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How Does One Obtain Eternal Life?
- Thread starter leecappella
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PRMan
Part-Time Bible Scholar
It is only Jesus blood and sacrifice for our sins that pays the price of death.
This site:
www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/only.html
explains it pretty well.
Now, option #3 should happen as evidence of #1.
Being a good person is not enough to get you there if you reject Jesus' substitutionary work.
This site:
www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/only.html
explains it pretty well.
Now, option #3 should happen as evidence of #1.
Being a good person is not enough to get you there if you reject Jesus' substitutionary work.
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PaladinValer
Traditional Orthodox Anglican
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Through Faith and Works that earns you God's Grace, the clincher (though that isn't an option)
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Paul tells us: "For [God] will reward every man according to his works: to those who by perseverance in working good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. There will be . . . glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality" (Rom. 2:611; cf. Gal. 6:610).
In the second century, the technical term "merit" was introduced as a synonym for the Greek word for "reward." Thus the doctrine of merit and the doctrine of reward are the same teaching; they are simply presented under two different terms.
Protestants often misunderstand the Catholic teaching on merit, thinking that Catholics believe that one must do good works to come to God and be saved. This is exactly the opposite of what the Church teaches. The Council of Trent stressed: "[N]one of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification; for if it is by grace, it is not now by works; otherwise, as the Apostle [Paul] says, grace is no more grace" (Decree on Justification 8, citing Rom. 11:6).
The Catholic Church teaches only Christ is capable of meriting in the strict sensemere man cannot (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2007). The most merit humans can have is condignwhen, under the impetus of Gods grace, they perform acts which please him and which he has promised to reward (Rom. 2:611, Gal. 6:610). Thus Gods grace and his promise form the foundation for all human merit (CCC 2008).
Virtually all of this is agreed to by Protestants, who recognize that, under the impetus of Gods grace, Christians do perform acts which are pleasing to God and which God has promised to reward, meaning that they fit the definition of merit. When faced with this, Protestants are forced to admit the truth of the Catholic positionalthough, contrary to Pauls command (2 Tim. 2:14), they may still dispute the terminology.
Thus the Lutheran Book of Concord admits: "We are not putting forward an empty quibble about the term reward. . . . We grant that eternal life is a reward because it is something that is owednot because of our merits [in the strict sense] but because of the promise [of God]. We have shown above that justification is strictly a gift of God; it is a thing promised. To this gift the promise of eternal life has been added" (p. 162).
In the second century, the technical term "merit" was introduced as a synonym for the Greek word for "reward." Thus the doctrine of merit and the doctrine of reward are the same teaching; they are simply presented under two different terms.
Protestants often misunderstand the Catholic teaching on merit, thinking that Catholics believe that one must do good works to come to God and be saved. This is exactly the opposite of what the Church teaches. The Council of Trent stressed: "[N]one of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification; for if it is by grace, it is not now by works; otherwise, as the Apostle [Paul] says, grace is no more grace" (Decree on Justification 8, citing Rom. 11:6).
The Catholic Church teaches only Christ is capable of meriting in the strict sensemere man cannot (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2007). The most merit humans can have is condignwhen, under the impetus of Gods grace, they perform acts which please him and which he has promised to reward (Rom. 2:611, Gal. 6:610). Thus Gods grace and his promise form the foundation for all human merit (CCC 2008).
Virtually all of this is agreed to by Protestants, who recognize that, under the impetus of Gods grace, Christians do perform acts which are pleasing to God and which God has promised to reward, meaning that they fit the definition of merit. When faced with this, Protestants are forced to admit the truth of the Catholic positionalthough, contrary to Pauls command (2 Tim. 2:14), they may still dispute the terminology.
Thus the Lutheran Book of Concord admits: "We are not putting forward an empty quibble about the term reward. . . . We grant that eternal life is a reward because it is something that is owednot because of our merits [in the strict sense] but because of the promise [of God]. We have shown above that justification is strictly a gift of God; it is a thing promised. To this gift the promise of eternal life has been added" (p. 162).
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The choices on your poll seem either too brief or else wrong. Of course, how thorough can you be when listing options on a poll. My answer to the means of salvation is also somewhat brief. "He has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him." As the Psalmist said, "Those who know your name will put their trust in you." Jesus said, "...learn of me, and you shall find rest for your soul."
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The question isn't whether or not Jesus died for the sins of the world. I'll put it in another way: Did Jesus come to die for the world AND to be believed in for salvation or does his death, which is suppose to have 'cleared' us of our sins already save us and belief in him is not a requirement, but simply being made aware of what his death did for any and all persons is the gospel and we are to know that we are already saved, not by any action on our part (ie. to believe or not to believe), but by God's grace to send Jesus, die for our sins, and have that be taken care of, period? Nothing we can do to save ourselves. It was done. To say we have to believe in Jesus (traditionally speaking) is to put the ball in our court and to say it is up to us to save ourselves by either believing in Jesus or not believing in Jesus when God's grace is what saved us, not our decision to belive or not believe. See my point?PRMan said:
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BarbB
I stand with my brothers and sisters in Israel!
I see your point, leecapella! (Good to see you again 
)
Salvation is by the grace of God in combination with faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. This is my combination of Calvinism and Arminian theology!
I was not seeking salvation when God gathered me to Himself. After He did this, I sought His face!
)Salvation is by the grace of God in combination with faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. This is my combination of Calvinism and Arminian theology!
I was not seeking salvation when God gathered me to Himself. After He did this, I sought His face!
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TheMainException
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Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes through the father but by him.
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Thanks, Newlamb. What about those who lived before Christ who, literally, did not place faith in Jesus? Being considered righteous has not always been dependent upon belief in Jesus. Those who did live before Christ may have believed God for whatever was ahead (ie. the Messiah's coming), but that still does not constitute believing in Jesus in the context that traditional christianity expects a person to believe. At least, not to me. Their faith was directly placed in God. Considering that God and Jesus are one and the same, according to traditional christian faith, if one knows Jesus, then they know God and vice versa.newlamb said:I see your point, leecapella! (Good to see you again
Salvation is by the grace of God in combination with faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. This is my combination of Calvinism and Arminian theology!
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BarbB
I stand with my brothers and sisters in Israel!
Noah and Abram are two obvious examples of OT men to whom God imputed righteousness because of their belief and faith in Him. We have our righteousness imputed to us because of the blood of Jesus which covers us. Thus, while Noah and Abram trusted God for salvation, we trust Jesus. Yet I believe that Noah and Abraham are in Heaven. Also, Messianic Jews do not believe in the Trinity, yet I "know" that they are saved.
OK, lee, in trying to answer this I have gotten myself all tangled up! Ha ha! Are you asking whether those who have responded to God instead of Jesus are saved? If that's the case, my answer is "I don't know". Hopefully my salvation doesn't depend upon my having the correct answer to that question!
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Contrary to popular belief, salvation is not through faith only. Most believe that all you have to do is believe, but this simply is not the case. When a person desires to become a Christian, they must follow the steps which are outlined in the Bible.
1. They must HEAR the word (Romans 10:17). It is by hearing the word that a person develops faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Faith is the second step. There are multiple passages which deal with faith, and I'm sure you know many of them. Look at John 3:16, Galatians 2:16, Gal 3:26, Hebrews 11:6, etc.
3. The third step is repentance. We can read in verses such as Acts 17:30 and 1 Timothy 2:4 where God demands repentance. This means that a person has to change inwardly. They must regret the sins they've committed and desire a godly life.
4. The fourth step is confession. Romans 10:9-13 tell us that we must confess in order to be saved. We've got to confess our faith in Christ in order to be saved. We can see an example of this in Acts 8 in the story of the ethiopian eunich.
5. Finally, the most controversial step is baptism. Look at Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-7, Galatians 3:27, and 1 Peter 3:21. Baptism washes away our sins. We are buried into Christ's death and raised to walk in newness of life. We must be baptized FOR the remission of sins.
After these steps have been completed, then we are saved. BUT, we must continue to live a Christian life ACCORDING to the Bible in order to keep that salvation. It should also be noted that we are baptized into ONE body, and the body is the church. There is ONE church. We must make sure that we are attending a church that models itself entirely after the Bible. In other words, everything that they do should be scriptural. There is no salvation outside of this ONE church (Acts 2:47).
1. They must HEAR the word (Romans 10:17). It is by hearing the word that a person develops faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Faith is the second step. There are multiple passages which deal with faith, and I'm sure you know many of them. Look at John 3:16, Galatians 2:16, Gal 3:26, Hebrews 11:6, etc.
3. The third step is repentance. We can read in verses such as Acts 17:30 and 1 Timothy 2:4 where God demands repentance. This means that a person has to change inwardly. They must regret the sins they've committed and desire a godly life.
4. The fourth step is confession. Romans 10:9-13 tell us that we must confess in order to be saved. We've got to confess our faith in Christ in order to be saved. We can see an example of this in Acts 8 in the story of the ethiopian eunich.
5. Finally, the most controversial step is baptism. Look at Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-7, Galatians 3:27, and 1 Peter 3:21. Baptism washes away our sins. We are buried into Christ's death and raised to walk in newness of life. We must be baptized FOR the remission of sins.
After these steps have been completed, then we are saved. BUT, we must continue to live a Christian life ACCORDING to the Bible in order to keep that salvation. It should also be noted that we are baptized into ONE body, and the body is the church. There is ONE church. We must make sure that we are attending a church that models itself entirely after the Bible. In other words, everything that they do should be scriptural. There is no salvation outside of this ONE church (Acts 2:47).
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There is a Door and you have to go thr it, to get to heaven, that Door has a Key, and the Key that unlocks that Door is Jesus Christ. For when we are born again we are awaken to a new world. The world of Gods Spirits, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
In the Bible Christ called it a gate. Narrow is the way to life, and wide is the way.......................to you know where.
In the Bible Christ called it a gate. Narrow is the way to life, and wide is the way.......................to you know where.
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