Quote Originally Posted by sayso View Post
Soms,
I do not believe that you are agreeing with me. What I stated is that "all will have be presented with an opportunity to either accept or reject Christ. Then I quoted where the scripture says that He (Christ) went and preached to the spirits of all those who have ever lived and died on this earth and gave each one a chance to accept or reject Him. Not some form of Him. He either has or will "as Jesus Christ" appear to every soul who ever lives.
yes..that is an interesting verse....i often wondered in my youth (being fascinated with the whole time continuum thingy...if that "moment" of preaching...could have transcended time (as we know it) and been the moment when everyone dies...past present and future....
God's truth is not based on what some other "Christians" may say or even do, for there are many who will come in that day and say, "Lord, Lord" to Jesus. He will say, "depart from Me I never knew You."
yes..and this is one of the main verses that gets me....
the parable of the sheep and the goats...
for he says that some will not even recognize that what they had done...had been done unto Him....(bringing to mind the quote from The Last Battle...by cs.Lewis "He answered, Child, all the service thou has done to Tash, I account a sservice done to me. ... Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn,though he know it not, and it is I who reward him."

and the thing we see separating the sheep from the goats...
is what they DID and Didn't do......

God's word says there is One mediator between man and God.

1 Timothy 2

3 For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior,

4 Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth.

5 For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

6 Who gave Himself as a ransom for all [people, a fact that was] attested to at the right and proper time.

And He didn't indicate that He would appear in many forms through many types of religion.
no...perhaps not...but that wouldn't necessarily negate the idea...because it was NOT mentioned...imho...
keeping in mind that we see through a gl*** darkly for the moment.....



Our own feelings are not a good way to enter into a contract or agreement. And that is exactly what our acceptance or rejection of God and His Word is. God made a covenant and sealed with His own blood. We are never told to follow our own feelings. Many of our feelings lead us to seek out our own desires and p***ions. I can not use my feelings to decide whether or not I will love and serve God. I can not make my own judgments of God as to whether or not He is being fair.

Your words which I made red above are a misunderstanding of what I believe. Christianity never saved anyone. Christianity never changed anyone. Christianity never gave anyone peace that p***es all understanding or the ability to walk in sacrificial love.

It is GOD through JESUS Who saves and changes people. It is GOD through Christ dwelling in our hearts Who gives the peace that p***es all understanding. And it is GOD through Jesus empowering us by the Holy Spirit so that we might walk in His ways and not our own.

NO RELIGION, even CHRISTIANITY can do that. I believe, adhere to, cling to, and follow Christ to the laying down of my own life. The early followers of Christ were called Christians. That is why the world has named "The Church" Christianity. I know no other than God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I am a follower of Him not religion. There are many who are believers in Christianity instead of the True God but I am not one of them.

There may be many following other religions who follow after their own beliefs in the same way I follow Christ. But they are not following after Christ under another name or in another form. That is my point.
i appreciate this sayso....


I think there may be a big difference in what God considers good fruit and bad fruit and what you and I might consider good fruit.

But in either case even if these people are producing good fruit that brings up the teaching of salvation through "grace" alone. No one has ever been saved through Christ by good works. So perhaps that is just one more difference between a follower of Christ and another who believes they are in agreement with the Gospel of Christ under a different religion. Others get to God by their good works, followers of Christ are saved by faith through grace.
thank you sayso, i truly appreciate the time and effort you are putting into sharing with me...
i do have many questions on the "grace" alone concept...also...

with love,
soms