You can't get to heaven by following Jesus.
Ed
Just seeing this here at work this morning and hope to say more later but, knowing that we must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our live to inherit eternal life, we are instructed to 'follow Jesus'. Two instances come to mind in the book of John where Jesus said to a disciple "follow me". We are to follow Jesus in more than one way, He set examples for us all through his ministry for us to follow, water baptism,prayer,humility,relying on the WORD of God for all things from praying to defense against the enemy of our souls. Anyway, not enough time at the moment but this is an interesting thread and as some have offered their testimonies I want to add mine in along with a testimony concerning my climb up the ABS ladder to mastersmith but God had other plans.
I never want anyone to think that I am saying you can't get to heaven by giving their life to Jesus, that is the ONLY way. I am talking about self effort, In other words you can't get to heaven by your own effort of following Jesus. We must all bend a knee and admit that we can't and trust ourselves to Him. The just shall live by faith. It is all about Him and what He did and not by our own effort. Ed
Just seeing this here at work this morning and hope to say more later but, knowing that we must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our live to inherit eternal life, we are instructed to 'follow Jesus'. Two instances come to mind in the book of John where Jesus said to a disciple "follow me". We are to follow Jesus in more than one way, He set examples for us all through his ministry for us to follow, water baptism,prayer,humility,relying on the WORD of God for all things from praying to defense against the enemy of our souls. Anyway, not enough time at the moment but this is an interesting thread and as some have offered their testimonies I want to add mine in along with a testimony concerning my climb up the ABS ladder to mastersmith but God had other plans.
I never want anyone to think that I am saying you can't get to heaven by giving their life to Jesus, that is the ONLY way. I am talking about self effort, In other words you can't get to heaven by your own effort of following Jesus. We must all bend a knee and admit that we can't and trust ourselves to Him. The just shall live by faith. It is all about Him and what He did and not by our own effort. Ed
Were you really trying to say that you cannot get to heaven by works alone? If so then I agree, James teaches about this. Or perhaps that one cannot get to heaven by following Jesus from afar?
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
It is one thing to follow Jesus... to make him your lord and savior is an entirely different thing. Do the second thing, and the first should naturally follow.
It is one thing to follow Jesus... to make him your lord and savior is an entirely different thing.
GHEzel Thank you that is exactly what I was trying to say.
One
It is not the ones going to heaven that I am speaking to, Many will say to him Lord, I have done much for you. And He will say I never knew you.. I have met some of these people. A lady who played music for her church every sunday for over 50 years and then in a bible study said "You mean Jesus died on a cross to pay for my sins." Or the preacher that is excited, He has found a church that traces its leadership directly back to Peter. He says "Surely if salvation is to be found it is to be found here."
I am not trying to say you or anyone in particular or even one group in particular, my heart is reaching out to those who are trying to follow Jesus from a distance and I believe there are many. I am truly sorry if you think that I am going about this wrong or that what I tried to do is not appropriate or that I was aiming at anyone or any group. I was not I was simply speaking to the ones who are in every group. The original intent has been misunderstood but the talk has been on target to a point, This is the way to follow Jesus, we must follow Jesus and there is always more to following Jesus. A closer walk, ect.
Again if I did not do this right I am sorry. Ed
Either he is who he said he is, or he was not. If he was not, he was either a madman or a snake-oil salesman. If he is who he said he is, we still can reject him, or bow before him. That is the point I was driving at. Either he is the son of God, a liar, or a lunatic. You are correct that he is our lord and savior, whether we like it or not.... but we do have to either accept it and treat him as lord, or reject it and die in our sins. It is really as simple as that.I disagree with this. They are like two sides of the same coin.
In no way can Jesus be a lunatic or a the Devil of hell... unless we haven't understood His teachings correctly. His teachings stand on their own. Other religions and secular society for the most part understand this, why are we not getting it?
Is fundamental Christian theology missing the point?... maybe so.
We cannot "make" Jesus our Lord and Savior. He already is. He did that. He is the Lord and savior of all humanity, already. Only He can make us realize it and only He can help us understand correctly...
... I guess it's really all the same thing. I'm just looking at it from the outside in, rather than the inside out. I really don't want to try and weed through the theology. It is very complicated,... but it doesn't have to be.
If what I am saying goes against the beliefs of this group, just tell me and I will go.
He is who He says He is. He wants to know who we say He is.
Thanks! I like having myself here too. LOL
... I am who I am.
He is who He says He is. He wants to know who we say He is.
When Jesus asked Peter, "who do you say that I am?", the question contained the answer.