Not you, but many whom I have spoken with that believe in a legal imputation of righteousness alone believe that salvation is merely a legal issue. Once we accept the Lord as our Savior, we have already been legally imputed with His Righteousness and nothing can take that away (so the idea goes). With such thinking, there is no point in sanctification, because Christ's righteousness is applied to the credit line, and it erases any debt we have on our side of the ledger...
Salvation is about hearing and believing the truth, ... about being reunited with our spiritual Father, ... about rediscovering our real selves, ... about becoming part of a loving family, ... about learning to work with your brothers and sisters to accomplish some good in the world.
Of course. Glad to see you agree with me. Perhaps you have misunderstood my posts. I am not saying I believe that sanctification is pointless. I am posing a rhetorical question to those who believe in "once saved, always saved", those who believe that they cannot be disinherited from the Kingdom of Heaven and believe that our actions have nothing to do with eternal heaven.
One may be able to consciously decide to walk away from such as this salvation, ... but it is certain that we don't work to maintain our standing with God. Our works proceed as the result of our relationship with God ... which is based upon our faith.
Yes. And how do you walk away from salvation, Quester? Don't your actions have something to do with that? I am certain you are familiar with the concept of love - and that "doing something" is not work, but an act of affection towards the beloved. I buy flowers for my wife out of love, not out of try to earn something... We obey the commandments out of love, not out of trying to earn salvation.
Regards
Who considers salvation to be a strictly legal issue ?
Not you, but many whom I have spoken with that believe in a legal imputation of righteousness alone believe that salvation is merely a legal issue. Once we accept the Lord as our Savior, we have already been legally imputed with His Righteousness and nothing can take that away (so the idea goes). With such thinking, there is no point in sanctification, because Christ's righteousness is applied to the credit line, and it erases any debt we have on our side of the ledger ...
I believe that you might be seeing that some see justification as merely a legal issue.
I don't know any christians who view salvation as merely a legal matter, ... or even regarding justification only.
Salvation is about hearing and believing the truth, ... about being reunited with our spiritual Father, ... about rediscovering our real selves, ... about becoming part of a loving family, ... about learning to work with your brothers and sisters to accomplish some good in the world.
Of course. Glad to see you agree with me. Perhaps you have misunderstood my posts. I am not saying I believe that sanctification is pointless. I am posing a rhetorical question to those who believe in "once saved, always saved", those who believe that they cannot be disinherited from the Kingdom of Heaven and believe that our actions have nothing to do with eternal heaven.
It seems that you are proposing that assurance of one's salvation ... or belief that one's salvation cannot be lost ... somehow negates any motivation such christians might have toward sanctification ... or service.
It sounds like you feel that christians need some sort of 'Sword of Damocles' (i.e. the threat of loss of one's salvation) ... to motivate them to live christian lives.
If this were the case ... then Protestant churches would be empty ... because noone would bother to come and/or render their service ... because they don't get anything (salvific) out of it.
Interestingly, the statistics seem to demonstrate that Protestants are at least as consistent as Catholics at being involved and/or serving in their churches, ... which tends to suggest that there are other motivations for living the christian life then threat of loss of one's salvation.
I don't live and serve as a christian to attain (or to hold onto) my salvation ... I live and serve as a christian because God is my Father ... and I wish to please Him. Also His love has been infused into me ... and it is only natural ... that I share it.
One may be able to consciously decide to walk away from such as this salvation, ... but it is certain that we don't work to maintain our standing with God. Our works proceed as the result of our relationship with God ... which is based upon our faith.
Yes. And how do you walk away from salvation, Quester? Don't your actions have something to do with that? I am certain you are familiar with the concept of love - and that "doing something" is not work, but an act of affection towards the beloved. I buy flowers for my wife out of love, not out of try to earn something... We obey the commandments out of love, not out of trying to earn salvation.
My actions (work) stem from my faith. Faith is the key. If I were to give up my faith (as is postulated in Hebrews 6) ... then my works would reflect that loss (or repudiation) of faith.
So long as I have saving faith, ... my works will reflect that faith.
Best Wishes