I was not upset…. I was just frustrated for not being able to express myself. Have you ever had that feeling when you know you have something to say, you want to say it to someone, but you are not allowed or you are hindered? it is awful!… I guess the only comparison I have is “when you urgently want to go to the bathroom but you are not allowed” –I don’t know if that ever happened to you… but at first you feel exasperated, but then the urgency begins to weaken, and then is gone, but still you get the awkward uncomfortable feeling for not getting out the thing you have inside–yea I know I should had chosen another example. I just wanted to say this:First: Sofia, I can see you are a God fearing person, and I praise that.
Second: The common conception that God will weight your good deeds vs your bad deeds is myth that has not biblical backup–in fact on the contrary, it says that the penalty of one single sin is death in hell (Adan is witness of that fact). Eternal life is not gain by good works (Ef. 2:8), and yes, one can have the certainty of having the Eternal life (there are many passages in the Scriptures that talk about that) and I would love with all my heart for you to have that certainty.
In our common conception we have this logic:
“Try, be good and do good works so you can gain heaven”…
In Gods conception he has this logic:
“give up, you cannot be good for your self, and the good deeds you get to do could never buy you heaven… you need a saviour, to be born again… a change in your nature”
You see, God saw that the bad tree cannot produce good fruits. So instead of hanging up good fruits in a bad tree, as in a Christmas tree, to make it look good (as we try to do by ourselves), he changed the nature of the tree. This change of nature does not come by saying “i’m sorry”, but by a genuine conversion (repentance and acceptance by faith of God’s gift). This is the deal He proposes:
The sins you could you not errase I will forgive; eternal life, will be yours; I will give you a new heart, I will put my Spirit in you, and write my laws in you mind so you can follow my ways.
Good deeds are a consecuence, not a requirement, of receiving salvation.–for a bad tree produces good fruits only after his nature has been changed.
I leave you with this passages:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (Ephesians 2:8)
Ибо благодатью вы спасены через веру, и сие не от вас, Божий дар: (К Ефесянам 2:8)
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” (Ro 9:30-32)
“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? ” Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
The words “it was credited to him “[refering to Abraham] were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Ro: 4:1-3, 23-25)
I really recomend to you the book of Romans. Now about the Eucharit: nowhere in the Bible you will find that you receive the Holy Spirit or salvation by eating a peace of bread that symbolizes Jesus (even if it were the actual Jesus), but on the contrary, Jesus and Paul states that you receive those only by faith (I’ll skip the passages so I don’t trouble you any more)
Ok… thanks for letting me express myself. Surely it is wierd for you to have a friend who already has gained heaven… I guess the natural question from a person who thinks like you would be: “what would his purpose for his life be now?”… don’t worry I will skip the answer.
Now pleaseSofia, if you don’t want to talk about this tipic again, DO NOT REPLY to this mail, buecause everytime I you answer and you say something I know is Biblical inacurrate I will want to correct it.
have anice afternoon