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But a man who strives to be the best person he knows how to be is a good man.
Fair enough, but what about people who have never been exposed to Jesus or his teachings, but who try to be the best people they can possibly be, and do acts of kindness?
If always evil, WOULD GOD DELIBERATELY MAKE AN EVIL BEING?
Read the verse on the "Sanctifying Faith" card (I Cor. 7:14). It mentions that the children of Faithful people are considered clean/faithful by virtue of their parent's faith. At what point the child must have his own faith to be saved has been debated through time.I see nothing in scripture that points to God showing grace to debase children, just because they are young. God didn't spare the children of the various evil cultures around Israel. He told Joshua to kill them, too. And God didn't give any "chancies" to the "young boys" that mocked Elisha. God showed more compassion to the 2 bears.My opinion on this isn't very popular, and I know that church leaders have proposed an idea of an age of accountability when God starts "counting" the sins children do, but I think that the concept of "grace-before-age X" is a completely man-made idea, apart from the guarantee about the children of the Faithful, which is based on scripture. In fact, that verse seems to indicate that children of unbelievers are in fact unclean.
Quote from: Minion of Jesus on February 11, 2014, 05:55:08 PMBut a man who strives to be the best person he knows how to be is a good man.Man cannot make himself holy through his works. Romans 4:4-5 (NLT) - "When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners."Quote from: Minion of Jesus on February 12, 2014, 10:07:15 AMFair enough, but what about people who have never been exposed to Jesus or his teachings, but who try to be the best people they can possibly be, and do acts of kindness?This has been a subject of much debate by Christians. I find myself believing as C. S. Lewis did: someone can be saved even if they have not heard of God or Jesus (Look at the Calormene Emeth who found Aslan's favor in "The Last Battle", even though he thought he was working for the Calormene false god Tash.) If someone can find Scripture contradicting this, I will change my belief. Until then, I will believe that "This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth." (Jesus' own words from John 17:3). I believe that God can be known at any time, by anyone; man is able to communicate with Him (the basis of all relationships) and subsequently believe in Him in a saving way, if man wants.Quote from: Minion of Jesus on February 12, 2014, 10:07:15 AMIf always evil, WOULD GOD DELIBERATELY MAKE AN EVIL BEING? God deliberately made a being that had the ability to choose good or evil, with real consequences if evil was chosen. Without this choice, man could not truly love God. One of those consequences is that man has been separated from God, and now has a sinful nature; Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was the only way that man could be reconciled with God, so that is what He did.
