What Doctrine could keep us from Heaven?

[timf]

The gospel by which we are saved

1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The means by which we are saved

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

It would seem that the key element is faith. There are a few things that can hinder and subvert faith. A person may substitute an acknowledgement of Jesus (such as he was a great teacher, etc.) instead of a trusting faith. A person can think he has done something to earn salvation (works).

When you consider that many of us will have a lot of "wood, hay, and stubble" along with our faith, it makes fighting over secondary issues seem less important.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

[Salty]

Unbelief in the Gospel message. Pure and simple. No need to complicate it.

So someone presents Matt 7:12 and states - I believe those words of Jesus - thus I will make it to Heaven????

 

[Reformed]

So someone presents Matt 7:12 and states - I believe those words of Jesus - thus I will make it to Heaven????

Honestly, I'm not sure how what I am stating is difficult to understand. Unbelief in the Gospel message is what keeps a person from eternal life. Even Mormons believe certain parts of the Bible. I'm sure they would have no issue with Matthew 7:12, the so-called Golden Rule:

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (Mt 7:12). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.

Not to get too verbose, the Apostle John gets to the heart of the matter:

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (1 Jn 5:1–12). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.

He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (1 Jn. 5:12). It is really that simple. Certain false doctrines provide evidence that a person does not have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. For instance - denial of the deity of Christ is a disqualifier. I draw a distinction between denial and misunderstanding. A person may confess Christ but lack understanding of a specific doctrine, although they are not outright denying it. I know believers who struggle with the concept of the Trinity. They understand its importance, they just have a difficult time appropriating the concept. That is different from the person who outright rejects cardinal doctrines. What I'm getting at is that unbelief is the root of those rejections.

 

[atpollard]

Honestly, I'm not sure how what I am stating is difficult to understand. Unbelief in the Gospel message is what keeps a person from eternal life.

You were clear.

Even Mormons believe certain parts of the Bible. I'm sure they would have no issue with Matthew 7:12, the so-called Golden Rule:

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (Mt 7:12). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.

I find that BELIEVING it is a lot easier than DOING it ... I suppose one COULD try and live a sinless life as their ticket into heaven (perhaps God would waive the Adamic curse if it applies like that). I just know that I had ZERO chance of success at that route.

[It does say "In everything"...]

 

[Van]

On another thread it was asked about doctrine : (post # 19)

I said this:
Charlie -
As I look at my answer - it might appear I disagree with you .
Quite the opposite - I do agree with you.
Looks like I was playing "Devils advocate"

So what doctrines would actually keep us from true salvation.
how about if a person did not believe in Lake of Fire or the Devil?
A person believes baptism is necessary to complete salvation
A person believes you are not truly saved until you speak in tongues?

I am just addressing this opening post, and not any of the comments that may have followed.

In order to be saved, the person's faith must be credited as righteousness by God.

We know from Romans 4, that He credits the faith of those who believe God raised Jesus from the dead. We know from Matthew 13, believers must be deeply committed to following Christ, willing to walk through adversity, unlike soil #2, and having made Christ their overriding priority, Christ above all else, unlike soil #3.

From this we can conclude we must believe certain minimum aspects of "the name of Jesus." But along side we must love God above all, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we love God we love the aspect of God that loves fallen humanity, and so our love of God will manifest His love for the lost.

It seems unlikely if we are not willing to forgive others when we wanted God to forgive us, such a hypocritical stance would be credited as righteousness.

I expect all of us hold some views of the gospel that are off the mark, so we may be skating on thin ice to think our view of this doctrine is necessary, and therefore that guy holding a differ view is unsaved. We should stand up and defend our view of the gospel, but not become too legalistic.

 

[Salty]

... We should stand up and defend our view of the gospel, but not become too legalistic.

I fully agree - however what one person sees in one light - to another it becomes legalistic
So who determines if a stand is legalistic or not? - or does it just boil down to interpretation?

 

[Van]

I fully agree - however what one person sees in one light - to another it becomes legalistic
So who determines if a stand is legalistic or not? - or does it just boil down to interpretation?

We govern our behavior so we decide whether our stance is legalistic or not.

Generally legalism is an effort to elevate our views over the clearly required behaviors explicitly required by scripture.
For example some might teach a person must be water baptized to be saved, when others do not.

Here are some key questions.

Must our commitment to Christ be deeply rooted such that we will stick with Christ through adversity because we stick to Christ? I say yes, those unwilling to sacrifice comfort or security or earthly treasures do not love God with all their heart. Those that advocate "Easy Believism" might say I am being legalistic.

Does Jesus accept us just as we are, or must we demonstrate our repentance with a changed life before He will accept us? I say just as we are.
Others might say we must learn some essential doctrines and stop cussing and smoking and substance abuse.

Many Baptists think the Catholics are legalistic, having added many doctrines to scripture, and others might think the Baptist insistence on full immersion for water baptism is legalistic, a little sprinkling will do to meet the command requirement. I see many of these disputes as legalistic.

I believe the opportunity for salvation is available to all the lost people living today, thus I can plead with them to be reconciled to God through placing their trust and devotion in Christ Jesus, our God, Lord and Savior, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died to provide the ransom for our and everyone's sins, arose from the dead and abides in the spiritual heaven.