What the Bible says about belief to enter Heaven, and Satan as a believer.
Both the believer and the atheist, hold to either a faith-based belief or a faith-based non-belief; but it takes more than faith to have salvation. It takes grace, which is unearned favor from God, and commitment. Trusting God to keep His Word and save you from the condemnation sin placed on us all, until we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins. He is trustworthy and turns no one away. When God forgives us, He forgets our sins. We are then reunited with our Heavenly Father, by the Holy Spirit God places in us, upon confession of faith, as fellowship is restored.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
It is important to know that salvation cannot be earned. It is a GIFT from God. If I give you a gift, it is free. You didn't do one thing to earn it. Same way with salvation. NOTHING you can do, will earn you a free ticket to heaven. HOWEVER...God graciously offers it for free! Free to you, but it cost him, his life. That's how much he loves you and he proved it on the cross.
Faith is simply believing God (taking Him at His Word) when He tells us to stop trying to earn a place in heaven, and instead, trust in the fact that Jesus paid for ALL our sins. It is God who set the standard for salvation. Man was not given that privilege and it is not up to him to change it.
Anyone can claim to believe. Even Satan believes in God, but he is not saved and he'll certainly not see heaven. Consider how it is with two couples, for example. The guy says he loves her. She has lots of people who love her, but his is a special, different kind of love. Wanting to give her your all, you make a commitment and ask her to marry you. In marriage, you become one in the flesh through that commitment. Same with Jesus. Only you become one in the Spirit with God, when you invite him into your heart and life as your Savior. If you confess you believe in Him, you'll want to make a commitment and be faithful to Him. You have become spiritually "one" with Christ. A spiritual union between you and God. You become part of His family when you do, and inherit eternal life.
When Jesus finished his Earthly mission, over 500 people witnessed him ascend into heaven, back to his Heavenly Father. Since we can no longer see him physically , that is why you can only know that God is real through Faith. The proof is in the experience, as you receive the Holy Spirit upon confession of faith. By reading the Bible and praying for God's understanding of His message to us, or someone sharing their faith with us, can we learn how to accept His Son Jesus as our personal Savior. The Bible says all you have to do is let Jesus know, through simple prayer, that you would like to receive him as your personal Savior. Repent, believe, and receive.
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The Bible does not say that. The Bible says that all prayer should be directed towards Jesus' father, God, Jehovah.
Take a look at John 3:16 and it says exactly that we should pray to Jesus for salvation.
As for John 16:23 you've taken that out of context and I did not even list that in my post so why are you is showing a quote around that is if I said that, and bringing that up? We're not talking about who we pray to here we're talking about how to receive salvation.
@MartinTheFirst Romans 8:34 states that Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 1 John 2:1 we read that Jesus is our advocate with the Father Hebrews 7:25 we learn that Jesus always lives to intercede for us. Jesus came to this world to share our trouble and to defeat the powers that are too strong for us to conquer. Jesus also stated that if we know him we know the father. Praying too, or through Jesus is still praying to the father, perfectly appropriate. He is our savior, our salvation.
John 1:1 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Jesus is The word.
@nonsensiclesnail I know we have different interpretations of who exactly Jesus is, in my translation of the Bible they've concluded that John 1:1 says and the Word was a God.
However one thing we both can agree on, is that not in one single verse is a person praying to Jesus or told to pray to Jesus, correct?
@MartinTheFirst Since he is the intercessor, I pray through Jesus, I pray through the Holy Spirit. But what I do believe is that they re a trinity. all parts of the same body. as Jesus said, if you know me then you know my father.
@nonsensiclesnail I pray through Jesus as well, but there's a huge difference in praying to someone and through someone. If I send a message through you to a friend of mine, it's not a message to you, you shouldn't even open it, it's to my friend...
@MartinTheFirst I know, but God the Father appointed Jesus is what that verse is saying, as mediator between God and man, so it is Jesus that he is telling us to pray to for salvation. But if you want another one, here it is:
@MartinTheFirst right, yet John 14:14 states, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
I take no issue with praying to Jesus, he is at the right hand of the father. He knows my heart, my intent, and he is part of the God head, not a foreign God. John14:7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.
@nonsensiclesnail I don't disagree with the bible, I agree with all of those things that the scriptures say... But it's your decision to not take issue with praying to Jesus instead of God, for your own reasons, and not because the Bible has instructed you to. That's my whole point 👀
@MartinTheFirst That's what the Bible says, there's no other way to interpret it because Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, speaking to God on our behalf so it has to be Jesus they are talking about and it was Jesus that God the Father appointed as Savior of the world.
@MartinTheFirst When we see jesus, we see God. There is the trinity. It doesn't matter if we pray to Jesus or the father, because they all hear our prayer as "God". If that were an issue then the Lord would have told us not to pray to Jesus instead of God the Father, but he didn't. What he did do, is when people ask him how to pray, he gave them an example and he's gave us the Lord's Prayer. However there is no wrong way. This is the way I look at it but not as interpretation. When one wants to come to the Lord and invite him into their life as their personal Savior, been scripture says to pray to Jesus because he is our only mediator between God and man. But after we are saved, we have direct access and we have been reunited with our Father in heaven and so when we pray, we pray to God the Father, in the name of Jesus. But if you happen to pray to Jesus instead directly to the Father, God still hears our prayers.
@MartinTheFirst this is why I'm not happy with different translations and I stick strictly with the King James version as I feel it is the closest to the ancient scriptures. The Bible verse that you are referring to actually says, and the Word was God, not "a" God. That changes the whole meaning and that really bothers me. Makes a huge difference.
@MartinTheFirst I have to disagree Martin. Let's break it down.
For God the Father, so loved the world (that's us of course), that He ( the Father) gave us His only begotten Son (Jesus), so that whosoever ( that means anyone can come to him to ask for salvation) believes in Him (still referencing His Son), shall never perish but have everlasting life.
If that were an issue then the Lord would have told us not to pray to Jesus instead of God the Father, but he didn't.
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”
Mark 10:18 Jesus said to him: “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except one, God.
They didn't need to say that you shouldn't pray to Jesus, for it's strictly evident throughout the entire bible that you should only pray to his Father.
There's a lot of verses like these where Jesus claims that God is superior to himself, as it should be, for he is the Son.
@LadyGrace What makes you so sure that the first translation is the correct one? I understand how it irritates you because it makes things more complicated. Fact is, that we translated the scriptures from ancient scriptures and translations of these scriptures, and we have better knowledge now and can theoretically write more correct translations.
For God the Father, so loved the world (that's us of course), that He ( the Father) gave us His only begotten Son (Jesus), so that whosoever ( that means anyone can come to him to ask for salvation) believes in Him (still referencing His Son), shall never perish but have everlasting life.
We need to believe in Jesus too, and that Jesus is the Son of God, and thereby believe in God. That's what this scripture says. It doesn't say "Pray to Jesus"?
@MartinTheFirst oh I'm just saying that I personally feel that it is closest to the original text, of course I have no way of knowing but I feel so strongly that version is right for me because I see all the other translations and the way they mix up or add the words, it just changes the whole meaning so bad and that's what really upsets me. However everyone has their favorite Bible.
I don't know about your second point, friend. It says in Revelation, not to change the Word. It is very adamant and strong about that. God don't like that. He wrote it the way he wanted it and it's not up to us to change it. Now down Through the Ages they changed it as it came to us today, however it's not what people think. There were a few "thees" and "thou's" taken out, but nothing that would change the meaning of verses or the wording. The theme was the same, how to have salvation through Jesus Christ. However, they just keep changing it and changing it and I have noticed when they do, it completely changes the meaning that the Lord wanted to convey.
@MartinTheFirst oh absolutely we need to believe in Jesus. He is our ticket to heaven. But earlier you had said we're not supposed to pray to Jesus, unless I got you wrong and misunderstood you. So that's why I broke down John 3:16. It shows us that in order to have salvation we have to pray to Jesus.
So that's why I broke down John 3:16. It shows us that in order to have salvation we have to pray to Jesus.
No.. it doesn't say that we have to pray to Jesus, you broke it down somewhat correctly but even in your breakdown you didnt get to the point where it says we should pray to Jesus...
@LadyGrace You can research it but basically this is the reason
The reason is that during the Second Temple period, most likely in the early 5th century B.C.E., Jews decided that that name was ineffable, too holy to be uttered aloud. This was based on a particular interpretation of the third commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
They thought that God's name was too holy to keep it in the bible, so they removed it all together... Now you have a bible version without his name in it, replaced with God and Lord interchangeably so that you no longer can tell if it's Jesus or Jehovah talking. It's convenient for people who believe in the trinity, but not for people to realise the differences between Jesus and Jehovah.
@MartinTheFirst Martin, I don't see how you can't see that from John 3:16. I even gave you examples of other verses that says the same. For example, for there is no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved, meaning the name of Jesus. Jesus himself told everyone, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO MAN comes to the FATHER.....BUT BY ME."
