Originally Posted by antlers
Originally Posted by Ringman
Originally Posted by antlers
Well, if I had an opportunity to ‘see’ the risen Jesus ‘before’ I passed on...I’d be SO there. And I’m certain that ‘anyone’ who comes to him will ‘not’ be turned away.
Jesus says, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord,...And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me...'"
The whole passage from Matthew 7:21-23 wasn’t posted. But Jesus was addressing the ‘religious’ people in the crowd, those who assumed that they had a golden ticket into Heaven.......

Yep....and in contrary to the “religious” people in the crowd, the criminal hanging on the cross next to him was saved.

Luke 23
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Why? Because God sees the intention in your heart.

Samuel 16
7 ......For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

There are plenty of Christians that aren’t on the narrow road. Attending church, tithing, taking part in formal ceremonies doesn’t bless a hardened heart. When a person truly repents, however, they are forgiven. He doesn’t even see a person’s sins when they accept that He sacrificed his Son for their sins and change their ways accordingly.

Isaiah 43
25 I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.

So for those bent on seeing contradiction, you can twist the words of the bible into it. If you soften your heart, however, you’ll see there may be some irony injected by human behavior, but there’s not contradiction.

“When debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
- Socrates