Look dude Jason, maybe your book is labeled the Bible but all the little interpretations of it went wrong somewhere in your cognitive processes of your mind.
Tell me Ephesians 2: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. If your interpretation of that is different then something is twisting the hemispheres of your brain and it is not processing words correctly.
I grew up Catholic, went to private schools under Catholic instructions, and I could never connect how doing a mast amount of good works would help save me, it was always through grace and faith and my belief in Jesus Christ that I would be able to do so because that is what was in my Bible, and all Bibles. Once a teenager, I came to realize I was a Christian, not a labeled Catholic Christian because there were somethings there imposed by man that if you do good deeds those are adding up and apparently you get your name placed on a higher spot in the Book in Heaven. Makes no sense why God would do that.
I think you need read Proverbs 18: 2, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. And Revelation 22: 18-19, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this books: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in the book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (i.e. The Bible).
Godspeed Jason.
-Kim
Can you be forgiven if you do not forgive?
Well, Matthew 6:15 does not seem to think so. Which means..... that there are conditions to God's promises in regards to salvation.
If you do not believe me, just read the whole chapter here for yourself.
Matthew 6 KJV
Now, please take note..... I do not believe that I am saved by my works alone. I believe God does the "good work" in me and He helps me to obey His Word. Again, see Ezekiel 36:26-27. It says God will give the believer (Both the OT saint and the NT saint) a new heart, and a new spirit and then He will put His Spirit within them so as to keep His laws and statutes. This can also be seen in the New Testament, too. For we are to be born again spiritually and we are to do all things thru Christ which strengthens us. Do you know that the 24 elders cast their crowns down before Jesus? Why did they do that? Did they not earn those crowns? Well, they threw them down before Jesus because it was Christ who was working in them. Does any of that make sense to you? Does it sound lke it was their work or God's work (that moved within them)?
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