If we already have salvation, then why do we need to get rid of our "old sin nature"?
If we already have salvation, then why do we need the renewal of the Holy Spirit?
It sounds like after "salvation", we still need a lot more saving, i.e. a lot more salvation.
-A8
Good works, like repentance and obedience and understanding and all good fruits of faith, are from God.
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." -- Philippians 2:13
And we "already have salvation" because Christ "already" paid for our sins, every one of them, by His death and resurrection.
We have been redeemed. We now stand acquitted before God, blameless, because Christ has taken on the punishment due us.
Life is a lot more certain than some churches want us to believe.
Well, the Lord does tell us to work out our salvation. Yes, we are saved, but wow, the junk we brought into that salvation--it needs to be healed, hoed out, brought to the surface so we can live the kind of life He's called us to live and to walk in the path he carved for us from the beginning of the world. We need to perform good works because we're TOLD to do it. Our old sin nature will keep us down and prevent us from being all He's called us to be. We need renewal because we leak! He tells Christians that if we lack the Holy Spirit, to ask Him for it and He will give it to us. I think it's a good idea to ask often, maybe daily, because we need renewal daily.