Why works for hire will fail to earn you salvation.

[Arial]

Love your opposed short answers, here 1mind1spirit.

I wasn't asking about that but yes it can be.

Strange that someone would claim to get their knowledge and understanding from the Holy Spirit and then call Him an it.

 

[patience]

Oops. Then your salvation was not tied to your decision?

My salvation, as anyone's, is through faith (trust) in Christ by God's grace. Just like Romans 10:9,10 says - if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified,, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. And just like John 3:16 says For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. = salvation. Available to everyone = equal opportunity.

Supposed to be "real talking bones." This is what I get when I use siri.

Yes.

Well, I don't think real bones literally speak so I take it figuratively. Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake in the dust, awake and sing for Joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. [Isaiah 26:19] Ezekiel's vision is a dramatic picture of the ressurection - Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves . . . .

 

[MatthewG]

Strange that someone would claim to get their knowledge and understanding from the Holy Spirit and then call Him an it.

Most of the time Spirit - is non-gender. Nothing wrong with calling the Holy Spirit - it being the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is not a person from my understanding. God is a spirit as well, and I do not know what the spiritual body is like, perhaps it is similar in function as this fleshly body but I do know that the spiritual body resurrection is better than this psychical one... surely, I hope so.

I started to respond point by point but it is too much trouble to try and untangle what you are saying or asking, The questions are asked in a way that makes them impossible to answer or even understand. Millennials! Sheesh.

That sucks.

Just remember that all the NT letters are written to those who are already in Christ through faith, and much of it is pastoral counsel and instruction.

Yes.

And one can't state that God works in all people the same way to bring about trust in Christ for salvation.

Okay, do not believe anyone has said that. God can use others by the Spirit to teach some passerby about God, I do not believe God is limited unless a person doesn't desire for God to work on their mind and heart by willingly participation of doing God's will which can only be done by and through Jesus Christ - by the Spirit.

Of course we have to hear the gospel before we can believe it so we know what it is we believe, but we know very little at the beginning.

Paul mentions this also in the Bible:

Romans 1:16-17

New International Version

​

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a]just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[b]

The Gospel, the Good News - it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. What is the good news? The good news in that day is that people would be saved from the wrath of God, but also that the Spiritual Kingdom and the New Covenant would be instated. All of the law having been fulfilled in Christ - is why and how the righteousness of God is revealed - which is by faith. Faith in believing on the one whom God had sent, and even including his return if a person goes that far into learning about the scriptures.

So it does have to be from hearing the gospel message about the Lord Jesus Christ, and then afterwards maturing in the faith growing in and by the Spirit.

I had heard the basics, didn't believe them, but they were in my memory.

Alright.

The main thing with me was that I was changed on the inside and what I knew was that every word in the Bible was true, and that was the place I would find the absolute truth, even though I did not yet know much of what was in it. I knew Jesus was the answer.

That is a great testimony.

Something I instinctively knew must exist, (absolute truth) and spent years searching for, everywhere but Christianity.

Christ is the answer.

My attitude towards Christianity was that it had been tried and been found wanting.

So what does that mean of how you felt about Christianity?

I had decided that if I did find absolute truth I would have no way of knowing it. But I did find it, and I did know. I did not do that myself. I did not decide the Bible held the truth. I knew it did. From that point on it was no longer foolishness to me. The day before, it had been foolishness to me. That was 39 years ago.

Surely God has worked in your life by your willing participation of seeking Him out in faith from 39 years ago.

I had a brother, praying for me and talking to me about it (which I hated at the time) for seven years.

Oh okay.

 

[MatthewG]

An interesting note, even by Tradition it never bothered the Hebrews to see God - as Him or Her - considering that God had created man in his image, just thought would share. Yes, I know I have ragged on traditions but some are interesting from the perspectives of the Jewish people anyway.

Some people would be outraged the fact that a person had looked as God as a woman though haha.

 

[Arial]

So what does that mean of how you felt about Christianity?

There is a before and after. I felt one way about Christianity before my conversion, the opposite after. The reason I felt the before way was from not being able to understand it. I merely had an impression of it which basically was of a bunch of self righteous people with no answers. As to its containing absolute truth, I figured it it did, more people would know it and the world would be different. It is very difficult to explain. And so is what I mean when I was say I was looking for absolute truth and that I knew I had found it when I did. It is difficult to explain because it was internal and defies words. But everything else left questions marks. Maybe true, maybe not. But they often conflicted one with the other. There was no way of knowing, and had to do with how did we get here, why are we here.. what happens when we die, where does life come from, what is life, why, why, why, what, what, what?

And by Christianity I mean its traditional teachings. They come from the Bible, but it is the Bible that is the authority, and Christ who is the Savior.

Surely God has worked in your life by your willing participation of seeking Him out in faith from 39 years ago.

Of course He has. And His children have a responsibility to Him, to sit before their Father in His self revealing word, and prayer, and learn of Him, and imitate Him. To grow in understanding. The fact that it is God who gives us the faith to hear and understand, and believe, does not mean we have no responsibility to pursue Him and righteousness, after He has given us this new birth.

 

[Sissy]

An interesting note, even by Tradition it never bothered the Hebrews to see God - as Him or Her - considering that God had created man in his image, just thought would share. Yes, I know I have ragged on traditions but some are interesting from the perspectives of the Jewish people anyway.

Some people would be outraged the fact that a person had looked as God as a woman though haha.

Can you site a place in scripture that YHWH manifested as a woman?

 

[Arial]

That is a great testimony.

I need to clarify something about testimonies, mine or anyone else's. Experiences, if they are valid, there must not be anything in them that is in opposition to the written word of God. And they are not to be placed above the written word of God. And we are not to measure our growth or spirituality on the basis of experiences. We are capable of having experiences that are not of God and call then of God. They must go beyond mere emotion, to produce an inner change that is consistent with the character of God as God describes Himself. Our walk with God is primarily one of learning about Him and how that relates to us and our lives.

In the testimony I gave which was condensed as to all that was going on and taking place in me and around me, it was not through osmosis that I came to Christ or to the conclusion and understanding that it was the Bible that contained absolute truth. I had come across some writings on the prophecies that are in the Bible that had been fulfilled in the Bible. Most notable to me was Is 45 where God names and calls by name Cyrus, to be king of Persia where the Jews were in captivity, and what God would use Him to do for His people. The prophecy was given long before Cyrus was even born.

My thought was that if those fulfilled prophecies had come to pass, all those that hadn't yet, would. And if that part of the Bible was true, so was the rest of it, irrefutable and absolute. I grew up with God as the center and focus of life, grew up with the Bible, but it was all through the view of Christian Science, an evil heresy and cult. And I would read the Bible but could not understand it. Even in my search for truth, I did not look into Christianity, but I did try to see if it was in the Bible, and I could not understand it, so I quit. When I came to the place where I knew that it was only in the Bible that all absolute truth existed, then I could understand what I read. Not perfectly of course, and still there is much to learn, but I understood Jesus was my Savior. The rest is growth.

And looking back I can see that the way it took place in and for me was the only and perfect way to turn my hard shell of a heart into one malleable in the hands of God. And my entire life was leading up to it. And for those who will become the children of God, He will always bring them in according to the perfect way for THEM. That is how personal our relationship with God as His children is.

 

[Arial]

The Bible tends to be an anvil upon which we may pound and pound for years and never leave a dent in it. The truth that is in its pages must be understood over years of study with the indwelling of God's holy spirit. There are a few premises that need to be kept in mind when we open its pages. The foremost is that every text is important and reveals something to us about God and His Plan of Salvation. We will not understand every text at once because some text require years of experience and study along with the Holy Spirit to understand.

We should never leave sections of scripture in conflict with one another in our minds because all of scripture harmonizes; it is our own observations and interpretations that are dissonant. God our Father is interested and totally invested in our salvation and that is what the Bible is all about. Let's start with the foundational principle of our Father's salvation for us. It is found in Ephesians 2 verses 5 through 10.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This is the foundation of salvation for us all and every other texts in the Bible will be viewed through this foundational truth. Break this down in steps.

1. because of his great love for us
2. [God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
3. God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
4. in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
5. it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
6. not by works,
7. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

One of the first things that jumps out at me is the fact that we are not saved by good works, but instead, we are saved for good works. We were dead to God and that means we had no discourse with God, we could not hear, see, touch, taste or feel Him. This would mean we had as much free will as any dead person has: none. We only have free will when the son makes us free.

Now there are some who will trot out texts that say things like Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Is this a contradiction in scripture? I would say emphatically know. Here we see the calling being made to those whom Christ has made alive because no spiritually dead man would respond to such an invitation since it would be foolishness to him. 1 Cor 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. The message of the cross is foolishness to the majority of spiritual people on this earth. Works makes since to them but not grace. Grace can only be understood by those whom Christ has made alive with His life and have accepted his life in place of their own.

We are seated with Christ in heavenly places not of ourselves in any way least we should boast. Most people think of boasting as going around bragging, but simply believing that you conjured up your own belief and made wiser decisions than the heathen, that you made a good choice from an evil heart is boasting. The truth is, we can only bow our heads and weep in contrition at the feet of the one who made us alive with His own life because He wanted to demonstrate the incomparable riches of His Grace because of His great love for us.

We insult God when we try to bring our fishy crackers to His wedding feast to earn a spot at the table.

​

Here is the testimony of salvation that I heard the other day, by a very prominent preacher in today's church, Andrew Womack. He has a mega church, a Bible college, "raises the dead", has a healing ministry etc. and buckets full of money. "The first time God spoke to me was when I was eight years old. And since then I have never had a drink of alcohol, smoked a cigarette or cussed." That was it. The entire testimony.

 

[Arial]

An interesting note, even by Tradition it never bothered the Hebrews to see God - as Him or Her - considering that God had created man in his image, just thought would share. Yes, I know I have ragged on traditions but some are interesting from the perspectives of the Jewish people anyway.

Some people would be outraged the fact that a person had looked as God as a woman though haha.

That is right, it is an outrage. And you have nothing to support that the Hebrews looked upon God as a her. It is an outrage because you are reaching into the esoteric, mystic, new age etc (outside the Bible which is God revealing HIMSELF) instead of arriving at your beliefs from within the Bible. "Wisdom of the world."

 

[MatthewG]

Can you site a place in scripture that YHWH manifested as a woman?

Perhaps libraries that have religious books dealing with Jewish traditions.

The information shared could be wrong also, it was a hearsay type of thing, but wouldn't doubt it to be true - considering God did make man and woman in his image.

 

[MatthewG]

That is right, it is an outrage. And you have nothing to support that the Hebrews looked upon God as a her. It is an outrage because you are reaching into the esoteric, mystic, new age etc (outside the Bible which is God revealing HIMSELF) instead of arriving at your beliefs from within the Bible. "Wisdom of the world."

Me personally I see God as my Father, but that doesn't mean people don't have strange ideas or beliefs contrary to your own. To me it is not that outrageous.

 

[Arial]

Me personally I see God as my Father, but that doesn't mean people don't have strange ideas or beliefs contrary to your own. To me it is not that outrageous.

You see nothing outrageous about making up who God is rather than believing He is who He says He is? Nothing about God is subjective (based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.)