Originally Posted by
jmdrake
If your doctor says stop smoking or you will die, a sign of that belief is that you stop smoking.
But since you gave a reference to your scripture quote, mine is Act 16:30-31
He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
Also, you just disproved your own previous post where you linked to "why are there so many denominations?" The clear answer isn't because Lutherans wanted to "honor Luther" as that article falsely claimed. The reason is as Luther realized the church he belonged to wanted teaching what he understood to be sound doctrine he challenged what he thought was wrong and got put out. The people who agreed with him got put out too. So they formed their own congregations. Did you know that Christians didn't initially call themselves Christians or see themselves as separate from Jews? They got put out of the synagogues for preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. Before that they worshiped every Sabbath with all of the other Jews. The name "Christian" was put on them by outsiders.
Acts 11:26
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Anyway, back to my original point. You are saved when you accept the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a period after that statement. He not only leads you to accept Him, but He also leads you to let Him change you.
Here is another verse in the Bible that people overlook on the denomination question.
Matthew 10:34-36 English Standard Version (ESV)
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
What is the "sword" Jesus is talking about?
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Bible, by its very nature, brings division. I you find yourself, like Martin Luther, a part of a church that is teaching against what you understand to be true in the Bible, you have one of three choices. You can stay and keep your mouth shut. You can speak up and risk getting kicked out (what Luther did), or you can leave. If you leave you can worship on your own, or you can find other people who believe the same as you and worship together. You've now formed a "church" even if you don't give it a "denomination" (name). Because you were founded on beliefs different from the church you left, you have a new "creed" even if you don't call it that.
Worshiping on your own without joining some other believers is unbiblical. Paul said in Hebrews 10:24-25 "24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
Good works are not expected of the sinner coming to Christ. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Rather good works comes from a body of believers deciding how best to do good for the outside community.
These are the "works" James was talking about.
Matthew 25:34-36
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
In fact, all you have to do is read the context of James 2 to understand what it is really saying.
James 2:14-19
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
If you belong to a church that isn't out feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, housing the homeless, etc then you are a part of a dead church.
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