exegesis based on Scripture:

"There is sin which leads to death ... All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which does not lead to death." (1John 5:16-17)

In Gal 5:19-21 and 1Cor 6:9-10, Paul warns believers that their sins can result in not inheriting "the kingdom of God."

1John 2:3-5 says, "And by this we may be sure that we KNOW HIM, if we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a LIAR, and the TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM ... By this we may be sure that we are IN HIM".

I already covered all of this multiple times, but your mind is made up and your beliefs are fixed. Good day sir.

 

[BPPLEE]

Recently I learned about the Catholic meaning of born again - being baptized. There seems to be verses in the Bible that agree with this. I studied it a little bit more, and - correct me if I’m wrong - it seems like Catholics also think that there are certain sins that you can’t commit or else you don’t go to heaven? I’ve only ever heard that you have to believe in Jesus, and then you are saved, and I never thought that anyone could think differently. Now I understand that people DO think differently, so I was wondering- according to your denomination, what must you do to be saved? What Bible verses back up your viewpoint? I’m specifically asking because I have younger siblings that my parents won’t let get baptized until they act more like Christians. Would they make it into Heaven?

Confess that you are a sinner. Repent of your sin. Accept Jesus as Savior. You should be baptized because this is like the ring in the marriage ceremony. It's symbolic but the Bible says to do it. You would still be married without the ring. You would still be saved without being baptized. But you should do it

 

[Danthemailman]

Confess that you are a sinner. Repent of your sin. Accept Jesus as Savior. You should be baptized because this is like the ring in the marriage ceremony. It's symbolic but the Bible says to do it. You would still be married without the ring. You would still be saved without being baptized. But you should do it

Good analogy about the marriage ceremony. A man and a woman become united through their wedding vows and the ring symbolizes this. Just as we become united with Christ through faith and water baptism symbolizes this. The husband is united to his wife because of the marriage vows rather than the ring. Yet since the latter is the sign of their union, it is natural to speak of the ring to mean the reality it represents. "With this ring, I thee wed," although the ring is not the actual cause of the change in the marital status.