Christians, do you really believe that you have the winninng lottery ticket?

Question

I am sorry for this loaded question, but I had an urge to purge.

(John 3:16)

How in the world do you think that if you believe that Jesus existed, came to Earth to save us from our sins, died on the cross and rose again, proves you believe in him? Satan believes these things. Does that make him a Christian? Of course not, and it doesn't make you one either.

(John 3:16) To believe in Jesus is to follow his instructions on how to live your life and how to go to Heaven. --

Who ever told you that to say "Jesus is my savior" proves that you are a Christian? Show me where Jesus said that in the Bible.

(When Jesus said that he was the way, did you not understand that he referring to his message from God?)

Why would you depend on Peter or Paul or Church Doctrine to learn about Jesus? There are over 100 direct Jesus Quotes in the Bible on how to live your life and go to Heaven. Why would you ignore his words in favor of other people telling you what he meant?

What is you don't understand about the words "believe in"?

Why not get Jesus' message from Jesus?

Dear "Iam" - Thanks for the input. I have learned a few things from it.

Answer 1

Ahhh, so many questions boiled down into one...

Do we really believe we have the ticket? Absolutely. Many non-Christians won't understand this, but when you are truly intimate with Jesus Christ, he speaks to you and instructs you on how to be sure that you are going to spend eternity in Paradise.

Is Satan a Christian? No. Does Satan 'believe' in Jesus? Absolutely. But just because you believe in something doesn't mean that it is guaranteed. Let me use this relatable example. If the entire school believes that the basketball team will will their first game, but the team hasn't practiced at all and more than half of them have never touched a basketball in their lives, do you honestly think they will win? In order for a Christian to truly become a Christian, it is not only up to saying "I believe". You must prove to God, Jesus and the world that you are a Christian by your acts and your heart. While the world can be fooled by just acts, one must also be aware that you can not fool God---He sees what is in your heart, not just what you do!

And just saying "Jesus is my savior" doesn't prove you're a Christian. There are a lot more stipulations than that! You must act like a Christian, think like one, dress like one, completely BE a Christian by God's standards, not anyone else's.

And to answer your last question, i suppose you really have to be a Christian to fully understand the answer. Honestly, it is a difficult thing to master, that is, knowing that His word is final, not your youthpastors. Chrisitians are supposed to go to church to find fellowship and support, not a map to Heaven. The only map is the Bible, and, sadly, most Christians do not spend enough time dedicating themselves to learning the map. Some think that church is enough to get them there, but in all honesty it is not. So, to answer your question, His words are ignored because most confuse the road map with the travel guide.

I hope that you learned something from asking this question. If you are not a Christian, please do not blow this off and throw it out the window. It is important 'stuff'!!!


And, on a side note:
-Why is it that when Jesus first came to Earth, people had no problem believing that He was God, they just couldn't believe He was man; but now, we have no trouble believing that a man named Jesus walked this earth, but we just have trouble believing He was God?

Answer 2

*believing* that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross and rose again does prove that we *believe* Jesus came to earth, died on the cross and rose again, what else do you want us to do? and when you believe that, you are Justified or made righteous in the eyes of God. so, in other words, you are a Christian.

But there is more to it than that. There is this whole process called sanctification and it literally means 'to make holy' Sanctification is what happens when you actually *follow* Jesus, actually do what He commands. There is another term for it, namely "walking in the spirit"

Now, as far as not relying on Peter or Paul to tell us what Jesus meant... well you have to consider, that the Bible is a Divinely inspired book. And most of what Peter and Paul wrote where letters to whoever the book is titled (i.e Romans was a letter to the Romans, Ephesians to the Ephesians and etc. etc.) And they were also written in the time period of 33 AD to about 60 Ad ( I think, you might have to check me on that one) and back in those times they didn't have the holy Bible in every hotel room. People didn't know what Jesus said. That's why there where Apostles or messengers. They told people what Jesus said. Simple.

Answer 3

Christians are traditionally against gambling because they feel that money should be properly earned by working for it, and that any type of gambling can quickly become a vice that wastes one's money and can ruin him. But curiously, I don't see any Christians speaking out against the stock market (I guess if the corporations providing the gambling are big enough and Uncle Sam gets it's share, then it's OK with them if people lose their entire assets. But start a small friendly poker table in your neighborhood, and you're busted). Many things in life are basically a gamble, but I don't think they're wrong as long as you intelligently weigh your odds and don't get carried away. Personally, though, I think the lottery is nothing more than a tax on people who are bad at math, as well as a state-sponsored practice that takes shameful advantage of the hopes and dreams of poor and uneducated people (it's often the welfare types in run-down neighborhoods who seem to buy the most lottery tickets). Purely on a practical note, there really are better things you could be investing your money in that are more likely to yield revenue.

Answer 4

In the eternaty lotto? you bet your sweet bippy I got the winning ticket... bought and paid for by Jesus The Christ Himself...... as to John 3:16... at least you got that part right....the rest you are off on though... How to become a Christian: Only God decides who becomes a Christian... Here is the formula... All who come to God in The Way He prescribes will receive His free gift of Salvation. Those become part of The Body of The Church of which Jesus The Christ is The Head. These are those of The True Christian Faith. Only those of The Church will enter Heaven............... the difficulty is in comeing to God in The Way He prescribes.... that dose indeed include aceptiong Jesus
The Christ as Lord and Master... but is also includes total surender of self to God.... and that involves quite a bit more... and all of that can be quite painful and is why most will never make it that far and will end up rejecting God and His gift.

As to Peter and Paul and the othere 11 Apostles... they were instructed by Jesus personaly and given what they were to pass on. the teachings they spread were directly from Jesus... The thirteen Apostles were the only ones with such authority...Very few of the actual words spoken by Jesus were recorded...it is the principle and intention of His teaching that has been preserved and passed on to us... only The Salvation Message remains intact as it was intended... there is no inerrant text of The Bible of The True Christian Faith in existance today... and that includes The Jefferson Bible which contains the excerpted words of Christ... even it is not inerrant as it was taken from works that were corupted by mans medeling for 1700 years...

Answer 5

We do not ignore the words of Jesus. We take them to heart-big time. We read and adhere to the words of Peter, Paul, etc. because they knew, saw, heard, talked to, Him. It's sort of like differing accounts of the same story. Like ABC, NBC and CBS all reporting the same story. Some will have points that others don't but the facts, the truth, the bottom line story would be the same in each case. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life through His teachings, suffering, death, and resurrection,for us and our salvation. Believing THAT there is a Jesus, believing that He DID exist, DOESN'T save a person. Believing IN Jesus does. Believing His teachings Believing IN His sacrifice on our behalf is what forgives us. Satan is a powerful fallen Angel. He knows full well that Jesus exists But..He fell away from the faith. He no longer accepts Him. Satan knows what the end will be and what's going to happen to him...it's called damnation-hell. Read the Bible and see if what I'm saying is true. Just saying, verbalizing, that Jesus is savior won't save a person. How cheep would that be? A couple of old sayings might help understand it.."Actions speek louder than words" Saying it is one thing. Believing it, acting on it, living it, is quite another. "Home is where the heart is." If a persons home ("home" thoughts, words, actions, deeds, faith) is in Jesus, it follows that his/her faith is in the right place. It means he/she believes in Jesus trusts in Him for eternal life, and lives accordingly. . In Mark 16:15 Jesus is talking and is making reference to Himself saying "He who believes and is baptized will be saved..... Meaning that the person that BELIEVES in, trusts in, puts their faith in, Jesus will have everlasting life in Heaven.

Answer 6

Good question!! I have thought for a long time now that you have to live your life in a way that shows you are trying to live like Christ. Just saying you believe, and saying you are saved isn't enough. Yes, grace is the thing that saves us, but what you do in life is what shows you accept that grace and are willing to use it in your life. I think that going to church isn't a bad thing. In my church at least, we have a meeting for the sacrament, along with talks and hymns and prayer. We also have a sunday school meeting after that. Right now we are studing the new testiment, mainly Christs life. Then we devide into women and men and have relief society for the women and preisthood for the men. Each of those have lessons and subjects about not just Christ, but on ways to help other people, and how we can live our lives better. Yes, sunday church services are 3 hours long, but to me, it's really nice to go.

I also think that if you don't go to church, but are trying to live your life as you see fit, it isn't wrong to not go to church. You are living your life they way you think you should. Everyone has the right to believe and live as they see fit. In no way am I saying that what I think is the only way to be "saved". I don't think that at all. I know many people from different religions who live what they believe. This is the key I think. You need to live your religion. You can be christian, or jewish, or muslim, or any religion you want to, it doesn't mean that you aren't going to heaven. It just means that you believe different from me. Just live what you believe, and I think that's all a loving God can ask for, whatever name you call your God.

Answer 7

Peter knew Jesus personally, so I suppose that if Peter so bady misunderstood his best friend, then what chance do you have to interpret him correctly? Jesus didn't hand pick you to carry on his message.

And Peter referred to Pauls writings as "scripture" and the very words of God, so if Peter liked Paul, I suppose that Peter knew what he was talking about.

----edit------

Actually, if you are getting your information about Jesus from the gospels, then you are getting your information from Peter and Paul for the most part. Mark composed his gospel from Peter’s stories about Jesus (according to church tradition), and Luke was a close friend of Paul, and probably got his material from him.

The gospels were not actually written by Jesus; the gospels are Jesus presentented to us as the apostles saw him. Since they knew him, and were his close friends, I assume that they got it right. If they couldn't, then what hope do we have to understand a person whom we have never met?

Answer 8

I DON'T ignore His Words. But I generally don't see any contradiction between Him and Paul, other than Paul spent more time putting out practical ways of living a Christian life.

But I DO feel like I've won a lottery, and I CAN'T figure out why He would choose ME. It's certainly nothing that I've done, human works are like filthy rags. So..... Why??????

Answer 9

Allllll righteee! Get your tickets out. Drum roll, please. Aaaand God is reaching into the bowl. He's mixing them up real good. Oho, he's pulled out the winning ticket! There it is! Yes, sir, bring it right over here. Thank you, sir. Ahem! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the winning number, the lucky person who wins the luxury accommodations, deluxe guided tour of heaven and dinner with the Almighty himself-- the winning ticket number iiiiiis: SIX! SIX!-- Oh nooooo!

Answer 10

A tree is known by it's fruit. The message is salvation by faith.

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[