whom credit & glory belong for these acts of faith! --> now evidently you never read my post 265 where I said Of course, these don't "save us" per se, since it is Christ's sacrifice on the Cross that grants us our salvation that we can accept or reject.
or 262 all salvation comes from Christ the Head
or 269 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men
Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved. -- you twist a lot of words to contradict Jesus -- He said this quite clearly, "He who believes AND IS BAPTISED is saved" -- as 1 Pet 3:20-21 reiterates In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, -- now if you wish to disregard the Bible, that's your choice. Remember, The Glory is to GOD that has saved is in this -- the salvation is by the resurrection of JEsus Christ -- Glory to God, not man
Luke 13:3 [U]nless you repent you will all likewise perish. -- again, Jesus is very clear. Take Jesus's own words first -- what does He say? "unless you repent, you will perish" -- God gives us the grace to repent yes, but we must accept this grace
John 6:54 -- again, Jesus is very clear. Why try to put words into His mouth? If you have a problem with what Jesus said -- take it up with Him
Matt 25:31-46 --> no one said it's a qualifier. I just pointed it out that it is not faith ALONE that saves
Matt 24:13 --> Why reference Paul for what Jesus has clearly said? He who endureth to the end is saved -- I never said that it is anyone but Jesus who gives us the power to do this --> Why don't you get this into your head before you go accussing folks, I continuously said and say that we are saved by God's grace, we give 100% credit for our ability to repent, to believe, to endure, to share in His body etc --> I only said it is not faith ALONE, but GRACE ALONE that saves us --> read before accusing this is what Jesus said
Isn't Jesus pretty clear? you MUST have faith to be saved by the freely given grace of salvation, however, it is not faith ALONE
Do you believe Jesus's words or not?
(Hey...I don't "acuss" anyone :); but others have "acussed" me! :) )
Imagine you're with Paul, Silas & that Philippian jailer -- Acts 16...and the jailer asks you: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30)...and before Paul & Silas could reply, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31), you whip out your "YOU MUST spiritual checklist" that you highlighted in post #267:
Cronos' post #267: ...from the moment of your acceptance of Christ's saving grace,
YOU MUST endure,
YOU MUST repent,
YOU MUST believe,
YOU MUST share in the body of the Lamb
and YOU MUST remember Matt 25:31-46
Don't you see how you've tilted the emphasis here? On the one hand, you tell me that "all salvation comes from Christ" and we are to give "100% credit" to God's grace for all He leads us to do...but your emphasis in certain posts is more on what man does [your five "YOU" list] vs. what God/Christ/Holy Spirit does!
Don't you see how what you write even sounds? You wrote five "YOU MUSTS" as if they were a new "10 Commandments' Lite" list! "YOU MUST" is just a contemporary rendering of "thou shalt!"
What always bothered me about the Baptist/fundamentalist pamphlet of "Four Spiritual Laws" is that they conveyed the Gospel as "laws." And you convey this same angle via your "YOU MUST" spiritual checklist and your usage of the word "requires" in post #250!
Cronos' post #250: A Catholic/Orthodox/Oriental would recognise this as saying Salvation (though coming FROM Christ ie through GRACE alone), also REQUIRES baptism, repentance, the Eucharist as WELL as faith.
(Instead of the word "requires" -- I love the word "receives"...we're mere recipients of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus!)
Sorry. But the literal rendering of the word "Gospel" = "Good News." This Good News is an announcement; a heralding. A headline. YOU ARE forgiven...! (It's not another legalistic spiritual "to do" checklist!)
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying we downplay what you've highlighted. But the emphasis on what has been transacted here is greatly reversed! Wanna see how the emphasis changes?
Baptism: YOU ARE forgiven in passively being baptized! “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2:38) [That's good news! Not a new NT commandment list! Emphasis: Being baptized is a passive action on our part...the emphasis is being the SUBJECT of baptism "in the name of Jesus"...any newborn can be baptized without having to have a "YOU MUST...requirement" checklist handed to them]
The Lord's Supper: YOU ARE forgiven in drinking the blood of the covenant: "Drink from it, all of you. This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28) [Emphasis: HE forgives us via the shedding of His blood; ...now I'm not advocating communion for babes here, but if you want to get down to brass tacks how the emphasis is NOT on what humans do, hey, ANY multi-month baby can drink without them having to attend a 5-week "You MUST...requirement" Inquirers Sunday School class! Yeah, they do indeed swallow; but it's hardly like they had anything to do in the production of what they receive drinking-wise!]
How about repentance? Is the emphasis on us or on GOD granting us repentance? Why it's on Jesus! (Acts 5:31)...It's on the Father (Acts 11:18)...And again, the promise of repentance includes "your children" (Acts 2:38-39)! The promise was made before any child could even respond!
What's funny, is that there actually is one "YOU MUST" that Jesus relayed in John 3:7 "You MUST be born from above"
Yet what baby chooses to be born? Likewise...
...the apostle John says that this born-againness is "not of...human decision...but born of God" (John 1:13)...
...James 1:18 says "He chose to give us birth..."...
...Jesus says "You did not choose me, but I chose you..." (John 15:16)...and added that NO ONE comes to the Father unless drawn by Him (John 6:44)...
...and Paul highlighted that NO ONE can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).
Does even being born from above -- one thing Jesus says we MUST be -- sound like some spiritual checklist WE do based upon these verses??? (Not on your born-again life!)
Please. Just, please. Drop this YOU MUST/Requirement law-ridden sounding language as if you're the Village Law-Giver. These things are not NT laws to replace the old ones. The Gospel is a pure announcement of Good News in the Calvary of the Past, the Holy Spirit new-birth of the Present, and the forever eternal relationship with the True Father and His Son both now and forever!
To package it as a spiritual to-do checklist...
...(a) does a disservice to what the Gospel is;
...(b) places the emphasis on man's synergistic cooperation with God vs. what God grants, what God gives, etc.
...& (c) conveys to the world that Paul and Silas' response to the jailer in Acts 16:31 was somehow incomplete of your "faith-plus" dog&pony show list and whew! were it not for the likes of you being around to "correct" or "complete" Paul and Silas "shriveled" response, well, that "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" crowd that keeps runnin' around would ne'er be properly squelched on the likes of Free Republic!