[EZMONEY]

Of course I don't want to die today

But if I did, the one thing I know for absolute sure is I would be HAPPY

When my eyes opened I would be in Paradise

with Jesus

I know that for a fact

How about you....if you died today would you be happy?

[Bootsie]

Only if I knew, I could kneel in front of Jesus Christ and hold his hand, that would be awesome.

[EZMONEY]

Do you doubt that you will be able to do that BOOTSIE?

[joyful retiree]

YES! I know I'll be happy. It fills me with joy to think of that day. Do I want to die today? Not really, but daily I seem to want more & more of Jesus, and yearn for my heavenly home. How blessed we are to know we are His.

[Bootsie]

Well... are you sure Gary and how can you be sure ,is not that up to Jesus?None of us is perfect and how do we really know? Plus why would I even be allowed to bow down before him, with all the people in the world why would I be one of the ones that is chosen? I am just an over the hill, say what is on my mind, strong headed Texas woman that does not understand the world , the way some things are done, don't make a heap of sense, why some things are done, don't make sense. Why does not any one know how to use common sense, anymore?

No Gary I don't know, that is why I would like to know how do you know, please explain.
I love Jesus, no doubt there. I belong to him but how can I be sure I will ever be able to bow down in front of him and hold his hand? Am I worthy of his love? I know I am not worth him going through the pain he went through, to save me, I am not worth that. I am thankful but not worth it. His love is awesome, and no I am not worthy of it.

[EZMONEY]

BOOTSIE

I am absolutely-positively sure I am going to be with Jesus one day ..

And you are so right...it is up to Him...that is why I know I am going to be with Him...because he promised me!

He did that in His WORD ~

John 3:16-21 (New International Version)

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[b] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."


See, He promised me! He said that!!

He tells me in His WORD that He did everything for me from birth to death so that I can join him when my time is finished here.

There is NOTHING I can do to stop it unless I reject Him and His WORD...nothing....

It isn't about what I do....!!!!!!!!!!

It is about what He has already done

In order to be with Him on my own accord I would have to be perfect in all ways...once I sin then that option was over...I was born into sin....I could never earn it...ever....

Once we start saying "I know Jesus died for me...but...I have to....I must..."

Then we fail to realize HE DID IT ALL!!!

BOOTSIE I could never be worthy of spending eternity with my Father if not for the fact that Jesus made it possible out of unconditional love for me.

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus you can go forward with eyes and hearts and minds focused on Him without worry of where you will spend eternity....

doing so frees us to do what He wants us to do here on earth....and that is to become closer with Him and share this wonderful news with everyone

[DaughteroftheKing]

Originally Posted by EZMONEY

BOOTSIE


There is NOTHING I can do to stop it unless I reject Him and His WORD...nothing....

I HATE religious debates; but I just felt so guilty for NOT saying anything after reading this post... SO in order to not be part of any debate; Im just going to post a few scriptures in response to yours in John, and leave it at that, I wont reply after that.. I love this site & dont want to ruin anything by arguing or anything that could be misconstrued as such

John 3:16 does say to believe in Him and you will be saved... but every day we "believe" that if we get out of be we will be able to walk.. but you must do something to act on that belief..

John chapter 3 also says
John 3:5- Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter in...to the kingdom of God.

And Jesus said in Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

And He also said to Peter in Matthew chapter 16:
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

And on the day of Pentecost later Peter said in Acts 2 after being filled with the Holy Ghost:
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And later in Acts chapter 8:
11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

And in chapter 16
14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

Acts is a book for the model of the church- even for day... So if Jesus said to do it & the apostles told us to do it & they showed us how to do it, why are we doing it differently??

Ok OK I love you all & you are my brothers & sisters in Christ...
Have a wonderful day & feel free to pm me with any questions...

[EZMONEY]

Thank you for your input Daughterofthe King and I don't believe you are trying to "start" something ugly here at all!

My church, Missouri Synod Lutheran, believe in the power of baptism...following is of our beliefs to that ~

First of all, central to everything that Lutherans teach is the good news that we are, in the words of St. Paul, saved "by grace...through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). The central principle of the Lutheran Reformation is that we are saved "by grace alone, through faith alone, for the sake of Christ alone. Faith in Christ by which we are saved is conveyed to us through the Gospel, as again Paul teaches, "faith comes from hearing the message, and message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). That is to say, the Gospel is the vehicle or means through which God by His Spirit works faith (Rom. 1:16-17). Faith does not come, as we might say today, "out of thin air." God uses His divinely appointed means to impart to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

We also believe on the basis of what the Scriptures say concerning Baptism throughout the New Testament that it is a means through which God conveys His saving grace. Lutheran theologians therefore often speak of Baptism as "visible Gospel." God (not human beings) has instituted Baptism (Matt. 28:18-20). He has attached His powerful Gospel to the visible element of water and through this, His work, He unites us with Christ and imparts to us His saving blessings. That Baptism is God's means of imparting His grace is especially clear in Romans 6. St. Paul writes, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried there with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life." The Greek phrase used here, "by baptism," is composed of the preposition dia with the genitive case tou baptismatos. Beyond dispute, grammatically Paul is speaking about Baptism as the instrument through which God incorporates people into Christ and His saving work. It is for this reason that Baptism, in Lutheran theology, is regarded as such a precious treasure.

To be sure, faith alone is the instrument by which we receive the salvation won by Christ. But the Gospel and sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper) are God's instruments through which He engenders saving faith in us--indeed, a miracle. Thus, there is no contradiction between saying faith alone saves, but that this faith comes to us through means or vehicles. We rejoice, therefore, in the words of the apostle who wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...." (Eph. 2:8-9), a precious truth made known to us, as St. Paul further says, "through the Gospel" (Eph. 3:6).

If one holds that Baptism is a good work of obedience done by humans, we can understand how one might think that Lutherans teach that faith alone in Christ is not enough. But this is to fundamentally misunderstand, in our view, how the Scriptures everywhere describe Baptism, that is, as a divine, not a human, work. We reject any implication that baptism is a human work, one that we do in order to earn salvation. On the contrary, we hold that the Scriptures teach that Baptism is God's precious gift through which He works to impart His saving grace revealed to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who alone is our Savior. In a word, Baptism is a marvelous testimony to the unmerited grace of God.

Daughterofthe King we know how important baptism is, we also feel salvation is a gift of grace through faith. In Luke 23:43 Jesus told the criminal hanging next to Him, when he confessed Jesus was Lord, that he would be with him in Paradise that day. We believe that one can know the Lord in their last minutes and not have the wonderful gift of baptism available.

As far as doing...if we are saved and have a relationship with Christ we will want to do things for Him...we will do things...some much more than others surely...but...we do that out of love for Him, not as a requirement for eternal life.

I have come across people in my life that believe with all their heart that Jesus died for them but cannot release the binding of the "law"...they feel they can never do enough....when in fact they can't do anything at all...to earn Christ's favor.....He loves us all. When we walk with Him in love and not in "doing" we will do plenty that is pleasing to the message He leaves us with through the power of the Holy Spirit

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

Yes, I believe I will go to heaven (paradise) to be with GOD and JESUS when I pass over from this life into the next one (or physically die). I believe that my spirit will move on into the heavenly realms to be with them and all my family and other beings who have gone on before ...

What a blessed assurance: JESUS is mine; oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation -- purchased of GOD; born of His spirit -- washed by His Love! (Hope I got that all right). What a comfort that is for us all.


DAUGHTEROFTHEKING ~ from another daughter of the King -- you are allowed to have your own doctrinal beliefs; and it doesn't necessarily mean anyone is debating doctrine becuz we happen to have differences, or do we? I think many of us believe similar things, but maybe just in a different way ...

I think most of us here know of and understand the significance of the rite of baptism. However, like brother GARY states, the thief on the cross never had time to be baptized or much else, but JESUS did promise him that he would be in paradise with Him (Jesus) that very day. I know some churches don't even practice baptism today, or in the same way as described in the bible, but I don't think GOD would say that all those who love Him and live for Him won't be allowed in heaven simply becuz they didn't have access to that particular exercise ...

And, you know, it doesn't even bother me that we don't all agree about everything; though it would go along way to help the world if we Christians focused on a gospel of peace foremost. I just think that the gospel of Love is more important than religious rites & practices. GOD judges the heart of mankind; and the LORD will ultimately be the one who decides. I am so very glad that HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER; for as JESUS said, "those who give mercy, will receive mercy."

To truly be a gospel of Love, we must be willing to extend to others the same Grace by which we ourselves have been saved ...

Acts is a book for the model of the church- even for day... So if Jesus said to do it & the apostles told us to do it & they showed us how to do it, why are we doing it differently??

BTW, I understand your question here; I have asked myself this same question many times. It seems like all churches should be following the same guidelines and church structure, but mankind is so complex -- and that spreads over into the church as well (which is made up of flawed people, after all).

Again, we have to hope that GOD's mercy & grace & love will cover a multitude of sins ... even our differences. That is why I think it is better to focus on what we all agree on -- for it is that common ground that binds us together as one: UNITED BY HIS SPIRIT -- UNITED IN HIS LOVE!

[carolr3639]

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. I John 5: 11-13.