How does a person get saved?

No it's not calvinism, thats for sure. Calvinism has nothing to do with making yourself acceptable so God will chose you. It is being chosen by God based on Him and His plans and has nothing to do with us wehter or not we have earned the right to be chosen. We have nothing to do with it.

I don't agree with it either, and neither does scripture.

 

Attempting to make yourself acceptable to God is the complete opposite of what is often called "Calvinism", otherwise known as the doctrines of grace, or reformed doctrine. I am glad you don't agree with the idea of making yourself acceptable for God. Not only is it not calvinism; far more importantly, it is totally unbiblical. If it were possible for sinners to make themselves right with God, Jesus could have stayed in heaven, and His death on the cross would not have been needed.

 

xDisciplex, can you give us a single statement on any theological topic at all that you hold with certainty and agree with?

 

I am sorry, but I don't really understand the distinction. If someone becomes "acceptable to God", what do they need to be saved from? According to Ephesians 1.6, it is God, by His grace, Who makes sinners accepted in the Beloved. When the jailer at Philippi asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved, the answer was not, "Make yourself acceptable to God, then wait to see if He saves you." No. It was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." (Acts 16.31).

In Philippians 3.4-9, Paul mentions his attempts to be acceptable to God, and says that now he counts them as rubbish (and I understand the Greek word used means "animal excrement"!):

4 ¶ though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 ¶ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ​

The words of Romans 5.10-11 are very clear in showing that God does not wait for sinners to make themselves acceptable to Him before He saves them:

10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. ​

 

Do you agree with the following?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph 2:8, 9).

 

There is only one place in Scripture where the direct question is given by a direct answer. So the question is what was the answer?

Acts 16:30-31 tells us if we believe on the Lord Jesus we will be saved.

Some call that "easy believism" I call it Scripture .

 

xdisciplex what does the book of James say the demons believe? And is that the same thing that Paul said believe and you will be saved? I think you will find that they are two totally different things.

Although the Book of James is what a lot of folks try to use to back load works into their plan of salvation.

Either Paul was telling the truth or he was not. And it seems that he was telling the truth because he basically said the same exact thing in Eph. 2:8-9.

 

Well I was hoping you would take the time to look it up .

But here is what it says:

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

That has nothing to do with Acts 16:30-31. It's talking about God being one not Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that died in our place.

Yes I agree with this part. We were saved to do good works.

I do not agree with this part. There is nothing in Scripture that says we have to "prove" we are saved. If we believe we are saved. Whether or not we follow as disciples is something totally different.

 

The demons believe there's a God (James 2:19). Belief in the existence of God is not the same as believing in Jesus for Salvation.

There's a difference.

 

Two pages of posts and not one mention of the "R" word.

"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

 

Because Paul was either lying or he wasn't.

That is the only place in Scripture where the direct question what must I do to be saved was asked and the only place where a direct answer is given and the answer was believe on the Lord Jesus and you "will be" saved.

If God is true to His word and HE IS, then all I have to do to be saved is believe on the Lord Jesus. If I have to do anything else other than that, including "repenting of my sins", the God's Word is not truthful.

We can either believe what it says and take it at face value or we can try to re-write it. It's MUCH easier if we just take Him at what He said .

 

I would say that "believing on the Lord Jesus Christ" must involve repentance. It is not just a matter of believing that the Lord Jesus Christ exists.

But even if we lay that on one side for the moment, the question on this thread was not, "What must I do to be saved?" but "How does a person get saved?" The difference is similar to that between, "What must I do to have light in my house when it is dark outside?" and "How do people get light houses at night?" The answer to the first would be, "Press the switch on the wall." The answer to the second involves the production and transmission of electricity, as well as activating the switch.

 

Goodmorning Brother David. I like your answer here.:thumbs:

The question still remains though, is repentance mans work or is it God’s? Must God grant to man special abilities to repent, in essece God granting to man repentance and in particular only to those He foreknows and has predestinated, or do men possess, as a natural ability given to them by God as a part of their moral makeup, the abilities to repent?

Am I making my question clear or should I try and rephrase it?