1 Timothy 2:5 (King James Version)
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
This is a true saying, as Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation John Witherspoon declared:
"[I]f you are not reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness, you must forever perish."
The Bible is clear, there is no other way to be saved, but by faith in Jesus Christ:
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me."
John 14:6
And also by the Apostle Peter in Acts 4:12:
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Do you want your sins blotted out, to not answer for them when you die? Trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can do it in a simple prayer between you and Him. Jesus said salvation is a gift, it cannot be worked for by masses, or hail mary's, neither does salvation cost money, it is by grace through faith, that we are saved.
If you want eternal life, then be sincere and repeat after me:
Lord Jesus, forgive me I'm a sinner, I ask for your forgiveness and believe you died on the cross at Calvary for my sins. I ask you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior, please help me to be worthy of you, and to live the life you want me to live, in your name I pray, Amen.
If you prayed that, you are now a child of God, Born Again, where the Spirit of God has indwelled your body. Thousands of people get saved everyday on this earth, it is a supernatural thing that happens. Not only does Jesus speak about the New Birth, so does the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:27:
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The word "in" means much more in Greek than in English. It means indwelling, all-encompassing, tied in with your spirit. Apart from the New Birth, our spirits are dead because of sin, sin is imputed from Adam; notice it isn't from Eve, she was deceived, Adam rebelled. From biology, it seems properties of blood, is received from man, thereby the transfer of Adam's sin is imputed by him. Whichever way God used for imputation, it was through Adam.
Here again, Paul on the New Birth:
Romans 8
9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
What a glorious thing to know God dwells in you! There is no philosophy of man that comes close to the glory of that statement!
What are the essential beliefs to be a Christian, at the age of accountability? Most children who accept Jesus as their Savior, have never heard of His Deity, or of the Trinity; therefore, as John Locke believed, Jesus The Messiah, is sufficient for salvation, is true. Locke never denied the Trinity, so how can psuedo authorities call him an anti-trinitarian? Wouldn't public denial of the Trinity necessitate the label? Once a person rejects Jesus' Deity, or any other essential, there can be no salvation. It is because these essentials of the faith are clearly taught in the Bible; reject them and you reject The Spirit of God, who inspired the words.
The essentials:
1. Inerrancy-the bible is the Word of God, period, no exceptions! Although the original autographs are the actual inspired words, that we do not have; God has preserved His Words for us.
2. The Deity and Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ-Jesus had no human father, was God in human flesh. Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Jesus' Deity necessitates the Trinity, here, Peter says The Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-5
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?... thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
1 John 5:7-8
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. Isaac Newton disbelieved the Trinity, saying these verses were an interpolation, not knowing the same verbage is used throughout the chapter, and the verses are in nine of Stephanus' sixteen syrian text manuscripts, consistent with Isa 48:16-17, and the entire Old and New Testaments.
3. The Vicarious Blood Atonement of Jesus Christ-Jesus' sinless blood atoned for the sins of the World. 1 John 2:2 (King James Version)And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
4. Jesus' Resurrection from the Dead-Jesus rose from the dead like He said He would. This is the most attested fact in history of the ancient world. Its truth supported by the greatest testimony any court of law could conceive.
5. Jesus' Physical Return to the Earth-He said He would return to set up His Kingdom. Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Matthew 24:30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
6. Jesus will judge the living and the dead, some to eternal life with God, others, to eternal separation from God-The Words of the Creator Jesus Christ:
Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom(Jews) shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Notice, the fire will never be quenched, refuting the theory of limited damnation.
These essentials are consistent with the Westminster Confession of Faith 1646, and Catechism of 1647. Founding Father James Madison, and every young boy growing up in the colonies saw this on the walls of the schools, here is question six:
Q. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead? There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. Madison and the others knew exactly what orthodoxy was.
May you know eternal life in Jesus Christ.
