the study of the mechanisms by which an individual is saved
3
votes
2answers
209 views
Were Annanias and Saphira guilty of the “unforgiveable” sin?
In Acts 5 we are presented with the account of Annanias and Saphira.
Summary
they sold a piece of property, and then determined to lie to the Apostles and the Holy Spirit about its value, and give ...
0
votes
1answer
52 views
According to Calvinism: is it possible to believe in predestination, yet reject Christ?
This question is different from:
Do Calvanists believe that it is possible to be saved without believing the doctrine of predestination?
one asks "Does A => B?" the other asks "Does B => A" ?
Given
...
5
votes
1answer
87 views
What is Lordship Salvation?
I have heard the term "Lordship Salvation" several times now, including in an answer I read recently.
Can anyone explain to me what this is?
Is this the official position of any major churches?
Is ...
14
votes
5answers
750 views
Praying for someone's salvation. Is there a point?
According to I Timothy 2:4 (NIV), God "...wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth".
But since we have free will, God cannot make us choose to accept the salvation that is ...
10
votes
4answers
701 views
How does the Passover foreshadow the coming of Jesus as the Messiah?
In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul refers to Jesus as "Christ, our Passover", suggesting that the Passover of Exodus somehow foreshadowed the life of Jesus.
How specifically does the Passover do this?
...
5
votes
4answers
722 views
Should we pray for someone's salvation?
Today a Pastor on a local TV (in India) was preaching that we need not pray for someone's salvation. Salvation is something that belongs to God and His Plans. He also said that nowhere in the New ...
4
votes
1answer
231 views
Nature of salvation in the Old Testament [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Who saved people before ~33AD?
(This question I address to those Christians who believe that salvation once acquired cannot be lost. I am specifically after the answer ...
26
votes
10answers
620 views
Biblical basis for baptism as a prerequisite for salvation
Some people believe that if you have not been baptized, you cannot be saved.
Others (including myself) believe that it is merely the outward declaration of what has already happened in the heart.
...
5
votes
2answers
173 views
Is the biblical idea of being “born again” compatible with eastern religious ideas of reincarnation?
Just a simple question: is the biblical idea of being born again compatible with eastern religious ideas of reincarnation?
14
votes
3answers
477 views
How could a loving, just, merciful God have created such an unfair test for humans?
According to the Bible, God is loving:
1 John 4 (NIV)
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4 (NIV)
16 And so we know and rely on the love God ...
12
votes
7answers
757 views
If we are saved by grace, then why does Jesus say we must be baptized in both spirit and water?
Ephesians 2:4-9 says:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace ...
0
votes
1answer
178 views
Is Cain saved or he will go into the eternal perdition?
This question is about speculations that might have taken place in Christianity on the matter of Cain's destiny - whether he will be in the kingdom of God (which means that he is saved) or he will go ...
3
votes
4answers
481 views
When is it too late to ask for salvation?
In protestant teachings or directly from the bible, when is it too late to ask for salvation? There are many death bed conversion stories. The most momentous conversion in Western history was that ...
4
votes
2answers
458 views
How does Jesus fulfill the Protoevangelium (First Gospel) in Genesis 3:15?
In the judgment of the serpent in Genesis 3:15, God says the following:
The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed
are you above all livestock and above all beasts of ...
4
votes
1answer
84 views
Has the matter of salvation - whether it is by works or by faith alone - ever been considered on any councils of the Catholic and Orthodox churches?
Prior to Luther's Reformation, has the matter of salvation - whether it is by works or by faith alone - ever been considered on any councils of the Catholic and Orthodox churches?
18
votes
5answers
556 views
Are there unforgivable sins?
Jesus came and died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and have salvation.
But Matthew 12:32 (NIV) says there is at least one thing to prevent being forgiven.
32 Anyone who speaks a word ...
0
votes
0answers
106 views
Is it possible for a truly saved Christian to lose his/her salvation? [closed]
I've heard many differing opinions on this subject, so I decided to ask here: Is it possible for a truly saved Christian to lose his/her salvation? I want to emphasize the importance of truly saved. I ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views
What is the origin and explanation of the Catholic teaching that Mary was and is sinless? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the biblical basis for the Immaculate Conception?
I saw on another post where someone indicated that the Catholic church teaches that Mary was, in fact, sinless ...
12
votes
5answers
501 views
How is love greater than faith?
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Sola-fide states that faith alone brings salvation. In this oft-quoted ...
4
votes
2answers
123 views
What is the nature of eternal security?
@JonEricson made a statement in this answer that is fascinating to me:
In other words, we aren't secure in our salvation because of the nature of salvation, but because of the nature of Jesus.
...
5
votes
3answers
131 views
Salvation vs Condemnation: Matthew 12
Matthew 12 ESV
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree
bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You
brood of ...
6
votes
3answers
224 views
Do parts of Hebrews 3 and 4 imply that saved Christians can become unsaved?
A few nights ago, a friend and I were reading through Hebrews 3 and 4. A few verses in particular caught my attention...
Hebrews 3:11-13 (NLT)
11 So in my anger I took an oath,
...
2
votes
1answer
210 views
Is Galatians 6:8-9 teaching works salvation?
My understanding of the relationship between works and salvation is that works are the inevitable fruit of salvation by grace (1 John 3:6, Matthew 7:16-18). And my understanding of perseverance is ...
7
votes
2answers
218 views
What was Augustine's soteriology?
Can someone provide a summary of Augustine's soteriological views, and their differences from contemporary views?
I'm particularly interested in a comparison of Augustine's soteriology with the ...
3
votes
2answers
178 views
What is the biblical basis against Sola Fide (salvation by faith alone, apart from works)
One of the key points of the Reformation was the doctrine of Sola Fide, that salvation is by faith alone, apart from works. This was a contrast from the doctrine of the Catholic church.
What, then, ...
6
votes
2answers
237 views
What roles do faith and works play in the LDS/Mormon understanding of salvation?
A primary point in the Reformation was the issue of sola fide--the position that salvation is by faith alone, apart from works. This was to distinguish the position that works were necessary for ...
7
votes
1answer
170 views
What was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s understanding of salvation?
I've been reading A Testament of Hope which is a compilation of sermons by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. I also know he's a Baptist. (I even got to stand and preach for a minute in his pulpit last ...
3
votes
1answer
140 views
Important Western Soteriological Works
Does anyone know what works are considered to be principal elements of Western soteriological thought, primarily focused on Roman Catholic and Protestant ideologies?
I'm interested mostly in primary ...
35
votes
10answers
2k views
What happens to people who have never heard about Jesus? [closed]
There seems to be general consensus inside Christianity that in order to be saved, you must have faith, and that this faith has to be in Jesus Christ. Here is one verse sometimes cited for the ...
2
votes
2answers
174 views
What is the hope in Roman Catholicism?
I'm coming at this from the evangelical reform side of salvation. For the evangelical, salvation is made for us by Jesus on the cross. There is nothing else we can add to make us more saved, or less ...
4
votes
3answers
235 views
Does my monk go to heaven? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What happens to people who have never heard about Jesus?
I have found this very basic question perplexing to different pastors, rectors, and members of churches: If ...
4
votes
1answer
143 views
Are there any common themes in the dreams so many Muslims have that prompt them to come to Jesus?
I understand that a good number of believers, who were once Muslim, became Christians after having a dream where Jesus appears to them and tells them to follow Him.
Examples are recorded in books ...
2
votes
3answers
115 views
How does Christ define a Christian?
Referencing the gospel accounts of Christ's actions and teachings, how does He clearly define a Christian?
24
votes
6answers
370 views
Is the “sinner's prayer” important for salvation and why?
In evangelical churches the sinner's prayer is a very much emphasized aspect for someone to become or convert to being a Christian. In fact, most church services I attended growing up ended with the ...
6
votes
2answers
404 views
What is the Biblical basis for multiple judgments?
I recently heard a talk on the notion of "multiple judgments"; the idea is one is initially judged simply on the fact of their salvation - did that person put their life in Christ's hands and accept ...
9
votes
6answers
177 views
Could more miraculous works bring more persons to faith?
There are those who say that if they saw the miracles that happens in the time of Moses, or the disciples they would surely have faith.
What are the Biblical reasons for miracle? Is it to create ...
11
votes
3answers
236 views
Is repentance required for salvation?
I know that through faith alone I am saved. But is repentance a requirement for that salvation as a part of my faith? Is repentance a single act, or should it be continuous?
12
votes
2answers
1k views
What happens to non-believers or believers of other religions after death?
What happens (according to Christians) to people who specificially rejected the idea of God, the Bible and the christian teachings after they die?
Is there a difference to people who believed in ...
5
votes
2answers
214 views
Could Jesus save Satan? [closed]
Could Jesus save Satan?
Some biblical reference with explanation, would be helpful.
0
votes
1answer
109 views
How much realization of one's own sinfulness is needed for a person to be saved? [closed]
I have met some Christians who seemed to put a lot of emphasis on their realization of how sinful they were. Others, however, didn't seem to be stressing this point that much.
Honestly, in my ...
10
votes
1answer
239 views
What does the Roman Catholic church teach about those who die having never heard of Christ?
What does the Roman Catholic church teach about those who die having never heard of Christ? Is there any possibility of salvation for them?
Related:
What happens to people who have never heard about ...
3
votes
3answers
231 views
Are there any tenets of Gnosticism that are still present in the church today?
Towards the end of the New Testament writing, the heresy of gnosticism was one of the chief "false teachings" against which Paul and the other writers were contesting. Could someone present some of ...
6
votes
2answers
173 views
What is the biblical basis against baptismal regeneration?
Several different denominations teach that water baptism is a prerequisite for (or is essential for) salvation. What is the biblical basis against this teaching?
8
votes
3answers
375 views
Are the names of all people originally written in the Book of Life?
The Bible speaks about the "Book of Life". It seems that those whose names are written in it will have life and spend eternity in heaven whereas those whose names are not written in it will be cast ...
9
votes
4answers
324 views
Biblical arguments for Universal salvation
Universal salvation, or universal reconciliation is the belief that God will eventually reconcile Himself with every immortal soul. That is, everyone will be saved. This doctrine has a long history. ...
12
votes
4answers
466 views
Since God provided for the forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament, why do we need Jesus?
I thought of this when I was researching this question.
Leviticus 4 goes into great detail about the sacrifice that must be made in order for a sin to be forgiven. However, we see here that God ...
6
votes
5answers
236 views
Was Jesus' death legitimate?
Legitimate, not in the fact that He died, but in how specifically his blood was shed. It is said that Jesus' death was the final fulfillment of the old testament requirements. If this is true, then ...
10
votes
2answers
169 views
Calvinist perspective on Luke 18:18-30
Luke 18:18-30 (NIV) tells the story of the "rich young ruler" who asked Christ what he must do to inherit eternal life:
18A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit ...
13
votes
3answers
188 views
When did knowledge of Christ's sacrifice become necessary for salvation?
First, this question makes two assumptions:
For a person to be saved today, they must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and accept the gift of His death on the cross as penance for their sin.
Before ...
7
votes
1answer
186 views
Were there provisions for salvation for non-Hebrews in the OT?
One of the significant points of Jesus ministry and the evangelism done by the early apostles seems to be their going to "gentile" nations and preaching that they too were recipients of God's plan of ...
