Let's say you're having a conversation with someone and they say this...
"I believe I am saved because of Jesus, but I believe there are some who don't believe in Jesus who are saved."
How do you respond? If there are any readers who aren't Christians, I'd love to hear your response as well.
5 comments:
Hi D, My answer to this is similar to the question about Heaven and the unbeliever. If Heaven is a place where Jesus is Lord, why would an unbeliever want to go there? I see it as a question of self-selection. You can go if you want to be in a place where Jesus is Lord, but you don't have to. If you don't want to bow before Him now, do you want to bow before Him willingly for eternity?
Same with salvation. If "to be saved" is to be restored to right relationship with God and oneself by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, then a person's participation is necessary. This is my view of unlimited atonement, available to all but certain only for those who respond. Just my perspective -- not presbyterian.
Laura McKenzie
John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Acts 4:12: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Christ and the apostles preached the same message: There is only one Savior for a lost world--Jesus. To acknowledge other saviors is blasphemous. If other people or things could save us, then John 3:16 needs to be rewritten like this: "For God so loved a certain number of you that He gave His only begotten Son, but for the rest of you...you can just pick the savior that fits your favorite philosophy."
James Hayes
so would you assume the person is a non-believer even though they are professing faith. how do you approach the person with integrity to your personal convictions as well as love for them?
Are we doing your homework for you?
You just have to "speak the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15).
I suppose he is a believer and has faith in something, but it is a misguided faith. I would use the example of Aquila and Priscilla, who had to teach Apollos "the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26).
Some sort of teaching has to be done.
James Hayes
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