Not By Works
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No, I shared the Truth with HIM. I used to take space on a Lutheran Church PEW. The night before New Years Eve of 1977, I found out that I WAS NOT a real Christian, after a Third Attempt at suicide that SAME WEEK. I literally was in the Gates of Hades/Hell, and I KNEW I WAS WALKING IN. It shook me to MY VERY CORE OF MY BEING. Suddenly wave, after wave, after wave, of DEEP REMORSE, over my ENTIRE LIFESTYLE of SIN. FOR at least two or more hours of that TOTAL GRIEF, causing me to weep and sob like a baby, NON-STOP and it overwhelmed me.
Finally (and NO ONE EVER TOLD ME TO DO THIS), I reached a point of total surrender to JESUS, I fell to my knees praying "LORD FORGIVE ME! If you have a purpose for LIFE, you will have to come into to it, and RUN my life. I cannot do it, I am making a total Mess of my life." I fell prone on my face, and KEPT crying out to the LORD, "LORD FORGIVE ME, LORD FORGIVE ME!"
At that point, a Vision came to me or maybe it was a Dream, but I WAS KNEELING IN FRONT OF THE CROSS. I knew that EVERY SIN I had committed was like putting yet another one pound weight on his arms, pulling down on the NAIL in his WRISTS, and there were SO MANY OF THEM. Yes I said Wrists, NO ONE EVER TOLD ME IT WAS IN THE WRISTS, and all of the pictures were of nails in his hands. I did not learn until years after that, the JEWS consider the WRISTS to be PART OF THE HANDS. I was still WEEPING and SOBBING, as I cried out to HIM, "LORD FORGIVE ME, LORD FORGIVE ME!" I looked up to HIM, and I KNEW I LOVED HIM, and I saw the BLOOD drip from those nails in his Wrists fall and drop on my outstretched forearms. AND THE BLOOD FELT VERY WARM on forearms, AND I KNEW I WAS FORGIVEN! I rarely tell that part of my testimony, but some how, I know it is important this time.
That is where the Vision or Dream ended. I knew I WAS SAVED, with NO WORKS INVOLVED. Prior to that, I knew I was going to hades/hell before that point, no matter how many times I had reiterated the APOSTLES CREED, before that.
I have never looked back, and HE HAS BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB OF CONTROLLING MY LIFE! YES, I WAS AT THE CROSS. Yes, I am a sinner occasionally, but it is getting less, and less, however HE is STILL CONTROLLING my life most of the time, and I eagerly WANT TO CONFESS MY SINS TO HIM, whenever sin enters my life.
I do appreciate your testimony, it is powerful and beautiful. I can see why you are a man of Jesus Christ.
The apostles creed does not save anyone, it was just a guideline long ago before the bible, to help people know what they had been taught about God the Father and Jesus, and the HS. The apostles creed is not about being saved.
The apostles creed does not save anyone, it was just a guideline long ago before the bible, to help people know what they had been taught about God the Father and Jesus, and the HS. The apostles creed is not about being saved.
Hi Ben...First of all , no where did i imply that i am a puppet , nothing of the sort...It is God who wills to do His good through me...How do I do the will of God , by reading His word daily , by feeding on it until it fills me up , then daily I go about my business according to His word , and when I fail , I come to Him in humbleness and take my correction...
It is the word of God who helps us become who He is changing us to be...Also we have His Holy Spirit , the Helper to aid us through all things...He is the one who directs our paths , unless you are addressing fake believers , then you would be right , but not true children of God , God`s children do according to His will , He is our Father , we hear His voice , we follow Him...xox...
It is the word of God who helps us become who He is changing us to be...Also we have His Holy Spirit , the Helper to aid us through all things...He is the one who directs our paths , unless you are addressing fake believers , then you would be right , but not true children of God , God`s children do according to His will , He is our Father , we hear His voice , we follow Him...xox...
NOW, when I was RAISED in the Lutheran Church, I thought I was a Christian, because I said the Apostles Creed and sat in a Pew regularly.
Someone should have told me, is Just because I new the facts about my car, and sat in a Garage regularly, DID NOT MAKE ME A CAR.
Born Again, WAS NOT TAUGHT AT ALL in that Lutheran Church that I grew up in, and they would call anyone who told someone to RECEIVE JESUS AS LORD, was participating in a WORKS RIGHTEOUS RELIGION. They would run the Other Way, when one wanted to call them to the true gospel. What they did NOT REALIZE, is NO ONE CAN SAY AND MEAN THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED JESUS AS LORD, meaning Master, WITHOUT the HOLY SPIRIT, being PERSONALLY in their HEARTS, orchestrating that statement.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NCV)
[SUP]3 [/SUP] So I want you to understand that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.“ And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,“ without the help of the Holy Spirit.
When I could genuinely SAY, "JESUS IS MY LORD", meaning that I had LOVINGLY surrendered to HIM as Master, THAT IS THE MOMENT I WAS SAVED, by Jesus Christ. YES, because of that MOMENT IN TIME, I have GOD's LOVE in me, and it WILL want to out of that LOVE to obey HIM. No, it is NOT SALVATION, but it is part of our WALK in Christ.
1 John 2:6 (HCSB)
[SUP]6 [/SUP] The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.
Absolutely....a work of righteousness and 1st act of obedience after one has already been saved by grace through faith. Water immersion does not save, help get saved or top off salvation. It is a picture and public testimony of what has taken place in Christ through faith...an identifier just as circumcision was in the O.T.
I get tired of being misquoted about the Apostles Creed. It is a statement of doctrine about what a Christian must believe. It allows differences of opinion outside of what it says. It seperates Christians from heretics. The early church fathers crafted it for this doctrinal purpose. All your rambling diatribe is foolish trying to make it something it is not!! Go look online at your denominations doctrinal statement and then make the same complaint about it.
The word “baptize” comes from a Greek word which means “to submerge in water.” Therefore, baptism by sprinkling or by pouring is an oxymoron, something that is self-contradictory. Baptism by sprinkling would mean “submerging someone in water by sprinkling water on them.” Baptism, by its inherent definition, must be an act of immersion in water.
Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). The action of being immersed in the water pictures dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water illustrates Christ’s resurrection. As a result, baptism by immersion is the only method of baptism which illustrates being buried with Christ and being raised with Him. Baptism by sprinkling and/or pouring came into practice as a result of the unbiblical practice of infant baptism.
Baptism by immersion, while it is the most biblical mode of identifying with Christ, is not a prerequisite for salvation. It is rather an act of obedience, a public proclamation of faith in Christ and identification with Him. Baptism is a picture of our leaving our old life and becoming a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Baptism by immersion is the only mode that fully illustrates this radical change. https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-mode.html
Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). The action of being immersed in the water pictures dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water illustrates Christ’s resurrection. As a result, baptism by immersion is the only method of baptism which illustrates being buried with Christ and being raised with Him. Baptism by sprinkling and/or pouring came into practice as a result of the unbiblical practice of infant baptism.
Baptism by immersion, while it is the most biblical mode of identifying with Christ, is not a prerequisite for salvation. It is rather an act of obedience, a public proclamation of faith in Christ and identification with Him. Baptism is a picture of our leaving our old life and becoming a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Baptism by immersion is the only mode that fully illustrates this radical change. https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-mode.html
Notice these quotations from a variety of Greek lexicons:
Baptizo: “To make a thing dipped or dyed. To immerse for a religious purpose” (A Critical Lexicon andConcordance to the English and Greek New Testament, E.W. Bullinger).
Baptizo: “Dip, immerse, mid. Dip oneself, wash (in non-Christian lit. also ‘plunge, sink, drench, overwhelm. . . .’)” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Arndt and Gingrich, p. 131).
Baptizo: “immersion, submersion” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Grimm-Thayer, p. 94).Baptizo: “to dip, immerse, sink” (Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Abbott-Smith, p. 74).
Baptizo: “dip, plunge” (A Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell & Scott, p. 305).
Baptizo: “consisting of the process of immersion, submersion and emergence (from bapto, to dip)” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine).
Baptizo: “immerse, submerge. The peculiar N.T. and Christian use of the word to denote immersion, submersion for a religious purpose” (Biblico-Theological Lexicon of the New Testament Greek, Cremer).
Baptizo: “to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing” (The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Perschbacher, p. 66).
Baptizo: “to dip, to immerse, to sink. . . . There is no evidence that Luke or Paul and the other writers of the New Testament put upon this verb meanings not recognized by the Greeks” (Greek and English Lexicon, Sophocles).
Baptizo: “Bapto is the basic verb. It means ‘to dip in’ or ‘to dip under.’ It is often used of dipping fabric in a dye.
Baptizo is an intensive form of bapto. From early times it was used in the sense of immersing” (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards, pp. 100-101).
Baptizo: “Baptizo, immerse” (Word Study Greek-English New Testament, Paul. R. McReynolds, p. 907).Baptizo: “The meaning of bapto and baptizo. bapto, ‘to dip in or under,’ ‘to dye,’ ‘to immerse,’ ‘to sink,’ ‘to drown,’ ‘to bathe,’ wash.'” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, One Volume, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, p. 92).
Baptizo: “Baptizo 77x pr. to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing; to administer the rite of baptism, to baptize” (Greek and E[SUB][/SUB]
This is sufficient for us to see that there is little controversy as to the meaning of the term baptizo as found in the Koine (common) Greek language of the first century. The standard Greek lexicons reveal that the term means to dip, to immerse, to plunge, to sink, to submerge, to overwhelm, and other synonyms. In some of the references, the result of the immersion is given—to purify through washing. truediscipleship.com/how-is-baptism-defined-by-greek-dictionaries-3/
Baptizo: “To make a thing dipped or dyed. To immerse for a religious purpose” (A Critical Lexicon andConcordance to the English and Greek New Testament, E.W. Bullinger).
Baptizo: “Dip, immerse, mid. Dip oneself, wash (in non-Christian lit. also ‘plunge, sink, drench, overwhelm. . . .’)” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Arndt and Gingrich, p. 131).
Baptizo: “immersion, submersion” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Grimm-Thayer, p. 94).Baptizo: “to dip, immerse, sink” (Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Abbott-Smith, p. 74).
Baptizo: “dip, plunge” (A Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell & Scott, p. 305).
Baptizo: “consisting of the process of immersion, submersion and emergence (from bapto, to dip)” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine).
Baptizo: “immerse, submerge. The peculiar N.T. and Christian use of the word to denote immersion, submersion for a religious purpose” (Biblico-Theological Lexicon of the New Testament Greek, Cremer).
Baptizo: “to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing” (The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Perschbacher, p. 66).
Baptizo: “to dip, to immerse, to sink. . . . There is no evidence that Luke or Paul and the other writers of the New Testament put upon this verb meanings not recognized by the Greeks” (Greek and English Lexicon, Sophocles).
Baptizo: “Bapto is the basic verb. It means ‘to dip in’ or ‘to dip under.’ It is often used of dipping fabric in a dye.
Baptizo is an intensive form of bapto. From early times it was used in the sense of immersing” (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards, pp. 100-101).
Baptizo: “Baptizo, immerse” (Word Study Greek-English New Testament, Paul. R. McReynolds, p. 907).Baptizo: “The meaning of bapto and baptizo. bapto, ‘to dip in or under,’ ‘to dye,’ ‘to immerse,’ ‘to sink,’ ‘to drown,’ ‘to bathe,’ wash.'” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, One Volume, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, p. 92).
Baptizo: “Baptizo 77x pr. to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing; to administer the rite of baptism, to baptize” (Greek and E[SUB][/SUB]
This is sufficient for us to see that there is little controversy as to the meaning of the term baptizo as found in the Koine (common) Greek language of the first century. The standard Greek lexicons reveal that the term means to dip, to immerse, to plunge, to sink, to submerge, to overwhelm, and other synonyms. In some of the references, the result of the immersion is given—to purify through washing. truediscipleship.com/how-is-baptism-defined-by-greek-dictionaries-3/
Faith alone, not saved by works, when we initially confess Christ for that is all we can do for our works according to the flesh cannot save us.
After we receive the Spirit then faith without works is dead, and a person is justified by works, and not faith alone.
James pointed out charity, love in action, and said without those works a person's faith is dead.
John pointed out charity, love in action, and said without those works the love of God does not dwell in them.
Paul says the same thing as James and John, for he said that he could have all faith so that he could remove mountains but without charity he is nothing, and said anybody that teaches that God blesses with money and material things for our wants withdraw yourself from them, having food and clothing be content.
And anybody that loves money for their wants falls victim to the love of money is the root of all evil for it neglects the poor and needy and they have erred from the faith.
People have to understand when Paul is speaking from the perspective of the flesh or the Spirit.
The Bible says it is the work of faith,and love is greater than faith.
Another thing they say is the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them as if they do not have to do anything for it, but the Bible says that a person that does not do righteousness is not of God, so the Bible says righteousness is an action they must do to be right with God.
After we receive the Spirit then faith without works is dead, and a person is justified by works, and not faith alone.
James pointed out charity, love in action, and said without those works a person's faith is dead.
John pointed out charity, love in action, and said without those works the love of God does not dwell in them.
Paul says the same thing as James and John, for he said that he could have all faith so that he could remove mountains but without charity he is nothing, and said anybody that teaches that God blesses with money and material things for our wants withdraw yourself from them, having food and clothing be content.
And anybody that loves money for their wants falls victim to the love of money is the root of all evil for it neglects the poor and needy and they have erred from the faith.
People have to understand when Paul is speaking from the perspective of the flesh or the Spirit.
The Bible says it is the work of faith,and love is greater than faith.
Another thing they say is the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them as if they do not have to do anything for it, but the Bible says that a person that does not do righteousness is not of God, so the Bible says righteousness is an action they must do to be right with God.
Again the absolutely stupid idiotic 5 minute rule struck again well before the 5 minutes was up.
This Admin obviously doesn't want to conform to how other forums are run having a reasonable 15 minute rule. And this on a Christian site making people angry. I know I get angry every time !!
This Admin obviously doesn't want to conform to how other forums are run having a reasonable 15 minute rule. And this on a Christian site making people angry. I know I get angry every time !!
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[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]John 5:28-30, “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth – those who have done* righteousness, to the resurrection of life, and those who have practiced* evil matters, to a resurrection of judgment. Of Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father who sent Me.”
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