Bible Questions?

Yes.

I would say that we just return to that saved state, not that we are saved again.

 

If you think about it. Why does Jesus refer to it as narrow? The rich man couldn't fit in and follow Christ because he was trusting in money and you can't serve two masters. The only way in is to take a leap of faith and put all our trust in him. Letting go of everything we've learned to trust can be very agonizing.

Do you think that God sees us the way people do? Only by the actions we take? Yes, that is the formula after truly recieving Christ into our heart through faith.

 

One of the problems I have with the "Christian" terms saved and salvation is that they are generally used as if they have meaning in and of themselves but without context they are meaningless words. Quite simply being saved and salvation means you were saved form something and to know what, being saved and salvation means you need to know what being saved from.

 

Then why didn't Jesus say take a "leap" of faith?

In fact no where in the Bible does it say take a "leap of faith".

Faith is not something to be "leaped" to.

No, God does not see us as others do but he can see our actions and God being wise also knows that there is a big difference between actions and intentions.

 

Yes, we have to stay in relationship or keep the faith to the end.

I'd compare gaining eternal life to climbing a mountain that is impossible to climb alone. However, Christ already has and knows the way. We are connected by a rope which can be compared to our faith. Eventually, only with his help can we reach the top as long as we aren't dissconneted. He will save us from the many perils along the way.

 

I don't know for sure, but if the narrow gate is Christ, then eternal life comes from belief in him.

God can see what it written in our hearts and whether we truly believe or not and authentic belief is all that is needed to be credited as righteous and thus inherit eteranl life.

1 John 5:10

"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart."

John 6:40

"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

So to do the will of the Father is to be believe in him.

 

What is the will of the Father?

 

Sorry, my previous post was a bit jumbled.

According to John 6:40 his will is

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Then Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look to jesus who prefects our faith.

"2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith"

 

That there be light. That you have fruitful life.

 

You seem to be saying that God's will is just one thing, belief in Jesus Christ but what was God's will for Adam and Eve before they sinned? They already had eternal life in store for them and were sinless and so needed no sacrifice for sins, in fact Jesus had not been born yet and there, as yet, was no need for him to be born, so what was God's will for Adam and Eve at that time?

 

He that looks at a woman with lust in his heart has committed adultery.

 

God's will was for them to live in paradise walking with him, but Eve listened to the serpent and her desire led her to disobey. This led to..."sin entering the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:10) So as the solution to this problem God sent his grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Romans 5:15) So through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.(Romans 5:19)

thedope brings up a good point. Even our thoughts can be sin before God. So Eve's first sin was the desire to eat the fruit not her action of eating it.

 

Thought crime, how Orwellian...

 

It is the power of mind to have your perceptions manifest. Why do you call it a crime?

 

So did the sin of Adam and Eve change God's will for Mankind?

 

(James 1:14-15) 14 But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn, sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death.

 

We cannot create unlike our creator.
If all things are possible, it could be Eves' trust allows the possibility of being deceived.
"He was a liar from the beginning."
We have never truly usurped the power of God. First deceived by the idea that we were unlike God, we were further deceived by the idea that good judgment makes us like him.
Why do you call me good? Only God is good.
Sin is this singular error of judgment. There be not original and additional sin.

 

I'm not sure. Did they?

This is my main problem with exercising faith to be saved. Since Christ is the author and perfector of our faith even faith is a gift. The moment we say dependence on him alone is not enough then it becomes up to us to be saved by enduring to the end. We begin to rely on our own actions as the way instead of Christ alone. Since even our very thoughts are considered sin within our heart one must realize the futility of relying on oneself at all. That is why in Matthew 7 even the prophets doing the might works were shut out from the kingdom. They said "let us in. Look at all our mighty works" Then Jesus responded "I never knew you". So isn't an intimate loving relationship the answer? It's really the fuel for our obedience I think.

 

Sinful thoughts are considered sin within our heart so God can still see them even though people can't.

 

No, they didn't, that is still God's will for mankind.

My main problem with faith with out works is that it doesn’t teach us anything. In anything you try to do, you can get the best teacher and take in all the instruction you want but unless you actually practice it you will never learn how to do it. It’s just the way we are designed.

I know with God all things are possible but in reading the Bible, that is just not the way God’s works. Why didn’t God just give Goliath a heart attack? Why did a young boy have to go out against him? Why wasn’t David’s faith in God enough? It seems God wants us to display our faith by the actions we take. Faith does not seem to be static, it can grow stronger, or it can weaken to the point of dying. Our very actions strengthen our faith, that is why we need to exercising our faith.

As for an intimate loving relationship being the answer, yes it is but why do marriages fail? Could it be that they start with a intimate loving relationship and for some reason they think that is all they need.
Why show it? Why try to strengthen it? We already have a intimate loving relationship.

The reason the prophets of old are not going to heaven is not that they did anything wrong or that they depended on themselves but because they died before the coming of the Christ. And Jesus said; I never knew you, to those who did mighty works in Jesus’ name not those prophets of old that never knew Jesus.