Absolutely. Paul knows that "the righteousness which comes from God" is attained "on the basis of faith."
The Bible Speaks Of Only One Way To Eternal Salvation
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Absolutely. Paul knows that "the righteousness which comes from God" is attained "on the basis of faith."
Bro.tan
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You miss understood that verse. Paul didn't say anything about competing. Eternal life on the good side of the kingdom is a prize!!
Bro.tan
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Jesus said in (Matt. 16:24-27) (v.24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. That was the Lord’s burden, to die on the cross for the sins of man. Now as we read earlier every man must bear his own burden, and what is your burden? (v.25) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. You must give up your life in this world; you must not get caught up in the cares of this world. You must bring forth-good fruits of faith by keeping God’s commandments, statues, and judgments. (v.26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Some of the great patriarchs in (Heb.11) gave up a lot, some even their lives in exchange for their soul. You see they had great faith (belief) that their souls (bodies) would be raised at the first resurrection. And some of you won’t even give up some of the littlest things like, going to church on Sunday, the pagan holidays of Christmas and Easter, praying to the Virgin Mary, and I could go on and on. And most so-called Christians know these rituals have nothing to do with Jesus and the bible. But do they understand that they are offensive to God? Maybe it’s because you have more faith in man than God, maybe it’s because you fear how man is going to treat you, and you don’t fear God. But listen up; (v.27) For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Now these are the words of Jesus (the Son of man), you know the savior of the world. He said that when he comes he is going to judge every man according to his works. Who has deceived you into believing that all you need to do is have faith in the Lord and you will be saved?
Well, let's talk about that.
Romans 10
9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
This "righteousness that is by faith" (v6) is in contrast to how "Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: 'The person who does these things will live by them'" (v5). So what has now been revealed is that "Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes" (v4).
Paul taught, in the verses previously described, that he counted his flawless following of the law to be rubbish, and that righteousness is on the basis of faith.
Certainly, no one should think that we have permission to sin as we please. So for the person who believes they have permission to sin as they please, the question is not really "Who has deceived you into believing that all you need to do is have faith in the Lord and you will be saved?" but "If your faith is a real, living faith, where is the evidence of Christ's power transforming your life?" (James 2:14-26). Certainly, real faith will produce real evidence. But the evidence is that we are being made perfect, not already made perfect; Paul doesn't regard himself as yet made perfect, and he teaches that all of us should have the same attitude as him on that matter.
Does that Christ will judge us according to our deeds mean that we will be condemned for falling short of having achieved perfection? Or that wherever we fall short of perfection, our Judge is also our Advocate, who is our atonement?
In 1 Cor 3:10-15, is this not the judgment of God over our deeds, that "the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames." So certainly, yes, we must strive to build with materials that will pass the test of the fire. But the fire is to burn the work of bad quality, not to burn the builder himself. How would you read it? What is being burned up, and who is suffering loss, but yet being saved?
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Is it the one who accepts Christ died for the remission of ALL sin who has unbelief in God 's Word or the one who denies that accepting Christ is enough for salvation who has the unbelief in God's Word? Scripture tells us, over and over, that is all we need. It is Satan where fine print reading is necessary. And his unbelief caused his fall.
Bro Tan.. I don't think anyone is disagreeing to any of the verses.. There is no disagreement that we should pursue holiness and be obedient to Lord's Word.. The point is, we can never be self righteous.. Bible clearly condemns self righteousness (or legalism) and there is no way we can get saved by our works.
Ephesians 2:21 - I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Titus 3:5 - he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Even on OT!
Ezekiel 33:13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.
Some Bible verses.. Probably others quoted these already! I see people quote from Romans always
So I thought I will quote verses from other books.How is one saved? Having faith in Jesus Christ and accepting Him as Lord and Savior.. Now these 2 terms "Lord" and "Savior" or used so frequently without thinking what it really means.. Looked up the definition from Merriam Webster
Savior - "one that saves from danger or destruction". Christ is our Savior.. He saves us from path to hell! We all are condemned to hell and He saves us out of that.. Through our Faith in him..
Lord - "a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due". Christ is our Lord. We are to obey his Word and commands.. There is absolutely no question..
But the point is, we are justified only by our faith.. When James said, faith without works is a death faith, he is not adding works as a condition to salvation.. Rather works is the byproduct of genuine saving faith.. Repentance is an integral part of being saved.. I don't believe in "easy believism".. One is not just saved by saying I believe in Christ and a 2 minute sinners prayer.. True repentance should be there.. Which is, turning away from sin.. This is what the Lord part refers to.. And final point.. Are we able to walk according to the Word in our own flesh? No! We need the Holy Spirit for that.. At the time of regeneration, a person is indwelt by Holy Spirit.. It is the seal of redemption.. Seal put by Lord himself.. The assurance of Salvation.. This "will" result in obedience to God's commands.. But that does not anything to Salvation.. But a result of being saved..
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Absolutly correct my dear! In an athletic event, only one can come in first, but in the "spiritual" race, all of us can win the prize !
"Know ye not that THEY WHICH RUN IN A RACE RUN ALL............."
It sure sounds like a competition to me.
You are really on a roll my sister!!
Keep up the good work! Bro. Tan needs to hear what you are saying.
Brother Tan. I want to be very careful here. I have no desire to argue with you and neither do I have a need to be confrontational.
I have already read where you have put down the RCC, and I feel like I need to ask you if you are a member of the Mormon church or a Jehovah Witness society. I ask that because of your continueing agenda of insisting that works must accomply salvation. You have said many times that faith alone in Christ is not enough to be or to stay saved.
That sounds very much like the Watchtower and Morman teaching. I am simply curious.
Now, once again I am saying, as has been said by all, If we insist that we have to do something or add something after we trust Christ in order to affect our salvation, that is taking His death on the cross in vain. He was made a curse for us, but if we don't accept that truth we are saying that we are not guilty but that He is guilty. The natural man hates grace, because he wants to "do" something. But believing in the Gospel of grace glorifies Jesus Christ and causes us to turn our eyes upon Him, not some ritual, ceremony or law.
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3).
Salvation comes by faith in and through Jesus Christ and no one else and nothing else. To believe one must keep the works of the Law in order to be saved, or to maintain salvation, is to refuse to see that the Law was our schoolmaster (i. e., paidagōgos) to lead us to Christ.
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:24-26).
Jesus made it clear that He is the door to salvation.
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).
To believe that one must keep the Law in order to have salvation is saying that Christ forgave our past sins upon faith in Him, but from here on out our salvation is dependent on Law keeping. Despite what anyone says, this is teaching salvation by works, and adding any kind of works to faith makes Christ's atoning sacrifice of no effect.
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4).
The two (works and salvation) are totally incompatible.
The two (works and salvation) are totally incompatible.
I think Jesus said it simple and clear! "It is finished"
Finished work on cross.. Nothing else to add or do more.. Everything is already finished on the cross w.r.t salvation of humankind
Who, indeed, is deceived by whom? God wants us to build our faith on solid ground because He wants us ALL back. A doctrine that says now you have salvation, now you don't, is not, by any stretch of the imagination of anyone, solid ground. And scripture does not support it. None of us - not before or since - has the ability to pay that price, no matter how hard we try. Christ was unblemished. Out of love, we follow Christ - not out of duty/obligation. You have all of God's love in His gift of Christ. He does not have all of yours if you are following Christ out of fear. Because that implies you have unbelief twisted into your faith.
Silk, the real truth here is what you just said. Scripture does not support it. The fact is, there are NO Scriptures to support it.
I am sure that Bro. Tan and others who ascribe to that kind of thinking are really good Christian people who mean well but the fact is that every single verse that they use is a wrong understanding of that particular verse. It is very telling when I read these verses that the people who believe they must do something to be or stay saved were absent that day when it was taught.
Our works in no way jump-start the process of justification, sanctification, and glorification. All our works, beginning with repentance and continuing through our period of sanctification, depend directly on the freely given kindness and faith God provides. Our God-ordained good works are the result of our response to the gift of faith that God gives. Works, then, are the external evidence of the unseen, internal faith that motivates them. A person could not do them unless God had given the gift of faith beforehand. Good works follow, they do not precede.
So then my friends, PLEASE stop quoting Scriptures that you think tell us that works are needed in the salvation process because there are NONE!!!
I am at a loss why this is so hard for some to understand.
In the physical world, mankind's nature seems always to be, I must step on others to reach the top - survival of the fittest. Competing for resources that have a beginning and end. Love, Salvation,Blessings, Grace becomes a pie. If you get a piece, there will be less or no piece for me. The spiritual realm doesn't work that way. It never has and never will. The more there are of us - the more bountiful the reward. God is infinite.
I agree totally!!!!
If I had to work, do something, keep doing good things, etc. to stay saved, I would be looking around for another religion!
I do good things, I like doing good things and will continue to do good things for my friends, family and all others. I do them because of the Lord Jesus Christ in me who is the hope of GLORY! Those actions are BASED IN LOVE for Christ and what He did and NOT WHAT I HAVE TO DO FOR MYSELF!!!!!
To tell you the truth, this just is not rocket science my friends.
When you love someone - that's what you do, they make you feel good and you want to do things that make them feel good. It's for happy and it's not work/burden/law. Think back, what happens when you feel you are fearing the loss of your partner/spouse/friend? Does that fear bring you closer or does it become a self fulfilling prophecy? We react differently when we are motivated by fear. And taking people's salvation away damages faith.
Bro.tan
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If you feel that you are saved, I'm sure that you know the few verses that seem to imply this. Such as (l Corinthians 1:18) "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God and (2 Corinthians 2:15) "For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish." both of these scriptures are true, but when, how, and what will be saved?
Remember these verses mentioned those that perish as well as those that are saved, and if you are saved then at the same time someone is to perish. If this is the case, we have been judged, and I'm sure we all would remember standing in front of a white throne looking at Jesus and the saints.
Seeing that Jesus is your Lord, then you must confess and confirm (Saint John 5:22) "For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son." This leaves judgment in Jesus hands only. Now we understand (2 Timothy 4:1) "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom."
Bro.tan
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I think Jesus said it simple and clear! "It is finished"
Finished work on cross.. Nothing else to add or do more.. Everything is already finished on the cross w.r.t salvation of humankind
What is finished??? Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Now, if the Jesus said think not that I came to destroy the law, lets reason together, what do destroy mean; to take away, etc, right. So that simply means that the law (commandments) is still on the table and the prophets
Jesus couldn't destroy the prophet because he had to fulfilled all of what the prophets wrote about Jesus and what he had and have to do. Jesus has a second coming and more things to do. The prophet Daniel spoke about Jesus second coming, the prophet Isaiah spoke about Jesus second coming, also Joel, and Zachariah, I can go on and on. Read your Bibles people and learn to ask question.
First of all, all is not fulfilled, lets look at this again
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Bro.tan
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Lets go into (James 2:14-18, 20-26) (v.14) What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? (v.15) If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of a daily food, (v.16) And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? If someone came to you hungry and needed clothes and all you told them was peace be unto you, and God bless you, be ye warmed and filled. All you did was give lip service, no works, you didn’t help the problem. (v.17) Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. The bible has been telling you all alone that you must have fruits to prove your faith. (v.18) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. True faith goes hand in hand with good works. (v.20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Did you know that? Has anybody ever read this verse to you? How can you, after reading this verse ever say again that we need not work? You can have all the faith you want, but if you have no works to go along with that faith, that faith is in vain, that faith is dead. (v.21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? We read where Abraham, the father of the faithful showed the Lord his faith by his works. (v.22) Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (v.23) And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS IMPUTED UNTO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS: and he was called the friend of God. (v.24) Ye see then how that by works a man is Justified, and not by faith only. Do you see that also? Do you understand that you need works to go along with that faith; if you love and fear God then you should have no problem obeying his commandments. (v.25) Likewise also was not Ra’-hab the harlot justified by works, when she received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? Ra’-hab showed her faith in God and her fear of God by doing good works. (v.26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Take it or leave it, but this is the true uncut word of God. Just as the body is dead when you take away the spirit (breath) so faith is dead if you have no works.