Do you believe babtism is necessary for salvation?
928932
Absolutely not! That's just an outward expression of something that's taken place internally!
344606
Some claim that god is necessary in order to give man salvation. But this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of salvation and Buddhists do not accept such a concept. Based on his own experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding.\nReligious intolerance has its roots in exclusivity - believing that only one religion can offer salvation and that the only alternative to salvation is hell. The exclusivist can only see other religions as evil i.e. leading to hell, and thus intolerable. While the Buddha clearly taught that Nirvana can be realised only by practising the Noble Eightfold Path, he did not believe that the only alternative to this goal was hell.\nJust as importantly, where one is reborn is conditioned by one's behaviour not by which god one has faith in. Any good person can have a good rebirth no matter what their beliefs and consequently the Buddhist is able to acknowledge and appreciate the good in other religions. \n\n“It is not the Buddha who delivers men, but he teaches them to deliver themselves, even as he has delivered himself. They accept his teaching of the truth, not because it comes from him, but, because of personal conviction, aroused by his words, arises by the light of their own spirit.”
445739
No. Absolutely not. The fact that I have a strong faith is a personal decision. What anyone else chooses to believe in is entirely up to them, and I do respect that. I wouldn't be living the way my faith requires if I were to push it onto someone else. I respect their beliefs the same way that I would want someone to respect mine. (Lutheran)
639773
If you consider EVERYTHING in the Bible to be God's Word, then, from that standpoint, yes, you must have faith that God's word is true to be saved.  \n\nIf you wish to argue with something you know to be true but are not willing to obey, agree with, or comply with, then you do not love God above all.\n\nMatthew 19:21-24 ... the young man was good, but could not give up everything to God.  He will not see the kingdom of God.
853893
Understanding the plan of salvation.
672214
Water baptism is not a pre-requisite to salvation.  It is an act of obedience AFTER one is already saved.\n\nBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and have faith in God by believing what scripture says.\n\nKeep this verse in mind:  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16
224951
This is a widely accepted belief, often called "eternal security" or OSAS (once saved, always saved).  Baptists believe it, although Methodists usually do not, for example.  There are passages in the Bible that, when viewed out of context, lead one to believe that only a professed belief is needed to ensure your salvation.  I have heard ministers say point blank that it doesn't matter how you live or what you do in life, once you are saved, you cannot lose your salvation.  Others, however, see humans as free moral agents with the ability to choose to accept Christ.  Using the OSAS logic, you can get saved, then denounce Christ and worship Satan and still go to heaven.  It's a fascinating belief in my opinion...almost medieval.  However, I also see the point they make about salvation not being something you can juggle each day, gaining and losing repeatedly.  \n\nUnfortunately, even with churches every few miles in most urban and suburban areas, and around 70% of the U.S. professing to be Christian, we live in the most violent, immoral society.  Sadly, this belief that they say they have has not reached their hearts...or perhaps it's the OSAS belief that gave them a false sense of security in the first place.
750117
Well, according to the Bible, yes.  This is going to be very Lutheran of me, but I've already started, so I may as well explain it as best and briefly as I can.\n\nThe Bible states this: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not that of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works that men may boast." (Ephesians 2:8)\n\nThe Bible also sports this nice little phrase "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the power of any." (I Cor 6:12, I would also like to point out that my version of the Bible uses a more archaic variant of English)\n\nSo, indeed, even a smidgen of faith in Jesus is all that is necessary to save us.  Why?  Because no matter what we do to prove our "sinlessness" to God, in the end it's all pointless.  The most righteous among us eventually become self-righteous, and nearly every good act done in the name of God or one's own self instead of being nice to that person is only another futherance into sin for us.  Pride rears its ugly head even upon the best of us all.  One of the faults of being imperfect is that you are going to give in to sin eventually.  And in God's eyes, a "minor" sin is just as bad as a major sin.  Anger and just being annoyed grants you the same punishment as a mass murderer would recieve.\n\nSo this is justification by faith, we can't save ourselves, so God sends His Son down to uphold the Law perfectly, and give himself as a blood sacrifice for all the rest of humanity, from here to eternity.
671797
The verse itself fits perfectly with Salvation. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Without Jesus, you can't get to God. You must be saved by Jesus, to get to God. What Jesus said is the PERFECT verse to argue salvation with. Jesus will show you the way, the truth, and give you life everlasting by saving you, wich gets you to God.
973580
I totally think so.  How can you justify "having faith" and financially planning?  Did Christ financially plan?  Or his disciples?  For more than money for ministry?  But of course we all know we must financially plan, or else be headed for disaster.  Another example of difficulty of interpretation.
879722
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. -2 Peter 2:10\n\nIf youre going to believe in eternal security than youre going to have to believe that the Bible was written by men like Peter that were of limited inspiration that just didnt understand salvation. However I believe the Bible was sufficiently inspired to understand the idea that salvation IS a gift from God but like any gift, it can be taken back under certain conditions! Was not Satan once in Heaven? What happened to him? Was Satan once saved always saved or can we still blaspheme God?
254302
Baptism is an outward sign of the New Birth you have experienced. It is not necessary for salvation. It was originally a Jewish Rite called a "mikvah" the ceremonialy clensing before being declared "Clean." Apostle Paul said, "I'm glad I baptised none of you, except Crispus & Gaious and a few others. For God sent me not to baptise but to preach the Gosple." If Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles felt it's not necessary to baptise Gentile converts, then it is good enough for me. It doesn't hurt any if you do have it done, but not necessary to salvation.
485314
I'd have to say it becomes so. James speaks of the faith that is dead without works. One way in which we can tell if our own faith is true or just veneer is by what we put into it. Jesus never referred to His ability to know what was in the hearts of all men as evidence of people's faith, He pointed to specific concrete actions. \n\nObviously, there must come a point where a person relies completely on Christ for salvation, and if they don't reach that, then they aren't saved, but that is not visible. Only God can see our hearts and knows for sure. But we should also know, about ourselves, if we have not been in the habit of fooling ourselves all along.
825117
No but Jesus is our salvation. It is imperative to seek him and come to know him. He is available to all who seek him. We are all sinners and Christ provided the atonement for all  who accept his atonement for their sins. Christ sacrificed his flesh to provide all of us a new life and an eternity with God. the sin you already have the atonement is free to all who seek him and repent and accept it.
518478
I love sharing Christ here. \n\nhttp://www.chick.com/information/general/salvation.asp
79148
No,Just like we can't be saved by christ.We evolved from apes.We are animals our selves.We just have concepts of what is right and wrong.Those are just concepts.There is no right and wrong.We didn't have to ecknowledge God when we were apes.Why is it important now.Do you think God created heaven after we evolved into humans?When we were apes, we also didn't have concepts of right and wrong.We went by instint alone .Now we have those same instints,we just have the mind to categorize them.How does that make us any more valuable than any other creature.We are not.We're just more intellegent.\n\nGod created all creatures.Why would he just give us a soul and not animals.We are animals ourselves.We evolved from apes.So you're saying we didn't have a soul untill we evolved into humans?
977044
God has His reasons, and that is sufficient for me.Whether we go to heaven, or to hell is largely dependent on how we act in this life. If we go to hell, it is our own doing, no one elses.