Repentance, Holiness, and the Church

[JamDat]

Originally Posted by bbyrd009

Hmm, my best answer there is that I read all the same verses you do;
we have "the separation" parable, wherein many surprised sheep,
who never did any steps, are "in," and "a good deed covers many sins..."
Which should be taken in context with other verses.

So, will good works save one? I read the endless, mostly circular arguments about this, and I'm not sure that that is the right Q, or the right way to ask what needs asking there.

I pretty much agree w/MTD, but another aspect that I think gets little attention is that as humans we imagine these things--salvation, born again, repentance, redemption, etc.--to be instantaneous things that happen with some words, right? Which I seriously doubt.

Accepting Christ, to me, is not something you do with your mouth;
although there is certainly meaning in public confession.
I think our walk is reflected in our children's progress thru life?
Toddlers get a grace that a kid who is 16 and should know better
does not; or should not. At a certain point, dad realizes it's better to let 'em spend the night in jail.

I've skipped around editing these paragraphs, so sorry if they're disconnected.

Except that you seem to think that those are His children even before any of what you've listed. Unless one has repented, unless one is born again they are not His children and therefore can not grow in Christ. When they are born again then yes I agree there is learning and sanctification which is life long.

Also it's not a person accepting Jesus, it's Jesus accepting that person.