Criteria for salvation; what must we do?

[achilles12604]

I have researched this myself and created a similar post in the holy huddle room. But I open it up for general discussion.

1) What exactly must be done to be saved?

2) What is the criteria used by God to determine judgement?

3) Who will be saved?

4) Who will NOT be saved?

[Cathar1950]

According to Paul justification / salvation is by faith in Christ (note Romans chapter 3, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Galatians). The following is from Romans 10:9-11:

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. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Micah 3:4 (English Standard Version)
(F) Then they will cry to the LORD,
but he will not answer them;
(G) he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.

Besides Paul's poor use of an allegorical reading his confession idea lacks substance and clarity. He fails to mention that Abraham was justified because he did what was right and obeyed.
Trust and faithfulness would be they key here. Jesus died because of his faithfulness and was vindicated by being raised to God's right hand and adobted as his son and the early Jesus communities were to share in his faithfulness where they became one with him and represented his body on earth.

[Antipas]

I have researched this myself and created a similar post in the holy huddle room. But I open it up for general discussion.

1) What exactly must be done to be saved?

This is not a new question. The Scriptures directly address it. After Peter preached his message on Pentecost in Acts 2 notice what happens:

"37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" - Acts 2:37

Peter was directly asked, "...what shall we do?" Pay close attention to his answer, for the message has NEVER changed....

"38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." - Acts 2:38-40

If one wishes to be saved they must repent of sin, be water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and then be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is the New Birth. In this process we take on Christ and apply the gospel to our lives. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In Repentance we die to sin, in water baptism we are buried in the name of Jesus. When we receive the Holy Ghost we are spiritually raised to new life in Christ Jesus. The pattern is only COMPLETE when one has obeyed Acts 2:38. Some Christians have only repented of sin. These Christians are cheating themselves by not embracing the fullness of biblical salvation. We can only pray that more will receive this powerful truth.

2) What is the criteria used by God to determine judgement?

The Scriptures state:

"12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." - Revelation 20:12

I'd like to point out the word "books". In the Greek this word is:

975 biblion

a diminutive of 976 ; TDNT - 1:617,106; n n

AV - book 29, bill 1, scroll 1, writing 1; 32

The root of this word is...

976 biblos

primitive root; TDNT - 1:615,106; n n

AV - book 13; 13

1) a written book, a roll, a scroll

The word "biblos" is the very same word we get our English word, BIBLE.

God will judge man according to the things written in the Bible.

3) Who will be saved?

Those who have obeyed the Bible. These will have their names written in the book of life.

4) Who will NOT be saved?

Those who refuse to believe and obey the Bible.

[Antipas]

I have researched this myself and created a similar post in the holy huddle room. But I open it up for general discussion.

1) What exactly must be done to be saved?

This is not a new question. The Scriptures directly address it. After Peter preached his message on Pentecost in Acts 2 notice what happens:

"37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" - Acts 2:37

Peter was directly asked, "...what shall we do?" Pay close attention to his answer, for the message has NEVER changed....

"38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." - Acts 2:38-40

If one wishes to be saved they must repent of sin, be water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and then be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is the New Birth. In this process we take on Christ and apply the gospel to our lives. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In Repentance we die to sin, in water baptism we are buried in the name of Jesus. When we receive the Holy Ghost we are spiritually raised to new life in Christ Jesus. The pattern is only COMPLETE when one has obeyed Acts 2:38. Some Christians have only repented of sin. These Christians are cheating themselves by not embracing the fullness of biblical salvation. We can only pray that more will receive this powerful truth.

2) What is the criteria used by God to determine judgement?

The Scriptures state:

"12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." - Revelation 20:12

I'd like to point out the word "books". In the Greek this word is:

975 biblion

a diminutive of 976 ; TDNT - 1:617,106; n n

AV - book 29, bill 1, scroll 1, writing 1; 32

The root of this word is...

976 biblos

primitive root; TDNT - 1:615,106; n n

AV - book 13; 13

1) a written book, a roll, a scroll

The word "biblos" is the very same word we get our English word, BIBLE.

God will judge man according to the things written in the Bible.

3) Who will be saved?

Those who have obeyed the Bible. These will have their names written in the book of life.

4) Who will NOT be saved?

Those who refuse to believe and obey the Bible.

[Alethes]

I have researched this myself and created a similar post in the holy huddle room. But I open it up for general discussion.

1) What exactly must be done to be saved?

2) What is the criteria used by God to determine judgement?

3) Who will be saved?

4) Who will NOT be saved?

The Word of God makes it absolutely clear what a person must do in order to be saved.

Romans 10:9: "If thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

When we believe and accept Christ as our Savior from sin and that God raised him from the dead we are saved. Christ not only died for our sins, but God raised Him up from the dead and gave us eternal life. In our identification with Him, when Christ was crucified, we were crucified with Him, when He was raised from the dead, we were raised with Him. When he ascended into heaven, we ascended with Him.

Our eternal life is God's gift to us.

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

It is a gift from God because God so loved.....

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians also tells us that our salvation is a gift....

Ephesians 2:8 and 9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not that of yourselves: [it is] the gift of [from]God. Not of works, lest ye shall boast."

There it is, as plain as day. Salvation is not of ourselves - "not of works lest any man should boast." If you claim that you must do works to be saved, then the Word of God says you are a "boaster." The "good news" of the gospel of Christ is salvation by grace through the faith of Jesus Christ.

[achilles12604]

I have noticed that the last two posts included many quotes. And ALL but one of them were from either PAUL, or an unknown source.

And the ONE (john 3:16) is so vague that the author could apply for employment as a horoscope writer.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I suggest disregarding the writings of Paul, Peter, or whatever, and focusing on the Gospels. Specifically the earliest Gospel of Mark. The words attributed to Jesus directly and indirectly imply that salvation is open to all men, through the condition of their heart.

It is only later writings which begin to thread away from this towards a religion of exclusion. Heck, you can even include Romans if you want. Paul writes about the salvation of the non-believers. So obviously he was of two minds and not nearly as exclusive as the modern church makes him out to be.

[OnceConvinced]

The Word of God makes it absolutely clear what a person must do in order to be saved.

Romans 10:9: "If thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

When we believe and accept Christ as our Savior from sin and that God raised him from the dead we are saved. Christ not only died for our sins, but God raised Him up from the dead and gave us eternal life. In our identification with Him, when Christ was crucified, we were crucified with Him, when He was raised from the dead, we were raised with Him. When he ascended into heaven, we ascended with Him.

Our eternal life is God's gift to us.

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

It is a gift from God because God so loved.....

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians also tells us that our salvation is a gift....

Ephesians 2:8 and 9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not that of yourselves: [it is] the gift of [from]God. Not of works, lest ye shall boast."

There it is, as plain as day. Salvation is not of ourselves - "not of works lest any man should boast." If you claim that you must do works to be saved, then the Word of God says you are a "boaster." The "good news" of the gospel of Christ is salvation by grace through the faith of Jesus Christ.

I'm interested. Do you believe there is no such thing as an ex-Christian?

The reason I ask is that a lot of Christians can't handle the idea that there could possibly be such a thing. They claim that if you're an ex-Christian then you can't have been a true Christian in the first place. Then they try to justify what they're saying by bringing out all these other things you have to do to be a "true" Christian. Which are way more things than what you are quoting in this post.

So is what you are claiming, truly enough?

[Alethes]

I have noticed that the last two posts included many quotes. And ALL but one of them were from either PAUL, or an unknown source.

And the ONE (john 3:16) is so vague that the author could apply for employment as a horoscope writer.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I suggest disregarding the writings of Paul, Peter, or whatever, and focusing on the Gospels. Specifically the earliest Gospel of Mark. The words attributed to Jesus directly and indirectly imply that salvation is open to all men, through the condition of their heart.

It is only later writings which begin to thread away from this towards a religion of exclusion. Heck, you can even include Romans if you want. Paul writes about the salvation of the non-believers. So obviously he was of two minds and not nearly as exclusive as the modern church makes him out to be.

John 3:16 is only vague to a mind that is void of truth and spiritual understanding. The Gospels address Israel under the Law. I suggest you read the Church Epistles which are specifically addressed to born-again Christians, unless you want to live under the Law with its sacrifices of bulls and goats which could not take away sins nor purge man of his conscience of sin.

[achilles12604]

I have noticed that the last two posts included many quotes. And ALL but one of them were from either PAUL, or an unknown source.

And the ONE (john 3:16) is so vague that the author could apply for employment as a horoscope writer.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I suggest disregarding the writings of Paul, Peter, or whatever, and focusing on the Gospels. Specifically the earliest Gospel of Mark. The words attributed to Jesus directly and indirectly imply that salvation is open to all men, through the condition of their heart.

It is only later writings which begin to thread away from this towards a religion of exclusion. Heck, you can even include Romans if you want. Paul writes about the salvation of the non-believers. So obviously he was of two minds and not nearly as exclusive as the modern church makes him out to be.

John 3:16 is only vague to a mind that is void of truth and spiritual understanding. The Gospels address Israel under the Law. I suggest you read the Church Epistles which are specifically addressed to born-again Christians, unless you want to live under the Law with its sacrifices of bulls and goats which could not take away sins nor purge man of his conscience of sin.

So why should I trust "Paul's" writings?

[Cathar1950]

I have noticed that the last two posts included many quotes. And ALL but one of them were from either PAUL, or an unknown source.

And the ONE (john 3:16) is so vague that the author could apply for employment as a horoscope writer.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I suggest disregarding the writings of Paul, Peter, or whatever, and focusing on the Gospels. Specifically the earliest Gospel of Mark. The words attributed to Jesus directly and indirectly imply that salvation is open to all men, through the condition of their heart.

It is only later writings which begin to thread away from this towards a religion of exclusion. Heck, you can even include Romans if you want. Paul writes about the salvation of the non-believers. So obviously he was of two minds and not nearly as exclusive as the modern church makes him out to be.

John 3:16 is only vague to a mind that is void of truth and spiritual understanding. The Gospels address Israel under the Law. I suggest you read the Church Epistles which are specifically addressed to born-again Christians, unless you want to live under the Law with its sacrifices of bulls and goats which could not take away sins nor purge man of his conscience of sin.

So why should I trust "Paul's" writings?

I was going to ask the same question.
Of course I tent to see the gospels as Pauline and not to be equated with the Jewish Christians and first followers of Jesus. I feel Paul should have kept his visions to himself. Even if I am not all that into the law as it is also a human invention, as are sacrifices, I see no reason to think Jesus was Pauline or James, Peter and John.
It seems the message was repent and do good which was what loving God and each other meant and this was done by obeying God's laws, at least for the Jews.
But Jesus like the Pharasees didn't see the law as a burden and they shared the value of human life and well being over ritual.

[McCulloch]

The Word of God makes it absolutely clear what a person must do in order to be saved.

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
"Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
"Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Jesus links charitable acts to achieving eternal life.