Is it possible to be atheist and be saved?

[gurneyhalleck1]

Yes, it does, and I agree 100% with that

Yes, I tend to agree. Although, it is said that while waiting for His Second Coming, our prayers help those who are not permanently in hell/separated from God until He returns and separates the goats from the sheep permanently then. Does that make sense?

 

[Dieselman]

When I stand before God I will know He exists. Until then, I must have faith. Faith alone is the salvation. All will one day KNOW that God is real, but for many that knowledge will come too late. There is one path to salvation, and many roads to destruction.

 

[Dorothea]

When I stand before God I will know He exists. Until then, I must have faith. Faith alone is the salvation. All will one day KNOW that God is real, but for many that knowledge will come too late. There is one path to salvation, and many roads to destruction.

"Faith alone" is not scriptural. The word "alone" was added by Luther, many centuries after the original NT's correct wording.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

It's not Orthodox either and doesn't belong in this subforum!

"Faith alone" is not scriptural. The word "alone" was added by Luther, many centuries after the original NT's correct wording.

 

[Dorothea]

It's not Orthodox either and doesn't belong in this subforum!

 

[Blonde]

Wait a minute......Did Gurney quote Eminem?? What is going on here!?!

 

[The Unorthodox Orthodox]

When I stand before God I will know He exists. Until then, I must have faith.

And that's all we'll ever need!
People are more sure about the things they believe in than they things the know.

 

[Ortho_Cat]

Wait a minute......Did Gurney quote Eminem?? What is going on here!?!

Eminem is Orthodox??

 

[Monica child of God 1]

When I stand before God I will know He exists. Until then, I must have faith.

Yes, this is true.

Faith alone is the salvation.

No, not true. The only time that the words "faith" and "alone" are together in scripture is James 2:24--

"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

Salvation is by GRACE. We must respond to God's grace with faith and by doing the works that God prepared in advance for Us to do. If ones faith is not joined to works, it is useless for salvation.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." --Galatians 5:6

M.

 

[Dorothea]

Yes, this is true.



No, not true. The only time that the words "faith" and "alone" are together in scripture is James 2:24--

"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

Salvation is by GRACE. We must respond to God's grace with faith and by doing the works that God prepared in advance for Us to do. If ones faith is not joined to works, it is useless for salvation.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." --Galatians 5:6

M.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

A sure sign of the arrival of the Four Horsemen!

Wait a minute......Did Gurney quote Eminem?? What is going on here!?!

 

[MyLordMySavior]

Yes, this is true.



No, not true. The only time that the words "faith" and "alone" are together in scripture is James 2:24--

"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

Salvation is by GRACE. We must respond to God's grace with faith and by doing the works that God prepared in advance for Us to do. If ones faith is not joined to works, it is useless for salvation.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." --Galatians 5:6

M.

Hi I'm a little confused, so perhaps you could help me? I agree that good works is favorable and great, but I'm not sure why some people say that you are saved by God's grace through faith AND good works. I remember reading Espheisans 2:8-10 and to me it clearly says hat you are saved by God's grace through faith and not good works. It just bluntly states "not good works". I hear a lot of people say that faith AND good works give you God's grace even though to me that scripture says just faith. Then, I notice that if you have God's grace you will do good works[John 14:12][John 8:39]. So, all in all in my interpretation, and I'm no biblical scholar, just taking from what I read, is good works come from the grace of God in which faith has brought you. Good works and faith do not give you God's grace, only faith, but if you have God's grace FROM faith, you will do good works!


So I'm confused on why people say good works and faith, and I want to make sure I'm seeing this right. I'm only seeing what the verses tell me and not twisting o adding things. It's just what the verses seem to clearly say to me. Thanks for you time sister in Christ!

 

[MyLordMySavior]

Hi I'm a little confused, so perhaps you could help me? I agree that good works is favorable and great, but I'm not sure why some people say that you are saved by God's grace through faith AND good works. I remember reading Espheisans 2:8-10 and to me it clearly says hat you are saved by God's grace through faith and not good works. It just bluntly states "not good works". I hear a lot of people say that faith AND good works give you God's grace even though to me that scripture says just faith. Then, I notice that if you have God's grace you will do good works[John 14:12][John 8:39]. So, all in all in my interpretation, and I'm no biblical scholar, just taking from what I read, is good works come from the grace of God in which faith has brought you. Good works and faith do not give you God's grace, only faith, but if you have God's grace FROM faith, you will do good works!


So I'm confused on why people say good works and faith, and I want to make sure I'm seeing this right. I'm only seeing what the verses tell me and not twisting o adding things. It's just what the verses seem to clearly say to me. Thanks for you time sister in Christ!

Sorry if there are so spelling errors I typed this on my iPad! Thanks!

 

[ArmyMatt]

When I stand before God I will know He exists. Until then, I must have faith. Faith alone is the salvation. All will one day KNOW that God is real, but for many that knowledge will come too late. There is one path to salvation, and many roads to destruction.

actually, you can know He exists now. He can make Himself known to you. so there is no until then, unless that's the way you want it to be. you can know now. I know now because I know Him.

and no, faith alone is not the salvation. the salvation is the dead Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection, whether any of us know it or not, or like it or not.

 

[mark46]

actually, you can know He exists now. He can make Himself known to you. so there is no until then, unless that's the way you want it to be. you can know now. I know now because I know Him.

and no, faith alone is not the salvation. the salvation is the dead Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection, whether any of us know it or not, or like it or not.

 

[Monica child of God 1]

Hi I'm a little confused, so perhaps you could help me? I agree that good works is favorable and great, but I'm not sure why some people say that you are saved by God's grace through faith AND good works. I remember reading Espheisans 2:8-10 and to me it clearly says hat you are saved by God's grace through faith and not good works. It just bluntly states "not good works". I hear a lot of people say that faith AND good works give you God's grace even though to me that scripture says just faith. Then, I notice that if you have God's grace you will do good works[John 14:12][John 8:39]. So, all in all in my interpretation, and I'm no biblical scholar, just taking from what I read, is good works come from the grace of God in which faith has brought you. Good works and faith do not give you God's grace, only faith, but if you have God's grace FROM faith, you will do good works!


So I'm confused on why people say good works and faith, and I want to make sure I'm seeing this right. I'm only seeing what the verses tell me and not twisting o adding things. It's just what the verses seem to clearly say to me. Thanks for you time sister in Christ!

Hi! I'll be back to answer your question later.

M.

 

[Lukaris]

Romans 9:14-18

King James Version (KJV)

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Th above passage, as I understand it, indicates that God is sovereign & will save those He determines so. Would not anyone who shows the will of God in their capacity to be merciful & compassionate not be saved? Where else would these qualities genuinely come from?


Although not in relation to the above passage, St. Gregory Palamas states:

"The dead bodies of the ungodly woll also be resurrected, but not in heavenly glory, for they will not be fashioned in the likeness of the glorious body of Christ, nor will they see the vision of God promised to believers, which is called the kingdom of God. "Let the wicked be taken away, that he behold not tht glory of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:10, LXX). But those born & nurtured according to Christ, who, as far as they were able, attained to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13) will also obtain the blessing of the divine radiance & will, according to the scripture, "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father" (matthew 13:43)."

On Redemption, The Saving Work of Christ, sermons by St. Gregory Palamas MT Tabor publ. isbn # 978-0-9774983-5-2

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

And I think about the term "dread judgment seat" that we use at Divine Liturgy. Doesn't sound like an "all aboard!!!" kind of "come on in, folks!" tone. The Fathers make damnation sound very real, very common, and the Scriptures make salvation sound terribly hard. The Lord Himself puts a heavy mandate on us to love our enemies, Paul mandates us to stay in the race, and the NT overall shows us a narrow gate with so much at stake. So I find it hard to believe that, if it's this hard to get in, that atheists and all these folks who lived debauched lives as well as everyone from soup to nuts is going to get in. I'm worried that I WON'T! get in so how much more should the atheist be worrying! In the end, I don't think anyone can really see Christ in His Glory and reject Him. So if we're all given a bunch of second chances and atheism is somehow not a big woop and all the human race will be saved anyway while carpe diem is no big deal, what was the point of it all?This

Romans 9:14-18

King James Version (KJV)

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Th above passage, as I understand it, indicates that God is sovereign & will save those He determines so. Would not anyone who shows the will of God in their capacity to be merciful & compassionate not be saved? Where else would these qualities genuinely come from?


Although not in relation to the above passage, St. Gregory Palamas states:

"The dead bodies of the ungodly woll also be resurrected, but not in heavenly glory, for they will not be fashioned in the likeness of the glorious body of Christ, nor will they see the vision of God promised to believers, which is called the kingdom of God. "Let the wicked be taken away, that he behold not tht glory of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:10, LXX). But those born & nurtured according to Christ, who, as far as they were able, attained to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13) will also obtain the blessing of the divine radiance & will, according to the scripture, "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father" (matthew 13:43)."

On Redemption, The Saving Work of Christ, sermons by St. Gregory Palamas MT Tabor publ. isbn # 978-0-9774983-5-2

 

[ArmyMatt]

And I think about the term "dread judgment seat" that we use at Divine Liturgy. Doesn't sound like an "all aboard!!!" kind of "come on in, folks!" tone. The Fathers make damnation sound very real, very common, and the Scriptures make salvation sound terribly hard. The Lord Himself puts a heavy mandate on us to love our enemies, Paul mandates us to stay in the race, and the NT overall shows us a narrow gate with so much at stake. So I find it hard to believe that, if it's this hard to get in, that atheists and all these folks who lived debauched lives as well as everyone from soup to nuts is going to get in. I'm worried that I WON'T! get in so how much more should the atheist be worrying! In the end, I don't think anyone can really see Christ in His Glory and reject Him. So if we're all given a bunch of second chances and atheism is somehow not a big woop and all the human race will be saved anyway while carpe diem is no big deal, what was the point of it all?This

yep. I remember reading in the life of St Anthony where he was wondering about all the people in the world, why do the poor suffer, why are the wicked healthy and wealthy, who is on the path to destruction, etc. and Christ rebuked him telling him to look to his own sins and his own salvation. this is Christ rebuking St Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, a guy who lived in a glorified state even before his death. I shudder when I think of when I stand before the Lord, and yet, always, I know His mercy covers over anything I have done.

it's a wondeful and scary thing to think about the Judgment.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Amen to that!

yep. I remember reading in the life of St Anthony where he was wondering about all the people in the world, why do the poor suffer, why are the wicked healthy and wealthy, who is on the path to destruction, etc. and Christ rebuked him telling him to look to his own sins and his own salvation. this is Christ rebuking St Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, a guy who lived in a glorified state even before his death. I shudder when I think of when I stand before the Lord, and yet, always, I know His mercy covers over anything I have done.

it's a wondeful and scary thing to think about the Judgment.