Jesus saved us from the punishment of our sins by dying on the cross as a perfect sacrifice.
No one else could fill this sacrifice for all, but the Perfect One, God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. Fully human and fully Divine. I couldn’t be a sacrifice for your sins, because I’m a sinner, too. Being “Saved” is conditional on your true repentance from your sins, and your ability to keep a clean soul, so to speak. Jesus is not a lucky rabbit’s foot that will magically get you through those pearly gates. If you fall back into Mortal Sin, your soul is in trouble.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of the “Once saved, always saved” Protestant theology – that is not mentioned ANYWHERE in the BIBLE.
This is one of the major problems with society. For 400+ years, millions of people have been taught in Protestant churches that since Jesus paid the price for our sins, we a “scott free”. We don’t have to change, because we’re sinners. There’s nothing we can do about that. Well the Bible tells the opposite story – just read the New Testament and you will see countless preaching on conquering your sin and working toward Holiness as Jesus teaches in the Gospels. Watch this video for the full story.
Jesus paid the sacrifice for our sins, but we have to truly repent for those sins. We may have to pay restitution as well – If a you were to damage my car, I may forgive you, but you still need to fix the damages. You can pay restitution here on earth, or in Purgatory – many Protestant’s don’t know much about Purgatory because most of the direct references to praying for the dead were removed from the Protestant Bible during the Reformation. Why would we pray for the dead if there is only Heaven or Hell? There are a few references to being saved through fire: man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. … again, Rev. 21:27, Hab. 1:13). It cannot be hell because souls are being saved. So what is it? … of the judgment of the saved where imperfections are purged as “ Purgatory .”
If you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, then you need to believe all of the Bible, not just parts. God is not a liar. That would be Devil, the father of lies. If you only believe some of the Bible, then you’ve made your own religion and your own Heaven. But we are only fooling ourselves if we think that we can make our own Heaven.
I could go on and on for many pages covering teachings from the New Testament that teach HOW to get into Heaven and how hard it really is. Enter through the narrow gate which few people find. Wide is the gate that leads to destruction. Be Holy as I your God am Holy. Be Perfect as your Father in Heaven is Perfect.
Is Jesus a liar? Why would he tell us these things if they weren’t true? Exactly! God is incapable of lying. If Jesus lied then he could not be God. He’s either God or a crazy man – He calls himself God, the Bread of Life from Heaven… If He is not God then he would be a lunatic.
