Quote: Dk said: It's not about one faith being right for everyone. It's about one faith being right for us.
I disagree! It IS about being one faith FOR EVERYONE! What about the whiping out of the pagan tribes in the Promised Land?? Especially when God instructed Joshua to annilate the Jebusites, Hittites, the Perizzites and I know I'm missing some more. Anyways, after they whiped out the main pagan tribes each tribe was allotted their land by Joshua and TOLD to annialiate the people there. But did they obey God? NO, so the Angel of the Lord appeared to them in Judges 2 and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.""
Notice God seperates Himself from the other "gods" of the culture. If "It's not about one faith being right for everyone. It's about one faith being right for us", then why were the pagan tribes judged by the Lord Almighty? Why were the Israelites instructed to wipe them out? Sure God judged both the Israelits AND the pagans but if God only cared about the Jewish people and their faith, why did he send Jonah to preach to the Gentile city of Nineveh?
The Bible seperates itself from any other book in that there is only ONE way to heaven, ONE faith, and ONE book that reveals the mind of God. Anyone in Scripture who chose to not follow the Lord was judged in one way or another (like in Isaiah when God again judges the pagan community for their evils (Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc).
Now if you consider both parts of the Old and New Testmant, salvation is by GRACE not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can't work your way to heaven at all! You believe in Jesus Christ like Romans 10:9 says and are saved period. What other religion says salvation by grace?
I sort of disagree with that..it depends on what you mean by saved..as in "once saved always saved"..I don't buy that...
