Happiness in the spiritual sense, is the presence of God and the Holy Spirit in your life. Without those, your spirit is down and sad and lacking fellowship with the Lord, and feeling that.
@LadyGrace "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
You can continue to equivocate but it changes nothing. It is perfectly obvious that you subscribe to a particular theology. That you equate this with truth itself is simply self-justification. Circular reasoning that you are blind to.
@LadyGrace You go strictly by the hermeneutics of the Protestant Reform Tradition. And imply that those who follow any other Tradition have been led astray. In this sense you trust in Tradition, in being "right", rather than in Grace.
You go strictly by the hermeneutics of the Protestant Reform Tradition. And imply that those who follow any other Tradition have been led astray. In this sense you trust in Tradition, in being "right", rather than in Grace.
That's your interpretation and it's wrong. I go strictly by God's Word and you can't go wrong, when you do that. God is the one that said there's only one way to heaven, and if anybody would know, it would be Him. I don't follow nor trust tradition and religious philosophies of this world. You don't know me, so don't label me as such. I didn't imply anything. I was going strictly by what God's Word tells us about how to get to heaven. It doesn't matter what people think. Is What God Says, that counts. I didn't say to follow me, I said to follow Christ, because He is always right and He said that we are saved by grace, through faith.
@pipedreams Yes, you're a Universalist, who believes it impossible that a loving God would elect only a portion of humankind to salvation and doom the rest to eternal punishment. You insist that punishment in the afterlife was for a limited period during which the soul was purified and prepared for eternity in the presence of God. That is contrary to God's message to the world and to His message in His Word. You're not understanding God NOR His Word. If everyone was getting to Heaven eventually according to you, then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross to save us from the condemnation that sin placed on us. He does not want anyone to perish.
The obstacle to us having eternal life with Christ is that we have sinned and rebelled against a Holy God. Although God loves us beyond our understanding, his perfect justice requires payment for our sins. The penalty is death.
Many wonder why an all-powerful, loving God can’t just forgive us without punishing us for our sins. Why does he demand justice?
Imagine entering a courtroom and you are guilty of murder. As you approach the bench, you realize that the judge is your father. Knowing that he loves you, you immediately begin to plead, “Dad, just let me go!”
With tears in his eyes he responds, “I love you, son, but I’m a judge. I can’t simply let you go.”
Presenting the evidence against you, he bangs the gavel down and declares you guilty. Justice cannot be compromised, at least not by a judge. But because he loves you, he steps down from the bench, takes off the robe, and offers to pay the penalty for you. And in fact, he takes your place in the electric chair.
This is the picture of Jesus, conveyed in the New Testament. God stepped down into human history, in the person of Jesus Christ, and was crucified on the cross for us. Jesus is not a third-party being punished for our sins, but rather he is God himself. Stated more bluntly, God had two choices: to punish us for our sin, or to receive the punishment himself. In Christ, he decided to pay the penalty for us.
In other words, God’s perfect justice is completely satisfied by his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus volunteered to pay for our sins, through His death on the cross. All of our sins—no matter how bad they are or have been—are completely paid for by the blood of Christ. Paul writes,
“…yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and (after repenting of your sins), you are made holy and blameless, (because of Christ's work of salvation on the cross to save you from the condemnation that send placed on you), as you stand before Him, without a single fault.” —Colossians 1:22
But wait a minute, you say, “Don’t I have to do good deeds to get into heaven?”
Since eternal life is a gift from God, you and I can’t do anything to earn our way into heaven. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, explains God’s amazing grace.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this isnot from yourselves, it is the gift of God—NOT by works, so that no one can boast.” —Ephesians 2:8-9
For a gift to be ours, we need to actually receive it. Like any gift, you can choose to accept or reject Jesus Christ’s pardon for the penalty for your sins. This was made clear by the apostle John.
“This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God, does not have life.” —1 John 5:11-12
@LadyGrace The last verse you quote in no way denies Universalism. It is simply a statement that YOU interpret as denying the doctrine. Universalists are quite able to incorporate such words into the message, the Good News, of a final reconciliation of all things in Christ.
This would all be explained in greater detail in the four books (written by devout Biblically based Christians) that I have listed in my thread on Universalism, which you appear to have ignored.
Universalism is the ONLY faith that can unite two things:- The pure Grace that guarantees salvation AND the words from the Bible "God IS Love".
PS By the way, look up George MacDonald and his sermon that tells us that mercy and justice are one and the same. It is a fine sermon.
@LadyGrace To respond again. Friendly dialogue here.
The only unequivocal statement found in the Bible concerning the character of God is "God is Love". Is love. The two are one. Co-eternal. Such attributes as justice can be inferred, but not in the same manner as that God IS Love.
You speak of the need for justice and imply the need for some eternal divine harmony of Justice/Mercy that testifies to the totality of God.
One thing Jesus told us was that every hair on our heads has been numbered - the pure primacy of the individual. And yet if we speak of some sort of Aesthetic Harmony surely we lose sight of the unique individual, of God's love for each?
And what of the perfection of the Christian saint? The second greatest commandment ("like the first") is to love our neighbours as ourselves. Is the final perfection of the redeemed, the saved, to be able to be in bliss when most of their "neighbours" in this life are in torment? Does God perform some sort of lobotomy to allow the redeemed to rejoice eternally?
Give thought to these things. And remember that Sola Scriptura is "a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice." (Wiki) If we do not subscribe to such a doctrine, such a particular theology then our mind/hearts can open to the Universal Christ witnessed to throughout our whole world's Faith Traditions.
@pipedreams The religions of this world have nothing to do with salvation. Jesus said so in His Word. Jesus died to save everyone in this world from the condemnation that sin has placed on everyone from birth, and that includes every one of us to be in the same spiritual position, in need of a Savior. John 3:16 Says that Jesus died for all, not just some and that all need salvation, not just some. If we neglect his truths and his Plan of Salvation, HIS plan of salvation, He said, none can expect to be saved. It is God that created this Plan of Salvation and it is not up to man to change it. We are not "gods" and man cannot even save himself. How will he find his way to heaven without Jesus? Jesus said in John 3:16, for God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. God said that we cannot earn our way to heaven. To believe and have an ego so large to think that we know better than God and we are smarter than God, we shall see in the end that this does not work. None can get to heaven without God and this is what Jesus' disciples even taught. That's what he told them to teach to the world. Religion did not die on the cross to save us from our sins. Jesus did. He volunteered to pay for our sins, in our place. Jesus said to repent of our sins and God will forgive us and put us in right standing with His Father in Heaven. No matter how many twist that scripture, they are going to be in for a rude awakening when they cross over to Eternity without Christ as their Savior. God's plan is a perfect plan because he is perfect and man will never be able to change that. No amount of positive thinking or good deeds will change God's perfect plan for salvation. He made it very clear that his Plan of Salvation was for everyone on this Earth. Change that and one cannot expect to go to heaven with sin on their heels. Heaven is a perfect holy place and our sins must be forgiven so that we can stand before a holy God. Say what you want, but no other plan will work because it is God's perfect plan.
God's grace is nothing one can earn. The word Grace itself means UNEARNED favor from God. God's grace saves those who are willing to repent and accept God's Plan of Salvation.
@LadyGrace As I have explained - and you continue to ignore each and every word - you know nothing of the Universal Christ beyond your own limited Sola Scriptura theology. - a particular theology born of time and space, a relative modernism.
God's "perfect plan" is found far beyond the horizons of your own limited perspectives.
You speak of the need for justice and imply the need for some eternal divine harmony of Justice/Mercy that testifies to the totality of God.
I do not speak of anything but what God has said in His own Word. Jesus told all that unless we repent of our sins, we shall not see heaven. That is not up for debate. He means what he says.
Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.
None of us have the right to change God's Plan of Salvation for the world. It is perfect because it works. And God himself designed it.
@pipedreams You are like a person in front of whom if I play casino, you would pick a random card from my set of cards and tell my opponents that my cards are no good.
Behold, for I have Spade and the king and the Jack that you know not about.
God's "perfect plan" is found far beyond the horizons of your own limited perspectives.
I'm sorry but this is again where you are misunderstanding. This is not what I say is the way to heaven. It is what God said in His own Word, that you ignore. Again, they are not my perspectives. They are what God has said in His Word, on how to be saved. If you deny and ignore God's words, then He will deny you, before His Father in Heaven. Again, it is not what I say.... it is what God says, that counts. So stop using that as an excuse. It doesn't work. What you keep denying is God's instructions on how to be saved. You would do well to listen to God's instructions because they are not merely suggestions. You are not smarter nor wiser than God and neither am I, nor anyone else. It is you that limits God's plan and his perspectives. You refuse to acknowledge his perfect Plan of Salvation. You ignore it. Very dangerous, since you are not smarter than God.
Matthew 10:33 "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven."
John 14:6 - " Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man can come unto the Father, but by Me."
If you miss God's message to you, you have missed everything and lost everything. Do not gamble with your own soul.
There is a way that SEEMS right unto man, but the end thereof is physical and spiritual [b]death. Proverbs 14:12-16[/b]
@LadyGrace No one has insisted or explained more than myself the full meaning of salvation by Grace. I have explained the limitations of your own particular and time conditioned theology You simply ignore every word and continue to beat the drum of your own beliefs and opinions - these you insist are one and the same with the intent of God and his Living Word.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4
Given those words, according to your understanding of God's Plan, it has failed. Even Luther, the father.of your own modernist perceptions, accepted at one time that "in effect Jesus did not die for all." Which is all rather tragic.
Should you respond again, and again simply repeat yourself without reference to my own posts, I will ignore it and just drop the dialogue.
@pipedreams Why do you deny God's Own Plan of Salvation according to His own Word? Tell me what you think it takes, in order to reach heaven and be in God's presence for eternity, because I have seen in other post of yours that you deny that we even need saving. You cannot override what God himself said is his perfect Plan of Salvation. You would be very unwise to do so and that's why you answer with threats, because you don't know what you're talking about and you are spreading false doctrine that is completely in reverse and in contrast with God's Own Word. Jesus describes this as being a false teacher. You can't answer my questions and so you resort to criticizing what I say. You are not smarter nor wiser than God.
