If before we are saved, we are as dry lifeless bones, can a decision we make change all that and bring life really? or does God first have to give us that life?? Believing comes as a result of salvation and not as the bases for it.
All of humanity was saved on a Friday afternoon at three o'clock in the spring of the year 33 A.D. on a hill outside the City of Jerusalem. However, each person must accept this salvation. The only other option is to have a Calvinistic view. You don't sound like a Calvinist to me.
Salvation is comprehensive. Has to do with our past. We can say, we were saved. We were saved from sin and death through* baptism. This is called justification. Has to do with our present. In our daily walk with and growth in the life of Christ and the Spirit. This is called sanctification. Has to do with our future. Finally, our salvation will result in glory. When Christ Who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory - Col. 3:4
So you are right, there is no work that precedes salvation. Christ, having defeated death, winds up transcending time and the creation of creation itself (which in his death, also passed/is passing away. though, is also going to be restored/glorified). If we are found in Christ, whose source is in the Father, is not bound by time, precedes creation and is uncreated
then there is no work outside of Jesus' sacrifice, which trampled down death by death. God is the sole author of life. Let no man boast.
I see a lot of christians who think they are saved from what they have done and never really take the time to examine themselves as we read in 2 Corinthians 13:5 or even allow the Word of God to correct or instruct them in the right way as we read in 2 Timothy 3:16
.
Having been justified at baptism we continue to "work out" our salvation for the rest of our life by being obedient, serving, loving, following Jesus...
That we are married to God once we have put on Christ shouldn't be debatable.
Galatians 3:27
For as many of you as were
baptized into Christ have
put on Christ.
However like every good marriage, we must work it out. Unlike men, God is faithful. So, if we cheat on Him he'll take us back. He hates divorce. However, to further the analogy: what if the wife (we would be the wife) left the husband, cheated on him and decided never to come back? What if she did not ask for forgiveness and continued to cheat saying to herself, 'well, He won't divorce me because he hates divorce'? Does anyone honestly believe that if we live a divorced life without any repentance, this is a true marriage?
In the end, when Christ sees this strange woman who never spent any time with him, lived the life of a divorcee and married the world behind his back (as if he couldn't see) come up to him and say, "Lord, Lord!", is it any surprise he will say to her, "depart from me. I knew you not".
When we're married, two become one. However, and we inherently know this, the end of a marriage (one that ends in death and not in divorce) should be a more complete picture of unity than when it first started. You need to work out the marriage, learn each other, grow closer, survive hardships, forgive, etc. etc. live and grow together so that you are not merely married by the legality of the flesh but in spirit and truth - a real honest to goodness actual factual marriage. One wherein there is selfless Love, respect and submission. Without love, all you have are the clanging church bells and the painful memory of what could have been; what had so much potential but only resulted in death.
Jeremiah 3:14 (New International Version)
14 "Return, faithless people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.
We must always be in a state of returning to Him. We often cheat and we must often return. He is faithful. We are not.
What did Lazarus do to get himself out of that grave?? If baptism is a requirement for me to be saved, how did the other thief on the cross get to heaven??
We can also ask ourselves what Lazarus did in opposition to the rich man who found himself on the other side of the chasm. Surely they both played a part in their respective places: Lazarus in the loving embrace of Abraham's bosom and the rich man in burning despair.
In regards to baptism as a requirement, your understanding of it might have to do with whatever theological language you were taught and by which men. Perhaps you were taught by the Calvinist tradition or the Lutheran or the Zwingli or the Benny Hinn or the Joyce Meyers or by a mish-mash of so-called bible scholars or some post-modern self proclaimed and socially affirmed bible genius. It's hard to tell these days why people believe what they believe in the way they do. There is no shortages of traditions of men/teachings of man.
John 3:5
Jesus answered, "
I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of
water and the
Spirit.
*Doesn't mean God can't work outside of the baptism model. (insert Thief on cross scenario)
Just because you are baptized doesn't guarantee that you will be glorified. No more than if you once believed in Him but no longer believe in Him. Faith and Love. These things are not static. They are constant. Faith is not eternal but should reflect the Eternal. God is a continual outpouring of Love. Love is an action. Faith should reflect that Love and cause us to act. Otherwise, we reduce it to mere sentiment. Without the sincerity of love, we're left with flattery. Empty actions. Empty words.
I dont think the church is teaching truth any more.
Guess it depends on what you believe Church is. Maybe you're discovering what the Church is not.
Sounds like a prayer request.
God bless you Walter11
