What does it actually mean to be saved in Christianity?

[Glaurung]

To be saved in the Catholic tradition one must die in a state of sanctifying grace. (Final perseverance). Since no one knows the future no one has assurance of final perseverance. Albeit, the more one strives to live in good standing before God; by prayer, good works, frequenting the sacraments, avoiding grave sin, etc... the more likely one will indeed attain final perseverance.

I don't know how anyone can read the New Testament and not see that salvation is conditional on avoiding grave sin.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Five decades is a long time.
The way I look at it, it was known that Jesus would not fail, whether there was a chance of it or not. The prophecies are about a Messiah who does not fail. He came to do a job and no doubt it was not a walk over and required all that Jesus had to face the temptations He did and not sin and to not step away from the road that His Father had sent Him to walk.
If He had failed that would have meant that Satan had made God fail and would have won the day and would have shown that God is not righteous.
Death on a cross and separation from His Father in death would have been the hardest part I think and He had to be determined to do it and knowing the outcome, believing what the scriptures said about Him and trusting His Father would not have an easy thing and maybe it would have been even harder, knowing who He was, to humble Himself and not strike back.

Isa 50:6 I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle. 7 Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. 8 The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!…

Luke 9:51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

One of the first things that I learned after having my born-again experience is Jesus telling me (metaphorically, anyway), that "Not everything everyone says about me or attributes to me is true."

 

[BilliardsBall]

Often Christians say they are saved. But what is it?

How are they saved? and i would think it is in the christian bible somewhere, but does it actually letter by letter say, All you have to do is to believe Jesus died on the cross, and that make you saved?? It is this part i can not understand.

As long as you believe you can do anything you want, even sin and be immoral?
Is there no inward change that must happen for a Christian to be saved?

An inward change comes, sure, but that change cannot save, otherwise it's I save not JESUS SAVES.

Good people cannot be in Heaven, only perfectly moral people can live safely in a utopia. Jesus WILL transform all believers to morally perfect when He returns.

When I trusted in Jesus's sacrifice, per the Bible I was saved (the sacrifice paid my sin). Sacrifices occur throughout the Bible as you know.

Another way to say I accepted the sin payment is I trust Jesus to perfect me for Heaven, rather than think pretty good people get to Heave and relatively bad people perish in Hell.

Thank you.

 

[cataway]

That’s not a verse from Matthew.

Acts 24 15 sorry my bad

 

[cataway]

Besides that, what you and all the JWs believe runs completely contrary to what Paul said.

Our physical bodies will die and we will be raised as spiritual bodies. Paul says that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and that means they cannot exist in heaven. When Paul says these dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever, he is referring to the spiritual world (heaven), which will last forever.

what you fail to relies Paul and the other apostle are the ones receiving heaven . what you have done is to read a letter to some one ,not your self ,you like what you have read and have assumed it applies to your self as well as to whom the letter was written. i under stand your mistake its a easy one to make.

 

[Trailblazer]

what you fail to relies Paul and the other apostle are the ones receiving heaven . what you have done is to read a letter to some one ,not your self ,you like what you have read and have assumed it applies to your self as well as to whom the letter was written. i under stand your mistake its a easy one to make.

No, what you have done is misinterpreted certain Bible verses so you believe that only certain people are going to heaven and the others are going to be resurrected to live on earth forever. It is an honest mistake but it cannot be made unless you cherry pick verses and interpret them to mean what you want them to mean, which is what the JW organization teaches that they mean.

The important point is that neither Jesus nor Paul ever said that only certain Christians are going to heaven and neither one of them ever said anyone was going to be resurrected and live on earth forever.

 

[cataway]

No, what you have done is misinterpreted certain Bible verses so you believe that only certain people are going to heaven and the others are going to be resurrected to live on earth forever. It is an honest mistake but it cannot be made unless you cherry pick verses and interpret them to mean what you want them to mean, which is what the JW organization teaches that they mean.

The important point is that neither Jesus nor Paul ever said that only certain Christians are going to heaven and neither one of them ever said anyone was going to be resurrected and live on earth forever.

John 10:
16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. "
the other sheep , are the ones that will possess/inherit the earth
Matthew 5:
5 “Happy are the mild-tempered, since they will inherit the earth.''
Rev 7:
9 After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. ''

 

[Trailblazer]

John 10:
16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. "
the other sheep , are the ones that will possess/inherit the earth
Matthew 5:
5 “Happy are the mild-tempered, since they will inherit the earth.''
Rev 7:
9 After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. ''

The people who will inherit the earth are those that are living on the earth when Christ returns, and the future generations if living people who are living on the earth after Christ returns. They are not people who will rise from graves at the resurrection since resurrection does not even refer to dead people rising from physical graves. It refers to living people who rise from the graves of spiritual ignorance, which is what happens when Christ returns.

16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. "

The verse refers to what would happen when Christ returns. All the peoples of the earth would be united into one fold under one shepherd. We know that shepherd would not be Jesus because Jesus said He came to bring division. Luke 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

That shepherd was Baha'u'llah, who came to unite humanity:

“It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action…. That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 250

 

[cataway]

john 11:25

 

[Trailblazer]

john 11:25

meaning that whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life, which is a state of the soul that is near to God...

(John 3:16, John 3:36, John 17:3, 1 John 5:13, John 5:24, John 11:25-26, John 4:13-14)

Eternal life has nothing to do with the duration of the life of the physical body...

(John 3:5-7, John 6:63, 1 John 2:16)

 

[80s fashion girl]

Often Christians say they are saved. But what is it?

How are they saved? and i would think it is in the christian bible somewhere, but does it actually letter by letter say, All you have to do is to believe Jesus died on the cross, and that make you saved?? It is this part i can not understand.

As long as you believe you can do anything you want, even sin and be immoral?
Is there no inward change that must happen for a Christian to be saved?

It's just religious dogma.

 

[Psalm23]

@Conscious thoughts

My understanding of how to be saved in Christ is to come to Jesus, receive him and to believe/ have faith in him. When someone comes to Jesus , Jesus becomes their Savior and teacher. For myself I desire to learn more from Jesus and follow him more closely.

 

[Spirit of Light]

@Conscious thoughts

My understanding of how to be saved in Christ is to come to Jesus, receive him and to believe/ have faith in him. When someone comes to Jesus , Jesus becomes their Savior and teacher. For myself I desire to learn more from Jesus and follow him more closely.

Hope my question is not to personal, So if i understand you correctly, to be saved, one first accept Jesus then one practicing daily the Christian Gosple. And do everything in once power to better one self?

 

[Psalm23]

Hope my question is not to personal, So if i understand you correctly, to be saved, one first accept Jesus then one practicing daily the Christian Gosple. And do everything in once power to better one self?

In Christianity salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. ( see Ephesians 2:8-9). It is not something a Christian does or earns.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

1 Timothy 2:6
He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
Do some studying on the payment for sin; I believe that all sin for all human kind that is born in this world have had their sins paid for once and for all. Hebrews 10:1-18 will be an eye opener to this notion.
Would agree with your If - If we walk in the light - If we walk by the spirit - We are helped by the overcoming of sin because of the Son cleaning us from our sins.
We still mess up in sinning though it has been paid for... Lol it can get confusing a bit and I do not wanna type anymore. I still sin but it is the sin in my body; that is doing it and I hate that it does what it does... lol but Jesus Christ has taken care of those problems and we try to walk by the spirit and in light of christ.

Yes, purchased freedom for everyone - 1 John 1:7
I like how you say ' and we try to walk by the spirit.....' ( 2 Corinthians 5:7)
We need to try (Not give up) because as 1st John says "IF" we are walking in the light..... (John 3:36)
So, it is No wonder Matthew 20:28 says that Jesus' ransom covers MANY and does Not say all.
Yes, Hebrews chapter 10 is an eye opener because Hebrews 10:26 says at what point there is No longer any sacrifice for sins left.- Hebrews 6:4-6; 2 Peter 2:21; Matthew 12:32

 

[URAVIP2ME]

..... So if i understand you correctly, to be saved, one first accept Jesus then one practicing daily the Christian Gospel. And do everything in once power to better one self?

You might find Jesus' words at Matthew 24:13 to be of interest.
The one who endures to the end is saved.
Endure faithful til death (or)
Be found enduring faithful at the soon coming Glory Time of Matthew 25:31-33,37,40.

 

[Trailblazer]

In Christianity salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. ( see Ephesians 2:8-9). It is not something a Christian does or earns.

According to Paul, not according to Jesus, unless you have some verses that show that.

 

[Aupmanyav]

To be saved in any Abrahamic religion is to believe that propounder of their religion had the last message from God / Allah.

 

[John1.12]

Often Christians say they are saved. But what is it?

How are they saved? and i would think it is in the christian bible somewhere, but does it actually letter by letter say, All you have to do is to believe Jesus died on the cross, and that make you saved?? It is this part i can not understand.

As long as you believe you can do anything you want, even sin and be immoral?
Is there no inward change that must happen for a Christian to be saved?

Rom 10
9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Eph 1
13¶In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

 

[John1.12]

According to Paul, not according to Jesus, unless you have some verses that show that.

John 1 .12
12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: