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Jesus affirmed that the way to heaven was through the practice of love.

Luke 10


The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He 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'[1] ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[2] "
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

The Lord also knew that it was impossible for this man or any sinner to obey those two commandments to perfection, and unless a sinner is as perfect as God, he has no hope of every entering Heaven. So Christ Himself obeyed the Law perfectly, then took upon Himself the curse of the Law, which is death, and paid the price for our redemption.

The "way to Heaven" is therefore not "through the practice of love" [which comes after a sinner is saved] but "through the blood of Christ". Only those who have been washed in His blood and clothed with His righteousness have the Holy Spirit dwelling within, and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can obey theose two commandments -- loving God perfectly and loving others perfectly.

John, 17:33, Jesus said; "Now eternal life is this; that you know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent." "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." "Come to me and I will give you rest." No one comes to the Father except through me." "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Once the Holy Spirit enters us, (being born of the spirit), we then KNOW Christ and our Father in heaven. When Christ's body is inside of us in the form of the Holy Spirit, we have eaten His flesh and drunk His blood. He can then give us rest. No one can take the Holy Spirit from inside of us, thus, "No one can snatch them out of my hand." Therefore, His love is eternal. Real love comes from Christ's love inside of us.

I just discovered your main bit of confusion.  Jesus is NOT the Holy Spirit.  They are seperate persons of One Esscence.

AMEN BROTHER SOWER!!!!

This is the beautiful and precious truth extremely well said!

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Sorry, but the Holy Spirit is INDEED the Holy Ghost of Christ inside of us. "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ..." What in the world do you think He meant but "eat my flesh and drink my blood?" "I am in you and you are in me." "The kingdom of heaven is within you." "If we have been united with him in death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."  "I am the bread that came down from heaven." And finally, Gal. 2:20, "I no longer live but Christ lives in me."

Nicholai,

Please don't try to make this thread into a debate, especially with arguments in semantics. Start a thread in debate if you wish, but not here.

Almighty God is a Holy Trinity, and the three are one. Take any argument to debate, NOT HERE.

Moderator

 

OK :) didn't mean to start anything

Here is some more of what Christ said about salvation.

Do the Will of the Father
Matt 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Love God and Mankind
Luke 10:25-28  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Mat 25:31-46  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:   And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.   Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:   For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:   Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.   Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Keep the Commandments
Mat 19:16-17  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?   And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
   
Mar 10:17-19  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?   And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

Mat 5:19-29  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

1John 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Luke 18:18-22  And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Eat His Body and Drink His Blood
John 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Be Humble
Matt 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 18:9-14  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Suffer Persecution for Righteousness
Matt 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   
Lose Attachment to Our Earthly Life
Matt 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
   
Mark 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Luke 9:24  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
   
Luke 17:33  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
   
John 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Mar 10:28-30  Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Follow Christ
John 10:27-28  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Be Converted
Mat 18:3-4  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:14  But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Control Our Words
Matt 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Endure or Continue
Matt 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
   
Matt 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
   
Mark 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Be Baptized
Mark 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

John 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Those are all fruits of the spirit. Jesus said; "I am the vine and my Father is the gardner. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." Jesus makes it clear that it is God who has the power to bring us closer to Him, not ourselves.

Jesus Said,

Read:

Romans
1 and 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 and 2 Thessalonians
1 and 2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon

ALL of those passages have to be takn IN LIGHT of Jesus's words. Paul talks about grace all throughout those passages in Romans and Corinthians. The law can ONLY be obeyed by the spirit, not by ourselves. Jesus fufilled the law for us so all we have to do is come to him for obedience. We cannot DECIDE' to love our neighbor any more than we can "decide" to forgive. All we have to do is admit how much we do NOT love our neoghbor and the forgiveness we receive from that is how we love our neighbor! That's how Christ fulfilled the law for us! It is His grace, love, mercy, forgiveness for us that we give to others! It is Him whom I praise, not myself.

To a certain extent you are right as anything we do that is pleasing to God is a result of His grace acting within us.  But it is not just the Spirit, else everyone would do them as we are all given the gift of grace.  We must choose to cooperate with that grace or we have not properly accepted the free gift.  It is these works of obedience that are that cooperation.  Rememeber the Gospel is not just Good News it is also instructions that must be obeyed.

Do you have a scriptural verse to support this doctrine?


Actually that is wrong.  Jesus told us that we fulfill the law and the teachings of the prophets through love.

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

and

Mar 12:29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mar 12:32  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Mar 12:33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Mar 12:34  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.


Again do you have a scriptural verse to support this claim?  I see nothing in scripture that says we cannot decide to love.  In fact a love that does not come freely from us is not a real love.

If we cannot decide to love then why did Christ command us to love.

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

and

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Did Christ command us to do something He knew we could not do - that would make no sense.


Christ didn't fulfill the law for us He fulfilled the requirements of the law through His perfect sacrifice and showed us how to fulfill the law.

The Holy Spirit through the Scriptures teaches us that we can fulfill the law (not the letter but the spirit of the law).

Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Gal 5:14  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Jam 2:8  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

The righteousness of the law is FULFILLED IN us but never BY us. We cannot do it and as stated above, it is a work of the Holy Spirit. To WALK in the Spirit is to LIVE BY MEANS of the Spirit. That is, by FAITH in ANOTHER- we must simply trust in the God that lives in us.

aw

AMEN, AW!! That is what Jesus MEANS by fulfilling the law FOR us! It is He who gets the credit for my good works, it is HIS love and forgiveness that makes me forgive my neighbor! Thinking that I do these things is the sin of pride which is from the devil. Jesus said; "I can do nothing without my Father." Again I believe HIM, not my own interpretation. Taking credit for ANYTHING good in me comes from the sin of pride. Giving it ALL to God is humility, a fruit of the spirit. That's how I KNOW giving Him the credit, worshiping HIM as giving me the power, not myself,  is a true teaching. People who believe that it is THEY who are doing it still feel like they have to earn their way to heaven. They have NOT accpeted this free gift. To them, God's love is conditional, not unconditional.

AMEN BROTHER AW!

It is and always has been the righteousness of Jesus, not our own. Our own righteousness is worthy of absolutely nothing.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Can you provide any verses from scripture to support any of your contentions?

Where does scripture say that "the righteousness of the law is FULFILLED IN us but never BY us"?

Where does scripture say that we cannot fulfill the law?

Where does scripture say that it is ONLY a work of the Holy Spirit?

Where does scripture say that "to WALK in the Spirit is to LIVE BY MEANS of the Spirit" ALONE and that we play no part in that walk?

Where does scripture say that "we must simply trust in the God that lives in us"?

That is what you must do in order to ignore Jesus' words tellings us that these specific work WE do are required for our salvation as a means of properly accepting the gift.