Meta-narrative

@divegeester said
But according to your belief we maintain our salvation by doing or not doing certain things?

Do you grasp the gospel? We are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift of God,
nothing we can do can we earn salvation. So all the things we do after that aren't to
get saved; we do it all out of the love and obedience for our Lord and Savior. We are
to obey Him, serve Him, and love Him and each other.

I thought you understood the gospel, which was why you didn't take 3 minutes
to watch that short clip which explained it very well in a very humourous manner.

YouTube

@kellyjay said
If something is true, it doesn't matter if we arrived at it through science, religion,
or philosophy; it is true. To suggest something is only a religious truth invites the
notion it isn't true because there is some religious element to it.

If you somehow eventually get to find out your religious beliefs are true, good for you. If you should find you have some facility for communicating from beyond the grave, then I suggest you do so.

@fmf said
If you somehow eventually get to find out your religious beliefs are true, good for you. If you should find you have some facility for communicating from beyond the grave, then I suggest you do so.

If it isn't true, I don't care if it is good for me; there are many things we like that
will, in the end, kill us. Truth, not religion, is all that is important; speculate on that
for a little while.

@kellyjay said
We are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift of God,
nothing we can do can we earn salvation.

Isn't believing in your God figure "doing" something. If my faith for decades was a "gift from God", according to your beliefs, why did he take it away from me?

@kellyjay said
If it isn't true, I don't care if it is good for me; there are many things we like that
will, in the end, kill us. Truth, not religion, is all that is important; speculate on that
for a little while.

This is like a politician's go-to generic dot point. It does not address what I specifically said.

@kellyjay said
Truth, not religion, is all that is important; speculate on that
for a little while.

I have been spectaculating about it for decades.

@fmf said
Isn't believing in your God figure "doing" something. If my faith for decades was a "gift from God", according to your beliefs, why did he take it away from me?

You are given many different things and what you do with them is on you. Not sure what you actually had your faith in, but if something that can happen to anyone could cause you to lose it, it wasn’t much to begin with.

@fmf said
I have been spectaculating about it for decades.

You think you can figure out something that transcends this place by mere thought, think your way to God?

@kellyjay said
You think you can figure out something that transcends this place by mere thought, think your way to God?

"Figuring out" something that supposedly "transcends this place" is a matter of "mere thought" and human pursuits like philosophy and religion place speculating about such metaphysical things front and central.

If you choose to anthropomorphize a possible creator entity into the God figure you describe, and then unilaterally declare that to be "the truth", then that is a matter for you. It does not create any moral or existential dilemma for anyone else, including me.

@fmf said
"Figuring out" something that supposedly "transcends this place" is a matter of "mere thought" and human pursuits like philosophy and religion place speculating about such metaphysical things front and central.

If you choose to anthropomorphize a possible creator entity into the God figure you describe, and then unilaterally declare that to be "the truth", then that is a matter for you. It does not create any moral or existential dilemma for anyone else, including me.

The connection has to be from top to bottom we can’t reach that high.

@kellyjay said
Not sure what you actually had your faith in, but if something that can happen to anyone could cause you to lose it, it wasn’t much to begin with.

Call it how you see it, KellyJay. My faith was in Jesus, just like yours is. I have written thousands of words about the nature and impact of my faith. You choose to pretend that you have never read any of them.

It wasn't about "the Easter bunny", it wasn't about "sitting on a pew in a church", it wasn't about "going through the motions".

Making assertions like those, and all the other, countless facetious strawmen you have employed, is, sadly, an indication of your character.

@kellyjay said
The connection has to be from top to bottom we can’t reach that high.

I am well aware of what your faith makes you think about yourself and about the universe.

@kellyjay said
If you ever say something worth responding to, I will, but for the most part
you are all insults, and you tend to ignore answers to questions given to you
that require a little thought to comprehend.

Coward!

Here’s what you asserted:

@kellyjay said
We are saved by Christ not by our efforts.

My reply
But according to your belief we maintain our salvation by doing or not doing certain things?

Correct or not?

@fmf said
Isn't believing in your God figure "doing" something. If my faith for decades was a "gift from God", according to your beliefs, why did he take it away from me?

I've explained to you repeatedly that simply believing in God isn't enough even
the devil believes, and it will not do him any good. Believing God is quite
different than believing in Him; knowing God is different than having thoughts
about Him; in the book of Job, we see this at the end when Job finally grasps
that. Judas believed in Jesus, and Pilate believed in Jesus; they knew He was special,
but still, Judas didn't believe Him for who he was and betrayed Him.

Many people in His name have made confessions but kept their hearts from Him,
so when the trials of this life come, the riches or the suffering in the world come,
what they are is revealed. We cannot earn our salvation, but it costs us everything
as we pick up our crosses and follow the Lord, the good and the bad, our deeds,
our righteousness, all become meaningless next to knowing Him, which is the
one thing you now deny.

@fmf said
Call it how you see it, KellyJay. My faith was in Jesus, just like yours is. I have written thousands of words about the nature and impact of my faith. You choose to pretend that you have never read any of them.

It wasn't about "the Easter bunny", it wasn't about "sitting on a pew in a church", it wasn't about "going through the motions".

Making assertions like those, and ...[text shortened]... e other, countless facetious strawmen you have employed, is, sadly, an indication of your character.

If you knew the Lord, you could not deny Him, so don't compare yourself to me.
Whatever you had, it wasn't real enough to withstand the trials that came your
way; you not only walked away from God but even denied His existence.

I could not walk away and deny He was real. I would still have to acknowledge who
He is, knowing He is real. He is too precious to me, through all the trials of my life
He has been faithful to see my family and me through it all. Your faith folded and
rejected the Lord, claiming it was all a mental deception that you now claim was
not real, and you make the same proclamation for everyone else as if you could
know what others have experienced since you had something false, you can
only speak for yourself.