TO BHF444:
bhf444 says: "so Benny believes there is no work required or asked of him as a Christian"
Benny says: Please don't put words in my mouth. I did not say that. You don't know what I believe. That is your interpretation of what I said. If you want to quote me, quote me. Don't twist my words.
bhf444 says: well benny what happened to "just believe and you are saved and a Christian"?
Benny says: Thats another thing I didn't say. Again its your interpretation of what I said. I also didn't appreciate your tone very much.
For the record I do believe that faith without works is dead. The bible clearly states that saving faith bears fruit. The fruit being patience, kindness, love, etc. So what I believe is that if a christian is not bearing fruit than he must not truly be saved. If a christian truly believes and the holy spirit is working within him, he will bear fruit.. See here's the difference. We do do something. We love the Lord Jesus with all our hearts, soul and mind. Jesus said this when asked what was the greatest commandment. If we truly believe in and love the Lord Jesus, HE gives us the holy spirit which begins the process of sanctification. That is, we begin to change with the spirits help. What many people think is that they need to clean up their act and then Jesus will accept them and give them the holy spirit. Scripture clearly states this is not how it works. Our part in this is to fully accept christ as our saviour and turn from sin. If we have done this, the holy spirit is in us and as the bible says "he who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion". To Jesus, our hard work and righteousness are nothing but "filthy rags". That's what he said.
It may seem like we are actually not doing much in this process. Jesus says this is how it works to that "no one can boast". We believe totally in Jesus, he gives us the holy spirit which changes us (not overnight, but increasingly over time). And Jesus says that we must "abide in his word". We must read the word and meditate on it. That is key. Jesus says so many times. And when our lives begin to change, and things we could never change ourselves improve Jesus gets the glory, because we know that HE did it, not us. Actually, this is a lot of work, because for most people to "die to self" as Jesus says we must do, we need to relinquish our pride. Our sense that we are masters of our own destiny. We have to fully trust in Jesus and abide in his word.
Im sorry that I don't have the time to include scripture references but I work full time and have 3 small kids so I barely have enough time to write this.
Christianity, like most religions, is at its core a death cult. Almost all religions throughout history have attempted to do two things - explain the unexplained, and more specifically, explain death.
Humans belong to the only species which we KNOW OF, which understands mortality. And so, Humans have spent much time trying to come to grips with mortality. Religions throughout history have attempted to address the issue of death, what it is, what it means, and what comes after, if anything.
Christianity is no different. Most religions require some form of sacrifice in barter with death, or in barter with the deities. Christianity allows for a very different form of sacrifice than many, in the form of the deity itself "dying" ostensibly to pay our way into the afterlife.
The catch of course is the requirement that we individually acknowledge this deistic "sacrifice". In the end, we are still expected to sacrifice for the deity, but in the form of thought, action, and word. No more blood, no more offerings, no more ritual. But sacrifice we must, if we want to get into heaven and the afterlife which the Christian god offers.
For myself, I cannot perform obeisance to a Human, let alone to a god that can't bother to show up without being conjured. I cannot worship, I will not spend time contemplating or reading about or meditating on that which has no existence without the actions of Man.
IMO, Humans are wholly to blame for all the bad we do and completely responsible for all the good we do. Not god, not the devil, not spirits or angels or demons or whatever. I see absolutely no evidence for the supernatural or the spiritual (which is by definition supernatural). And I challenge anyone to provide any scrap of evidence for anything supernatural, which does not involve the actions of a Human.
Andy
