Relationship with God

[godchick03]

This might be a stupid question but ill ask it anyway. i was wondering if it is essential to have a relationship with God to be saved cos i know heaps of people who are very religious (they read the bible, go to church every week etc.) but dont seem to have a relationship with God. Are they saved?

 

[Radagast]

This might be a stupid question but ill ask it anyway. i was wondering if it is essential to have a relationship with God to be saved...

Yes, it is necessary:

All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:8-10)

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:8-10)

You also said:

...cos i know heaps of people who are very religious (they read the bible, go to church every week etc.) but dont seem to have a relationship with God...

How do you know?

-- Radagast

 

[Protestant Minister]

What is required for salvation is the baptism of the Holy Ghost which only comes in response to prayer and is unrelated to church attendance.Many people who claim to read the bible like to quote John 3:16 but for some totally off the wall reason,they skip over John 3:3-9 which is where Jesus states two requirements for salvation.It's this selective acceptance of only those bible verses people find pleasing to them,selves that creates fake Christians.It is the baptism of the Holy Ghost that creates a personal relationship with God and it is God's confirmation of salvation.

 

[Knight]

Those who are in Christ will have a relationship with God.

It does require some effort on our part to cultivate that relationship. Bible intake, prayer, etc.....

 

[Sketcher]

Think of it this way: Once, we were sinners, who God could not have in His sight. Then, when we were born again, the barrier of sin was destroyed, allowing for a personal relationship with Him. However, it's not as if we automatically know Him intimately at that moment, even though we are saved. The relationship is no longer blocked by sin; it must be built. We have our lives here on Earth and all eternity to get to know God in that intimate way. And the more we get to know Him and trust Him, we the more we grow spiritually.

He has given us access to a most intimate friendship:

Romans 8:15 (Abba being Aramiaic for Daddy)

Revelation 3:20

Psalms (pick one.)

 

[PetraFan007]

What is required for salvation is the baptism of the Holy Ghost

What? The bible never says that??? Don't you recieve the Holy Spirit when you get saved? I know it's supposedly not the same thing as the baptism, but as far as I know, the Bible NEVER says the requirement for salvation is the BAPTISM of the HOLY SPIRIT. I've been a Christian for many years, and as far as I know, the only things needed for salvation is to recieve Jesus Christ as saviour, and to have all your sins forgiven (repentance). Then build a relationship with Him. But... baptism in the Holy spirit? You might even have a case on being BAPTISED in water as being part of it (due to strange translation issues/perceptions), but this is pushing it. I've asked for it many, many, MANY times. I may have (and I know I'm a believer because I believe in God and the Bible and I'm serious about God and I have the fear of God in me, and I have a desire to do what's right and His will, etc), but I have like---no proof that I have been BAPTISED. According to the bible, a sign of proof of being baptised with the Holy Spirit is speaking in toungues. I dunno how to do that. So does that mean I'm not saved? Somehow, I found that to be prime, grade A B.S. What do the rest of you think?

 

[PottersClay]

What is required for salvation is the baptism of the Holy Ghost which only comes in response to prayer and is unrelated to church attendance.

Baptism of the Spirit is not a requirement for salvation. Belief in and acceptance of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, and that being the only way to receive forgiveness of our sin is the only requirement for salvation. (The thief on the cross was neither water baptized, nor was the Holy Spirit even sent to earth at that point.)

Many people who claim to read the bible like to quote John 3:16 but for some totally off the wall reason,they skip over John 3:3-9 which is where Jesus states two requirements for salvation.

I'm afraid it is you who have misinterpreted this verse. It is not speaking of the two different baptisms (as it appears you believe) but of the two births: one of the flesh (born of water) and spiritual birth (born of the Spirit)

(John 3:3-6) Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.​

In several places in Scripture, speaking in tongues was an evidence that someone had received the Holy Spirit however, 1 Cor. 12:30-31 clearly shows, not all receive the gift of speaking in tongues.

"Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" (The implied answer is "no")​

If having the lack of the gift of tongues was evidence of not being Spirit filled, then that passage would imply that the Lord only allows some to be filled with the Spirit. We know by Luke 11:13 that is not the case:

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"​

I absolutely dispise that question "are you filled with the spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues?" It is not just faulty theology, that question, and that thinking has done untold damage. It has caused the confusion and condemnation of many a true believer, often making them feel like second-class Christians and it has caused a lot of division in the Body.

Brothers and sisters, these things ought not to be so!

 

[Pookster]

What? The bible never says that??? Don't you recieve the Holy Spirit when you get saved? I know it's supposedly not the same thing as the baptism, but as far as I know, the Bible NEVER says the requirement for salvation is the BAPTISM of the HOLY SPIRIT. I've been a Christian for many years, and as far as I know, the only things needed for salvation is to recieve Jesus Christ as saviour, and to have all your sins forgiven (repentance). Then build a relationship with Him. But... baptism in the Holy spirit? You might even have a case on being BAPTISED in water as being part of it (due to strange translation issues/perceptions), but this is pushing it. I've asked for it many, many, MANY times. I may have (and I know I'm a believer because I believe in God and the Bible and I'm serious about God and I have the fear of God in me, and I have a desire to do what's right and His will, etc), but I have like---no proof that I have been BAPTISED. According to the bible, a sign of proof of being baptised with the Holy Spirit is speaking in toungues. I dunno how to do that. So does that mean I'm not saved? Somehow, I found that to be prime, grade A B.S. What do the rest of you think?

in the bible is says many times that we are to be baptized to receive the holy spirit.