Possible Contortions Of Ephesians: How To Become A Christian

Salvation describes the deliverance by God for those who believe in him. It is the saving of the soul from sin (and its consequences) through Gods will and grace. Though it takes different forms in every religion, the principle is still the same, often emphasising the necessity of both good works, repentance, and asceticism, as well as divine intervention (in this case the action being the grace of God). If assuming that Christ is the full truth, then the only way to gain access to God after death is through the salvation given by the Christian God. Jesus himself has indicated that a person must hear the word, believe it, repent of past sins, and be willing to confess faith before others, be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, and then continue to live a faithful life throughout this physical life if we are to go to heaven.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were seen as people who failed to listen to God’s commandments. Despite knowing beforehand that they would be punished for their disobedience, they still continued to commit sin. God tried to deter their misbehavior by promising them many blessings, but it worked to no avail. Due to the insubordination of the Israelites, He made sure that the promises He made to them would be withheld and that they would face consequences.

It is heaven alone that makes and breaks a vessel for divine service. No man can enter into a spiritual service without being called of God. In Ephesians 4:11, Paul lists the fivefold ministry gifts given to the church. “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”These ministries are a direct result of the Lord’s resurrection and ascension unto the right hand of the Father. The “right hand” represents authority; therefore, the ministry gifts constitute God’s delegated authority upon the earth. Spiritual authority is God appointed. Regardless of a man’s natural abilities, religious zeal, holy ambitions, or good intentions one has to be chosen solely by God. If not selected first by God, then ordained by men, one is simply false. Much confusion could be eliminated within the Body if this was taught.

Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.

This paper on Salvation is defining both objectively and subjectively from the two required reading text. The first text is written by Alistair McGrath’s “Theology: The Basics and the second is written by Dr. Yung Chul Han’s “Transforming Power: Dimension of the Gospel. I will describe how the both texts are in association as well as seeking observations, and other conclusions to gain a better understanding of salvation from both perspectives. According to (Mc.Grath, p.78), the word salvation is referred to as something that has already happened in the past, to something that will happen in the future. Spiritual transformation requires of us what is called dependent responsibility. All the moral commands and exhortations of scripture assume our responsibility. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. The word salvation carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation (www.biblia.com). Salvation can be viewed as a spiritual transformation which the dependency of the Holy Spirit assist in the change of a believers past, self to a vessel of God in the present lives which exemplifies life, deliverance, peace, and a victory won through personal conviction. The victory is one that only Jesus Christ has authority save us which gives believers complete approval to have possession to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Meaning, Edwards can freely diffuse grace throughout his sermon without the need to worry about the cause of grace since grace displays itself as an afterthought. According to Sang Hyun Lee, “God’s grace, for Edwards is efficacious: God brings about the effect of grace without depending upon any factors other than his own sovereign will. God alone is the author of grace and of the unfailing execution of its effects” (45). According to Lee, he terms “grace” itself as an effect (45). To Lee, grace spurns into an afterthought as well. In relation to time, faith comes first and reappears as the last concept that Edwards deals with in this sermon. He writes, “James ii. 19, 20.-- Thou believest that there is one God. The devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (Works 137). Edwards, again, creates a cycle back to the beginning of his sermon as this sermon is based on James 19. By ending this sermon on faith, it “justifies grace given through faith” (Chun 187). It is through the word faith that grace can appear. Grace squeezes in nicely but it holds its place in the sermon by introducing faith at the beginning and reappearing at the end. Grace is the meat but faith holds grace together—like a sandwich

Men, Hebrews 2:1-4. The author of Hebrews starts us off with a scary parallel to consider. The angels in heaven received a prescribed penalty for violations against God and His truths, likewise we have a penalty for drifting away and neglecting our salvation. Salvation is an amazingly high gift to receive, given by the Highest of all Heaven. The notion of salvation has become common place to us, perhaps even cheap. The author brings back to focus that we alone are given an immeasurably valuable gift and drifting away has its consequences. In the time of this passages writing, people were immature in their faith, following whatever latest notion. The author goes on to express the validity of salvation gift. A gift spoken to us by Christ Jesus

Let us suppose one day as a fairly new Christian, named Sue, was reading in Philippians and came upon the chapter three and as she were reading down through the chapter, verse twelve read in the King James Version “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” Then just three verses later they read “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus Sue was confused “how can Paul claim to not be perfect in one verse and then seemingly imply that he is perfect and what does he mean by perfect anyway.” The Sue decided to ask the pastor, who claims that the Bible is the inspired word of God, how this contradiction makes sense if

8.2.1 Introduction. The author moves to conduct a deeper examination of the concept of “salvation and grace” as he believes that the subject reveals more divergent viewpoints from the Apostle Paul’s remarks as reflected in Eph. 2:1-3 and 2:8-9. 8.2.2 The no-risk model of salvation. The no-risk model of salvation shows the following: Man can do nothing to free himself from sin or have any

In the ESV study bible, the authors wrote an excerpt on Ephesians prefacing the author, title, date, background information, and a description of the ancient city of Ephesus. Relating to the author of Ephesians all scholars believed that Paul wrote the letter, until recent times where many scholars propose that an imitator or a follower of Paul wrote the letter. The scholars give two reasons for this theory, the first is the letter’s style does not represent Pauline thought, and the second being the authors unfamiliarity with the recipients. In contrast, some scholars say there is ample proof of Pauline authorship; the first reason is the letter explicitly claims to be Paul’s in Ephesians 1:1 and 3:1, and the second reason subsists in more analysis of the text and that it is similar to other Pauline texts. The final argument for Pauline authorship is the forcefulness of the author’s speech mentioned in Ephesians 4:15, and verse 25. In these two verses, the argument that the author is unfamiliar with the audience stands debunked because the author commands of them and the author addresses the unity they all possess.

In this example, Jesus is giving a sermon to people from various areas of Africa. “Therefore, whoever breaks even the smallest of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law, and teaches others to do the same will be great in the kingdom of heaven” (The Sermon on the Mount 30 C.E.). This exemplifies that if one was to break a commandment, he would face little to no severe punishment. Although the individual would face little punishment, if they did nothing to make the situation right they would face punishment spiritually or after death. However, Jesus did not only ensure punishment but also made good promises for those who were obedient. “(God speaking to Moses) From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation” (The Covenant Code, Exodus 20:19–23:33). This portrays that those who did not obey God’s covenant would not receive the good things that he promised but they would, however, get away with facing little punishment physically. On the whole, throughout history, justice becomes less about relentlessly punishing and following every rule word for word but more about benefitting from being

The Scriptures tell us that salvation is by grace, through faith. John 3:16 tells us if we believe we will not perish. The word “believe” here is faith. Faith is not just a mere acceptance of fact or a simple belief that God exist or even that Jesus sis the Son of God. It is a complete trust in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Many today struggle with the Christian teaching that the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. There are a variety of alternatives offered, notably pluralism and inclusivism. In the second half of his book Is Jesus the Only Savior? Dr. Ronald Nash addresses the teaching of inclusivism, comparing its claims with the claims of orthodox Christianity and evaluating the merits of those claims. It is the purpose of this analysis to evaluate his rebuttal of inclusivism as presented in chapters 7-11 of Is Jesus the Only Savior?.

It isn’t hard to drift away from God. As with any love relationship, it takes work to stay connected and truly know and appreciate the other person. It is easy to slide into our old ways because they are comfortable, like an old worn slipper. When we don’t have a solid foundation in our relationship with Christ we tend to be “…tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14, NIV). The Jewish Christians are being tempted to drift from Jesus and return to the Old Covenant, revering angels over the salvation in

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The Scriptures are clear that there is no other name by which man can be saved but by Christ alone (Acts 4:12). One can only be delivered by the power of sin through the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” The same exclusive statement is made in John 10:7-8 when Jesus said, “Truly, Truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers.”