I realize I'm a little late to the party here, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents.
First of all, I just need to call it what it is. Swan7, you are a great girlfriend to Toro I'm sure and I know that you mean well, but what I am seeing is Toro being challenged on his views (and some unfair statements were made by Cody I will admit), and you stepping in to defend your boyfriend. I just need to point out that we need to be able to have solid discussions here without significant others rushing in to defend each other. It can get a little bit annoying, especially in a Singles forum. Also, especially in Christian circles, we need to be able to have discussions and disagreements without people feeling like they have to leave. You wouldn't take a break from your church just because you had a heated discussion with someone.
Well John 3:16 and all throughout scripture say those who believe in Jesus have eternal life. I realize that means many things to many different people, I however believe that belief means exactly as it sounds. I don't believe someone can believe Jesus is the Son of God and not be saved. I don't believe someone can believe Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected and not be saved. There's this whole movement in the Evangelical world that says that you need to "repent of your sins," make Jesus your Lord," "Commit your life to him,", etc. and in my eyes that's taking away from the simplicity of the gospel. Google how to be saved in Google and you'll have 10 different answers in front of your eyes of what it means to believe in Jesus, all of which contradict each other and add different things or take away others.
The gospel is simple imo. We enter into Life as a child, not a theologian. If you believe in Jesus, you're saved.
Okay, so I completely agree with you that in one sense the Gospel is very simple, but there's a difference between intellectually agreeing with things and believing them in your heart in such a way that they are transforming. Someone could believe that Jesus is God's Son and yet have no remorse for their sin and want to continue living as they always have. They could also believe that it's true that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected and still want to continue living as they always have. There is a verse or two that says that if you believe in Jesus and that he was raised from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9 is one). But look at verse 10 there. "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." And Cody, I'm in no way trying to attack your parents or make any judgment upon whether or not they are saved. What I am saying is that if you have people who exhibit no evidence in their daily lives that they are followers of Christ, or in the case of this verse if there is no daily profession of their faith on their tongue, I think their salvation can be fairly called into question, and hopefully for no other reason than to bring that before them and see them saved. The Gospel says that we have been separated from God by sin and we need Christ's atonement on our behalf in order to be reconciled to God. But if a person is continuing to live in such a way that a relationship with God and reconciliation to Him really isn't a priority, then they really aren't believing the Gospel. I hope that makes sense. Those who see their sin and turn to Christ to find redemption from it in all sincerity are going to exhibit evidence of a redeemed life in their future, and the profession of their faith is just naturally going to be on their tongue. It's not really about trying so much as it is about change just happening due to heart transformation.
I think this is a healthy tension for all of us to grapple with. It's the idea of working out our salvation with fear and trembling. We can have and do have assurance that we are saved if we have asked God to save us, but it's always healthy to be checking and searching ourselves to see where our hearts are at. It's a healthy fear I think. I once heard a pastor liken it to that fear of the street that parents instill in their children. Ultimately they are just trying to save their children from destruction by instilling in them a healthy fear/caution of the street.
The truth is that sanctification is a messy process for every single one of us and so this discussion isn't always going to be so simple. Yes, the Gospel is simple and yes, it doesn't take a theologian to understand it. I just think that if we're going to say that belief is the basis upon which we are saved, we need to make sure that on our list of what we must believe, we include everything. Not just that Jesus is God's Son or that He died on a cross, but that we have wicked, sinful hearts and are in desperate need of His atonement in order to be reconciled to God (which implies that there is a desire to be reconciled to God there as well).
Now I could get super theological about this and start talking about how I think it's God who saves us, and that it is possible to have a healthy tension between God's sovereignty in saving us and human responsibility, but I won't get into that.
