Do you believe in a god or gods?

[pattygreen 5]

patty:

i am new to this discussion but i beleive the bible also says:

James 2:24 and 26 “Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?. . . For even as the body without the spirit is dead: so also faith without works is dead.”

A man asked Jesus, "what must we do to do the works of God?" He answered ,"The work of God is this: To believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:28,29)

To sum of every thing the Bible teaches that we need :

Faith Heb.11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is: and is a rewarder to them that seek him.”

Good works Luke.19:8-9 “But Zacheus standing, said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold. Jesus said to him: This day is salvation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”

This verse above doesn't mean that he was saved because he did all those things. He recognized that he was a sinner and needed God. Rome's method of collecting taxes was to employ as tax collectors locals who knew who had money and where they kept it. A province was divided into tax districts. Locals would bid for the contract of collecting taxes in a district. The bid was the money they were contracted to pay the government; whatever they collected over that amount was theirs to keep. The chief tax collector (such as Zacchaeus in Luke 19) owned the contract for his region. Then he would employ others to collect taxes in the various villages. Tax collectors were widely regarded as thieves and robbers. In this story in Luke, He sought after Jesus and ran, and even climbed a tree just to see him that day. He said, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my posessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." (almost the extreme repayment required under law in cases of theft). So, Jesus told him that "today he received salvation". Not because of his doings, or works, but because of his belief in Jesus. After he believed, he chose to make restitution for ripping people off as a tax collector. Jesus recognized that he had true faith.

God’s grace Eph.2:8 “For by grace you are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God. Not of works, that no man may glory”

Baptism Jn.3:5 “Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of Water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of kingdom of God".

The above verse refers to "physical" birth and "spiritual" birth. Water represents physical birth and the Spirit represents the Spiritual birth. We are all born phsically and we all must be born "again", spiritually. This doesn't have anything to do with the commandment of God to be baptised in the water after one comes to believe.

Mk.16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.”

Notice that those who don't believe will be condemned, but it doesn't say that those who don't get baptised will be condemned.

Received the real presence of Christ body, blood and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist; Jn.6:51-52 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

In John 6:35-36, before Jesus said the quote you gave above, Jesus compares himself to manna, the bread the Israelites ate which God gave them from Heaven. He said I am the bread of life. In what way is Jesus like bread? His followers will never go hungry or be thirsty. Of course, he is speaking spiritually here, not physically, following the tradition of Isaiah 49:10 and 55:1-2. Jesus had used similar language with the woman at the well of Samaria:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)

This eating and drinking of his flesh and blood is not literal. When one eats or drinks something it becomes a part of him, and he must do it himself. No one can do it for another. This is the key to salvation.

On that day he had said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6) When he later fed the crowd by his power, he wanted them to see the fulfillment of a hunger for righteousness. The crowd who had eaten plenty of bread and fish wasn't interested in righteousness, which they could not see. They wanted bread, which they could see. Jesus answered by saying, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

This answer, which some must have seen as esoteric mumblings, was not satisfactory. He claimed to come from heaven, when they knew he came from Nazareth. He claimed to be the son of God, when they knew he was the son of Joseph and Mary. And how was he supposed to give them his flesh to eat?

His voice may have risen when he said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." This statement in John 6:53 prepares them to understand what he will say later as institutes the Lord's supper. "This is my body. This is my blood." (Matt 26:26-28) The body and blood of Jesus nourishes our hunger for righteousness, and becomes part of us. It is real food, real bread and real wine, yet it is the body and blood of Jesus, a real mystery. The point of feeding all those people bread that they could see was to point them to the need they didn't even acknowledge - their yearning to feel right with God, their deep hunger to become righteous. So, you see, only believing in Jesus can bring salvation, nothing more is needed. Just faith.

Does this Biblical verse sound like faith alone?

Clearly not.

We are saved through Grace, Faith, Good works, Baptism and receiving Communion or in other words through the Sacraments.

..............................................................................

[LeighaMason 19]

Patty says--"So, you see, only believing in Jesus can bring salvation, nothing more is needed. Just faith."

So this is what gives you the ability to sleep at night, I was wondering.

[pattygreen 5]

Patty says--"So, you see, only believing in Jesus can bring salvation, nothing more is needed. Just faith."

So this is what gives you the ability to sleep at night, I was wondering.

I never had a problem sleeping.

If some form of work on our part was needed to receive salvation, then Jesus died for nothing. It wuld be like saying what he did on the cross for us was not enough, and it was.

[LeighaMason 19]

I never had a problem sleeping.

Thats my whole point.

[mrjwsjr 0]

I never had a problem sleeping.

If some form of work on our part was needed to receive salvation, then Jesus died for nothing. It wuld be like saying what he did on the cross for us was not enough, and it was.

are we not called to live our lives as Jesus led his. and if we are called to live as He did then should we not make sacrifices of works and good deeds as Jesus did. and I also believe that when Jesus held the last supper He said "THIS IS MY BODY AND THIS IS MY BLOOD" not this is a symbol of. And I think HE also said "IF YOU DO NOT EAT OF MY FLESH AND DRINK OF MY BLOOD YOU WILL NOT HAVE LIFE WITHIN YOU" sounds pretty straight forward to me. And for someone who claims to have faith in everything Jesus said and did then why can you not have faith that He could change simple bread and simple wine into HIS flesh and blood.

I notice that you are very well versed in quoting the Bible but im not sure where you get your interpretations. I see that you like most protetants(and i am assuming that you are protestant from the way you interpret the bible) interpret the bible the way you want to and im curious as to where you found in the bible that you are given that right. I find it odd that most protestants want to pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to follow. Im pretty sure that the Bible says in the first letter of Paul to Timothy :1Timothy chapter 3 verses 14-15"I am writing you about these matters, although i hope to visit you soon. But if I should be delayed you should know to behave in the household of God, which is the CHURCH of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth." Wow Paul is saying hear that the CHURCH is the pillar and foundation of truth not the bible. and as far as i can remember there was only one CHURCH that Jesus started, the one where he said "Peter you are rock and upon you i will build my CHURCH". and to the best of my memory the only church that can be traced back to Peter is the Catholic Church. And by no means am i saying that the successors of Peter have always led the Church in the right direction because they are human and as such are subject to sin the same as you and me but ican without a doubt say that the basic foundations of the Church have always been right. Faith in Jesus Christ and the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

[pattygreen 5]

are we not called to live our lives as Jesus led his. and if we are called to live as He did then should we not make sacrifices of works and good deeds as Jesus did.

Yes, we should. But we were discussing "what" exactly saves us. I was trying to point out that it is faith alone that saves us. What we do after we receive our faith is considered our works or deeds. Anything that we do for God is a work. (Prayer, feeding the poor, supporting missionaries, getting baptised, taking communion, clothing the poor, going to church weekly, etc.) These are deeds that we do. We will be judged on these things. They will determine our rewards, or lack of them, in Heaven someday, but they will not have any bearing on whether we get into Heaven or not.

and I also believe that when Jesus held the last supper He said "THIS IS MY BODY AND THIS IS MY BLOOD" not this is a symbol of.

When he said that, was it really his body and his blood that he was showing them? For his body was standing right there and his blood was within him at that time. No, it was a symbol for them, He also said, "I am the bread of life." But was he really bread? Jesus often spoke in parables and used other things to help us to relate to his teachings.

We observe Communion because the Lord told us to. We are to obey His commands:

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 11:24

In observing Communion we are remembering Christ and all that He has done for us in his life, death and resurrection:

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 11:24

You absolutely MUST read all of the scripture before you settle on one interpretation. Some of it is literal and some of it is allegory. Unless you read it all, you will not know.

And I think HE also said "IF YOU DO NOT EAT OF MY FLESH AND DRINK OF MY BLOOD YOU WILL NOT HAVE LIFE WITHIN YOU"

Jesus was comparing himself to manna, the bread the Israelites ate which God gave them from Heaven. He said I am the bread of life. (you need to read the whole chapter, not just the verse that say that.) In what way is Jesus like bread? His followers will never go hungry or be thirsty. Of course, he is speaking spiritually here, not physically,

sounds pretty straight forward to me. And for someone who claims to have faith in everything Jesus said and did then why can you not have faith that He could change simple bread and simple wine into HIS flesh and blood.

Oh, I believe that Jesus can do anything, but he has no need to change bread or wine into his flesh and blood. This is not what he wants us to observe. If you read it all, you can clearly see that he was talking about something that he wanted us to do to have rememberance of him and what he did on the cross for us. It's rather simple, really.

I notice that you are very well versed in quoting the Bible but im not sure where you get your interpretations. I see that you like most protetants(and i am assuming that you are protestant from the way you interpret the bible) interpret the bible the way you want to and im curious as to where you found in the bible that you are given that right. I find it odd that most protestants want to pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to follow.

This is not true. I take the whole bible and follow it. I see that most Catholics don't do that. For instance, The bible teaches that you should not pray to anyone but Jesus for he is the ONLY mediator between man and God, (1Timothy 2:5)yet many Catholics pray to Mary and Saints. Now, Saints are simply believers in Jesus who have died in the past. The bible teaches that you should not pray to dead people. Praying to the dead is strictly forbidden in the Bible. (Deut:18:11 )tells us that anyone who “consults with the dead” is “detestable to the Lord.” Mary, Jesus' mother and all Saints are dead. The Catholic church also teaches that Mary was a virgin all her life. Yet, the bible teaches that she had other children with Joseph. It speaks of Jesus other siblings many times.

Im pretty sure that the Bible says in the first letter of Paul to Timothy :1Timothy chapter 3 verses 14-15 "I am writing you about these matters, although i hope to visit you soon. But if I should be delayed you should know to behave in the household of God, which is the CHURCH of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth." Wow Paul is saying hear that the CHURCH is the pillar and foundation of truth not the bible.

Actually, every time the bible speaks of the 'Church' it is speaking of the 'believers' in Christ. Not a building we go to. The believers in Jesus are the Church. There are many believers in Christ all over the world, and they all don't attend a Catholic church. There are many different denominations of Christian churches and believers in Jesus attend them all. When you get to Heaven, you will be quite surprised when you see all the people (The church) who will be there from many different christian faiths.

The bible is ALL truth. There is no debating that. Every wiord in it is truth and Jesus said He is the word of God. Now, we know he wasn't "literally" a word, but what he was saying is that he is truth.

and as far as i can remember there was only one CHURCH that Jesus started, the one where he said "Peter you are rock and upon you i will build my CHURCH".

Upon the foundation (rock) of truth that he handed to Peter and many other Apostles to pass along to the people he will build his church. His great number of people (church) who will live with him in Heaven.

and to the best of my memory the only church that can be traced back to Peter is the Catholic Church.

I look to the book of Acts for that answer. Those who believed in Jesus at the time of his death would gather together in peoples homes and pray and worship together. They would commune with one another and help each other and the poor. When the places where they were gathering became too small, due to many coming to know Christ and the crowds growing in size, they gathered in buildings or places that were bigger than a small home so they could hold all the people. These were our first churches. Believers getting together weekly to praise God, worship, to give and sing songs and hymns, to remember Christ and what he did for us. It continued to grow from there. These were the first TRUE Churches of Jesus Christ.

And by no means am i saying that the successors of Peter have always led the Church in the right direction because they are human and as such are subject to sin the same as you and me but ican without a doubt say that the basic foundations of the Church have always been right. Faith in Jesus Christ and the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

..........................................................................

[BJean 16]

Now everybody can't be absolutely right, can they? What is needed is faith, personal commitment and trust.

When someone speaks in absolutes whether they are protestant, Catholic, Muslim or any other faith, they must remember that they are only believing what THEY feel comfortable with and what makes sense to them.

That's one reason why there are so many faiths. If the Bible were actually written by the hand of God, as some believe, then we wouldn't need to have all the religious debates and we probably wouldn't have so many non-believers. Because if the Bible had actually been written by God, we would have proof and not have to rely on faith alone.

So everyone must choose for him or her self. And there are many choices and ways to interpretet the Bible and other religious books, ad infinatim.

But what every person of faith must understand (and there are so many, many fanatics who do not understand this) YOU do not have all the answers. YOU offer no proof whatsoever - you only have what you believe to sustain you and to guide you. And you must never declare that your way is the only way! You must respect other faiths because they represent real people's beliefs. And although you may not believe that they are right with all your heart, their faith is, in fact, just as valid as your own.

Now I know you look at other religions around the world and you can't understand how in the world a person could embrace their very strange "good book" as the true way, truth and light. But that is not for you to say. You are not annointed as the prophet sent from heaven to convert all souls to your faith. If you had been sent from God, you would be perfect and sinless and none of us is.

So we must allow each other our various beliefs and we must respect each other and treat each other as God's children, no matter what we believe.

There are people who believe that the Bible is simply a literary work, filled with parables and fascinating stories to give it the kind of merit one would need to adopt faith in God and the Bible. Those people too, deserve our respect and their intellect and education may serve them well in this life. They may in fact, be much better people than some religious extremists who are hell bent on destruction of those who do not agree with their beliefs.

So it is up to us to become aware, to qestion everything and resolve in our own mind and soul, just exactly what we believe and which God we follow - or if we follow no God.

Religion has been one of the reasons that countries go to war. And it has been one of the reasons that terrorists are motivated to kill other human beings. So it's not surprising that we might disagree here and try to verbally duke it out. It's healthy to discuss our differences but what we always must remember is to respect one another in the debate. Otherwise, we are in jeapordy of becoming an extremist who eventually, in frustration, finds ourselves disliking people of other faiths so much that eventually we even wish to harm those of other faiths.

And my most important message is for religion to be kept out of our government. With these kinds of differences in our very basic, very basic, beliefs there is a good chance that we too could become as crazed and angry as some of the terrorists around the world. And if that happened, our country too could become a killing field.

Reading this morning about some of the events that were planned by a number of Americans in this country only goes to show that religious zealots exist here, just like they exist in the middle east. So you know I am right about learning tolerance and respect. Those zealots did not start out just reading the Bible. It was a journey that brought them to this point. And along the way they lost respect for not only people from other churches but also anyone who specifically does not agree with their very rigid personal beliefs.

Edited March 29, 2010 by BJean

[pattygreen 5]

Now everybody can't be absolutely right, can they? What is needed is faith, personal commitment and trust.

When someone speaks in absolutes whether they are protestant, Catholic, Muslim or any other faith, they must remember that they are only believing what THEY feel comfortable with and what makes sense to them.

There is an absolute truth. God alone knows what it is. But, every believer has the opportunity to discover these truths that God has for us for themselves. The bible teaches that the word of God is like a buried treasure that brings forth nuggets of gold for those who desire to know the truths and are willing to seek for them by studying and delving into the book instead of listening to the "authorities" of the day. He tells his church to read it and study it because he talks to us through it. This is one area where the Catholic church has failed their congregants. The catholic church I attended when I was young didn't even have any bibles in their pews. Parishoners were not encouraged to read it. I think the Priests just didn't want them to know what was in there, cause too much of what that denomination tells their people is untrue. If they actually read the book, they would have to leave the church.

That's one reason why there are so many faiths.

I believe there are so many faiths because people are lazy and don't pick up the book. It's a looooong read, but once you get through it, you know the truth. People would rather trust the words of other people as to what it says than read it for themselves. This causes differing of truths among people, thus the many denominations. One good thing is that most Christian denominations have the main truth that is needed to get to Heaven, which is that believing on Jesus is the way. All the other things that many denominations have wrong are going to be corrected by God when we get there, and thankfully wont keep us from attaining the goal of salvation.

If the Bible were actually written by the hand of God, as some believe, then we wouldn't need to have all the religious debates and we probably wouldn't have so many non-believers. Because if the Bible had actually been written by God, we would have proof and not have to rely on faith alone.

So everyone must choose for him or her self. And there are many choices and ways to interpretet the Bible and other religious books, ad infinatim.

Like I said, these differings of interpretations are not important as long as they don't keep a person from understanding the one basic truth which is that Jesus is the one who saves us and we must put our faith in him. These other things, like "do we need to be baptised to be saved?", or "how old is the earth really?" Or "where did Cain get his wife?", are not going to keep us out of Heaven if we believe in Jesus and trust in him for our eternal destination. They are just misunderstandings about biblical things which cause division which cause differing denominations. When those who believe in Him get there, then we will know all things and God himself will correct all of us on our misunderstandings.

But what every person of faith must understand (and there are so many, many fanatics who do not understand this) YOU do not have all the answers. YOU offer no proof whatsoever - you only have what you believe to sustain you and to guide you. And you must never declare that your way is the only way!

My way is the ONLY way! Jesus is my way! I WILL declare it on the roof top! Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but through me."

You must respect other faiths because they represent real people's beliefs. And although you may not believe that they are right with all your heart, their faith is, in fact, just as valid as your own.

I respect other people's beliefs. We all have the right to believe anything we choose. I just know they are not right. Unless they accept Jesus as their Savior, when their life is over, they will perish. Now I know you look at other religions around the world and you can't understand how in the world a person could embrace their very strange "good book" as the true way, truth and light. But that is not for you to say. You are not annointed as the prophet sent from heaven to convert all souls to your faith. If you had been sent from God, you would be perfect and sinless and none of us is.

Someone has it right.

So we must allow each other our various beliefs and we must respect each other and treat each other as God's children, no matter what we believe.

I agree to allow each other their various beliefs, but those who do not believe in the God of the bible are not God's children. They are his creation. And as soon as they make that decision to be a part of his family, He will make them his children.

There are people who believe that the Bible is simply a literary work, filled with parables and fascinating stories to give it the kind of merit one would need to adopt faith in God and the Bible. Those people too, deserve our respect and their intellect and education may serve them well in this life. They may in fact, be much better people than some religious extremists who are hell bent on destruction of those who do not agree with their beliefs.

Even the most extreme Christians are not hell bent on the destruction of others. As a matter of fact, I don't know of any Christians who would desire anyone to be destroyed for not beliveing as they do. If there are any out there, then they are not true Christians.

So it is up to us to become aware, to qestion everything and resolve in our own mind and soul, just exactly what we believe and which God we follow - or if we follow no God.

I agree with this.

Religion has been one of the reasons that countries go to war. And it has been one of the reasons that terrorists are motivated to kill other human beings. So it's not surprising that we might disagree here and try to verbally duke it out. It's healthy to discuss our differences but what we always must remember is to respect one another in the debate. Otherwise, we are in jeapordy of becoming an extremist who eventually, in frustration, finds ourselves disliking people of other faiths so much that eventually we even wish to harm those of other faiths.

Christianity is not a religion. It's a relationship with God. Many people refer to it as a religion, but religion is: man searching for a way to reach God. Christianity is God reaching down to man. No work involved at all.

And my most important message is for religion to be kept out of our government. With these kinds of differences in our very basic, very basic, beliefs there is a good chance that we too could become as crazed and angry as some of the terrorists around the world. And if that happened, our country too could become a killing field.

The constitution says "freedom of religion", not "freedom from religion."

Reading this morning about some of the events that were planned by a number of Americans in this country only goes to show that religious zealots exist here, just like they exist in the middle east. So you know I am right about learning tolerance and respect. Those zealots did not start out just reading the Bible. It was a journey that brought them to this point. And along the way they lost respect for not only people from other churches but also anyone who specifically does not agree with their very rigid personal beliefs.

These people you speak of were NOT of God. They give Christianity a bad name. They were screwed up mentally just like that woman who drove her car into the lake with her 5 children and drowned them all because God said so.

...........................................................................

[BJean 16]

It is very stupid to write people off as mentally insane just because you do not agree with them or because you think that they are too extreme in their beliefs and the way they choose to act on their beliefs.

By the way, the word christianity can be looked up in the Bible. You didn't invent the word and your definition is not the strict definition of the word.

[pattygreen 5]

It is very stupid to write people off as mentally insane just because you do not agree with them or because you think that they are too extreme in their beliefs and the way they choose to act on their beliefs.

Oh yeah, all murderers are in their riight mind and are thinking straight.

By the way, the word christianity can be looked up in the Bible. You didn't invent the word and your definition is not the strict definition of the word.

If you want to call it a 'religion', then it's the ONLY 'religion' that doesn't require anything of a person except belief. The only one. EVERY other religion out there, requires a person to "work" at doing some sort of requirement in order to be saved (ex: be good, knock on doors, bring X amount of souls to God, penance, baptism, give to the poor, wearing a dress that covers you from head to foot, a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), a righteous lifestyle, etc. Christianity acknowledges that this can not be obtained by anyone, for all are sinners, and none can do right. Every religion has works and deeds that ae required from you, or you will not make it to Heaven. So, in this way, Christianity is different from all other religions. Is it any wonder that the bible speaks of the judgment day when those who have put their faith in Jesus will not be judged and those who have not, will stand before the judgment seat of God and give account of all their "deeds"? They are each judged according to what they have done and they are found guilty. In Revelations, it says that if anyone's name was not found in the book of life, they were thrown into the lake of fire, and they perish. The only way to get your name into the book is to have 'faith' or 'belief' in Jesus.

[BJean 16]

Oh yeah, all murders are crazy. *roll eyes*

Oh but wait... you now have changed your verbiage from "crazy" to not "in their right mind and thinking straight" what tha? There is a big difference between those two concepts and like with the term christianity, there is usually more than one meaning for words.

But a person isn't allowed to use a word in one context of their post one way and then arbitrarily decide afterwards that they didn't mean it that way, because what they really meant was something different. At least not if one is to read their posts and have them mean much. You can change the meaning easily, with no confusion, if you just say something like... what I meant to say is that people who commit murder are momentarily not in their right mind and thinking straight instead of pretending that the word crazy means: momentarily not in ones' right mind and thinking straight.

So your religion or faith in christianity the way you say the Bible defines it, does not require you to do anything but believe, eh? Then why do you feel it is incumbent upon you to go about witnessing to others all the time? Just a personal choice I guess. Hasn't a thing to do with the Bible or Jesus requiring that from you so you can make your way into heaven, right?

I'll be real honest with you. If I had never heard of Jesus, Christianity or the Bible, and you were the only source of information on the subject, I would run in the totally opposite direction. Because many of the things you say sound completely crazy. Or I guess I should I say that you sound, momentarily, like you're not in your right mind or thinking straight.

[Chris_NJ 9]

I look at it this way I am a Catholic. I don't practice like I should but thats me. I feel that I do not care what religion people are as long as it makes them happy and doesn't oppress people. If having a belief works for someone then its a great thing !

[pattygreen 5]

Oh yeah, all murders are crazy. *roll eyes*

Oh but wait... you now have changed your verbiage from "crazy" to not "in their right mind and thinking straight" what tha? There is a big difference between those two concepts and like with the term christianity, there is usually more than one meaning for words.

But a person isn't allowed to use a word in one context of their post one way and then arbitrarily decide afterwards that they didn't mean it that way, because what they really meant was something different. At least not if one is to read their posts and have them mean much. You can change the meaning easily, with no confusion, if you just say something like... what I meant to say is that people who commit murder are momentarily not in their right mind and thinking straight instead of pretending that the word crazy means: momentarily not in ones' right mind and thinking straight.

So your religion or faith in christianity the way you say the Bible defines it, does not require you to do anything but believe, eh? Then why do you feel it is incumbent upon you to go about witnessing to others all the time?

Jesus gives us commands such as "love one another" and "tell others about His love and salvation" for example, but doing the right things he tells us we should do, or not doing them, does not determine our destiny after this life. Only our faith does. AFTER we get there, then there will be rewards from him or lack of rewards from him for the deeds we have done as Christians, like whether we shared the gospel with others, or whether we helped the poor, etc.

Just a personal choice I guess. Hasn't a thing to do with the Bible or Jesus requiring that from you so you can make your way into heaven, right?

Right. Our 'deeds' have anything to do with our destiny into heaven or hell, they have everything to do with our rewards once we get there. Remember the scripture that teaches us to "store our treasures in Heaven where rust can not destroy them."? These rewards we will recieve for our good deeds will be those treasues.

I'll be real honest with you. If I had never heard of Jesus, Christianity or the Bible, and you were the only source of information on the subject, I would run in the totally opposite direction. Because many of the things you say sound completely crazy. Or I guess I should I say that you sound, momentarily, like you're not in your right mind or thinking straight.

These things I say are straight from the word of God himself. I'm not making them up. I have studied the bible for most of my life, and have learned alot about him.

[BJean 16]

God didn't write anything so nothing is straight from the word of God. Everything that is described as God's word has been revealed to us through a human being.

The Bible is a wonderful book. But it does not contain words STRAIGHT from God. I don't understand how someone's faith is true when they assert things that are not true. Your faith would be more impressive if you saw things for what they really are instead of how you wish they were.

[pattygreen 5]

I look at it this way I am a Catholic. I don't practice like I should but thats me. I feel that I do not care what religion people are as long as it makes them happy and doesn't oppress people. If having a belief works for someone then its a great thing !

I feel that everyone has a right to worship whom they please or no one at all. Even God gives everyone this right to make a choice. But, I must confess, that it does bother me to know that those who don't put their faith in Jesus will not live in Heaven at the end of time. So, to say I don't care what 'religion' people are is a far stretch. I do care, for their sakes.