Quote# 71741
[You might say well of course I still have to be a good lad, follow the Commandments and all that, but then what was the point of the sacrifice?]
Actually, you DON'T *have* to do ANY of those things. That's the Good News. You are NOT "good". Castlewood is NOT "good". *I* am NOT "good". NO ONE is "good" ("there is none righteous, no, not even one"). That's why people NEED a righteousness other than their own hopelessly fallible self-righteousness. Only Jesus' righteousness (imputed onto believers) allows sinful people into heaven.
Their actions are, to a large degree, irrelevant. Actions cannot earn a person heaven (Isaiah 64.6, among others) and they cannot take AWAY from salvation. A person is either saved or not. Salvation is a "forever" thing, not a contract that requires constant renewal. Once a person is saved they can do, frankly, whatever the **** they please. Will a deliberate life of sinful choices (constant sexual gratification, alcohol binges, gluttony, greed, etc) have consequences in this life? Absolutely! Will such actions take away from a person's rewards in the afterlife? Probably! But God chastises his children. No believer goes to hell. Even if they're murderers. Like Moses, David and Saul.
bdollars21-1,
IMDB 55 Comments [3/27/2010 8:44:48 AM]
Fundie Index: 37