Is it a necessity to get saved?

Two weeks ago when i posted this topic, just a few hours later i let my dog in my front yard that is fenced in so she could potty. I had her for 7 years. But that night, she never came back. For these two weeks, i have been posting ‘lost dog’ signs all over my neighborhood and local markets. This morning, I posted an ad in my local newspaper offering a award for her safe return to my home. Myspace has also came to be handy because i posted bulletins and pics asking my neighborhood to keep open eyes. But this after noon, I went walking around my neighborhood in search of the female terrier who i still love more than life. I found her. She was in the woods behind my house and her body partially decomposed. I thought i had died when i was reassured that this was the strong little dog who i had adopted from her abusive owners 7 years ago because the helpless angel had an identical purple collar just like my sweetheart had worn the last few months of her life. The worst part is, i had got onto her the last day i had her at my house because she has reluctantly climbed fences her whole life but i became extremely percatious when we moved into a new home near an extremely busy intersction that i feared would murder her. Does her running away have anything to do with the fact that i posted this only a couple hours before her run-away? She would get out of our fence on a daily basis usually but she would always return, unfortunately, she didnt’ this time. please help me translate this coincidence. I feel absolutely horrible.

Dear mrsdepp, I too am sorry for the pain you experienced with your dog. Having 2 myself my wife and I both would feel very terrible indeed. As for your question, “Is it a necessity to get saved?”, well yes I do believe that it’s very necessary to get saved. Salvation is already done for you though. You can’t earn it, buy it, bargain for it, wish for it. All you need do is ask for it. How? By admitting that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior and that you can’t live life in your own way any longer. The work of salvation was done for ALL mankind on the cross of Calvary. Not only that but after the resurection Christ had finished the work. No matter what you’ve done in your past, no matter how rotten, terrible, or incomprehensible, Christ will save you if you only ask Him. Basically it’s like this: A certain man went to a remote village and it was very poor to say the least. The man asked the villagers to gather ‘round because he had some very exciting news for them. He said to them, “Who among you wants to go to a place where there is no pain, disease, poverty, bad weather, evil?” At once all the people who’d gathered raised their hands in feverish anticipation. Then he said,”O.k. but there is something that you must do first.” Some of the villagers had puzzled looks on their faces and others asked,” What is it that we must do?”. The reply was quick from the man., “You must go through a door. This door is Jesus Christ and by passing by Him you may enter this land of peace, freedom and happiness.” Many of the villagers still persisted until they saw this Jesus on the cross writhing in agony, bloodied, pierced through, battered and beaten beyond recognition. Upon seeing Christ on the cross many of the villagers turned away because the price was so high. Not a very pretty picture is it? God is not some ogre that sits up in heaven waiting to smite us when we make mistakes. Does He get angry when we disobey? Do you when your kids do it? Do you love them any less? Mrsdepp. are you willing to seek this Jesus out in faith? Yes, Jesus loves you and no He doesn’t want anyone to choose to go to hell.(yes we choose to go there or not). Jesus came and died so that He would bridge the gap between us and God the Father. The gap is sin. We have all sinned and fallen way short of His glory. I encourage you to find a bible believing church or even tune into www.wdcxfm.com as it has many online radio station programs that will offer you guidance and help in your questions about faith. God bless and hope this helps.

John 3:3 In order to enter the kindom of heven you must be born again, which means rebirth, siply put becomming a new creation through becoming saved= Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that jesus died on the cross to save you confees you sins directly to him quitely in your room right to jesus,:no need to shot it or do it in fron of a priest, as jesus hears all and know your heart, Get babtized :at a church, fully summersed in water” cleansing, when you rise from that water you will even feel the rebirth of your old self into your new self leaving behind the past a living for the Lord.

I suggest you read the whole book of John several times its mentions that in order to enter the kindom of heven you must be born again”saved” believe it follow it in your daily life, It’s baby steps, one at a time,, Not easy, never fair is life, But Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tommorow! He will never leave you or forsake you…

You will be corrected in your life as you are a child of God but not punished, my mother used to tell me when something bad happened “see that’s God punishing you” to this day I still find it haunting me, But I believe in the Word, (the bible) it is our handbook, how to live , pleasing to the lord, noone can be perfect as we are human ans born broken, sinners. We have the chance to get this in our life as Jesus died on the cross and rose again to bridge the gap between sin(from adam and eve ) that was passed down from generation to generation, The hard part is to accept that a newborn is a sinner, But the Lord is forgiving and know the child has not yet been given the chance to accept him as his savior, after being saved your life is a joint heir to the throne of Christ, we are his friends ..You can talk to him , praise him for what he did to save us all, all who choose to accept the truth, as it is written. the new testement is the new law, the old the old conevenent, prophicies of what was to happen.

Do you see anything in the world now happening? anything that looks like it states in revelations?

Now is the time, Try it, thats a good choice try it, see what it can and will doin your life,will it make everything easy , NO, but it will give you rest and peace and a joy in your heart, this is so for many , why not you? If you read John in the bible the answer is in there. it’s written in ink right on the page, many turn away from it as they know changes will have to be made.

That’s all I can say and I hope it helps, Yes I did put some of my feelings in there but really the book of John in the bible hold the answer to your question.

Blessings and love, from a sister in Christ,

I’m sorry to hear about your dog. No, I don’t think you are being punished for posting this question. God is not the sort of person to do that. Look at it the other way: in asking about God, in being aware of God’s presence and grace in your life, he may have strengthened you in preparation for this time of loss. He is near you in a deeper way, just when you need him more.

Now, about the necessity of being saved. As Catholics, we have a rather different view of how salvation looks. “Accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and savior” is important, but is only one moment in the pilgrimage to God. And it is not, cannot, remain just an intellectual or spiritual commitment. It must bear fruit in your life. It must change how you live, or it means nothing.

What do I mean? I mean you make an effort to live as God asks, not to gain merit with God, but to live in a way that allows God’s grace to form you as the person God knows and hopes you will be. Our good works do not earn heaven or salvation–nobody can earn heaven. But they are a human response to the love God gives us first.

You should also join a Church, because alone we are weak, but united by God’s Spirit, we can encourage one another and help one another in our times of weakness. Incidentally, the baptism (or renewal of baptismal vows when we profess faith) in joining a church gives outward, human form to our commitment and acceptance of Jesus as Lord. Of course, I admit I am predudiced: I find the Sacramental churches, especially the Catholic and Orthodox, to be the richest in opportunities for grace: we have Bible study, we have prayer and devotions, we have the Sacraments, we have the intercession of the Saints as fonts of grace that open our hearts to Jesus and to the workings of the Spirit. However, any Church is better than none at all.

Does this mean that God condemns those who do not believe? Not at all. God’s mercy is not constrained by human efforts or failings. God, I believe, will save (or not) each person according to their own response to the grace shown them in his or her particular life. Even a tribesman in fartherest New Guinea or Amazonia knows, fundamentally, what it means to be a good person, to live according to the morality they have been taught and seen. And each person can choose to respond with good or with evil. But, as Christians, we have a clearer view of what God asks us, what being fully human looks like. In that sense, it is easier for us. And, so, more will be asked of us, because more has been given us.

And for us, having been granted the privilege of the Gospel, to willfully turn away from that grace, well, it can’t be good. God alone will judge how well the Gospel was given us, how much chance we had to really accept it, or how much clutter and trash obscured it for us. But, if we really could choose it, and chose something else we knew was less important, in rejecting Jesus, that, like any grevious sin, is when we are in danger of condemnation. At that point, certainly, it is necessary to “get saved.”

It’s up to you how much faith you put into a religion - or for that matter, if you chose one religion over another. Most (like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc) will tell you that if you don’t chose them, you go to hell, and that the people following “that other church” or visiting “the mosque” or “temple” are in fact going to hell..

However, given human history & how every major religion has spread, I have a hard time believing any god intended that their message would only go out to the middle east, and ignore more than 2/3 of the human race - as it is the issue with all three of those, until they were spread, typically by military force.

Perhaps though that’s what the diety intended. It’s up to you to decide what faith you have, what religion to follow, and no amount of “selling” can force you to change your beliefs, as it’s entirely up to you. Good luck figuring it out.

im a christine. and i believe that there is a god and that he is comming back.so this is all i got to say..

WARNING: JESUS IS COMMING SOON..BETTER BE PREPARED!

for more information..go and open the bible. read.enjoy.believe. for JESUS is coming back. i hope you are ready..

yes if you dont want to spend the rest of your life burning in hell

It’s all up to you what you want to believe. I also have a hard time believing that any higher power would send a good person to hell just for not believing. That seems a little silly to me, but hey, everyone believes something different.

I think that as long as you are a good person then it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe. I do believe in the goddess and i believe that she wouldn’t punish anyone for doubting her existence as there is no proof of a supreme being. After all. whoever made us gave us the freedom of choice and so it is their problem if we do not believe that they exist. my religion doesn’t believe that there is such place as hell, and we also understand that although our religion is best for ourselves, it is only one of many paths to spiritual enlightenment. the only thing we have against other religions is that they believe their religion is the only way and if you don’t follow it you will be punished by a god. There is no point pretending you believe because you fear going to hell. Being dishonest to yourself is much worse.

As others have said, religion is something you need to figure out for yourself.

First off, do you believe in “heaven” and “hell?” If you don’t personally believe in them in the literal sense, you may be more concerned about being a good person and leading a good life.

What I will say is that the one uniting theme that joins most religions is some variant of the golden rule. There is usually that underlying idea of treating others as you would be treated, or that what you do in life, for good or bad, comes back to you. Try researching some different religions, be open minded and compare and contrast. Whatever you ultimately decide, religion can be a pretty fascinating subject.

Well, I am a Christian, and I strongly believe that you must be saved in order to go to heaven. Jesus himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). That basically means that the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ, which means being saved. Being a good person is only half of it..There are tons of “good people” out there, but the only thing that matters is whether or not they are saved. Otherwise, they will not enter heaven when they die. Period.

It’s all the Bible.

Religion is a thing that you kind of need to figure out on your own.

God loves you no matter who you are, because he made you. I guess you have to figure out what kinds of things you believe it. Talk to a few preist or ministers or pastors in some churches at your town. I am going to Heaven because i Am Saved By Him.

To get saved, you must ask The Lord into your heart and trust Him as your savior. Last sunday in church, we learned that worries are a waste. If you believe in God, and trust Him to lead you onto the right path, then you dont need to worry.

I am a Christian. I know what I speak of. Read the Bible for more Information. Im not an encyclodia.

God loves you no matter what. And he loves the person you are, and the way you repay Him is by accepting him into you’re heart & living our you’re life for him, since he gave his for you. God is not about a “religion”.. It’s all about a RELATIONSHIP. There is only one way to heaven, and if you want to ensure that - You need to be saved & accept Jesus into your heart.

I hope I was help to you. My prayers are with you.

thanks to both of you. i have also thought of the fact that not everyone believes in christianity or even god. Some may not have even heard of the Lord in their lives for they may be part of the large majority of refugees in Africa, Cambodia, UK ect. who have not had the least bit of knowledge or education so what happens to those who never got a chance to believe? Again, thanks to everyone!

Jesus said, “I am the the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” No matter how good, how honest, etc etc you are. All our good deeds are like filthy rags to God. Without Jesus Christ you are lost and will burn in the lake of fire. As far as not being a “religious” person… Where in the Bible does it say that Jesus is a “religion”? Jesus is not a “religion” He is Salvation.

I am very sorry to hear about your dog.

I do not think you are being punished for posting this. It is just an unfortunate coincidence. You did nothing wrong and have nothing to feel guilty about. Many people think about religion and question it. I don’t think any of us are punished for doing so. If we were, I do no think that would be the sign of a loving, merciful, fair, or just higher power. We all have our ups and downs in life, whether we question our religion or not.