I don't get what you mean, your saying that they were not saved by what they done, but by the action of Jesus 2000 years ago?
I didn't get alot of it actually lol.
Sorry.
Eesa.
Hopefully, this will also help Fi_Sabilliah.
As Keltoi said, the phrase, "accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior" or "being saved" has a lot more packed in it than appears in the words themselves. This is part of the problem in communicating. Religious language, which these phrases are loaded with, needs to be unpacked for those who are outside the community that uses them. Often, even those within the community use them sloppily.
(For instance the term "non-practicing Muslim" -- how can one be a follower of Islam, and yet describe one's self as to be non-practicing? The terms are diametrically in opposition to each other. Either you follow Islam or you don't. You may follow it poorly, but then you are not a non-practicing Muslim; you are instead a struggling to be obedient, but yet still practicing Muslim.)
OK. Back to your questions.
In the Christian faith, salavation is ultimately about the nature of one's relationship with God. That relationship begins with faith. Now faith, as Christianity uses this term, is NOT belief
ABOUT, but belief
IN something. For the Christian, faith then means not so much asserting any particular dogma (though we do have them), as much as it means learning to trust God with one's life. When one thinks of salvation in particular, there is a two-fold concept attached to it: (1) being saved
from hell and thus admitted to heaven in the afterlife, and (2) being saved
for God's purposes. This second concept is the works we have talked about already in this thread, so I won't go further into it. But the firsts concept leads some to see the Christian religion as just a form of fire insurance. And here is my point as far as the question regarding when someone is saved... Even if Christianity was nothing more than fire insurance, the premium payment on the policy that makes it good is not something that people can do for themselves. It is Jesus (pbuh) who makes the premium payment when he dies on the cross. That is what his sacrificial atonement is all about, paying the price for our sins. Anyone who wants to take advantage of this policy just has to decide they want to claim it (therein lies the faith part), but the premiums are already paid.
Now what about sins that Christians commit after becoming a Christian? Well, we believe that the Christ (i.e. God's anointed one, pbuh) died for all sins. His death on the cross paid the price for the sins I would eventually commit between the time I was born and would finally decide to follow him. Now, if he can die to pay the price for those sins in advance of me being alive to actual commit them, can he not also die to pay the price for sins I might commit after becoming a Christian? All sins is all sins. (I don't mean to be offensive by this statement, anymore than you have by yours, but I believe Jesus even died for the sins of those who don't and perhaps never will believe in him, such as a good Muslim like yourself.)
Now does this mean that it is ok to go on sinning? By no means!!!
To continue to commit sin would be to snub one's nose at God's and to walk away from point #2 above: We are saved for God's purposes. To walk away from one's responsibility to serve God's puroses in one's life is, in essence, to walk away from God. (Some Christians are of the opinion that once you give your life to God that God will never let you go so that it is impossible to walk away again, but I am not among that group. I think God always allows us to have free will over our lives, even to reject him after accepting him if one was to be so inclined.) To walk away from practicing one's faith, is to show that one is not continuing to live in a relationship with God whereby one responds by submitting to God's leading in one's life. (Thus we have a non-practicing Christian, which is just as much of a non-sequitor as a non-practicing Muslim.)
But, of course, individuals do in fact continue to sin after becoming a Christian, what of them? Does this mean that they are in fact no longer Christians, or no longer saved? Well, it depends. Are they sinning because they have rejected Christ, no longer believe, no longer wish to honor God with their lives? Then I guess those individuals are not (or perhaps never were) Christians. But the majority of Christians are people who do truly desire to live their lives for God, and yet stumble. They stumble because they do not understand. They stumble without even realizing it. They stumble for the same reason that Muslims struggle to be obedient, but are still understood as living a life of Islam. They stumble because following God is hard. That is when we recall that for the Christian faith is about more than asserting a certain set of beliefs that one assents to; faith is primarily about trust --a living, ongoing relationship with God. And we trust God to be merciful. Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Faith wears out in your heart as clothes wear out, so ask Allaah to renew the faith in your hearts." (My apologies for not having the reference for that, I just happened upon it in another's post.) So, we ask God to continually renew our faith and to keep us walking in his paths. But when we stumble, and have trouble getting back on the path, we know that it isn't up to us to get back soley by ourselves, for we are in an ongoing relationship with God who loves us and will guide us back to himself when we stray away. Thus, when we arrive at the door of paradise all Christians are in the position of Islam's understanding of the least or last in paradise. We don't deserve to be let in, but by God's great mercy he has still prepared a place for us and invites us in. It is in this light that we say that our sins are forgiven.
