It's interesting how some posters here will demand that others provide scripture to support a view in one thread, but when asked in another thread to do the same thing, they refuse.
Luke 9:23-24
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Luke 17:33
Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Those who would pray for salvation as a means of saving themselves from Hell do so out of selfishness. Salvation requires a repentant heart, one directed at God and His will, not one directed at saving itself. This isn't to condemn anyone, but rather to warn those who have been deceived with doctrines of self-preservation.
As to the OP:
I read the Old Testament stories like parables (not literal) because I get more out of them that way. That's not to say that I don't believe it could've happened that way, but that focusing on whether it did or didn't happen takes away from the many great lessons that this story contains. In other words, the moral of the story is much more important than the story itself.
Luke 9:23-24
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Luke 17:33
Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Those who would pray for salvation as a means of saving themselves from Hell do so out of selfishness. Salvation requires a repentant heart, one directed at God and His will, not one directed at saving itself. This isn't to condemn anyone, but rather to warn those who have been deceived with doctrines of self-preservation.
As to the OP:
I read the Old Testament stories like parables (not literal) because I get more out of them that way. That's not to say that I don't believe it could've happened that way, but that focusing on whether it did or didn't happen takes away from the many great lessons that this story contains. In other words, the moral of the story is much more important than the story itself.