The Sand Castles

[Frank]

Please allow me
to point out that unless people
actually have the gospel of Christ,
all the worship, singing, praying,
service, giving, works, sacrifice,
church building, denomination building,
mission activity, and evangelistic activity
can keep no one out of hell.
How the denominations on their websites
can profess salvation by faith alone
(because that is the Protestant standard)
and then go ahead in the same paragraph,
or the next paragraph, or the same web page,
or the next web page, or on the same website,
and teach exactly the opposite,
namely, salvation by faith plus repentance,
is a wonder of double-talk contradiction.
But now, this is the inescapable problem:
Inasmuch as the denominations do this
on their official websites for all to see,
what does that mean for individuals?
Individual Protestants will generally be fast
to profess that salvation is by faith alone,
but how many actually do have
all their faith on Christ alone,
or are many actually trusting in
their own efforts to repent
rather than in Christ alone,
doing just as most denominations teach,
but not as they profess.
Even in conservative Lutheran
(and Presbyterian) denominations
that actually teach what they profess
(I was a member of one of those),
they do not explicitly tell the people
not to divide their trust between Christ
and other things (baptism, election, etc.);
the result is that people there also
are often unaware that they must not
divide their trust if they are to be saved.
Another indication that people are
trusting in their efforts to repent is
that no matter how many times
you tell them to repent but not trust in that,
they still accuse you of overlooking repentance
as though they cannot understand how anyone
would repent unless it would earn salvation;
but why not just because God said to repent?
Almost everyone feels saved
no matter what they believe;
the different religions of this world
have their spiritual experiences;
but the time is soon coming when
all the sand castles will be coming down
and only people standing on Christ will remain.

[B.G. Kent]

Post by Frank
Please allow me
to point out that unless people
actually have the gospel of Christ,
all the worship, singing, praying,
service, giving, works, sacrifice,
church building, denomination building,
mission activity, and evangelistic activity
can keep no one out of hell.

B - No one is without Christ...it is just that some are blind to it or
deaf to it. When one does good..when one loves...when one treats others as
themselves..they are open to Christ and embracing Christ and they may not
even be labeling themselves as Christian. A book may be involved and may
not...but Christian is as Christian does.

in my opinion.
Bren