The Church is not raptured

[marcelle19]

Here is Scripture, Elijah_101:

Ephesians 2:8-10:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Jesus doesn't do it for us?

You need to balance your theology (Matthew 11:28-30).

What do you think is the rest He gives us?

Hebrews 4:10:
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

If we work to keep ourselves saved, we have something to boast about, and Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that we have nothing to boast about.

The yoke and burden of Jesus is light - why is that?

Because it involved His finished work on the cross for us (John 19:28-30). He took God's wrath for our sins, and gave us His resurrected life (Romans 4:23-25).

When we believe in Him, we enter into His rest, through faith - not by working our way into something we could not attain, and could never maintain. Eternal life is of God alone.

The Sadducees could quote from the Old Testament from memory - they knew the Scriptures, but they didn't know the Scriptures - they didn't experience the "light of the world that is the life of men" (John 1:4; John 8:12) in their reading of them, and their understanding was not unto salvation, because they didn't realize the power of God in their error.

I'm afraid it is the same with the legalistic approach you take to salvation, and I pray that God opens your mind to the truth of salvation by His grace alone, before it is too late.

Matthew 22:29:
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

If you do not believe that Jesus not only does it for us, but that He already accomplished it in eternity for us, then you are yet in your sins.

I pray for you, that you realize the power of God in Jesus Christ, unto the knowledge of the truth that saves forever, and stop giving heed to fables of self-works.

Unless God tells me otherwise, this is my last admonition to you on these things - unless He tells me otherwise, and you show that you not only know the Scriptures, but can rightly divide them (2 Timothy 2:15).

I tell you this in love - your eternal life is in danger.

2 Timothy 2:23-26:
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Again, this is in love - pray to God, ask for His understanding of His word (James 1:5-8), that you may be saved.

A salvation of works of our own, to gain access to God's kingdom, is a one-way ticket to hell.

In His love, grace and peace,

Bill

[Shamu]

Hi Elijah 101,

Looks like this kinda turned into a works/faith discussion, perhaps.


May I please ask you specifically about John 6:28-29? (From verses below)


John 6
25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[b]
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.


The reason I ask is that as far as I understand it, we need to be born again as the Lord tells us. We need to believe in Him. After that, we are sealed, forever, and it is HIM (Holy Spirit) in us that doeth any 'works', or 'good works', and that we (ourselves) should take no vain glory.

By saying that I do not say yes, we are ok to sin, or have a license to sin. But before His Holy Spirit convicting us, we didn't struggle with sin, we just did it. (Before knowing His Truth and being born again)

So, what do you think of verses 28,29? Aren't they referring to doing the 'works' of God? Don't we need to believe in Him and He does the good works through or in us?