I am leaving out too it kind of reminds me when the Lord told the
Pharisees they would strain at a gnat but swallow a camel. The Lord died for our sins the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin I prayed to be forgiven. I was honestly sincere in what I thought God wanted me to do. I got up a changed man not perfect not sinless but changed. I put a whole lot more stock in people that give their testimony on here like J Walker and others I honestly believe if I needed something and he don’t even know me that he would help a brother out. I left my house yesterday about this time and just got home on a round trip I want say what but the Lord sent me on it and I slept on a cot last night so I may be a little dull around the edges today. If I have ever been guilty of being wrong I will be the one that has to answer for it. Some people really want to see others saved and some people just want to give you some opinion. It ain’t that complicated. I better shut up now even though I could go on for ever and we ain’t even scratched the surface . Christ died for us. He loves us. He didn’t make salvation a masters degree course. So please be careful because if Billy Graham and Bpi and I are actually in Heaven well you may be embarrassed.Good Day

Great post kyles , If I don't see you here, I'll see you there !

I bet theyll be people in Heaven who never joined a church. I bet there are catholic bishops and baptist preachers burning in Hell right now. I bet if a man cant read and dont have a bible, God can reach him right where hes at and show him what his son did on the cross. I bet there will be baptists, church of Gods, methodists and probably even some lutherines and calvinists in heaven. I bet that god the muslims believe in is really hot right now, if he was ever here at all. I bet if Jesus came down here right now and had a long talk with every church one at a time, there would not be one church to whom he would say, "you got it just right", not even bamaearls church. I bet theres christians right here that wouldnt know God if he walked up and slapped them.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand". Reckon why he said that? Bamaearl, i promise you baptist preachers say exactly thesame thing about your church, almost the exact same words and every one of them have bible to back it up. And this is precisely why we have a hard time getting lost folks to come to church any more. They can get belittled and tore down out in the world. If anything gets them, iltt be love. Its hard to love others if you feel like youre the only one who deserves to be loved.

Jesus is The Only Way. So I'm not sure anyone who's never come into contact with Christianity is in Heaven by Christianity's standards.

Molotov cocktails on this stuff? You bet. I be ridin through this thread like this:

IMO it's good for everyone to challenge their beliefs and think through this stuff otherwise IMO... you are just 100% FOS. Any of the sheeple can recite what they are told.

Goatkiller, you dont think a man left alone on a desert island can be reached by the Lord God of Heaven, Creator of the universe? He made Adam out of dust and then walked and talked with him while Adam named the animals. There was no bible, no christianity, just Adam and God. While i understand the premise behind your sentiment, God is God, he can do anything. He could go back in time, wipe all of us away and write a new bible, if he chose to do so. God can reach a man, with or without a bible, no matter where he is in this universe.

Agree... its why I go back and forth with church. I have never found the true way. Some say I don't have to go to church at all to go to heaven. Then some say yes I do need to go to church. Just have never found the truth.

JW
God audibly spoke to Adam. No , He didn't have a bible, because He didn't need one. God said every single word in His word would come to pass. He also said not to change it. God speaks through His Spirit 100% no doubt. But God also speaks through His word 100% as well. Often times when I'm reading scripture I see the word and the Spirit speaks through the word. They cannot be and were never meant to be divided or conflict with one another. Something else to think about is if we think we are moved by the Spirit and it doesn't line up with His word, then we are not led by the Spirit. We are leading ourselves. The Spirit and the word never contradict one another , because as you said " A house divided against itself cannot stand". .

Concerning that man on the island. God can and will do as He chooses, but He clearly told us in Mathew 28 to reach that man on the island. So that should be our focus. What do we reach him with ? The Gospel as expressed in the word of God.

I'm not trying to sound condescending or argumentative. It's just food for thought.

Bamaearl, when you go before God, he will say one of two things, "enter in my good and faithful servant" or "depart from me ye worker of eniquity, i never knew you". Theres no other choices.

I agree with all youre saying but if we fail to reach that man, God can get to him. God told Moses he would kill all the Isrealites and raise him up a new people. Was he lying? Was he lying to Abraham when he said his people would be like the sand in the sea? I dont think so. I just believe God is soverign and is not bound by anything. Bound by his word, yes but he could go back before his word was written and start over. Hes not bound by time. Omnipresent, omnipitant. Hes God. He dont have to go back on his word, he can make it as if it never happened. The question "what do we reach him with?", i believe the answer is our heart. If we long for him, he will come to us. God has never left or forseken me. Every time my heart has reached out to him, he was close by. And his spirit lives in his children. In that respect, he is always right there with us.

Amen. I see your point and it's a good one. But I believe that God would never need to go back on His word or recreate anything ( even in the hypothetical sense ).. It's not in His nature because He is perfect and Sovereign.

Can we get a Religion Forum?

“Have to” and “need to” are very different.

Life is better together.

In before lockdown. 😁

why would there be a lock down? all of the discussion and debate had been very civil.

Ive always been confused by CoC beliefs, maybe you can help me understand. The CoC believes you must be baptized before you are saved. How did the thief on the cross make it to heaven if he excepted Christ on the cross but was not baptized? The CoC believes you can lose your salvation yet Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always” If Jesus will always be with you, how can you lose your salvation? If we have to be re-saved every time we sin, we’d all line up at the baptismal every day… Not arguing, just trying to understand. Trust Me, I was saved in a Southern Baptist Church and the more I study and learn the Bible, I think Where did the baptist get that rule? I have come to the conclusion, no religion has a “exclusive” on bible interpretation or space in heaven…..