Click to listen
The Scripture:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. " -Eph 2:8,9And the questions:
1. How do you earn salvation?
2. When a non-Christian ends up in Hell, why do they get exactly what they wanted?
3. If God intervenes and overrides free will to save us, why do we still need to share His message with campers this summer?
4 comments:
Wow, was that ever good. It's such a well put reminder of just how blessed we are to be able to call God our Father.
1. You can't "earn" salvation, it is a gift, and gifts cannot be earned. God made us, He gave us everything we could ever need or want, and He watched as we messed it all up. The price for sin is death, and there is not one of us on this earth that doesn't deserve it. We have all sinned, and we all deserved death. ..."but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord", I think that says it all. Jesus paid our debt... a painful death on a cross, all for our sake. The only blameless man on earth, and He died for us. No, salvation can't be earned, it can only be accepted, and we must do so with thankful hearts. The grace of God is amazing.
2. I believe the reason a person winds up in hell is because they denied God on earth. By doing so (without actually saying it) they are choosing to live for thier own ways, and not for Gods ways. Gods road leads to heaven, and the ways of the world lead to hell. "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it". Living for God is a sacrifice, but we do so to bring honor to His name, and He gives us the gift of salvation. Those who do not live for Him also choose thier eternity, as harsh as that reality may be.
3. This is a tricky question... and to be truthful, i'm not completely sure how to answer it. I think it could be just as simple as God calls us to reach others for His name, and that's a command we should follow. We should never be so lukewarm to assume that somebody else or something else will happen that will reveal God to other people, we need to be a part of that happening. God uses situations, as WELL as His children to reveal himself to those around us. We need to be diligent in sharing the Gospel so that nobody will die without having the chance to make the decision for themselves.
That's my two cents anyway, this is a great topic, i'm interested in seeing what others have to say...
1. Most of my thoughts on this question are basically the same as Kim's. God has placed salvation within reach of every single person He created, and people will decide to accept His gift in many different ways. All those who truly seek Him will find Him and find the door to salvation. Only God can open the door for all of us and he has, we simply need to choose to walk through it.
2. I believe the goal of a non-Christian is to find a place where they can be free from God's intervention and live a life based on free will. While all people make decisions every day that are based on free will and not God's will, a Christian understands that only God's will can produce all that is good. I guess non-Christians receive what they wanted in Hell because they are now free to do as they choose, the problem is that they don't realize that a world free from God's will cannot produce good. And this brings me to question 3.
3. The reason we still need to share God's message with campers this summer is to let God use us to clear the confusion about where goodness comes from. I'm sure that most campers have seen God's goodness through many people in their lives, but they may not know it is from God. I believe God calls us to camp not just to SHOW His love to the campers, but also to EXPLAIN that this love is impossible without God. It is exciting to know that God will intervene and override free will to save these campers, and he has chosen US as the vehicle to carry out this task.
Oh dear, now I am really excited to get back to camp and also to continue these discussions with you all!
WOw Pretty Sweet!
1. This is going to get repetative eh:P I competly agree with nancy and Kimmy. Salvation is not earned, it is only given by the grace of God. A "gift", as kimmy said. You can't gain it or lose it. If you want to be saved, it if by your choice that you can accept the Lords Salvation.
2. To Accept Christ and become a christian is basically to say. I want to follow you, where ever that may take me. Well come the time where your life is complete, we still arent done following christ. Our life really begins in Heaven. Now Non-Christians are basically the opposite of that. They arent just anti-christians, but even people that dont know what they believe. People who choose not to, or just dont want to. They dont want to, or they choose not to make the decision to go to heaven. Therefore they choose to go to hell.
3.Because he intervenes in places where he feels where we shouldnt be and points us in a direction that he has chosen for us. We teach his message because it is a way to live by. A Bar, of sorts, to strive to be. God wont stick his hand in in every instence. "Feed a man food, feed him for a night. Teach a man how to fish, Feed him for life"
It teaches us how to rely on God while walking through our own life.
I really cant wait for camp! AH! Why wont it just come!
First of all, I love writing a whole long thing and then deleting! UGH I hate being computer illiterate.
So,
1. You can't earn salvation. It is a gift from God. It is not by our works that we are saved but by the blood of Jesus Christ.
2. They chose not to follow Christ. They chose the easy way out and therefore chose a miserable (for lack of a better word) eternity. They lived the life they wanted and ultimately get the eternity they indirectly chose.
3. This one is tough as I am not convinced that God overrides our free will. The example given was an earthly example and who are we to decide what God does. (give me scripture and I`ll believe it, and maybe there is).
My personal example--I had this great friend who had a rough life growing up. He changed his life around and gave it to God. He was studying to be a Pastor. Something happened in his life and he totally turned his back on God. Partying, bars, alcohol, drugs, sex. He outright denies God. So, can we say that he is going to Heaven? Isn't part of going to heaven repentance? Which means turning away from sin? Matthew 7:13-14 says "Enter through the narrow gate.For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,and only a few find it"
Being a Christian is not a one-time thing, it is a life-time thing. We can't just write the day we asked Jesus into our lives in our Bible and expect that is enough. God did not give us life 'rules' and guidelines, or Truth, or the Bible. just for the fun of it. There was a reason behind it and it teaches us how to live our lives.
We need to speak truth into the campers lives. Prepare them for a lifetime.
Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”
These campers need to see that we don't just live for Jesus while at camp, but everyday of our lives.
So, that is my opinion, I might be wrong. I think that is a great analogy that God loves us that much, that He would grab us by the coat and bring us back to Him. And ya he does pursue us. But I am not convinced when we turn our backs on God and do not repent that he gladly takes us in.
So I am going to be quiet now because I KNOW many of you think I am off the rocker. Just my opinion. Let me know what you think or if I am wrong.
Tamara
Post a Comment