No, the purpose of the thread is
NOT to challenge or refute those doctrines.
The purpose of the thread is to refute the idea that God
conditions his forgiveness and transformative power to believing in those doctrines.
So the scope of the discussion should be very different from the rest of the threads, which focus on the veracity of doctrine X or Y.
Let me give you an example of what I mean:
Suppose that a person believes with all her heart that God created the world in 6 literal days. Whether that's true or not is one kind of debate.
Now, imagine that the same person believes that all people who think that God created the world over millions of years deserves to burn in hell for ever. Well, that's a different kind of debate.
Not all Christians who believe that God created the world in 6 literal days consider that the non-believers in the 6-literal-days-doctrine should burn in hell.
Catholics, in their catechism, affirm that the grace of God can save Jews, Muslims and people from other religions, without forsaking the role of the Church in salvation.
Lets start with the gospel/resurrection of Christ which is essential to believe as Paul tells us below. The center of the gospel message is the Resurrection of Christ
Paul defines that Gospel by which we are saved below:
1 Corinthians 15:1-19
Now I make known to you, brethren,
the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2
by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then
it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found
to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
Only One way to be saved, by One Person, One Gospel and One Faith. In Him alone. Scripture is really very exclusive here but inclusive to all that come to Him freely!
Gospel Summary
1- Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures
2- Jesus was buried , in a guarded tomb
3- Jesus was raised from the dead, resurrected on the 3rd day bodily
4- Jesus was seen by many witnesses over 40 days before His Ascension
Jesus died for the sin of the world as the Lamb of God who taketh them away (
John 1:29 ) and Rose from the dead as the only sign He would give an unbelieving people who rejected Him proving He was the promised Messiah who had the power over sin, death/grave and the devil having been raised from the dead conquering them all. The gospel is a historical fact verified by many witnesses. The biblical principle of letting every fact be confirmed by the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses. This gospel is for all the world, for all sinners to come freely and receive the forgiveness of their sins by the atonement He made for ALL the WORLD as per
1 John 2:2.
John 1:12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
John 3:16-18
“For God so loved the world,[
i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
While gospel is often found alone, it is very often modified by various terms that focus on a particular aspect of the gospel.
It is modified by various descriptive phrases, such as, “the gospel of God” (
Mk 1:14, ASV;
Rom 15:16), “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” (
Mk 1:1;
I Cor 9:12), “the gospel of his Son” (
Rom 1:9), “the gospel of the kingdom “ (
Mt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), “the gospel of the grace of God” (
Acts 20:24), “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (
II Cor 4:4, ASV), “the gospel of peace” (
Eph 6:15), “an eternal gospel” (
Rev 14:6, RSV). Although distinctive aspects of the message are indicated by the various modifiers, the gospel is essentially one. Paul speaks of “another gospel” which is not an equivalent, for the gospel of God is His revelation, not the result of discovery (
Gal 1:6–11).
5
In the New Testament, the various modifiers bring out some aspect of the gospel that is being stressed in the context and is a part of the good news of what God offers us in Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ (
Mark 1:1;
1 Cor. 9:12) and the gospel of His Son (
Rom. 1:9). These two descriptions speak of the good news of salvation that comes through the person and work of Jesus Christ who is the very Son of God in human flesh. Again, this is a good news of deliverance from sin’s penalty, power and presence through the two advents of Christ.
The new birth being born again comes through the message of the gospel. It doesn't come before but after faith.
1 Peter 1:21-24
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
So Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ !
Romans 10
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted
the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
hope this helps !!!
