Christians: My pastor said that salvation alone will not get you to heaven?

your Pastor is mistaken because if you are saved then you want to live for God and His ways of doing things(kingdom),inform your Pastor that the church is the Body of Christ(the believers)...mention to him that in the bible it states that Jesus is our teacher and your right that the bible states where 2 or 3 are gathered together in God's name He is in the midst and THAT is church,to many seem to think that a building with a label on it qualifies as church but they should research the meaning that Christ gives us..it sounds as though your Pastor could do well in researching this himself..................God Bless you and don't feel condemned by man only listen to God's conviction in your heart

Once saved, always saved. This assumes that the salvation was sincere to begin with. You may have misunderstood your pastor or maybe he wasn't clear. If you are saved, it is a Christians desire to live a holy life. One can't help it but to. No, we do not need a mediator, but God encourages fellowship with other believers for the obvious reasons. In this country, we meet at church. Have you ever missed church? When I do, I can feel that I am drawing away, but when I go, I feel strengthened. Sharing and praying with others is what we would want to do. And yes, the church is not a building, it is the body of believers. So you see, if you intend to sin every day, then you must question your salvation. I sin, but I don't go out looking to sin. It tells me, that I need to pray more, read the bible more to stay under God's fountain of blessings. I have not lost my salvation, but my life isn't the same either. God wants the best for us, to sin means to disregard that and we need to be responsible and suffer the consequences. He is our loving Father. His children make mistakes and He guides us back on the right track.

Well, darlin', if we had to live a holy life in order to be saved, then according to Isaiah 64:6 (which says that "and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"), nobody would have a snowballs chance (pardon the pun). Thankfully (what an understatement), we have Jesus, who "while we were still sinners, died for us" (Romans 5:8). Romans 10:9 says that "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Period. End of story. If you have a real, personal relationship with Jesus, the one who loves you more that you can even imagine, you will be saved. Yes, it's great to fellowship with other believers (yey church!) and fellowship makes it a lot easier to follow God (as iron sharpens iron and all that), no, it's not necessary for salvation.

And, lastly, as for the mediator between you and God, that was the whole purpose for Jesus dying. He IS our mediator, the only thing sufficient and the only thing needed to bridge the enormous gap our sin creates between us and God. When Christ died, the veil in the temple that lead to the Holy of Holies (basically, the place where God dwelt that the head priest was only allowed to enter once a year after a ceremonial cleansing. Otherwise you die if you go in there at all). Anyway, when Christ died, that veil was torn, which means that we can "enter the Holy of Holies", we can approach God, the creator of the world, though Jesus. Wow.

THAT is what makes Jesus' sacrifice so crazy amazing. That is what makes his love so absolutely beautiful.

All you need is Jesus.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life" John 3:16

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" Romans 10:13

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Mathew 18:20

I am sorry to say that your pastor is wrong. You do not HAVE to go to to church to live for God. People attend church as a place to worship God and to learn more about His word. And you will definitely NOT lose your salvation once it is received. There is no scripture that says God takes back salvation. God will always forgive you if you repent and turn from your past ways. God knows your heart.

I think your pastor is somewhat accurate. However, many who know Jesus and become like Jesus in their lives and hearts and have never stepped foot in a church will gain entrance into God's presence as well as the weekly life long church goer who is equally pure in heart.

Church and religion as we know it on this earth are basically organizations to aid in mans search for truth and give him a guidline and fellowship to help him along the way. NOT everyone needs that kind of church membership to still be a christlike person - but many do.

Obviously CHrist is our mediator with the Father and He left His holy spirit to help guide, protect and lead us when He left the earth. One can still be on the path to a holy life without a church in my opinion.

Put another way.... there is a message in a beautiful song that I love to sing and hear. It's a christian song by singer song writer Kennth Cope and is called "WHen All is Said and Done" and there is a line in this song that is so great that says.... "When all is said and done, will I want to be the person I've become?" - to me that says it all - WHO WE BECOME in this life matters most - regardless of where if any church we belong to.

Do you go to a fundie church? LEAVE. He is ABSOLUTELY wrong. The only reason you should try to live as much like Jesus as you can is because He should be your role model, and you want to be a good example! NOT to keep your salvation. Once saved, always saved. Works do not get you to heaven any easier. You should just WANT to be like Jesus. But NO ONE is holy. Holy means perfect, and NO ONE can live a perfect life. You need to get out of that church NOW.

In my opinion, your pastor is greatly mistaken, and is himself in danger of not being saved.

Most Christian churches believe that salvation, once attained, cannot be lost, but there are some apparently valid arguments for "losing" salvation.

I would have to give this argument:

How does the action of salvation come about? What can YOU do to attain it? What do you have that God needs? What can you do that God cannot?

There is NOTHING you can do to attain salvation. The worksof salvation comes completely and totally from God. YOU have only to believe that it is so.

And if the work of salvation comes ONLY from God, how can YOU do anything to stop it or negate it? You can't. Only God can withdraw salvation -- but He has assured us that that won't happen.

So there is only ONE thing that could keep you from salvation -- unbelief. If you do not believe that the source of salvation is God himself, then you won't be saved.

But what happens if you once believed, but no longer do? That MIGHT be one way in which you could lose your salvation. And there are people who have done it -- been good Christians, then turned to atheism, or other religions. In turning away from God they exhibit their unbelief, and it could be argued that they have lost their salvation.

But salvation comes through BELIEF, not actions. So living a holy life is an honorable goal, but it is also completely unattainable. EVERYBODY screws up once in a while. But God assures us that our salvation is assured because we BELEIVE, not because we DO. So the occasional stumble does not cause a loss in salvation.

If, as you pastor says, that were so, then NO ONE could be saved -- not even your pastor. "there is no one righteous; no, not one".

As far as going to church, the true believer wants and NEEDS to go to church, not because of God's presence, but because of the teaching and rebuking that goes on. Beleive me, I can name several churches where it seems that God is NOT present!!!

But without going to church you cannot properly learn the Word of God, because it does take someone trained to explain it. Like the Ethopian uneuch in Acts: "How can undestand this unless someone explains it to me?"

Also, you need to go to church in order that you evil ways might be rebuked and corrected. So we gather at the church for instruction, training, and correction in God's word. These things cannot come from just a group of two or three alone. In fact, this is how cults get started, when one person goes outside of biblical teaching, and others follow without trying to correct him.

So stay in church!!!

I believe once saved always saved. Once you've been saved you will see that if your life has turned away from God's Will you will feel it. Although that scripture is correct, you have to look at "Do not forsake the assembly", which means church. Do you believe there is any amount of good deeds you could do to obtain the gift of salvation? I don't. Just believe in God, live the best you can, and he will take care of the rest.

Your Pastor is correctly. Salvation is not a 1 time Ascension of faith..a 1 shot deal that you are forever saved no matter what you do.

Some people believe in what is called "once saved always saved" doctrine. Clearly your pastor does not believe in that. -- Which is good.

Jesus calls ALL of us to live a holy life.. a life of higher purpose. He calls us to follow all of his teachings.. which includes how to live a good life.

In the bible, James says... a faith without works is dead.

Works alone do not save us.. but FAITH alone doesn't save us either.

Faith or salvation is not a free pass to do what you want..I think that's what he is getting at.

Another wards, he doesn't believe in the "sola fide" doctrine.. or "faith alone" -- He probably believes that we are saved by "faith working thru love" -- another wards faith and works together.

Having just one or the other is empty. Faith without any type of "christian life" is empty, just as James says it is. Likewise, merely living a good life (works) without faith is also empty. SO.. you need BOTH.. which is what is meant by the phrase.. "faith working thru love"

Jesus extended grace to everyone.. but implicite in the extension of his gift is that we take his teachings and follow them. -- So clearly there is more to salvation then merely accepting his grace.. with grace comes a lot of EXTRA responsibilities. -- You could say that the CORRECT response to his offer is "work"

ALSO.. you have to be careful not to take scriptural meaning to far. YES, wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in his name.. God is present.. BUT this doesn't make every home and every gathering a "church" that would be taking that too far. We can gather together and pray and God will not only hear us, but be with us in spirit..but an organized church is different.

Thinking that this verse means that any group of believers is a "church" causes people to splinter off and form their own little churches, which is what has caused Christianity to splinter into something like 39,000 different denominations, like it has. With these isolated little 'churches' of 10-50 people.. odd interpretations or beliefs can creep in, as members interpret the bible for themselves without any formal training AND also allows groups to "rationalize" their own behavior. What this has led people to do is become "christian consumers" that is.. people shop around for a "church" or group which matches what they already believe.. instead of the opposite.. following a fixed doctrine from an established group which has accountability and has researched and been consistent with its doctrines.

People need church to hold a mirror to their actions..without a reality check.. we are free to "rationalize" our actions and believe that just about anything is OK. Churches combat this by holding an absolute set of principles.

The problem is.. now a days, if the churches principles conflict with what that person wants to do (let's say cohabitating with someone they are not married to) then they go "shopping" for a church which condones their behavior. -- I think we can all see that this sort of "consumerism" is not good, morally.

Since I know nothing else about your pastor then what you've said.. I think his doctrine is sound and you should stick with that church.

Well, it is just so many people accept salvation but don't commit to it. Salvation could get you into heaven if you were truly saved. Just believe you say you believe in Christ does not mean that you do. Your life style should line up with what you profess. If you are truly save you should walk in holiness. You should want to walk in holiness. Holiness is simply lining your life up with God's word.

So if your focus is to accept Jesus and be like him and allowing him to perfect you until he returns, then salvation will get you into heaven. But if you are proclaiming Christ and have not life style to line up with it, then it will not. It determines how you view salvation. There are many hypocrytical people today. Wolves in sheeps clothing and the whole nine, but you can tell a real child of God by their love walk.

Because above all we MUST walk in LOVE. That is where a lot of christians, believers, pastors, preachers lose it. They do all of these works but they can't even love one another. The bible says you do all these works in my name, if you have not love, YOU ARE NOTHING.

This is one of the hardest thing to do, yet the most simpliest way to determine who your father is. Love covers a multitude of sins and when find believers that are always judgemental and always have something to say. I know they have not conquered the love walk. Read about Love and if you seriously have God, God is Love and no matter what people go through or do to us, we MUST love!

Part B: You need to be faithful to a good ministry. It teaches you so much more than just going to church. It's all about servanthood. But, you must keep balance. You don't have to go 24/7. Church is only a part of lives it is not all of our lives.

You should be able to hear from God for yourself. So many people get Pastor salvation where they have to go to their pastor for everything, every move. You have to learn how to trust God for your self and hear from God for your self. Yes your pastor will gain spiritual insight and share things with you when God gives it to him but he is not the only person God speaks through. He should speak to you if you are his child.