(1) you have to confess Jesus as Lord and that he died for your sins in order to be saved.
(2) and if you don't you will go to hell and burn forever and forever.
(3) free will
(4) Baptism (though it is different depending on denomination)
Am I wrong?
But everything varies from there, from one denomination to the next, so what happen?
How can it be? Some churches even teach that they are the only ones right and everyone else is going to hell, even those who attend other churches will burn in hell forever and forever.
So...What is your belief? Do you believe that? Is that Good News? Is that the Gospel Jesus preached? Is that the Gospel taught by Paul?
Is it really possible that the good news isn't really all that good! Or, are they telling lies to us?
I don't know about you, but I really don't consider it good news, if my loved ones are going to burn forever and forever. How could I possible rest in the Lords peace knowing he would do that to the people I loved.
I can rest in his peace because I know the truth and the truth has set me free!
Let me share what I have found in the Scriptures, then you let me know what you think!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world(3180) that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes(4409) in him shall not perish(660) but have eternal life.
(NIV Hebrew-Greek Study Bible)
(3180)world: earth, world system, whole universe, adornment
(4409)to believe, put one's faith in, trust, entrust
(660)to destroy, kill, cause to lose
That should be fairly familiar to you. Do you think when he says "that whoever believes in him shall not perish" that he means, you will not go to hell if you believe he died for your sins or could there be more to it?
Lets look at John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn(3212) the world, but to save(5392) the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed(4409) in the name(3950) of God's one and only Son.
(NIV Hebrew-Greek Study Bible)
(3212)to decide, consider, to judge, pass judgment on
(5392)to save, rescue, deliver, to heal
(4409)to believe, put one's faith in, trust, entrust
(3950)name, title, reputation
So looking at the scripture above John 3:17, what does it say we are to believe in, in order to not be condemned (judged). We are to believe in him and in his name (the name of God's one and only Son).
So what does that mean? I think that it means we are to believe He can do what His Word says He will do. We will talk about His name in a later post.
So what does His Word say he will do concerning salvation? Lets find out!
'Salvation Is For All', them is fighting words to a "Christian". I wonder why.
I want to show you what I think the Bible says about salvation.
First lets start with what Jesus said on the cross.
Luke 23:34
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
I would like to point out he did not say "forgive them if they believe, confess, get baptized and go to church "
And he doesn't say "When they change their ways"
Okay so some are going to say, yeah but there are other scriptures.
Romans 5: 6-8
You see, at just the right time,
when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,
through for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Now I can't speak for all "Christians" but I have noticed that once some believe they are a "Christian" they start judging other people as though they themselves were never sinners and never sinned. We forget that Christ died for the ungodly and not for the righteous man or a good man but for sinners.
Hebrews 2: 9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels,
now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death,
so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
1 Peter 3: 18
For Christ died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God.
The Bible says that God demonstrates his own love for us this way: while we were powerless and still sinning Christ died for us all.
1 John 1:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world.
He is the atoning sacrifice for the whole world.
1 Corinthians 15: 22
For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ all will be made alive.
But each in his own turn:
Christ, the firstfruits;
then, when he comes,
those who belong to him.
Romans 5: 12-14
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-
for before the law was given, sin was in the world.
But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,
even over those who did not sin by breaking a command,
as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
Because of Adam's sin all became sinners and the result of sin is death. You don't have to believe you are a sinner, you don't have to believe you will die. You don't have a choice in this, according to the Bible we are all sinners, and death reigns over us. And in the same way Christ took our iniquity and you don't have a choice in this either.
Romans 5: 15-16
But the gift is not like the trespass.
For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,
how much more did God's grace and the gift
that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin:
The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation,
but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
The gift of God is greater than the trespass of Adam. The verses above may be a little confusing because now it says 'many' and not 'all' but if you carefully read Romans 4 & 5 as if it is a math problem you will see that 'the many' = 'all'.
If Adams trespass caused all to be sinners then how much more did Christ act of righteousness do
for the (same) all (same sinners).
Romans 5 : 17-19
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man,
how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of
grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men,
so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The results of Christ righteousness was justification that brings life for ALL MEN.
Through the obedience of Jesus Christ the many will be made righteous.
Jesus Christ righteousness and obedience was not less(<)than the sin of Adam.
This is not up to you, you have not been asked if you want justification or if you want to be righteous.
There are however reasons to believe and confess Jesus and we will talk about them later.
Colossians 1: 19-20
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him
to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 3: 11
...but Christ is all and is in all.
I have to say this, If Christ is all and is in all, why would he burn himself in hell forever and ever?
That is another post, but I wanted to give you something to think about.
Colossian 1:19-20 says all things, whether on earth or in heaven
It doesn't exclude anyone here, but lets keep looking!
1 Timothy 2: 3-4
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved
and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-
the testimony given in its proper time.
You could possible become confused because here it says that God "wants". This might sound a little weak to you, like he wants it but can't really accomplish that, but he does want it. Well don't take God as a feeble I wish it was so God.
Psalm 24: 1-2
The earth is the LORD's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Isaiah 45: 23-25
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all intergrity
a word that will not be revoked,
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
They will say of me,
'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength'
All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.
But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.
Isaiah 25:6-
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine- the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth
The LORD has spoken.
Acts 2: 39
"The promise is for you and your children and
for all who are far off- for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Isaiah 29: 18-
In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
Isaiah 29: 24
Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding,
those who complain will accept instruction."
Isaiah 32: 3-
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
The mind of the rash will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
Zephaniah 3: 8-9
"Therefore wait for me," declares the LORD, "for the day I will stand up to testify.
I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and
to pour out my wrath on them- all my fierce anger.
The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
Then will I purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the LORD
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
Ezekiel 18: 4
For every living soul belongs to me,
the father as well as the son- both alike belong to me.
The soul who sins is the one who will die.
Do you think you are the soul who doesn't sin?
Matthew 9: 10-13
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners"
came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Luke 17: 20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,
Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation,
nor will people say, 'Here it is' or 'There it is', because the kingdom of God is within you."
Luke 18: 26-27
Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?"
Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
John 5: 25
"I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come,
when the dead will here the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live."
2 Corinthians 5: 14-21
For Christ's love compels us,
because we are convinced that one died for all,
and therefore all died. And he died for all,
that those who live should no longer live for themselves,
but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I know this might sound a little off subject. Did you notice we have been given the 'ministry of reconciliation'
and he has committed to us the 'message of reconciliation'. And what does it say the ministry or message of reconciliation is?
That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20: 1-16
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out early in the morning to hire men
to work in his vineyard.
He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day
and sent them into his vineyard.
About the third hour he went out and saw others
standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard,
and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and
the ninth hour and did the same thing.
About the eleventh hour he went out and
found still others standing around.
He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here
all day long doing nothing?'
"Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said
to his foreman,'Call the workers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came
and each received a denarius.
So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.
But each one of them also received a denarius.
When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said,
'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden
of the work and the heat of the day.'
" But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you.
Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go.
I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.
Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?
Or are you envious becaue I am generous?
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
John 6: 45
"It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'
Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me."
John 6: 51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 12: 32
"But, I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
Psalm 82: 6-8
"I said, 'You are "gods," you are all sons of the Most High.
But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler."
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
Who did Jesus pray for in the Olive Garden, just before he was arrested?
I want to take a moment and share with you the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17
First Jesus prays for himself,
then for those God gave him,
for those who will believe and
then for the world.
“Father, the time has come.
Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
2 For you granted him authority over all people
that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
4 I have brought you glory on earth
by completing the work you gave me to do.
5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence
with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6-19 FOR THOSE YOU GAVE ME
6 I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-- the name you gave me.
-- so that they may be one as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.
None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world,
so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them,
for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but
that you protect them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
20-24 FOR THOSE WHO WILL BELIEVE
20 My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23I in them and you in me.May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and
to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25-26 FOR THE WORLD 25 Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them
As you can see he didn't forget anybody.
Hebrews 8:10-12
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD.
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness, and remember their sins no more."
Hebrews 10:9-10
Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will."
He sets aside the first to establish the second.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10: 13-14
Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool,
because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Titus 2: 11-14
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope
-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all wickedness
and to purify for himself a people that are his very own,
eager to do what is good.
1 Peter 4: 6
For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead,
so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body,
but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
Acts 10: 28
.....But God has shown me that
I should not call any man impure or unclean.
Acts 11: 9
The voice spoke from heaven a second time,
'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'
1 Timothy 4: 9-10
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive),
that we have put our hope in the living God,
who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Especially of those who believe, not Only those who believe.
Jude 10: 22-23
Be merciful to those who doubt;
snatch others from the fire and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear-
hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Isaiah 42: 16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
Acts 24: 15
and I have the same hope in God as these men,
that there will be a resurrection of both
the righteous and the wicked.
2 Samuel 14: 14
Like water spilled on the ground,
which cannot be recovered, so we must die.
But God does not take away life; instead,
he devises ways so that a banished person
may not remain estranged from him.
1 Corinthians 3: 10-
By the grace God has given me,
I laid a foundation as an expert builder,
and someone else is building on it.
But each one should be careful how he builds.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
If any man builds on this foundation using
gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
his work will be shown for what it is,
because the Day will bring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire, and
the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss;
he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
So, if everyone is saved then who is going to hell?
And why does the Bible say we are to believe and confess Jesus?
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