You need to listen to His Apostles, they taught what Jesus was teaching, for they understood Him moreso than you !
Thank you for your edifying responses Bright and Brother JLB . Much appreciated ? As iron sharpens iron....
In line with that thought I would like to respectfully share my interpretation of the doctrine of salvation recorded for us the Word. While going through my response , you will notice my heavy reliance is on Christ's Words. To me its the Mount Everest of all teachings , and I pay deep attention to every word that proceeds from the mouth of the savior .
The other reason is this that we HAVE to place His words above all other writers of NT. Reason?
Jesus's owns words in John 13:16 ( notice Truly, truly )
"Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. "
Jesus being the wonderful Savior ,
has shared everything about everything! Including the all important question of WHO will be saved on the last day "
He left nothing to imagination/ speculation.
Unfortunately many Churches did NOT pay heed to Jesus's caveat in John 13:16 and words of some other writers were likely placed before Christ's. What Christ is saying in John 13 :16 , is I'M THE BOSS HERE , don't make the mistake of placing a subordinate's words before mine . It's not going to work .
Now I will laboriously endeavor to explain WHY I believe Christ taught a vastly different salvation doctrine than is being preached by many institutions, if not all.
Churches mostly teach the Solafide doctrine " Saved by Grace alone , through Faith alone, in Christ alone " relying almost exclusively on Ephesians 2:8-9 and almost completely ignoring ( or missing out ) that on the LAST DAY , the judgment day , this ( Solafide) doctrine fell flat on its face... it did NOT work. Yes friends It's Jesus Himself who revealed this . Really???
Yes it's Him who says this. BUT WHERE?!
It's in Matthew 25: 31-46, the VISION of the judgment day, where the Son of Man will descend on Earth from the heavens in glory n power and utter fury( as book of revelation tells us ) in the company of his angels to judge mankind.
On that day He will divide us and place each one if us in one of the two groups. One were Sheep and the Other were Goats .
Sheep were the ones who not only believed the Lord BUT OBEYED Him by doing/ performing selfless acts of LOVING COMPASSION ❤ , especially towards poor, destitute and the sick.
Jesus lifted this lot high and told them ( v 34) “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."
Jesus called them RIGHTEOUS – pls note that brethren. Their righteousness had come from their deeds---- a conscious choice they had made
However the goats came to a lot of grief when The Judge of mankind Christ Jesus rejected them , even though they recognized Jesus and addressed Him as "Lord" . This tells me( that many of these ) were Christians who had believed but had no acts ( WORKS) of Loving Kindness . Jesus rejects them with the following harsh and terrifying words of condemnation:
"Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
To me friends It's clear as daylight on a clear spring day that the METRIC Jesus used ( will use on the day of judgment) was ACTS ( works/ deeds) of Loving kindness ? . Faith by itself did not work ( much as James, the brother of Christ, warned us with a harsh rebuke in James 2:2).... and goats were condemned forever.
Was Jesus being UNFAIR in handing out such a heavy penalty to believers on the last day?
Answer is NO He was Not. But why?
The answer lies in Matthew 5:17-18, Matthew 22:37 -40 and Matthew 7:12 ( All words/ teachings / warnings of the King Himself )
Let us read them and we will know exactly WHY Christ rejected everyone ( on the last day ) who did not practice Loving compassion---even though Jesus had repeatedly taught that .
In Matthew 5 :17 -18 Jesus makes it abundantly clear that He Had not come to abolish the Law ( v 17) but to FULFILL it ( complete it )
But pay DEEP ATTENTION brethren to WHAT Christ says / warns in Matthew 5 : 18. Jesus says without mincing His words that the Whole Universe can CRASH AND BURN AND Disappear but the LAW OF GOD SIMPLY CANNOT GO.
But how is that friends. Weren't we taught differently in our respective Churches --- That "we're NOT under Law but under Grace?!" in direct contradiction to what Christ warns about the Law could never go?
This begs the question WHY can't it go? Because it was INSCRIBED on our HEARTS ? and written on our MINDS by none other than Father God Himself reveals Jeremiah 31: 33 ( also referenced by writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 10:16). Jesus was simply honoring/ reminding that TRUTH . Remember friends NOBODY in this Universe dare touch God's Law , else they will have to Perish . No other way.
So do we HAVE to Obey the entire Law! ???
Nope we don't. We can still be saved. The loving Jesus TAUGHT US HOW we could FULFILL THE ENTIRE LAW and the teachings of the Prophets.
Now we can see WHY JESUS said " I've not come to ABOLISH THE LAW BUT TO FULFILL IT"
And He did it ! HE taught us HOW TO MEET and
FULFILL the requirement of the ENTIRE LAW together with the teachings of the Prophets.
And How did He say we could do it?
Let's study together what the Lord reveals as to HOW can we meet the demand, the requirements of OBEYING the entire law in Matthew 22:37 -40
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
To make sure we all get the message Jesus had said this TWICE, the other time is recorded in Matthew 7:12, the Golden rule :
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you
, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
It is crystal clear the Savior was teaching us HOW to OBEY the ENTIRE LAW------ by Loving God and all others.
But Why was Christ repeatedly teaching us to LOVE GOD AND LOVE ALL?
Answer is simple: because CHRIST IS LOVE
( 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16, John 10 :30)
LOVE TAUGHT LOVE!!!
The entire message of Bible can be shrunk into one tiny word ( but with humongous implications) ....LOVE
And this is WHY Apostle John warns us in 1John 4:8 "
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
If this yet does not convince us, Jesus repeats this yet another time ( the third time) immediately preceding the Parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10 : 25-37)
The teacher of Law asked Jesus the question "Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” replied Christ “How do you read it?”
The teacher of Law answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied.
“DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”
So friends this is the THIRD time Jesus is saying LOVE GOD AND THE FELLOW HUMAN BEING , if you wish to be saved.
But the teacher of Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
The Jesus proceeded to narrate the Parable of the Good Samaritan , who was a Part Jew and Part Pagan, idol worshipper , and had no relationship with Jesus and yet because of HIS SELFLESS ACT OF LOVING COMPASSION this man captured the heart of the Christ who not only lifted him high in the sky like a beacon but also alluded HIS OWNSELF to the Good Samaritan ?
So Christ repeatedly taught us to turn AWAY ( repent ) from Sin and turn to Love.
Proverbs 10 :12 reveals LOVE COVERS ALL SIN.
While 1 Peter 4:8 informs us Love covers a multitude of Sins.
Now let us return to the JUDGMENT day vision provided by Christ Himself in Matthew 25 : 31-46 and it will help us understand WHY JESUS will use acts of Loving compassion as the PRIMARY METRIC on the day of judgment
It’s exactly what happened ( WILL HAPPEN) on the day of Judgment!
Remember the Sheep went out of their way to PRACTICE LOVING COMPASSION. By doing that they HAD HONORED AND OBEYED the entire Law and the teachings of the Prophets and were lifted High by the Lord and invited into His kingdom. They had DONE what Jesus repeatedly taught.
But the Goats who didn’t practice Loving kindness were rejected and condemned by the Judge Christ who again used the METRIC of ( or in this case ABSENCE of) Works of loving kindness, and the Goats were rejected. For they had read every verse cited in this reply/ text, and yet chose not to practice acts of Loving kindness . They likely relied on the Solafide Doctrine to save them. But it didn’t.
The Solafide doctrine WILL fail on the last day brothers and sisters, for it never came from Christ.
With this I would like to conclude the message the Lord gave me to share with you. It is entirely your discretion what you choose to believe and do. But I respectfully state, the judgment day will yet happen and play out precisely as Christ Himself revealed in Future vision of Goats ? and Sheep ?
God bless everyone ? ❤
