Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
To summarize your ideas:
"Strictly speaking, a person not in the church is not saved, but they might or could be".
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It is not for us to judge people outside the Church. We want salvation of all people and we leave the judgment to the Lord. Will He save or not some people: who, why and how? - we do not know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
"I don't know if I am saved" - how you can call that faith, I don't know, because uncertainty is the exact opposite of faith.
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"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14)
I think the faith in God and the certainty of one's posthumous destiny are two different things. We can claim anything but the Lord looks at our hearts.
"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2)
Do you really have works? Do you really have love? Do you really think that you are worthy of the Kingdom of God? I believe only a deluded person can answer "yes, I do".
We can believe whatever we like about our posthumous life but only God knows our destiny.
I think it is Mormons who "know" that they will become a god or a goddess on his or her own personal planet... but who gave them the guaranty?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
"If you leave Orthodoxy you will lose salvation". How can you be so confident to lose something that you are unsure of having in the first place?
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Do you know where your soul will go after you die? Will it be Bosom of Abraham? Are you 100% sure that you will be able to unite with Christ? Do you think that you deserve the Kingdom of God where the Lord prepared a nice place for you?
An Orthodox Christian has hope that he will be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and achieve a union with God. But rejecting the Church, which is the Body of Christ, the man cuts himself off Christ. Thefore, his posthumous life in the Kingdom of Heaven will be impossible.
One can't know his destiny until he dies. Well, we can delude ourselves, expecting a cosy place in Paradise, but will it help us out?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
If you don't know whether you will be saved, being in the church, or out of it, why bother being in the church at all?
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The Church is the Ark of salvation. Its goal is to bring and unite people to Christ. I have more chances to be saved when I am in the Ark than without it.
God bless.