gridiron1950 said
During my 30 plus years as a “born again Christian,” I heard countless sermons and “altar calls” declaring that, to be saved, one must acknowledge that Jesus shed his blood for everyone who has sinned and, equally importantly, for everyone who has sinned because everyone is, or was, born into sin (“original sin”). Accordingly, to be “saved,” every human being must “accept” Jesus. Stated differently,everyone must claim the atonement that is offered to him or her and, if one is to do this sincerely, one must believe that Jesus’ died as an atonement for everyone’s sins, was then buried and that he subsequently resurrected.

If this proposition is truly central to the Christian faith, I find it inconceivable that Jesus never once preached that message to those to whom he spoke prior to his death, burial and resurrection. To the contrary, after having preached the gospel to one particular assembled mass, Jesus told his disciples, outside the presence of others, that there would come a point in the future when it would be necessary for him to die. At that time, he did not give his disciples any reasons for the necessity of his impending death. Significantly, however, Jesus then admonished his disciples to keep this fact a secret. Clearly, there would be no need for a “side bar” with his disciples, nor would there be any need for his disciples to keep this critical truth “secret,” if it were, in fact, an essential element for the salvation of one’s soul.

It seems clear to me, therefore, that the gospel Jesus preached was not the gospel being taught by Christians today. Instead, Jesus’ explicitly stated gospel was that the kingdom of God was at hand and that everyone to whom he or his disciples spoke needed to know this fact and repent. Even in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray (the Lord’s Prayer), there is no mention whatsoever about the necessity of Jesus dying for the sins of mankind. Nor does Jesus ever preach that, in order for one to be “saved”  and join him in heaven, one must, as a condition precedent, accept his sacrificial death and atonement for the sins of mankind in order for one to “be saved.” In fact, the central themes of the Lord’s Prayer appear to clearly show that the gospel taught by Jesus during his earthly ministry was limited to the issues addressed by Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer. Specifically, in the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, he declared that they were (1) to acknowledge the fact that our Father is in heaven; (2) that His name is to be hallowed; (3) that His kingdom is coming; (4) that, in the meantime, we should ask that “His will be done on earth as it is in heaven;” (5) that we are to ask Him for our daily bread; (6) that we are to ask for our sins to be forgiven as we have forgiven others; (7) that we are to ask God to not to lead us into temptation, but, instead, to deliver us from evil; and, finally, (8) that we are to acknowledge that God is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. It seems to me that, if the gospel being taught by Christians today includes the necessity of Jesus having died for our sins and our accepting his sacrifice if we are to be saved, then, necessarily, the very prayer in which Jesus instructed his disciples regarding how and what to pray would have included something about the necessity of his upcoming death, burial and resurrection and our need to accept what he did for us if we are to join him and his father in heaven.

Similarly, it seems logical that what has become known as the “Great Commission” would have included some language regarding the necessity of Jesus’ atoning death and our need to acknowledge and accept it if we are to be saved. Instead, the Great Commission simply states that Christians are to go out into the world and “teach” the world what Jesus himself taught, to wit: all of the laws of Moses can be summarized into two simple concepts: (1) we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and souls; and (2) we are to love our neighbors as we love our selves.

I am seeking truth myself.  This is a hard one and a contradiction:

1. If you just love God

2. Love others as yourself

Then what makes the difference between you and a Pharisee? True they did not follow all of these 2 and had other laws and rules. 

To me it seems all modern Christianity is strictly on the book of John. The communion was added in Luke and Mathew as Dr. Ehrmen pointed out later by scribes so no mention of atonement. 

The one thing I wonder and I am curious if anyone can answer is the conversation with Nicodemus where Jesus said you must be born again? Why did he have to be born again but others did not to enter the kingdom of heaven? 

Boy I wish we had an early copy of the book of John as the copies of that and Paul’s gospels are all close to the council of Nicea where it is at a late stage of more modern orthodox christianity than proto. Anyway perhaps Dr. Ehrman may have some more knowledge on this?