What are the essential beliefs needed for salvation?
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Nehemiah6: "You can leave that safely in God's hands. And since the Gospel is NOT abstract theology, perhaps you should go back and read the Gospels and get a proper understanding."
Thank you
, but unlike you, I can read the Gospels in the original Greek and even understand the nuances of the underlying Aramaic.
And yes, the basic premise of vicarious atonement is the ultimate in theological abstraction. For example, you have no clue about how to answer this underlying question: How can anyone's death, even the death of God's Son, possibly atone for my sin? How does it make sense to believe that another man can take responsibility for my guilt? You and I accept by faith that Jesus accomplished precisely that, but don't tell me it is not a theological abstraction!
MattfhrJesus: "Only people that accept the truth of God's word, the Old Testament saints whose blood was covered by animals, and looked forward to the Savior to come, and the New Testament saints can be with God, and Jesus, but that is right now."
The "Old Testament saints" had no clue that Jesus would suffer an atoning death on the cross for us! The Suffering Servant Song of Isaiah 53 was not even applied to the anticipated Messiah until Jesus.
Thank you
, but unlike you, I can read the Gospels in the original Greek and even understand the nuances of the underlying Aramaic.And yes, the basic premise of vicarious atonement is the ultimate in theological abstraction. For example, you have no clue about how to answer this underlying question: How can anyone's death, even the death of God's Son, possibly atone for my sin? How does it make sense to believe that another man can take responsibility for my guilt? You and I accept by faith that Jesus accomplished precisely that, but don't tell me it is not a theological abstraction!
MattfhrJesus: "Only people that accept the truth of God's word, the Old Testament saints whose blood was covered by animals, and looked forward to the Savior to come, and the New Testament saints can be with God, and Jesus, but that is right now."
The "Old Testament saints" had no clue that Jesus would suffer an atoning death on the cross for us! The Suffering Servant Song of Isaiah 53 was not even applied to the anticipated Messiah until Jesus.
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Forest has hit the nail on the head. The essentials that one must believe are the Person and Work of Christ. Those whom God has given real saving faith are those that He has united to His Son. He opens their eyes to the reality of His person (who He is), and His Work (what He has done). Saving faith is that belief in the truth of the gospel, and those who do not believe that reality are not our brothers and sisters.
We are commanded in scripture to preach that gospel. That is, the deity of Christ and the perfection of His person, and His sovereign work of redemption in atoning for our sins and providing us with His righteousness, the righteousness that one must have to see God. All of our works are filthy rags before God. If He does not forgive all our sins in His work on the cross then we are lost. Those who has said that we must have good works, or that Christ does not forgive future sins are unbelievers who do not know the cross of Christ. We are made perfect by His once for all sacrifice and by that and that ALONE do we have true peace with God.
May God be the Judge
We are commanded in scripture to preach that gospel. That is, the deity of Christ and the perfection of His person, and His sovereign work of redemption in atoning for our sins and providing us with His righteousness, the righteousness that one must have to see God. All of our works are filthy rags before God. If He does not forgive all our sins in His work on the cross then we are lost. Those who has said that we must have good works, or that Christ does not forgive future sins are unbelievers who do not know the cross of Christ. We are made perfect by His once for all sacrifice and by that and that ALONE do we have true peace with God.
May God be the Judge
ALL scripture must harmonize to be the teaching of Christ. How do you make John 6:38 harmonize with the scriptures you have quoted? The word "WORLD" has been interpreted from the Greek by "Thayer's Greek interpretations as "believers only" not the world of all mankind. The "all men" and "every man" would have to be in the group of believers to have the scriptures to harmonize.
f God did not pay it is full. No one will be saved.
And scripture makes it perfectly clear. We are saved BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
God will not force you to recieve his gift.. [/QUOTE]
By saying God will not force anyone, you show you do not know the scriptures. The Jews in the old testament regularly asked God to change their hearts, to cause them to walk in His ways. God tells us He controls all the pagan nations of the world and in His Word He tells us faith is a gift given to His sheep. Regeneration is not force. We are DEAD in sin before God gives us faith. You cannot force a corpse to do anything, it is a corpse.
Repent of your man-centered philosophy, friend. Trust in Christ's finished work alone, and the sovereign One who calls all His people to Himself.
May God be the Judge
And scripture makes it perfectly clear. We are saved BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
God will not force you to recieve his gift.. [/QUOTE]
By saying God will not force anyone, you show you do not know the scriptures. The Jews in the old testament regularly asked God to change their hearts, to cause them to walk in His ways. God tells us He controls all the pagan nations of the world and in His Word He tells us faith is a gift given to His sheep. Regeneration is not force. We are DEAD in sin before God gives us faith. You cannot force a corpse to do anything, it is a corpse.
Repent of your man-centered philosophy, friend. Trust in Christ's finished work alone, and the sovereign One who calls all His people to Himself.
May God be the Judge
With all due respect brother, it does. Now by this I do not mean this person is damned because of their false gospel. We all walked in that before regeneration. But that person cannot be said to be a brother or sister at present, meaning we cannot take their false gospel and conclude they are among us but only presently deluded.
Or responsibility is to preach to those who do not know so that God will call His people to Himself by the Word of the gospel. Faith in he true gospel of Grace is always accompanying regeneration. If someone is born again, they will believe the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is how he calls us to Himself. Therefore, those who do not believe it are unregenerate and need to be evangelized, not treated as weaker siblings.
That said, I love your posts. It is a breath of fresh air to see the Gospel of Free and Eternal Grace preached on these forums. Bless you brother.
May God be the Judge
Or responsibility is to preach to those who do not know so that God will call His people to Himself by the Word of the gospel. Faith in he true gospel of Grace is always accompanying regeneration. If someone is born again, they will believe the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is how he calls us to Himself. Therefore, those who do not believe it are unregenerate and need to be evangelized, not treated as weaker siblings.
That said, I love your posts. It is a breath of fresh air to see the Gospel of Free and Eternal Grace preached on these forums. Bless you brother.
May God be the Judge
One must honestly believe & acknowledge to their creator. They are a sinner in need of reconciliation/salvation.
Then understand & believe/trust that their creator God. Sent a sinless Christ/Jesus to atone/pay sins required wage.
1 Cor 15:
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
(NOTE: Christ died for our sins! Sins required wage Rom 6:23 PAID)
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
(NOTE: Christ was buried/proof he died. And Christ ROSE from the grave/God's receipt/ sins required wage received & accepted.
Rom 10:
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
Rom 5:
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Then understand & believe/trust that their creator God. Sent a sinless Christ/Jesus to atone/pay sins required wage.
1 Cor 15:
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
(NOTE: Christ died for our sins! Sins required wage Rom 6:23 PAID)
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
(NOTE: Christ was buried/proof he died. And Christ ROSE from the grave/God's receipt/ sins required wage received & accepted.
Rom 10:
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
Rom 5:
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Isaiah 53 - When we see and understand that Christ was an offering to God, for God's acceptance and not an offering to man for man's acceptance. He bore the iniquities of God's elect on the cross as a sacrifice to God, which God accepted. Romans 10 is speaking of people who are already regenerated. The natural man will not have a zeal of a spiritual God nor will he repent of breaking a spiritual law that he cannot discern (1 Cor 2:14).
Two things to consider alongside this topic, when viewing it, and that is: how each of these two Greek words is used in the following two contexts:
G2564 - kaleó / kalesai / keklēmenous - "to call / invite / name"
G2822 - klétos / klētoi / klētois - "to call / invite / summon"
It is important to notice how EACH of these is used in BOTH the Matthew 22:1-14 passage AND the Romans 8:28,30 verses (see those passages, note how they are each used in both passages, and how)
[BTW, the Matthew 22:1-14 passage is referring to the "guests [plural]" of "the wedding FEAST/SUPPER" i.e. the promised and prophesied earthly Millennial Kingdom commencing upon His "RETURN" to the earth, whereas Romans 8:28,30 is referring to "the Church which is His body" (who is not "the guests [plural]") so there's that distinction to be noted along with these two distinct words and how they are used in each of these two contexts]
G2564 - kaleó / kalesai / keklēmenous - "to call / invite / name"
G2822 - klétos / klētoi / klētois - "to call / invite / summon"
It is important to notice how EACH of these is used in BOTH the Matthew 22:1-14 passage AND the Romans 8:28,30 verses (see those passages, note how they are each used in both passages, and how)
[BTW, the Matthew 22:1-14 passage is referring to the "guests [plural]" of "the wedding FEAST/SUPPER" i.e. the promised and prophesied earthly Millennial Kingdom commencing upon His "RETURN" to the earth, whereas Romans 8:28,30 is referring to "the Church which is His body" (who is not "the guests [plural]") so there's that distinction to be noted along with these two distinct words and how they are used in each of these two contexts]
Matt 22:1-14 has reference to the church that Christ set up, which is referred to by many names, such as, The church of God, the kingdom of God, the new Jerusalem, the church in the wilderness, and more. The wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ. Rom 10 speaks of those that have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. By having a zeal of God indicates they are regenerate children of God, but do not understand the finished work (righteousness of God) of Christ and were going about to establish their own righteousness by their good works. These are rejected from being a part of Christ's church, but they are saved eternally. There are many called but few chosen. Rom 8:28. to me, is referring to all of God's elect.
Many people view Matthew 22:2-14 the way that you are presenting it. I believe "the invitation" shown in vv.2-7 speaks of what was sent out BEFORE His death/resurrection [aka Matt3:2, etc] (an "invitation" to the promised and prophesied earthly Millennial Kingdom, aka "the wedding FEAST/SUPPER"... and V.7 speaks of the 70ad events [parallel with Lk21:23,20 and Lk19:41-44]; whereas v.8's "THEN SAITH HE to his servants" parallels the LATER 95ad Rev1:1/7:3/4:1 [regarding the "FUTURE aspects" of The Revelation that are slated to take place, it says, "IN QUICKNESS [NOUN]," v.1, note: NOT "immediately" and NOT that which will unfold over the course of some 2000 yrs, but "IN QUICKNESS [NOUN]"! It will conclude with His Second Coming to the earth, per Rev19:19,21/16:14-16/20:5 which parallels Isa24:21-22[23] with its TWO "PUNISH" words SEPARATED [time-wise] BY a very specific time period... (see both contexts for this)