Amongst some members of the Christian Community, there is an (erroneous) belief entertained, and even celebrated with some amount of pomp and circumstance, that salvation is a Gift of God given to those who can form with their lips, these words, “I believe in Jesus Christ,” and that there is not any other requirement whatsoever, nor any further effort required by them to receive the greatest treasure God has to give, which is, freedom from this world of pain and suffering, and a guarantee of eternal life in the heaven worlds, indeed a paradise existence forevermore.
Of course it is true, that the Master Jesus Christ never taught any such thing. And scripture, which is, as a general rule, infallible, proves that he never taught any such thing.
For example, we have the words of the Master Jesus Christ, set forth clearly in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19, verses 16 through 26, which lays down the requirements that every soul must meet to gain the Gift of Salvation.
Matthew 19The Master Jesus was asked a straight question: ” ... what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Make note of this fact, that the Master did not respond to this question with the word “NOTHING.”
He said, “Keep the Commandments”
But that’s not all. He set forth the requirement of perfection itself, when he said to the young man, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”
(It should be noted that the theme of perfection, as a requirement unto salvation, is spoken of elsewhere by the Master. For example, in Matthew 5:48 we read, “Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”)Obedience to the Commandments of God are the foundation for salvation. These are the first order requirements. Added to that foundation, is the following of the Master Jesus Christ, which infers the obedience to, and the living of the commandments that he set before the people. These are the second order requirements.
The Master indicated how difficult this really was. Indeed this is no easy task. The message here is that salvation requires a substantial level of sacrifice, a level of sacrifice that this young man was not ready to make.
Because this young man was not ready to make the sacrifice required, does that make a dead letter out of the requirements that the Master Jesus Christ set before him?
Of course not. If such were the case, nothing in the Master’s teaching would be of any effect, if the people simply did not want to follow his teaching. But his teaching stands as the Word of God to us concerning what is true, whether people like it or not. In the above scripture, the requirements unto salvation are set forth clearly.
When the Master said, “ ... With men [foregoing the riches and enticements of this world] is impossible; but with God all things are possible. he was referring indirectly to the principle of reincarnation, that with God it is possible to give the person time and additional opportunity, where God our Father would work with the precious soul, and bring that soul to the point of development where the heart had acquired the courage to make the necessary sacrifices. For many people, they do not have this courage at the present moment. But over time this courage can be acquired as the example of the Apostles themselves indicate. For example, over many lifetimes, God had worked with the twelve Apostles, helping them to make their hearts both sensitive to the truth, and filled with the necessary courage, to drop everything, and to follow the Master Jesus Christ, when he said to them simply, “follow me.”
Their hearts were not filled with contrary voices at that point. They were not thinking to themselves, what about this, and what about that. Their hearts told them that this was the way to go, to follow the Master, and all things would work out unto perfection for them. It takes time and effort, working with God, to clear the heart of the contrary voices, and have living therein, only one theme generally, and that is the desire to do the Will of God when the opportunity arises.
Yes, a heart cleared of the contrary voices, is the fundamental prerequisite unto salvation, as one cannot take into heaven a heart filled with contrary voices.
This essentially is the requirement that must be fulfilled unto salvation. That the soul must work with God in the transformation of the heart, where human priorities are incrementally replaced with divine priorities. When this occurs, only then can the soul be saved, i.e. returned to its original divine estate in the heaven worlds. This is a long process, and it requires many lifetimes.
GOLDENEAGES,
ReplyDeleteHere are just a few of literally dozens of passages that seem to clearly contradict your above interpretation of Christ's statement. How do you reconcile them with your interpretation?
Jn. 3:1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Ga 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
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Your response Rcofield, to the common sense interpretation of Matthew 19:16-26 above, is like unto the simpleton, who came to the door of the banquet hall, and said, good master, what shall I do to enter in, and to enjoy the banquet with the good people of this town? And the master said, you must buy a ticket, present the ticket at the door, and then find your assigned seat. And the simpleton says in his heart, yes, I understand what you are saying, and he immediately spins on his heals, and makes haste to the down town bus station, and finds the public restroom, and goes to the first available stall, and it is available only because it is plugged up, and overflowing, and puts his head in the bowl, and takes a long drink, and chews a bit as well, and feels satisfied.
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Rcofield, the overflowing toilet, and your taste for the content thereof, which you prefer to partake of, rather than stooping before the requirement to buy a ticket to the banquet, is an allegory for your pompous superiority before, and your hatred of, the One Billion Catholics who you desire to see burn in hell forever. Indeed, in regards to whom you appear to be perpetually bent over, looking for, and finding, reasons for them all to burn in hell forever, and in the process, do you mindlessly trample all over the merciful, loving and forgiving nature of God to arrive at the result. Ditto your pompous superiority before, and your hatred of, the remaining 4 billion “non-Christians” on this planet.
I thought that the toilet allegory would probably need some amount of additional explanation.
Every time you look in the direction of these five billion souls, and cannot find in your heart a reason for God to extend mercy to them, and cannot find in your heart a reason for God to extend forgiveness to them, and cannot find in your heart a reason for God to extend compassion to them, lo you are again drinking out of that toilet of pride and hatred.
Let the people of this planet hearken to the lesson writ large in your behavior, concerning how pride can distort the sensibilities of the soul to such an egregious extent, that when one drinks out of the toilet, it tastes like wine and caviar. You have much in common with the radical Islamists, who murder the innocent, and who see in their dark imagination, a smile on God’s face with every stroke of the sword.
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