Cronnie I am one of those who believe once a person is truly saved..he has done all asked of him in turning over his life to Jesus Christ..even if he is never baptized in the immersion of water..he is saved eternally. I don't think that once a person is saved he will ever turn away from his knowledge of Jesus nor what He did to give salvation to that person. Of course you will fail and sin but Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven..or as many times as he is asked for forgiveness. So God does not ever take back this gift of salvation once given and accepted. As long as in your heart you know Jesus is your focal point of life, no matter if you like the prodigal son has gone astray, Jesus will welcome you back the minute you ask His forgiveness. If you never ask forgivness you are still covered by His blood to salvation. I know there is a lot of debate on backsliding and when I was young and in the Assembly of God church I was at the altar every other night repenting of backsliding fearful that I would be left behind when Jesus took us home in the rapture. I was probably the worst backslider of the century. It came as a wave of peace when I realized that God does not take back His gift of eternal life and salvation when we fail and I think it greives him more when His children don't understand this and suffer so much pain because of this misunderstanding perpetuated by many churches. When God gives He does not take back. If you are in sin when the rapture happens it will not keep you from receiving eternal life but it will affect the rewards you will receive while in this body. They will be counted against you but you will remain a child of God forgiven and covered with the blood of the Lamb.
Don't fret about this, satan will beat you to death with this misconception. Once you are saved it is forever.
The Lords Peace unto you.
Paul

Cronnie I am one of those who believe once a person is truly saved..he has done all asked of him in turning over his life to Jesus Christ..even if he is never baptized in the immersion of water..he is saved eternally. I don't think that once a person is saved he will ever turn away from his knowledge of Jesus nor what He did to give salvation to that person. Of course you will fail and sin but Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven..or as many times as he is asked for forgiveness. So God does not ever take back this gift of salvation once given and accepted. As long as in your heart you know Jesus is your focal point of life, no matter if you like the prodigal son has gone astray, Jesus will welcome you back the minute you ask His forgiveness. If you never ask forgivness you are still covered by His blood to salvation. I know there is a lot of debate on backsliding and when I was young and in the Assembly of God church I was at the altar every other night repenting of backsliding fearful that I would be left behind when Jesus took us home in the rapture. I was probably the worst backslider of the century. It came as a wave of peace when I realized that God does not take back His gift of eternal life and salvation when we fail and I think it greives him more when His children don't understand this and suffer so much pain because of this misunderstanding perpetuated by many churches. When God gives He does not take back. If you are in sin when the rapture happens it will not keep you from receiving eternal life but it will affect the rewards you will receive while in this body. They will be counted against you but you will remain a child of God forgiven and covered with the blood of the Lamb.
Don't fret about this, satan will beat you to death with this misconception. Once you are saved it is forever.
The Lords Peace unto you.
Paul

There was once a young girl who decided to plant a garden. She started planting seeds but these weeds kept sprouting and made her garden look bad. Everyday it seemed she'd have to go out with her scissors and cut those pesky weeds off..... ??

At least she kept busy...And she didn't let the weeds take over. Sometimes everyday is what it takes to achieve the desired result.

Jesus asked, " when I return...will I find faith?' He is not looking for sin free people because His blood sacrifice makes us clean in Gods eyes.

Salvation comes more from His resurrection.

And I disagree with the idea that given our lives are but a wisp of smoke... that we will spend an eternity being tomented due to some poor decisions made during such a short time.

I know modern viewpoints like to think there are multiple ways to go to God, many paths..but the bible and Jesus speaks of one path only and that is Jesus Christ.

Just following the book God gave us to follow.
Davyd you don't believe Jesus was sent to save the world? You don't beleive John 3:16?
I know modern viewpoints like to think there are multiple ways to go to God, many paths..but the bible and Jesus speaks of one path only and that is Jesus Christ.

It is God reaching out to us, not us trying to find Him. We are His creation and we are very important to Him according to the bible.
Paul

Thank you.

I also think it is incredibly ego driven for us to believe that we are such a focus for the Almighty given the enormity of his creation.

That's a tough one flicka... if we aren't a focus - what's the point?

Davyd, beleiving in God is not enough to save you. Even the devil and His angels believe in God and tremble before Him, and will never be saved.

Just a guess but Jesus may present Himself to unsaved people as they pass into death in some cases as He judges their lives and then they may accept Him and be saved. But this is only a guess on my part. I haven't found anything in the bible to substantiate this.
paul

I realize this is at odds with your beliefs and respect your right to believe as you wish, and I would hope for the same in return.

Matthew 26:[36] Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
[37] And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
[38] Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
[39] And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

To me Davyd that is moving Jesus out of first place to start with and pushing Him to a secondary role.
I wish you best fortune on your quest. It is not anything I should attack nor should I attack any mans views. I can only give my view. Every person must seek his religious views and path toward God with fear and trembling and in the finality to stand on that view.
Paul

I am having difficulty understanding what you are saying, Davyd. To me Jesus is primal in salvation and without Him their is no salvation unless you are a Jew. Before Jesus God dealt with mankind on a different level. He attributed to Abraham righteousness because of his faith in God and many other of the prophets and patriarchs. But since Jesus was sent to save the world, John 3:16 there is no other way to salvation but Him.

Paulwa, with all due respect to your beliefs, I am bothered by the way Christians have made a cult figure out of the man/god Jesus. IMO there is only one creator and I feel that I have a personal connection with him.

I deeply admire the teachings of Jesus as portrayed in the 4 Gospels and the Book of James but feel that he was carrying a message for us from the creator. IMO Christianity has elevated him to a position of supremacy since most prayers and homage are directed to him rather than to the actual creator.

IMO a personal connection with the creator and the effort to live your life by the Golden Rule are the true tests of faith, and those are the tenets I try to follow. You may recall that Jesus himself said essentially the same thing when asked which of the commandments were the greatest. I firmly believe in a supreme being but feel that Jesus was his messenger rather than his earthly manifestation.

I realize this is at odds with your beliefs and respect your right to believe as you wish, and I would hope for the same in return.