The Phrase "Trust in Christ"

It's 2 am, and my occassional insomnia is in full swing.
Something excited me earlier in the day, and I kept thinking about it, and now my brain stays awake even if my body tries to shut my eye.
So, I got up and where else do I go once the laptop purrs ?
You guessed it, Baptist Board.

So, browsing around I noticed a phrase which was being freely thrown around and used by both the classic and modern Arminians on this board, and by the Calvinists of various "points" as well.

The phrase is "trust Christ", and its variables.
You know.
Like, "trust God", "trust in Jesus", "look to Jesus only", and so on.

So.
I guess I'll throw a few questions.
(Uhmmm....what is it with Baptist Board ? I'm pretty sure this question will get serious answers along with the patronizing ones and the sarcastic ones and the boring ones, but I still come and throw this question on this board).

Anyway.

Do the phrase "trust Christ" mean to trust Christ for our eternal salvation everytime it is used in the Bible ?

Suppose someone doesn't "trust Christ", can he not be eternally saved ?

Will the death of Christ mean nothing at all, and will His resurrection be absolutely fruitless for one who does not "trust Christ" because he has never heard of Him ?

or no one has explained Christ to him in a gospel way ?

According to the Scriptures, what happens when we "trust Christ" ?

Does it redound or result in eternal salvation for us ?

Silly insomniac questions, but all serious answers not laced with sarcasm will be treated with equal respect, dignity and sobriety.

 

Yes, the SDA is one, but he sure doesn't trust Christ apart from the law.
But as far as the other forums on this board are, there are Arminians, modern ones, although I think they don't realize they are Arminians, or maybe semi-Pelagians ?

Our dear brother webdog I think is of the classic Arminian type.

But, whether or not there are Arminians on the board is worthy of another thread, if you so wish.

What are your answers to the questions on the OP, revmitchell ?
thanks.

 

thank you for your answer, diggin'.
here's why I ask those questions.
Whenever we discuss or try to study the Word, the Bible, if you will, we say, or are reminded, or told, "stay in context".

Now, the American Heritage dictionary defines the word "context" as:

n.

1. <LI minmax_bound="true">The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.
2. The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting.

The wordnet dictionary defines "context" as:

noun1. discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps to determine its interpretation 2. the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event; "the historical context

Online Etymology Dictionary
context

1432, from L. contextus "a joining together," orig. pp. of contexere "to weave together," from com- "together" + textere "to weave"


In other words, when we try to study by context, we not only consider the religious, theological, or etymological facts surrounding the word or phrases under study but also the historical facts or situations under which such books, letters, or phrases were written, not to mention the author.

Now, back to the phrase "trust in Christ", and all its various forms and derivatives, one of which is "salvation" or "saved".

We know that when we say "trust in Christ" it is because Acts 4:12 says that "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Christ being Lord, and proverbs telling us to "trust in the Lord with all thy heart", we then teach that for one to be saved from the fires of hell and the wrath of God, from eternal punishment, he must believe in Christ, and he must trust in Christ and only Christ. In other words, he, the sinner, needs to do something to make his salvation sure, and that something is faith in Christ, or trust in Christ, or believe in Christ, or turn to Christ, or receive Christ.

The point is, there has to be an action done.

This for something which the Bible says is entirely God's own prerogative, the salvation of the sinner from the fires of hell.

Now, pray tell, is such a concept contextual, and scriptural ?

What do we do now with such Scriptures as the following, which seems to tell us that no input is required of the sinner ?

[/FONT]

 

Input was used, PL, because popular doctrine seems to say that unless one believes, then the salvation of sinners or of God's people, planned from eternity past by the great Three-in-One, and executed by the Son in time, is all for nothing unless faith in Christ is present.

So, now granting that this is true, do you mean to say that Jehovah God planned His people's salvation, put on the form of a slave, lived a divinely righteous life, was deemed guilty though absolutely innocent and crucified, resurrected and then went up to heaven, promised He would come back, sent out His people to preach the gospel of His finished salvation, then, as the Holy Spirit, regenerates His elect, gives them faith, so that they can have input, and thus be saved ?

 

To continue the line of thought that I am currently having on this question about the phrase "trust in Christ" let me further the discussion.

Paul states unmistakably that the Scriptures, or what we call the Bible, were written for the benefit of God's people, not the entire mankind or not the entire humanity.
Scripture: Romans 15:4, to wit: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but we know that monotheism specifically originated with the Jews, or the Hebrews, or the Israelites, whatever one wishes to call them. I think a little review of world history and world religions will confirm this, but, well, I am no scholar.

If so, then this means that the whole world, the nations, or the Gentiles, whatever one wishes to call them, were steeped in paganism, idol worship, ancestor worship, human sacrifices, false gods, and so on, before and after the cross, before and after Jehovah God called Abraham to create the nation of Israel through him, and in order for the promised Messiah to come to this world through that nation.

We need to bear in mind, if we are to follow the rules of context thoroughly, that before Israel's patriarchs were born, there were already great civilizations that existed all over the world. (I remember that in the Mc'Arthur study Bible, he had some footnotes or something captioned "meantime, elsewhere in the world" in which he writes down what was going on in other countries and cultures while certain events were happening in the Middle East both in Old Testament and New Testament times).

Now, if the Bible says that in the coming times God will gather all his people up in heaven and they will be innumerable, unnumberable, and they will be coming from all over the world from all nations and tongues and kindred, then it stands to reason that the Bible implies that He has His people in all ages, all cultures, and all countries and in all the points of the chronological compass !

If, in order to be saved from the wrath of God and the fires of eternal damnation, one must be a believer FIRST in Christ, that is, one must profess to "trust in Christ", or "to know Christ", or to have "received Christ", then such a popular doctrine implies that eternal salvation begins with the Great Commission, and that previous to that Great Commission there was another way in which God saved or redeemed those whom He loved before the foundation of the world !

Therefore, the cross of Christ and the resurrection of Christ, and all power behind these two events, and the will of God for the salvation of sinners, whether one likes to call them elect or whosover, is inextricably tied to these sinners' belief in His Name, to the ability of preachers to preach the cross and reach every corner of the globe, and to the hearing of the Word.

Now I know that there will be many, perhaps even all, on this board who will protest and say "not so" and proceed to lecture me on the ability of God to transcend His own sovereignty and the right of God to save sinners the way He so wishes, and that salvation is by grace through faith and all that, but how can such a concept be consistent throughout if grace does not begin without the sinner's belief and trust ?

(have to go to a second interview now, and hopefully, a job offer. be with you all later).