I grew up going to church but I’m not religious now and I never really understood this part.
Please, no answers along the lines of “aha, that’s why Christianity is a sham” or “religions aren’t logical”. I don’t want to debate whether it’s right or wrong, I just want to understand the logic and reasoning that Christians use to explain this.
The theological answer, as I learned it, is most clearly spelled out in James 2:14-26, often referenced through the phrase “faith without works is dead”. The short version is: faith in Jesus will save you, not good deeds. However, if you have faith in Jesus, then that faith will manifest itself through good deeds. If someone proclaims their faith but doesn’t act lovingly, then they don’t actually have faith and won’t be saved. So a Christian should be a good person not because being good will save them, but because being good is a result of genuine faith.
Seems to me this is a protestant thing, i grew up Catholic and repentance was a major part of it. You don’t change and become a better person? Then no absolution for you.
Depends on the protestant branch, I’d heard repentance defined as “turning away from sin 100% and leaving it behind” but that kind of theology gets mixed up in “faith not works” and the idea that if you haven’t immediately asked forgiveness for every little time you mess up you’re going to hell until you do. Swear while falling down the stairs, then die in your living room? Hell.
Of course there’s also the opposite which is “once you accept Jesus there’s no possible way you can ever not be saved” which doesn’t match up with free will in my opinion.
TLDR: He doesn’t forgive anyone who sins, he forgives those who repent. Repent not meaning “feeling sorry” as many seem to explain, but actually meaning “to turn away” which means changing fundamentally as a human being. From a bad person to a good person.
Someone who doesn’t change and act good most of the time isn’t repentant, so isn’t forgiven. So basically, you prove it with your actions and how you live your life, not with just words only. By this measurement, Republican “Christians” aren’t repentant and so aren’t forgiven.
Not a Christian anymore, but I used to be for a very long time. Sidebar: “You will know a tree by it’s fruit” AKA you’ll know what kind of person someone is by what they do. Anyone who’s even skimmed the bible (especially the new testament) would easily understand that most conservative “christians” aren’t Christian at all, but rather like the Pharisees (phony religious types) that Jesus constantly argued with and condemned.
Other note: Sikhs actually live the way Christian claim to. I could easily make a “hard to swallow pill” meme which said: “Sikhs are better Christians than actual Christians are.”
You won’t be forgiven no matter what. If you carry on sinning, there is no more forgiveness. The only thing you can expect is to be thrown into outer darkness forever where you will be mourning and regretting your decision.
Put it this way: you drove drunk and killed someone. You’ve been given the death penalty by the judge. But a person called Jesus steps in and says “I’ll take his place. Let him go free”.
Would you ever drink drive again after someone died in your place to give you a second chance? Surely not! You would be sober, very grateful and even yet to help other people not make the same mistake.
It’s the same with sin. Jesus paid a HEAVY price to redeem you. Don’t spit in his face by carrying on with the same sins. Instead be grateful and find out how you should live instead.
Read the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. And also read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) to see how Jesus further explains and practices these.
The goal is to become holy like Jesus
Hope that helps.
Good ELI5 answer. The “push” to do good comes from the feeling of thankfulness that you don’t have to take a death penalty from a wrongdoing, someone else is taking it instead.
Another take: Imagine when a friend takes you for a dinner treat, you’d be thankful for them that they paid for your food (and the food is not necessarily free, someone actually paid for the food). You’d at least try to be nice to him, as a gesture of thankfulness, and you wouldn’t want hurt their feeling after they took you for a treat. Deliberately or not.
