Unity of Belief?

[Robert]

...that principle, good and important as it is, does not help to explain many things in the Bible, as for instance:

Got to go to work....Later!

Rob

[cricket]

I would be interested in what you believe there is lacking when an individual is found to be without hope for eternal life and where you get your information to arrive at a conclusion.

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:30,31 KJV

Now, I believe the very belief one has in God is a gift from Him, so essentially 100% of our Life is a gift. However we still have the freewill to distrust what our Father says and will consequentially, if we do fall in that category and don't accept the trust God is willing to give, will fail of receiving life eternal.

Sure, you can distrust what our Father says, but it doesn't change the fact that Christ died for our sins--for all of our sins; for each of us, for each and every sin. He died for murder, adultery, licentiousness, coveteousnes, thievery, idol worship, hatred, lust, the list goes on and on. He even died for the sin of unbelief!

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

So, here's the deal, either Jesus did it all, paid the price in full, and we are saved 100% because of Him; or, as you appear to be saying, our salvation depends on one thing only--whether or not we accept it, and if that's the case, then it's the same as if saying that salvation is entirely in our own hands.

[melvin mccarty]

Yes the price is paid regardless of whether we accept it or not! Whether we are "saved" depends not on what we know or who we know but on how we treat others. Love is the important thing. mel

[BibleShockers]

>>>...So, here's the deal, either Jesus did it all, paid the price in full, and we are saved 100% because of Him; or, as you appear to be saying, our salvation depends on one thing only--whether or not we accept it, and if that's the case, then it's the same as if saying that salvation is entirely in our own hands.

Before the gospel, many people were justified by faith. For example, Noah. He and others "obtained a good report" by faith and "obtained the righteousness that is by faith." However, they were uniquely given an **opportunity** to believe God. I mean, people can only believe if they hear, and they can only hear if they have a preacher, right? So what makes this day special is that the gospel is an opportunity to be justified on the basis of one's faith by believing that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

This makes the gospel the power of God to save:

Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The gospel (that Jesus was raized by God) is what saves when mixed with faith:

Ro 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is what Jesus called "the job assigned to you by God":

Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Why do you insist that this job is inappropriately assigned to the sinner? It doesn't bring an occaission to "glory":

Rom 4:

1 ¶ What then shall we say that Abraham, our earthly forefather, has gained?

2 For if he was held to be righteous on the ground of his actions, he has something to boast of; but not in the presence of God.

3 For what says the Scripture? <"And Abraham believed God, and this was placed to his credit as righteousness.">

4 But in the case of a man who works, pay is not reckoned a favour but a debt;

5 whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

Bill Ross

[Robert]

...that principle, good and important as it is, does not help to explain many things in the Bible, as for instance:

This is from the book, "Light on the Dark Side of God" [page 51]:

You now have the tools [this assumes one has read the book] to review some classic Bible descriptions of God's wrath and see things you may not have seen before. Here are some "favorites":

* "Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark . . . Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark, and he died there before God (1 Chronicles 13:9, 10).

* That same night the angel of Yahweh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp (Isaiah 37:36; 2 Kings 19:35, JB).

* While the meat was still between their teeth . . . the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. . . . There they buried the people who had yielded to craving (Numbers 11:33, 34).

If God's wrath in other places is His removing Himself from the arena of willful, entrenched sin, why isn't it here? If God's striking the firstborn of Egypt, the patriarch Job, and His own Son entailed releasing them to the power of the destroyer, why isn't it the same here? and other places as well? Would not the results, perceivable evidence, be the same? I[color:#000066]f you cannot agree that God's role in all these incidents is consistent and in harmony with His changelessness (See Malachi 3:6), you assume the burden of proving it is not.

[Gerr]

Mr. Ross,

If you were in the middle of a pool and didn't know how to swim, and someone throws you a life-preserver tied to a rope, in whose hand does your survival depend on? You? Or that Someone?

Gerry

[LifeHiscost]

Mr. Ross,

If you were in the middle of a pool and didn't know how to swim, and someone throws you a life-preserver tied to a rope, in whose hand does your survival depend on? You? Or that Someone?

Gerry

I've believed in salvation by grace through faith for most of 50 years and never heard such a profound truth put in such a simple straightforward statement. And, Gerry, I still believe it is a truth revealed by the Holy Spirit, as the most simple truth cannot be understood by the carnal mind except by Divine intervention for revelation. Praise God you're listening for His voice.

"....and there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9 AMP

"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:1-4 KJV

Regards!