Suppose the Bible didn't exist. What would happen? Would every one who was ever born end up in hell, since nobody would know how to be saved?
Well, we have the bible and no one can figure out how to be saved. I've seen, at least, fifty different ideas on salvation here on this forum. Can you imagine how many different ideas exist in modern Christendom? So I'm gonna say we'd be in just as big a mess if we didn't have a bible. Might even help!
Would everyone commit all kinds of sin, since we wouldn't know what God commands us to do or not to do?
Well, the bible says––I just cracked myself up––that the "works of the flesh" are obvious. So I'm guessing that we'd know what is a sin. Doesn't our conscience, the natural order of God, tell us what we shouldn't do and what we should? You, Timothy who hath been set at liberty, don't seem to be very sinful, yet you don't believe in the bible or a "caring God."
Well, the bible says––I just cracked myself up––that the "works of the flesh" are obvious. So I'm guessing that we'd know what is a sin. Doesn't our conscience, the natural order of God, tell us what we shouldn't do and what we should? You, Timothy who hath been set at liberty, don't seem to be very sinful, yet you don't believe in the bible or a "caring God."
But, without the Bible, how would we know that man's righteousness is filthy rags?
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Well, we have the bible and no one can figure out how to be saved. I've seen, at least, fifty different ideas on salvation here on this forum. Can you imagine how many different ideas exist in modern Christendom? So I'm gonna say we'd be in just as big a mess if we didn't have a bible. Might even help!
TM, Guess I have been here as long as anyone, yet have not seen anyone advocate fifty ways...
All with slight variation advocate ONE way to God and heaven - namely through Jesus Christ our Lord.
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
But, without the Bible, how would we know that man's righteousness is filthy rags?
We have the bible and people still don't know that! I just responded to a post yesterday in which Miss Brat-something-or-other says that she is, and I quote, "Striving to live righteously." So we have the bible, it declares that man's righteousness is filthy rags, yet here we have a learned, long-time Christian proclaiming that she's "striving to live righteously."
TM, Guess I have been here as long as anyone, yet have not seen anyone advocate fifty ways...
All with slight variation advocate ONE way to God and heaven - namely through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ok, I was exaggerating to make a point. So fine, I've only seen forty.
Seriously though, I've seen a myriad of suggestions here on this forum on what it takes to be and stay saved. In my UPC years, there were even numerous ways suggested. I have a friend who wrote a book about the seven steps to salvation. I once visited a church on the east coast that was built 8-sided representing the eight steps to salvation. Then, of course, there's the 3-steppers, the one-steppers, and the two-step-dancers!
Sure, the way to salvation is through Jesus Christ. But that's never enough for the doctrine freaks that have to have things their way.
9-11 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.
12-13 If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely. Merely hearing God's law is a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.
14-16 When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.
Religion Can't Save You
17-24 If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.
25-29 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics. Romans 2:9-29 The Message
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