"All know the Way, but few actually walk it." Bodhidharma
If anyone tells you someone (not you) will save you if you believe in that person sincerely enough; or that someone will make you right with God, don't believe them.
There is only one person who can, and must do that work, and it is YOU!
Jesus, Buddha and other 'great' religious teachers show us a path to follow. They can't make you follow it; and without following the path you won't reap the rewards of that path. It's important to believe in them; but that belief is not one of slavish acceptance, but of seeing the value of the teaching and putting it into practice.
Doing the work is very important! No matter how sincere you are, restricting your spiritual walk to statements of commitment, no matter how sincere (the Way is not that of proper incantations), without following the path (works), you'll never reach the 'goal'.
Look at this parable from Jesus (Matt 21:28-32 )
But what do you think? A man had two sons,
and he came to the first, and said,
‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
He answered, ‘I will not,’
but afterward he changed his mind, and went.
He came to the second, and said the same thing.
He answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?"
They said to him, "The first."
Jesus said to them,
"Most assuredly I tell you that the tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you in the way of righteousness,
and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and
the prostitutes believed him.
When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward,
that you might believe him.
Some will say- 'It is only by faith that we are saved!' Yet there's a misunderstanding here. Jesus said not only 'believe in me'(meaning trust in my message), but also 'Repent'(change your mind/heart about who's running the show, that is God), and 'Follow me'(action). All of these are important aspects of Jesus' teachings. Notice how action (works) is required of a disciple (follower).
Recall the parable from Mt.21:28-32,
only the first son did (works) what was asked of him.
When the Bible says it's by faith, not works, it's important to understand what 'works' means. 'Works' that result in a reward of the same nature (as the work involved) is very different from 'works' that results in reward of a different nature (from itself.) Take an example;
Mark 8:35 "For whoever wishes to save his life (and works to that end)will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."
It certainly isn't a reward of the same nature to lose one's life to save it (if you lose it, it's gone), but one CAN lose one's life (physical) to gain one's life (the real, spiritual one). And this is exactly the point of Jesus' message and life example...that's why he died (physically), as a way to demonstrate the complete path to follow (resurrection to eternal life). It's in the nature of the result of the 'works' that makes it one of faith (trust in results that may not be what you expect.)
There's more: Works for the sake of an end result (even of a different nature) will kill you (spiritual life), but works that are done without a premeditated end (done without desire of reward, even of a different nature) will bring life.
For those of you unfamiliar with Buddhism, here's a traditional saying;
"Diligently work out your salvation." Buddha
Sound familiar? It should, it's the same truth said with different words.
Matthew
If anyone tells you someone (not you) will save you if you believe in that person sincerely enough; or that someone will make you right with God, don't believe them.
There is only one person who can, and must do that work, and it is YOU!
Jesus, Buddha and other 'great' religious teachers show us a path to follow. They can't make you follow it; and without following the path you won't reap the rewards of that path. It's important to believe in them; but that belief is not one of slavish acceptance, but of seeing the value of the teaching and putting it into practice.
Doing the work is very important! No matter how sincere you are, restricting your spiritual walk to statements of commitment, no matter how sincere (the Way is not that of proper incantations), without following the path (works), you'll never reach the 'goal'.
Look at this parable from Jesus (Matt 21:28-32 )
But what do you think? A man had two sons,
and he came to the first, and said,
‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
He answered, ‘I will not,’
but afterward he changed his mind, and went.
He came to the second, and said the same thing.
He answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?"
They said to him, "The first."
Jesus said to them,
"Most assuredly I tell you that the tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you in the way of righteousness,
and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and
the prostitutes believed him.
When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward,
that you might believe him.
Some will say- 'It is only by faith that we are saved!' Yet there's a misunderstanding here. Jesus said not only 'believe in me'(meaning trust in my message), but also 'Repent'(change your mind/heart about who's running the show, that is God), and 'Follow me'(action). All of these are important aspects of Jesus' teachings. Notice how action (works) is required of a disciple (follower).
Recall the parable from Mt.21:28-32,
only the first son did (works) what was asked of him.
When the Bible says it's by faith, not works, it's important to understand what 'works' means. 'Works' that result in a reward of the same nature (as the work involved) is very different from 'works' that results in reward of a different nature (from itself.) Take an example;
Mark 8:35 "For whoever wishes to save his life (and works to that end)will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."
It certainly isn't a reward of the same nature to lose one's life to save it (if you lose it, it's gone), but one CAN lose one's life (physical) to gain one's life (the real, spiritual one). And this is exactly the point of Jesus' message and life example...that's why he died (physically), as a way to demonstrate the complete path to follow (resurrection to eternal life). It's in the nature of the result of the 'works' that makes it one of faith (trust in results that may not be what you expect.)
There's more: Works for the sake of an end result (even of a different nature) will kill you (spiritual life), but works that are done without a premeditated end (done without desire of reward, even of a different nature) will bring life.
For those of you unfamiliar with Buddhism, here's a traditional saying;
"Diligently work out your salvation." Buddha
Sound familiar? It should, it's the same truth said with different words.
Matthew
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