Not By Works
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Excuse me, Jesus knows His sheep and they follow Him; no one will enter heaven unknown to Christ. In heaven their will be no more tears, no more death and no more sin; nor, (sinners, including evil people as you say). Who are these people who take their salvation for granted; and the notion of evil people in heaven is a fallacious argument, it would never happen.
I see what you are saying here so I am not going to disagree with you.
For me the way I look at it is
John 3:16-17
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 16:8-9
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
I have had the privilege of bringing a few unbelievers to Jesus (if I was an evangelist I would say 1000's
) and I have had the privilege of speaking to unbelievers who reject the Gospel. I remember one, a fellow director in my company who was going through a divorce. I came alongside talked about how God can restore and asked if I could pray for him. Trust me this was a big step, he didn't take fools lightly and was very corporate and successful in companies that he saved, built up and sold for millions.
So to my amazement he said ok pray. When I finished praying he looked at me with tears in eyes and said "Bill how can I believe in a benevolent God when he allowed a drunk driver to kill a mother of two who were 8 and 9 and a husband who spent the rest of his life devesated, those two children are me and my sister and that husband is my dad"
My heart broke at that point and as you said above and I applaud it because like you all I could do is love him and let the Holy Spirit work. We sow the seed that is all we can do.
I also applaud the above post as well. To be honest this is my passion and part of the ministry I have in my church.
To me and don't get me wrong there does seem to be a focus on getting bums on pews, outreach. That is great but the problem is a lack of reaching out to those that come in. The front doors are always open but alas so are the back doors.
For me the way I look at it is
John 3:16-17
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 16:8-9
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
I have had the privilege of bringing a few unbelievers to Jesus (if I was an evangelist I would say 1000's
) and I have had the privilege of speaking to unbelievers who reject the Gospel. I remember one, a fellow director in my company who was going through a divorce. I came alongside talked about how God can restore and asked if I could pray for him. Trust me this was a big step, he didn't take fools lightly and was very corporate and successful in companies that he saved, built up and sold for millions.So to my amazement he said ok pray. When I finished praying he looked at me with tears in eyes and said "Bill how can I believe in a benevolent God when he allowed a drunk driver to kill a mother of two who were 8 and 9 and a husband who spent the rest of his life devesated, those two children are me and my sister and that husband is my dad"
My heart broke at that point and as you said above and I applaud it because like you all I could do is love him and let the Holy Spirit work. We sow the seed that is all we can do.
I also applaud the above post as well. To be honest this is my passion and part of the ministry I have in my church.
To me and don't get me wrong there does seem to be a focus on getting bums on pews, outreach. That is great but the problem is a lack of reaching out to those that come in. The front doors are always open but alas so are the back doors.
God desires that all come to repentance to believe and to be saved
It was how Jesus started His earthly ministry, by calling people to repentance and belief.
It was how Jesus started His earthly ministry, by calling people to repentance and belief.
Did Jesus chase after the young rich ruler, his hometown or the Pharisee's and Sadducee's <<<<<These were the unbelieving....
The ones that Jesus preached, taught, healed, delivered and manifested himself to were the lost...this would include the original 82 and many others....
We need to be less spiritual and more real....It may be God's desire and will for all to come into repentance, but that does not translate to mean, all will take the free gift....or that Jesus ministered to everyone, because in reality he did not...and the closer he got to the cross, the more the multitudes stopped listening....
It was not JESUS....it was BARABBAS.....they were shouting.......
That is pretty much the opposite of what some here say
For they do say that works keep one saved.
For they do say that works keep one saved.
...Do we not all believe that we are commanded to work...It`s a command to obey, what happens to those who once except Jesus in their life, are they to remain still...Yes we work to Gods calling, some ignore the calling daily because they choice to sit in idleness, is this where hay and straw is mentioned, i am truly asking because i seek to learn, not to post at anyone but myself...xox...
Hi Magenta...But has anyone claimed works before Salvation...Do we not all believe that we are commanded to work...It`s a command to obey, what happens to those who once except Jesus in their life, are they to remain still...Yes we work to Gods calling, some ignore the calling daily because they choice to sit in idleness, is this where hay and straw is mentioned, i am truly asking because i seek to learn, not to post at anyone but myself...xox...
...Do we not all believe that we are commanded to work...It`s a command to obey, what happens to those who once except Jesus in their life, are they to remain still...Yes we work to Gods calling, some ignore the calling daily because they choice to sit in idleness, is this where hay and straw is mentioned, i am truly asking because i seek to learn, not to post at anyone but myself...xox...
The body of Christ can be defined by certain things or people....
As sad as it is to say, many are the 11 that never got out of the Boat....
Many are under the spell of false humility and identify with Peter and his faith when he got out of the boat...
Some might be the storm the boat was caught in....
Some think they are the boat itself....
Jesus wants you to get out of your boat to come to him so he can impart something into you, so that you can turn around and start looking for other boats in the storm....then when you find that boat, you can say...I have been where you have been, but I met a man, walking on the storm........
E
I see what you are saying here so I am not going to disagree with you.
For me the way I look at it is
John 3:16-17
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 16:8-9
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
I have had the privilege of bringing a few unbelievers to Jesus (if I was an evangelist I would say 1000's) and I have had the privilege of speaking to unbelievers who reject the Gospel. I remember one, a fellow director in my company who was going through a divorce. I came alongside talked about how God can restore and asked if I could pray for him. Trust me this was a big step, he didn't take fools lightly and was very corporate and successful in companies that he saved, built up and sold for millions.
So to my amazement he said ok pray. When I finished praying he looked at me with tears in eyes and said "Bill how can I believe in a benevolent God when he allowed a drunk driver to kill a mother of two who were 8 and 9 and a husband who spent the rest of his life devesated, those two children are me and my sister and that husband is my dad"
My heart broke at that point and as you said above and I applaud it because like you all I could do is love him and let the Holy Spirit work. We sow the seed that is all we can do.
I also applaud the above post as well. To be honest this is my passion and part of the ministry I have in my church.
To me and don't get me wrong there does seem to be a focus on getting bums on pews, outreach. That is great but the problem is a lack of reaching out to those that come in. The front doors are always open but alas so are the back doors.
For me the way I look at it is
John 3:16-17
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 16:8-9
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
I have had the privilege of bringing a few unbelievers to Jesus (if I was an evangelist I would say 1000's
) and I have had the privilege of speaking to unbelievers who reject the Gospel. I remember one, a fellow director in my company who was going through a divorce. I came alongside talked about how God can restore and asked if I could pray for him. Trust me this was a big step, he didn't take fools lightly and was very corporate and successful in companies that he saved, built up and sold for millions.So to my amazement he said ok pray. When I finished praying he looked at me with tears in eyes and said "Bill how can I believe in a benevolent God when he allowed a drunk driver to kill a mother of two who were 8 and 9 and a husband who spent the rest of his life devesated, those two children are me and my sister and that husband is my dad"
My heart broke at that point and as you said above and I applaud it because like you all I could do is love him and let the Holy Spirit work. We sow the seed that is all we can do.
I also applaud the above post as well. To be honest this is my passion and part of the ministry I have in my church.
To me and don't get me wrong there does seem to be a focus on getting bums on pews, outreach. That is great but the problem is a lack of reaching out to those that come in. The front doors are always open but alas so are the back doors.
It's hard, I know God has worked on people like your fellow worker to himself, in spite of their anger, bcause of things like he experienced, all we can do is love him like God loves him, and He may not even recieve Christ until long after we are no longer he n a situation where we can see each other due to a move, or other reasons,
i know now many people and I myself, who have experienced the joy of a person who come to Christ and search you out to let you know they came t Christ, and thank you for what you did, it helped them make their decision,
i would be leary of calling a prodigal child lost, they are not lost, God knows right where they are, and he promises to leave the flock to go get them, I was a prodigal for 5 years thanks to my church and their rules and legalism, I never felt lost, but I dhad d real alone, I also felt Gods call, and he allowed me to hit rock bottom so. Had no choice but to truth back, of which I am thankful,
a lost person is lost, not saved, and inside he gates of hell, head to a place separated from God For all eternity, they are lost because they can not see where they are, so they do not yet know or understand, that they are in danger, they think they are k when they are not,
our job is to enter the gates of hell, which God promised the church will prevail, and rescue those people from unbelief.