Santorum says the 45,000,000 Protestants in America are not Christians

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I'm not sure how I'm 'to the right' of most bishops on ecumenicalism. I believe that you don't have to be a member of the Catholic church, or even a Christian to be saved. .

how so?  I though the NT teaches there is now only one path to salvation, Jesus Christ.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

One - you have Elijah, Enoch, Elisha, all the patriarchs who came before Christ. They are not 'Christian' per se, but they are saved, and saved just as we are, through the Grace of God.

I wasn’t referring to people PRIOR to the Church Age, which is why I said: “ I thought the NT teaches there is now only one path to salvation, Jesus Christ.”

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Two - Romans 2:10-14, from the KJV:
…For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another

Well, how is one going to get God’s laws written on his/her heart without receiving the Holy Spirit through belief in Christ?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

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That's a good question.

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/conscience.htm

[followed by long non-scriptural answer]

my question was rhetorical - meaning that the ONLY scriptural method to have God's laws written on your heart (Jer 31:33; Rom 2:15; 2Cor 3:2-3; Heb 8:10; Heb 10:16) is to be born of God by receiving the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ

the word of God has no other method to get God's laws written on the heart, which is why you had to go outside of scripture

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Would you prefer CS Lewis? I can quote him, and he's very much a protestant.

let's just bypass the Catholics and the Protestants and stick with scripture

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You want scriptural evidence?

Rom 2:14"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.”

You have failed to understand the scriptural evidence already provided. Paul explicitly makes the point, that Gentiles are following the law, 'through their nature', not the Spirit.

You say their obedience is not through the Spirit but rather through their nature, but according to scripture:

1)   Is human nature capable of being in agreement with, or obedient to, God’s law?  No. (Rom ch 7 & 8 )
2)   How do people get the requirements of the law written on their hearts? By receiving the Holy Spirit. (Jer 31:33; 2Cor 3:2-3; Heb 8:10; Heb 10:16)

My interpretation of Rom 2:14-15: What Paul is alluding to is that when Gentiles, who haven’t heard the law, receive the Holy Spirit through belief in Christ, the Holy Spirit will guide them to live according to the way of love, which is the fulfillment of the law.  In other words, when you are filled by the Holy Spirit, loving others as yourself becomes second nature, and you fulfill God’s law even if you’ve never had Moses read to you…and I have dozens upon dozens of scriptural witnesses to back that up.

Your interpretation of Rom 2:14-15: “[human nature can be obedient to God’s law]”, is directly contradicted by many NT scriptures, which is why you have no 2nd or 3rd scriptural witness to support your interpretation.

2Cor 13:1 “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deut 19:17; Mat 18:16; John 8:17)

(Dibble, I hope you are paying attention to this discussion, since you and I have discussed the need for 2nd and 3rd witnesses at length)

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Ben, you might want to start a new thread on the religion board.  I'm sure many on here would be interested in discussing the bible's claim that the New Coveant will include the laws of God written on people's hearts.

You would be extremely valuable on the Religion Board, which is in desperate need of new blood.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Ben Kenobi,

You seriously need to do a bible study on:

1)   The New Covenant (Jer 31:33, entire book of Hebrews, Galatians, etc) and the covenant Jesus Christ institution upon his death…because they are one and the very same.
2)   God writing his laws of people’s hearts, and God writing the laws of people’s hearts through New Covenant that Jesus implemented…because they are one and the same.
3)   The difference between the Law of Moses being written on stone tablets, and Christ’s Law being written on the hearts of believers.

Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant spoken about in Jer31:33, just as Moses was the mediator of the covenant given at Mt Sinai (a.k.a. Law of Moses).  And through this New Covenant, those that believe in Jesus Christ have the requirements of God’s law written on their hearts, meaning the requirements of God have been internalized by the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

This is all extremely basic Christianity 101 type of stuff…and I’m really not in the mood to have my mind blown with the scary thought that some Christians (or some Christian denominations) don’t agree.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Ben, I have created a thread on the Relgion Board of us to continue this discussion:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=149590.0