Requirements for Salvation

I guess how sure you are depends on how much you trust in the promises of Christ. But trust doesn't equal fact.

 

HB do you believe that if you do not live in a certain manner after you accept Christ that you will go to hell? I reject that outright. I believe that once you accept Christ you are saved and nothing else affects that. I do believe that Christ will put a desire in your heart to serve him but it does not add to your salvation.

 

bingo

 

We agree on something?

 

its like the story of 1000 monkeys with 1000 typewriters and 1000 years. eventually by accident they'll create the greatest novell ever written.

 

So we can expect things to be about the same in heaven as here on earth. Differing levels of the "food chain". That's great...just great.

 

Living a life of obedience is a natural product of accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. "A good tree does not bear bad fruit." If the person isn't living the life, the commitment should be called into question. Whether or not a person goes to hell isn't my call to make. It's His.

 

I agree that a person who says they accepted Christ and does not live in a manner consistent with that profession is highly likely to have not truly accepted Christ. I guess this is a fine line but I still say that there is nothing required of a person for going to heaven after they truly accept Christ. I agree it is His call but He did lay out in His word the what is required. Never did He mention "good works", in fact it specifically says works are not part of salvation.

What do you believe about death bed professions? Certainly the thief on the cross had no opportunity to perform any good works yet he certainly went to heaven.

 

"have to" = legalism
"want to" = living by the Spirit

Last Sunday our pastor said that if we don't have a changed heart by the time we die, God is going to have to childproof heaven because we'll keep trying to get into things we aren't supposed to. The comment was tongue-in-cheek, but I think he has a point. Is there anything in the Bible that says our minds and hearts will be instantaneously transformed after we die? Or do we walk through the gates of heaven just as we are?

Regarding death bed conversions, I figure if Jesus promised the thief on the cross next to him he was saved, why not Jeffrey Dahmer on the electric chair? Again, that's for Jesus to decide, not me. But I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone wait that long to consider Jesus' offer.

 

I do not reccommend waiting that long either. I do however believe that you can be sure of your salvation. I believe that the bible spells out the exact manner in which you saved and it is an event that happens not a goal that is obtain over a period of time.

I think Billy Grahman said that Mother Teresa's good works did not add one thing to her salvation. I think that sums up what I am talking about.