Christianity In The USA

Trump recently said that he hopes to go to heaven, and that he hopes his peace efforts will help earn him a place in heaven. Many have responded to this by saying salvation comes by faith in Christ alone. Jack Posobiec has an interesting post about the different views of faith vs works.


I hope Trump makes it to heaven too. Not because he deserves it but because he needs it. For someone as flawed as Trump to be saved would be a great monument to God's grace and mercy and Christ's finished work on the cross.

Unfortunately, Trump is already living out Poso's theology: he's working to earn salvation and he doesn't ask God for forgiveness in faith, but rather seeks to right his wrongs by his own works. In other words, it is not about God saving Trump but Trump saving himself.
 
Poso is correct in that you cannot have true faith without works, because faith without works is dead. However, you can have works without faith and that is the danger.

We do not know what Trump's motivation is or his level of faith, only God knows this. But you are right that we cannot buy our way into heaven. If Trump sees salvation as some sort of balance sheet where you weigh your accounts payable against accounts receivable, that will only be to his detriment.
 
My conclusion is different, but it's been debated here many times. My thoughts on this:

Unfortunately, Trump is already living out Poso's theology: he's working to earn salvation and he doesn't ask God for forgiveness in faith, but rather seeks to right his wrongs by his own works.

This is between God and him, no way of knowing for anybody else. Nobody can see your true faith.
To my knowledge, Trump believes in Jesus Christ, his Savior. Trumps works don't negate this.
What else is required for salvation according to the Sola Fide principle- a loud verbal confession that faith by itself is enough to save a man?

Doing the works =/= there is no faith; we don't get to Heave based on whether we staunchly maintain that faith alone saves us.

God knows our hearts best. He can see how strong a man's faith is- Peter's faith in Jesus' power wavered, he didn't have enough to walk the distance on water, even though he believed Jesus was the son of God.

Most people here would agree that not doing good works is a sin, to repent of it equals getting on with them. Repenting on your death bed may not cut it.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Trump would describe himself as 'Other Christian' here.

The Catholic position is that Jesus has saved humanity, but before his time nobody- neither the wicked nor the good, who were stuck in Limbo, could enter heaven, including Moses and Elijah who appeared with Jesus during the Transfiguration.

After the Resurrection, those who have tho good works will, while those who have none, or whose works have been bad won't:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about the importance of storing up treasures in heaven during one's lifetime, and it doesn't look like it's only about the hierarchy of those holy souls.

You won't be forgiven, unless you forgive, this alone suggests you have to earn your admission. Not everyone may see it that way, but
unforgiveness is not a denial of the faith in Jesus:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.

Jesus emphasizes the work of serving one another, even those we consider beneath us. There are different instances where Jesus explains how believers ought to conduct temselves, he performed the work of washing their feet.

Why tell anybody how to act then, a master could just sit back, and jeopardizing his heavenly abode wouldn't cross his mind, while his disciples attended to his needs.

Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry (...) and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life
 
This is between God and him, no way of knowing for anybody else. Nobody can see your true faith.
To my knowledge, Trump believes in Jesus Christ, his Savior. Trumps works don't negate this.
Trump has stated on public record that he doesn't ask God for forgiveness. He "doesn't bring God into that picture." But that he tries to live his life so he doesn't have to ask for forgiveness. Catholic or Protestant, you have to admit the statement is concerning: https://www.c-span.org/clip/campaign-2016/user-clip-have-you-ever-asked-god-for-forgiveness/4619501

What else is required for salvation according to the Sola Fide principle- a loud verbal confession that faith by itself is enough to save a man?
The only thing that's required for your salvation according to Sola Fide is that Christ atone for your sins and you receive His forgiveness by faith. Doing good works is not the issue. Trusting that your works makes you righteous over trusting in Christ's forgiveness is where you are in peril. Trump seems to be operating off of the idea that good works will make him righteous and he will earn heaven that way. He doesn't seem to believe that he is righteous on account of Christ's forgiveness and that God will give heaven to him out of grace.

As Paul says, the goal is not to have a righteousness of our own, but the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.
 
Trump has stated on public record that he doesn't ask God for forgiveness. He "doesn't bring God into that picture." But that he tries to live his life so he doesn't have to ask for forgiveness. Catholic or Protestant, you have to admit the statement is concerning:
I didn't know that, again I don't know if he still persists in that state.

Through the Catholic lens, while he's accomplished various works of faith before his time is up, all of it will be to his credit, when he hopefully asks for forgiveness (which God can grant in an instant) before he dies, while the time for works would have otherwise run out by then.
 
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Mod note.

Did some housekeeping in this thread.
Posts not directly related to the topic of Christianity in the USA were moved.
Older debate between Protestants and Orthodox was moved to the Protestantism: critique and debate thread.
More recent conversation about faith and works was moved to the Christianity lounge.
I would also like to remind everyone that You can respond to posts from one thread in another by using the "+Quote" option.
 
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