TheGreaterGame said:
Do me a favor. Try to make some sense of what you say. The only way anyone is going to heaven according to Jesus is "to be born again" . . . not by works, not by temple rites, not by baptism, not by mother and father, not by being a good person, . . . only by being born again. John 3:3
If your not born again . . . your not born of the Spirit of God . . . to not be born of the Spirit of God is to be . . . a child of the devil.
If you cannot explain the biblical way of salvation . . . I doubt your salvation . . . and so should you . . .
Ah, born again, eh? I think you just sorta "left out" that part where it says born again of WATER and spirit. John 3: 5
I peter 3: 20 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Huh, that's funny. Baptism saves me...
Oh, and yeah, Matthew 25: 31-44
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Hmm thats interesting...
Romans 2: 5-8
By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works.Eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness
And then of course there is that little Biblical passage I love to quote, James 2: 24
"You see that we are justified by works and not by Faith alone"
So, yeah, I would say that works and Baptismal rites are pretty important. Wouldn't you?