The universal call and ministry of the Light is what brings people into relationship with God. Any ‘saving’ done IS through the Eternal One. Just because His “name” is not known, doesn’t mean He still cannot save those whom He “saves”.
Ok, but there is no question about the Divinity of Jesus or the Trinity, right?
That is an answer only each Friend could give you.
Please post a link for me. I am interetsed in what you believe as a Friend. It seems like I did not know your faith.
quakerinfo.org/quakerism/beliefs.html
Thanks. I did not know of the variation in structure of worship or emphasis on univerasalist or Christ-centered. I did know that Friends have always been set on showing their faith through their lives. Very interesting link. So, all of the branches seem to get along well enough to keep a website together.
Whether or not I disagree is a moot point here, because the issue revolves around the person who in your face is claiming “it doesn’t matter which religion you pick”. And that is false. We are not talking about a peripheral issue about those who might not have heard of Jesus’ name (which is a WHOLE OTHER topic believe me!), we are talking about the person who claims that even for those who know His Name (for instance, in USA or Canada), they claim it does not matter if you reject Christ or accept Him and the Christian faith, all roads will go to heaven.
I do not believe all roads lead to heaven…there is only one road…the road of love, sacrifice, kindness, devotion, mercy, compassion, peace…there is only One whom ANY and all salvation comes through…but “life after death” is not the focus…Life in the here and now is…love now, be compassionate now, feed the hungry now, bind up the wounded now…the “here after” will take care of itself…Eternal Life begins now, not at some later date in the “here after.”
I have been confronted with this statement many times. A few things to consider are: Is this person clueless? Are they bashing my faith? Are they promoting theirs? Is it an empty, thoughtless comment that does not illicit an answer? Is the person seeking a response?
Well, I agree in a sense but this is only half true. To borrow a line from a movie “what we do in life echos in eternity” - that is very true. But primarily, if you reject Christ and His Gospel and are a ‘decent’ citizen and give to the poor, etc, then it does not matter in terms of salvation. Salvation is not based on works that you do so no amount of compassion or good deeds or love from say, an atheist, will make one lick of difference for his eternal state - he is lost without Christ.
Faith is important, but who decides what is being “rejected” in relation to the Gospel…the Gospel Jesus preached was the Good News of the Kingdom of God in our midst, we now may live in this Kingdom…and many who were not deemed worthy by those initially invited to the banquet, will find themselves sitting in places of honor.
We are not talking about some abstract notion, we are taling about Jesus Christ being the Son of the Living God. Those who believe in Him (e.g., John 3:16) have eternal life. Who decides? God does and has in His word. When people openly reject the Gospel, how can you say “who decides”? We are merely calling a spade a spade because those who reject Christ’s Gospel are not saved.
Actually, Christ asked his desciples who people said He was. The right answer was that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Your eternal fate hinges on what you believe about Christ. You fail to recognize that many people left Him and rejected Him because they did not believe in Him and what he taught. Doctrine, basic fundamental doctrine, is not just important, it is integral. Christ makes that very plain. He said he is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can go to the Father but by Him. You either believe that or reject that - where is the middle ground? There is none. What He said it either true or false.
We are not talking about finer points. We are talking about essential and basic Gospel truth. That Christ is the Son of God who came down to die a subtitionary death in our place, a death we justly deserve, and we are justified by grace through faith apart from works. This is a very basic Gospel understanding. To reject this is to reject eternal life.
Are you aware that James clarifies this, that faith without works is dead. These people had a dead faith. They claimed to belong, but were deceived (read 1 John). Are you suggesting our faith and belief is meaningless and only are works account for anything? That is senseless.
I may need to “find proper balance” or you may need to catch a glimpse of the astounding grace and mercy and depth of the love of God in Christ Jesus…I’ll trust in His character instead of my beliief system, for my beliefs are nothing but dirty rags anyway…He is all and in all…I may be waaaayyyy off balance…but I’m ok with it.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
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You just don’t get it. How anyone who professes to belong to Christ and believe His Gospel can accept that those who openly and fragrantly reject Him and His Gospel are somehow on the road to salvation is crazy.I may need to “find proper balance” or you may need to catch a glimpse of the astounding grace and mercy and depth of the love of God in Christ Jesus…I’ll trust in His character instead of my beliief system, for my beliefs are nothing but dirty rags anyway…He is all and in all…I may be waaaayyyy off balance…but I’m ok with it.
