RE: Challenge regarding Christian morality
February 13, 2015 at 12:21 pm
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2015 at 12:22 pm by RobbyPants.)
(February 13, 2015 at 10:44 am)whateverist Wrote: Apparently you can't win this grace through good acts either; so really, morality doesn't enter into it.
Actually, you can, and that's part and parcel to their belief system; however, they don't like it when those things are called "acts". This all stems from some parts of the Bible saying salvation comes from grace alone and others hinting that it takes some action on part of the believer. You reconcile that by declaring those necessary actions to "not be acts", because reasons.
Basically, this means that "acts" are anything some naive, wannabe Christian would try to get into heaven; however, repentance, Baptism, and a desire to be Christ-like totally aren't acts. Again, because reasons. They will absolutely tell you that repentance is required for salvation, and that you can't just behave all willy nilly to get into Heaven (the baptism part is kind of up for debate, but they all do agree it's super important, even if it's not necessary). This "makes sense" in that they don't like the idea of Hitler abusing his get-out-of-jail-free card to get into heaven, yet, they still can't let go of their saved-by-grace-alone rhetoric which allows such abuses.
TL;DR: the stock apologetic on this can basically be explained by the principle of explosion (the Bible posits both A and !A) and doublespeak. Saying "you don't get into heaven by acts, but you must be repentant" is absolutely doublespeak.
