Quote:
Originally Posted by shazeep
Ok, nice. Now I would like you to distinguish between works--what Job was likely guilty of--and good deeds--what the Good Samaritan did. And since we have more than one concept here, i'll continue in another post. While i will end up agreeing with you that to find God one must find Christ, i would like to at least challenge the notion, Scripturally, that your definitions are the only ones, and that God has been revealed to you already. But first, differentiate works and good deeds for me, if you will.
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To be honest I don't have a clear definition of works and deeds in distinction. My point is that we cannot get to heaven, or have a relationship with him by our own human efforts. It takes faith in Christ and acting upon the commandments he requires for example
Acts 2:38. As for Job, he was before the New Covenant under which we live in today. The covenant of grace. God required more back then because of the fall of man and lack of a mediator.
Now about God being revealed to me... Have I beheld Him in all his glory? Do I know everything in His word perfectly and understand him? No, of course not. I'm not blind to the fact that while I walk this earth there are various or countless things I'm not going to understand about Him and that certain biases or ideas I have might not allow me to have a "complete revelation" of Him. Only in heaven when we are transformed will we be able to behold Him in all His glory with unveiled eyes. However, God has revealed a lot about Himself to us in and through His word. This "speck" of revelation (speck in comparison to ALL that He is that we still have yet to know) that we have of God is what He requires us to believe.
Now, who are the "we?" The ones who are grafted in the tree are those who are now under the New Covenant. The repented, baptized in Jesus' Name, Spirit filled believers. So no, it wouldn't include Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. Does this mean they are lost? No. As long as they are alive and they repent and surrender to God, they aren't lost yet.
With the Love of Christ,
Israel
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