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REPLY TO THREAD
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Christians - What Do You Believe Is Necessary For Salvation?
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Original Message
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I recently had a very good conversation with another Christian in another thread regarding what we thought was necessary as Christians for salvation. Suffice it to say, we were not able to come to an agreement based on our differing understanding of one particular concept: repentance.
The other person regarded repentance, as relating to the Greek translation, as "a change of mind" - in that you must turn from sin through faith in Jesus Christ to experience salvation. I regarded repentance as both a turning away from sin as well as asking God to forgive you of your sins in order to experience salvation.
I guess the question I have for all of you is do you believe that Jesus Christ literally died for our sins, in that we do not need to ask for forgiveness, we just need to believe in Jesus Christ? Do you believe as I do that the purpose for the death of Jesus Christ was to demonstrate His resurrection, as well as show the immense amount of love God has for us?
I have an open mind, and if you can explain to me your viewpoint and are able to persuade me, then I will change my mind. My thought is this: Jesus Himself told us to repent - "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." This implies that repentance is necessary for entrance into the Kingdom of God, ergo salvation. What does repentance mean? I point you to the bible passage 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I don't believe repentance alone implies belief in Jesus Christ, but I also don't believe that belief in Jesus Christ implies repentance. If you simply need to turn from sin through faith in Jesus Christ to be saved, a "change of mind" would only need to happen once. However, we continue to sin because we are sinners, and we are imperfect. So in that sense, a change of mind in the sense of turning from sin is impossible, because you know you will sin again. It is inevitable.
Further, why are we compelled by instinct to confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness? Why is that a natural response if it was not meant to be?
Please, only serious responses - if you are here to ridicule me, neither one of us gain anything from that.
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