Misstmann..........
There really was no clarification needed my friend. It is a very simple concept which almost all believers have a grasp of.
Ephesians 2:8 could not be any clearer.......
"For by GRACE are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God Not of works lest any man should boast".
Faith is the instrument of salvation not obedience. Spurgeon says..."It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee, it is Christ. It is not thy hope in Christ that saves thee; it is Christ. It is not even faith in Christ that saves thee allthought that be the instrument which does. It is Christ's blood and merit. THat is where the power is and that is where the salvation is."
All Christians were dead. lost in sin and trespasses and it was God who saved us by His grace, raising us now to heavenly places in Christ Jesus and we will someday be in heaven displaying the grace of God.
Now, NONE of this depends on what we do, neither does it reast on our merit....."FOR BY GRACE YE HAVE BEEN SAVED". Grace is the favor of God bestowed on the unworthy and undeserving. Our salvation rests completely upon the grace of God and not upon our faithfulness or our obedience. IF salvation required our obedience then we are adding our works to the work of Christ on the cross.
IF we say we must obay Jesus in order to be saved or to stay saved we are then actually adding what we do to the salvation experience. Should we be obedient......absolutly!!!! Please read Kevin's comment #12 as it speaks clearly to the item in question and I agree 100%. The problem is that we cannot be obedient!!!!
IF a person says he stays saved by remaining obedient to God, then isn't he saying that he is maintaining his salvation by being good? YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SAYING. As I said, it is a good thing to be faithful and obedient to God. It is a good thing to obey God. But is this how we are saved or stay saved? Does our salvation rest in anyway on how good we are? That is my point here and differenace with Misstmann.
For me, this is works for salvation. This kind of theology where we must "maintain salvation" is the same as that held by the the Mormon church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses churches .
And, there is another problem.
James 2:10..........
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Gal. 3:10...............
"For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.'”
Then something else to think about is that if anyone were to try and maintain his salvation by being faithful/good, and obedient, is he then required to keep the whole law?
I believe that those who seek to remain faithful and obedient to God in order to stay saved would say that they are not trying to maintain their salvation by their works, their faithfulness, their obedience. But, isn't a law an instruction given by God that has a punishment for disobeying it? God commands everyone everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30. In Exodus 20, God commands that we believe in him. Can it be said that the command to believe and repent are laws since disobeying them has penalties? Do you see the problem?