If you know anything about Bay-area rap, then you know what I'm referencing in part of the title. But I'm not using 'saved' in the same sense as E-40's mobb classic, "Captain Save..." I'm speaking of being 'saved' as it regards to your relationship to Jesus Christ.
Although I was raised in a Christian household, I really didn't get into Christianity seriously until 1998. That's when I really started trying to find out what Christianity meant and who Jesus Christ was, and what I was supposed to be doing in regards ot a relationship with Him. I'm not posting these threads for argument or debate, simply as my experiences and point of view to help or enlighten someone else. I'll try to explain Christianity somewhat and debunk a few myths and whatnot concerning my religion.
How do you get saved? According to the Bible in Romans 10:9, there is only one way to be saved: ...if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Contrary to popular belief, you can't be saved by doing good deeds or be not sinning, those things are a sign that you are saved, but to be saved, all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He has risen from the dead, and you will be saved.
What does being saved mean? Salvation means that when you die, you will be guaranteed a place in Heaven because you accepted the gift God gave to man by sending His Son Jesus Christ do die in our place for our sinful condition. That means that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, anything you've ever done or will do have been forgiven. It's like the old saying goes, "what goes around comes around." All the things that we do in this life, someone must pay for it, it's a law of nature. Through Jesus Christ, we don't have to pay for our wrongs ourselves, He died in our place. For those who don't accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they will have to pay for their sins on their own, and that is payment is due in Hell.
My little brother got killed in 2002 at the age of 20. Before he died, I spoke with him about what it meant to be saved and to accept Jesus Christ. We never had a conversation about it after that and he never got baptized, and never stopped hustling or doing what he did in the streets. When he did, however, I prayed to God and asked Him to send me a sign that my brother was saved. On the day of the funeral, it rained all morning, but when I got up to speak, it looked like the sun was shining outside. That was my confirmation that at some point, he had accepted Christ as his Lord & Saviour. See, although he was saved when he died, because he couldn't shake his desire for the street and fast money, the Lord had to take him out before he got worse. He didn't lose his salvation, but he lost his chance to live the life God made him for. Our choices affect our quality of life.
How can you say someone is saved even though they are still doing negative things? Salvation doesn't come from good works, good works come from salvation. You can't stop lying, fornicating, smoking, hustling or do anything that you're not supposed to be doing without being saved first. There are plenty of people who don't kill, lie or steal, but that doesn't mean they are saved, that just means that they don't kill, lie or steal, but they are still going to Hell if they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the same token, if a person is trying to live right, but keeps falling to the same traps, that doesn't mean they aren't saved. We all our human and God knows that, He can see your heart, and if you have a desire to do what's right, He can see it. That does not include a person who knows what is right and chooses not to do what is right. There is a very big difference between a person who is trying to do right, but their human nature casues them to fall sometimes, and a person who knows what is right, but doesn't care, they want to do what they want to do.
Isn't life supposed to get easy once you get saved?
That's not always the case. God never said that we will not have problems or issues in life. In fact, some problems or issues may seem to worsen when we get saved. Problems come to build our faith and to grow our relationship with God. Our problems may not change, but through Jesus Christ, the way we look at them will change, and eventually, we will overcome whatever the problem is through Jesus Christ.
Christianity is the white man's religion that supported slavery. That is a lie from satan. First of all, Cush, modern-day Ethiopia, was one of the first and largest Christian countries in the world. Their belief in Christ, came far before European countries. Furthurmore, Africans can trace their heritage back to Noah's son Ham, who migrated to the continent of Africa after the flood. The Bible does not support racism or slavery, it instructs humans to treat one another like brothers.
All of the pictures I see of Christ are of white men.
Has the artist ever Jesus? That's another lie to disenfrancise Blacks and Latinos to believe that Christianity is soley a white religion. You need to study and see what the people in the region looked like when Christ lived. Christ is not like the pictures you see displayed prominently. Furthermore, it really doesn't matter what He looked like. If you recognize that ethinc and racial differences come from environment then you will see how ridiculous it is to argue over what color Jesus is. Humans adapt to their surrounding over thousands of years, and creates characteristics. Black's have darker skintones because the melanin in their skin provided protection from the sun in Africa. On the other had, Europeans lack melanin because of the climate in Europe.
In the end, the Bible tells us that 'every knee will bow and every person will say that Jesus Christ is the Lord.' You have the choice to say that now while you still live, or when you die in the Great Judgement, either way you will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Although I was raised in a Christian household, I really didn't get into Christianity seriously until 1998. That's when I really started trying to find out what Christianity meant and who Jesus Christ was, and what I was supposed to be doing in regards ot a relationship with Him. I'm not posting these threads for argument or debate, simply as my experiences and point of view to help or enlighten someone else. I'll try to explain Christianity somewhat and debunk a few myths and whatnot concerning my religion.
How do you get saved? According to the Bible in Romans 10:9, there is only one way to be saved: ...if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Contrary to popular belief, you can't be saved by doing good deeds or be not sinning, those things are a sign that you are saved, but to be saved, all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He has risen from the dead, and you will be saved.
What does being saved mean? Salvation means that when you die, you will be guaranteed a place in Heaven because you accepted the gift God gave to man by sending His Son Jesus Christ do die in our place for our sinful condition. That means that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, anything you've ever done or will do have been forgiven. It's like the old saying goes, "what goes around comes around." All the things that we do in this life, someone must pay for it, it's a law of nature. Through Jesus Christ, we don't have to pay for our wrongs ourselves, He died in our place. For those who don't accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they will have to pay for their sins on their own, and that is payment is due in Hell.
My little brother got killed in 2002 at the age of 20. Before he died, I spoke with him about what it meant to be saved and to accept Jesus Christ. We never had a conversation about it after that and he never got baptized, and never stopped hustling or doing what he did in the streets. When he did, however, I prayed to God and asked Him to send me a sign that my brother was saved. On the day of the funeral, it rained all morning, but when I got up to speak, it looked like the sun was shining outside. That was my confirmation that at some point, he had accepted Christ as his Lord & Saviour. See, although he was saved when he died, because he couldn't shake his desire for the street and fast money, the Lord had to take him out before he got worse. He didn't lose his salvation, but he lost his chance to live the life God made him for. Our choices affect our quality of life.
How can you say someone is saved even though they are still doing negative things? Salvation doesn't come from good works, good works come from salvation. You can't stop lying, fornicating, smoking, hustling or do anything that you're not supposed to be doing without being saved first. There are plenty of people who don't kill, lie or steal, but that doesn't mean they are saved, that just means that they don't kill, lie or steal, but they are still going to Hell if they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the same token, if a person is trying to live right, but keeps falling to the same traps, that doesn't mean they aren't saved. We all our human and God knows that, He can see your heart, and if you have a desire to do what's right, He can see it. That does not include a person who knows what is right and chooses not to do what is right. There is a very big difference between a person who is trying to do right, but their human nature casues them to fall sometimes, and a person who knows what is right, but doesn't care, they want to do what they want to do.
Isn't life supposed to get easy once you get saved?
That's not always the case. God never said that we will not have problems or issues in life. In fact, some problems or issues may seem to worsen when we get saved. Problems come to build our faith and to grow our relationship with God. Our problems may not change, but through Jesus Christ, the way we look at them will change, and eventually, we will overcome whatever the problem is through Jesus Christ.
Christianity is the white man's religion that supported slavery. That is a lie from satan. First of all, Cush, modern-day Ethiopia, was one of the first and largest Christian countries in the world. Their belief in Christ, came far before European countries. Furthurmore, Africans can trace their heritage back to Noah's son Ham, who migrated to the continent of Africa after the flood. The Bible does not support racism or slavery, it instructs humans to treat one another like brothers.
All of the pictures I see of Christ are of white men.
Has the artist ever Jesus? That's another lie to disenfrancise Blacks and Latinos to believe that Christianity is soley a white religion. You need to study and see what the people in the region looked like when Christ lived. Christ is not like the pictures you see displayed prominently. Furthermore, it really doesn't matter what He looked like. If you recognize that ethinc and racial differences come from environment then you will see how ridiculous it is to argue over what color Jesus is. Humans adapt to their surrounding over thousands of years, and creates characteristics. Black's have darker skintones because the melanin in their skin provided protection from the sun in Africa. On the other had, Europeans lack melanin because of the climate in Europe.
In the end, the Bible tells us that 'every knee will bow and every person will say that Jesus Christ is the Lord.' You have the choice to say that now while you still live, or when you die in the Great Judgement, either way you will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
