Saved by grace

I've come to believe we are saved by grace. It's a free gift. Rom 6:23, 14; Eph 2:8-9. So therefore, I conclude much of scripture was not intended to be understood by the average person. II Pet 3:16; II Tim 3:7. Scripture is a stumbling block, was and is supposed to trip us up spiritually. Rom 9:32-33; Isa 8:14; Isa 57:14; I Pet 2:8. So we would all have to rely on Christ to save us. Gal 2:21, If we could earn salvation by our so-called righteous acts, then we would not be in need of a savior.

Some in the religious community think they can recognize a real christian by their actions. I don't think you can do that. The Apostle Paul struggled to understand the evil present within him and us. Rom 7:24, 14-25. Yet he was christian. In the lost books of the bible, it speaks of an analogy of a dead tree in the winter and an alive tree in the winter. Both look the same, no leaves. You can't tell which is alive and which is dead until spring, when the alive tree bears leaves and fruit.

So it is with the followers of Christ, you can't tell whom Christ has called and chosen by looking at actions. When Christ returns, then you'll see who belongs to him and who doesn't.

Appearances can be deceiving, II Cor 11: 4, 13-15. II Tim 3:5

Remember God created all the good and all the evil. Isa 45:7, so good and evil is in everything, including you and I. Gen 3:22 There is no way the Supreme Being can know everything, if he doesn't know and control all the good and evil. Isa 46:10. Is a man more righteous and just than God? Job 4:17

Woe unto the hypocrites, Matt 23:15,23,25, 27, 29. Another helpful analogy to get a grasp on evil, good and hypocrisy, think of a well lit room, then picture the same room dark, what has changed? The same things that were in the room when it was lit, remains in it, when it is dark. Truth exposes all and is what it is. Hypocrites are darkness, they possess the same things as everyone else, except they try to hide their evil from others.