Posted on 09/09/2012 3:08:47 PM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
A recent sermon by Pastor David Jeremiah has been weighing heavily upon my mind.
He recounted the true-life story of contemporaries William Franklin Graham and Charles Templeton, up and coming young evangelists who began their ministries during the 1940s.
Most thought Templeton, rather than Graham, would achieve greater things in the name of the Lord.
But, in fact, the former fell away from his Christian faith – actually declaring himself atheist – while the great Billy Graham remained a good and faithful servant of the Most High.
Pastor Jeremiah shared the story of Graham and Templeton to remind his congregation (as well as those of us watching on TV or listening on radio) that, as Christ followers, “we are expected to run with endurance the race that has been set before us.”
Yet, in his next breath, the pastor said that, while Templeton did not finish the race he started, he still has a place in God’s kingdom.
Because, said Pastor Jeremiah, it mattered not that Templeton renounced the Christian faith he espoused as a young evangelist, nor that he went to his grave an atheist, since he one time gave his life to the Lord, he’s secure for all eternity.
That is the doctrine preached in many, if not most Christian churches, with which I have the most difficulty:
Once saved, always saved.
No matter how it is preached, or by whom it is preached – including Pastor Jeremiah, whom I greatly admire – I am unable to accept it.
For why would the Apostle Paul encourage us to run with endurance the race set before us if simply answering an altar call one Sunday gives us a lifetime Get Out Of Hell Free card?
And speaking of the Apostle Paul, suppose his life story was reversed. Suppose he spent the first part of his adult life preaching Christ’s salvation, but the second part persecuting Christians.
Would he be today in Paradise?
I think not.
“For it is impossible,” the Scripture warns, “for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
The takeaway from that Scripture is that it is not enough to give our lives to Christ for a season, then fall away from our faith. We do not have a free pass to sin as it pleases us. We are expected to abide in Christ, as He abides in us; to live our lives according to his Word.
So those of us who believe ourselves saved should not be deceived. The Scripture warns, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Those who abide in such sins will spend eternity separated from their Creator. Even if they were one-time Christ followers, like Charles Templeton.
sorry, the Celts were not killed for being heretics. The biggest slaughter of Celtic peoples was at the hands of Caesar when he invaded Gaul, or during the Saxon invasions of Britannia.
They were declared Barbarians by Caesar (Barbarian = non-Greek)
the Celts were not declared witches and heretics for following Celtic Christainity
And no, millions were not killed by Caesar -- maybe thousands.
The rest survived as a mix of Celtic-Italic-Germanic people -- the French, or Celtic-Germanic -- the English or Celtic with a moderate mix of Italics and Germanics: Irish, Galicians, Bretons, Welsh, Scots etc.
No. I don't get your point, are you saying you believe in getting absorbed into God? I'm not disparaging or disputing it, but this is related to Sanatana Dharma (hindu) thought. Is this what you believe?
One does not "earn" a gift. That's pretty much the whole definition of "gift."
Salvation is freely given by God's grace through the one-time sacrifice of Christ. It is not guaranteed to the end because we have the option of rejecting it.
We can't get it on our own without accepting Christ, yet we can reject this gift, this guarantee.
read what Christ Himself teaches: Jesus said
We are saved by the blood of Christ and Christ Himself tells us to perserve to the end, to repent, believe, to be baptised, to eat of His body and blood.
All of this is in the process of sanctification, it is not what saves you. Christ is what saves you
Rash, isn't it funny that people mix up English? Scripture is inerrant, i.e. without error. Scripture does not make a decision for you, it is not animate so is neither fallible nor the other way. A person can be fallible or not, an inanimate book isn't
The entire Word of God i.e. Jesus Christ is infallible and He grants us grace to infallibly follow His teachings.
Amen and Amen Boatbums - loved and agreed with both your last 2 posts, 192 & 193. Funny how the most thoughtful posts are always such a struggle to stay brief.
I must say I’m envious of your ocean going days. God has always placed a love of the sea deep in my heart. In kindergarten every picture I drew was of a sailboat. I’m only 50 now and feel compelled to find a way to pursue my dreams and sail all of the deep waters for the next several decades only to arrive in the Holy Land for my and/or thee last days on this Earth.
I esp. enjoyed not only how we each UNIQUELY reach saving faith but was reminded of 2nd Peter 1:5-8 because God continues to pour out blessings that increase the strength and certainty of the faithful. I like to think of these traits as a wheel that strengthens and builds our god-like traits with each turn.
“5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound , they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. “
In light of this knowledge to defend the faith please consider reading this most excellent online book too ~ about a boat guy and his ultimate quest to please only God...
Center for Scientific Creation - In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/IntheBeginningTOC.html
I’ve kept my links page short but my saved FR links are all great true science type defenders imho of the faith and God’s Word in their own right.
"The entire Word of God i.e. Jesus Christ is infallible and He grants us grace to infallibly follow His teachings."I've been around and around on that with a few folks over the years. When I was a teenager you would hear "inerrant" all the time but sometime in the mid-seventies you started hearing "infallible" more often. The first place I noticed the switch to "infallible" was with the "World Tomorrow" crowd who claimed their interpretation of prophecy was infallible because Scripture is infallible. Then in some of the "Great Surrender and Escape" books, and then the next thing you knew everyone was claiming to be infallible because they quoted a verse or two along with their personal opinion.
I think it's part and parcel of the bogus "proof-text" game that ignores context and the fact that the entire Bible fits together and doesn't contradict itself. Playing that game allows each individual to rationalize whatever they like as long as they can find a Scripture verse they can claim to base their opinion on. It's just more proof that once people embrace the heresy of Core they all end up going along with whatever has the best marketing slogan, is most popular with their peer group, or has the most charismatic spokesman.
One of the interesting "infallible" things I often see is people who say, "the New Testament doesn't specifically condemn contraception so it's OK" then turn right around and say, "it's not right to baptize infants because there's no example of anyone doing that in the New Testament", then claim both of those interpretations are "infallible" because they're "based on Scripture". You know the inmates are running the asylum when they "infallibily" toss the murder of between eight and thirteen million infants a year with abortafacient drugs into the huge, "Christian Liberty" dumpster, but "take a stand" on when to baptize any infants who happen to survive.
Regards
I fully agree that Paul CANNOT contradict himself because it isn't really "Paul's" words but the God-breathed precise words meant to be communicated to us all - for all time. That is why I can say without doubt that the Gospel of God's grace through Jesus Christ has always been one of pure mercy from pure love shown to us by our Creator. It is not dependent on our own goodness - as you rightfully said - we have no innate goodness, at least not what is necessary for eternity in heaven with God. So this is why I also know that our salvation does not depend on our goodness after we have come to saving faith in Christ.
Believing what the Bible says about the basis of our salvation, which is by grace without our own works, I know that anyone who IS saved has been born again and is adopted into the family of God. This adoption is a PERMANENT one and, just as it did not depend on our own merit or work to receive, it does not depend on our works to keep us in the family of God. Nothing Paul, or anyone else in Scripture, said contradicts this essential truth. A person who has come to saving faith in Jesus Christ is PERMANENTLY indwelled by the Holy Spirit and it is GOD'S faithfulness that will complete our journey home.
Can that person fall into sin? Yes, as long as we are still in this natural, old nature we will not be totally free from its influences. Paul understood that as well as anyone. He said:
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:14-25)
Living a victorious Christian life is not so much one where we NEVER commit a sin, but is one that the closer we get to the Lord; the more mature we grow in our faith; the growth we experience as we learn to resist temptation and choose to do what we know is good and right; the more we learn to allow the Spirit to control our life; the more we are conformed to the image of Christ and our lives glorify our Lord and Savior. If after 25 years as a Christian, Paul could write that he STILL struggled with the old nature, it should not be surprising that we all must walk the same path. We strive towards holiness because God has instilled HIS Spirit within us - it is NOT something we can conjure up of our own strength. So, yes, we will ALL fall at times and we will also get back up again through the grace of God. This falling and getting back up and falling again is all part of being human but with a spirit nature that actually CAN live for God. God knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust, he pities his children and has compassion for us and this is why I know that he will NEVER cast us out or lose us ONCE we are His.
We didn't get saved by being good. We don't STAY saved by being good. It is all the way through about God's grace. This is NOT saying that God condones sin, he doesn't, he disciplines us as a loving Father would his children. But he will never disown us - he can't - he has placed His Holy Spirit within us never to leave us and we are sealed UNTIL the day of redemption. This is the good news, the Gospel, that God wants us to understand.
So, a person who "falls" - if by that you mean commits sin - then he can be forgiven and restored to fellowship with Christ. If you mean a person who "loses" his faith - as the OP says about Charles Templeton - then it boils down to whether or not he ever was truly a believer. It sounds like, from the second article I just posted, he may never have made that assent of faith, but only God knows. The Scriptures assure us that nothing can separate us from the love of God and by that I can know that I have everlasting life through Christ. It is not by works of righteousness which I do, but by His mercy that I am saved and his grace overcomes all.
A person who has come to saving faith in Jesus Christ
Where is "saving faith" in Holy Scripture?
Sorry, but as anyone who reads the Bible knows remaining faithful to Christ as you follow Him carrying your cross isn't "works" salvation or earning salvation.Read the Bible rather than reading what you want to see or what supports the rote, feel good, OSAS doctrine. Everyone who was saved from slavery in Egypt didn't make it to the promised land because they were expected to be loyal and faithful to God in order to receive the reward of entering the Promised land. In particular you might consider the heretic Core and his crowd who insisted that everyone who had come out of Egypt was equally called to be a priest. That refusal to accept the order God ordained for His people angered God the Father who slaughtered Core and his crowd in spectacular fashion.
Core and his pals were making precisely the same claim all Protestant derived churches make and they were cut off. That's exactly why Luther wanted to throw Jude out of the New Testament canon, he knew he knew he was making the same assertion as Core. By your methods of interpretation Core was saved and had nothing to worry about so why were those who sided with him slain? How did they go beyond what the majority of the OSAS crowd asserts is an example of stellar faith and obedience? And what about those who made it all the way to the Promised Land but were not allowed to enter? What's with their being expected to be obedient and faithful in order to cross the river if their behavior didn't matter?
It's clear all through the Old and New Testaments that there are no Harry Potter magic words that free you from every obligation just by saying those magic words. That's what OSAS comes down to, though, "magic words" salvation supported with the Lego Block Method of Scripture Interpretation". The Scripture that says faith without works is dead should be a clue for folks, but I guess when you're off on faith alone as part of your favorite heresy recognizing all Scripture as true is pretty inconvenient.
Sorry
Regards
The distinction is made between those who through faith receive the gift of eternal life and those who believe they are saved by faith PLUS their works. What you call "rehashing" is simply going back over the concept of what justification by faith really means. I understand that some consider it a novel "heretical" notion, but it is clearly a doctrine found in Scripture AND held by the early church because it came from the Apostles directly. It can hardly be called new. I know that because we can look at the writings of early believers who were leaders in the Christian communities. Writers such as:
What is interesting about the above is that Chrysostom is denying the necessity of baptism for justification. He's saying that good works provide confidence but that nevertheless one can be justified by faith alone.
Chrysostom (349-407): That those who were enemies, and sinners, neither justified by the law, nor by works, should immediately through faith alone be advanced to the highest favor. Upon this head accordingly Paul has discoursed at length in his Epistle to the Romans, and here again at length. “This is a faithful saying,” he says, “and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” As the Jews were chiefly attracted by this, he persuades them not to give heed to the law, since they could not attain salvation by it without faith. Against this he contends; for it seemed to them incredible, that a man who had mis-spent all his former life in vain and wicked actions, should afterwards be saved by his faith alone. On this account he says, “It is a saying to be believed.” But some not only disbelieved but even objected, as the Greeks do now. “Let us then do evil, that good may come.” This was the consequence they drew in derision of our faith, from his words, “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” NPNF1: Vol. XIII, Homilies on First Timothy, Homily 4, 1 Timothy 1:15, 16.
One reason to include the quotation above is the fact that it refers to salvation by faith alone, and this is explicitly contrasted with good works.
Hilary of Poitiers (c 315-67) on Matthew 9: “This was forgiven by Christ through faith, because the Law could not yield, for faith alone justifies.” Latin text: Et remissum est ab eo, quod lex laxare non poterat; fides enim sola justificat. Sancti Hilarii In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Caput VIII, §6, PL 9:961.
The above is pretty self explanatory.
Basil of Caesarea (329-379): [As the Apostle says,] Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, [I say that] Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, [and] redemption, that, as it is written, “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” [For] this is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been, δεδικαιωμένον, perfect passive participle, accusative, masculine of δικαιόω) justified solely by faith in Christ. See Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, Part 1, p. 505. (bracketed words added to Chemnitz’ translation)
Greek text: Λέγει δὲ ὁ Ἀπόστολος• Ὁ καυχώμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχάσθω, λέγω ὅτι Χριστὸς ἡμῖν ἐγενήθη σοφία ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις• ἵνα καθὼς γέγραπται, Ὁ καυχώμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχάσθω. Αὕτη γὰρ δὴ ἡ τελεία καὶ ὁλόκληρος καύχησις ἐν Θεῳ, ὅτε μήτε ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνῃ τις ἐπαίρεται τῇ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλ´ ἔγνω μὲν ἐνδεῆ ὄντα ἑαυτὸν δικαιοσύνης ἀληθοῦς, πίστει δὲ μόνῃ τῇ εἰς Χριστὸν δεδικαιωμένον. Homilia XX, Homilia De Humilitate, §3, PG 31:529. In context, Basil appealed to the example of the Apostle Paul as a regenerate man.
Like the examples from Chrysostom above, this quotation both speaks of justification solely by faith and contrasts that with works.
Jerome (347-420) on Romans 10:3: God justifies by faith alone.
Latin text: Deus ex sola fide justificat: In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Caput X, v. 3, PL 30:692D.
The above speaks for itself, but note that the exact phrase "sola fide" is found.
Jerome (347-420): He who with all his spirit has placed his faith in Christ, even if he die in sin, shall by his faith live forever. Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1984), p. 61.
Latin text: Qui enim tota mente in Christo confidit, etiamsi, ut homo lapsus, mortuus fuerit in peccato, fide sua vivit in perpetuum. Epistola CXIX, Ad Minervium et Alexandrum Monachos, §7, PL 22:973.
The above is an example of Jerome contrasting justification by faith with works.
Pseudo-Oecumenius (Late 7th or Early 8th Century), commenting on James 2:23: Abraham is the image of someone who is justified by faith alone, since what he believed was credited to him as righteousness. But he is also approved because of his works, since he offered up his son Isaac on the altar. Of course he did not do this work by itself; in doing it, he remained firmly anchored in his faith, believing that through Isaac his seed would be multiplied until it was as numerous as the stars. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament, Vol. XI, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 33. See PG 119:481.
Notice how here Pseudo-Oecumenius addresses Abraham's justification. He affirms that Abraham is justified by faith alone, but then explains that the works provide him with approval because of their connection to his faith.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), on Rom. 4:6, ‘righteousness apart from works’: Paul backs this up by the example of the prophet David, who says that those are blessed of whom God has decreed that, without work or any keeping of the law, they are justified before God by faith alone. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 113.
Latin Text: Hoc ipsum munit exemplo prophetae. Beatitudinem hominis, cui Deus accepto fert justitiam sine operibus. Beatos dicit de quibus hoc sanxit Deus, ut sine labore et aliqua observatione, sola fide justificentur apud Deum. In Epistolam Ad Romanos, PL 17:83.
Here Ambrosiaster explicitly denies justification by works, even while explicitly affirming justification by faith alone.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), on Rom. 3:24: They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 101.
Latin Text: Justificati gratis per gratiam ipsius. Justificati sunt gratis, quia nihil operantes, neque vicem reddentes, sola fide justificati sunt dono Dei. In Epistolam Ad Romanos, PL 17:79.
This is similar to the previous one.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), on Rom. 3:27: Paul tells those who live under the law that they have no reason to boast basing themselves on the law and claiming to be of the race of Abraham, seeing that no one is justified before God except by faith. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 103.
Latin Text: Ubi est ergo gloriatio tua? Exclusa est. Per quam legem? factorum? Non, sed per legem fidei. Reddita ratione, ad eos loquitur, qui agunt sub lege, quod sine causa glorientur, blandientes sibi de lege, et propter quod genus sint Abrahae, videntes non justificari hominem apud Deum, nisi per fidem. In Epistolam Ad Romanos, PL 17:80.
Again, Ambrosiaster is affirming justification by faith alone. Here, he's providing the angle that there is no alternative way of being justified. It's not like some people are justified by faith, and others are justified by works.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), on Rom. 4:5: How then can the Jews think that they have been justified by the works of the law in the same way as Abraham, when they see that Abraham was not justified by the works of the law but by faith alone? Therefore there is no need of the law when the ungodly is justified before God by faith alone. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 112.
Latin Text: Hoc dicit, quia sine operibus legis credenti impio, id est gentili, in Christum, reputatur fides ejus ad justitiam, sicut et Abrahae. Quomodo ergo Judaei per opera legis justificari se putant justificatione Abrahae; cum videant Abraham non per opera legis, sed sola fide justificatum? Non ergo opus est lex, quando impius per solam fidem justificatur apud Deum. In Epistolam Ad Romanos, PL 17:82-83.
I realize that some of Rome's apologists will try to wriggle out of the quotation above by emphasizing the distinction between the works of the Mosaic law and works in general. Nevertheless, Ambrosiaster makes it clear that faith alone justifies.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), on Rom. 2:12: For if the law is given not for the righteous but for the unrighteous, whoever does not sin is a friend of the law. For him faith alone is the way by which he is made perfect. For others mere avoidance of evil will not gain them any advantage with God unless they also believe in God, so that they may be righteous on both counts. For the one righteousness is temporal; the other is eternal. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 65. Latin Text: Si enim justo non est lex posita, sed injustis; qui non peccat, amicus legis est. Huic sola fides deest, per quam fiat perfectus quia nihil illi proderit apud Deum abstinere a contrariis, nisi fidem in Deum acceperit, ut sit justus per utraque; quia illa temporis justitia est, haec aeternitatis. In Epistolam Ad Romanos, PL 17:67.
The above closes out the attempted room of those who treat "the law" as simply a reference to the Mosaic law. Notice how Ambrosiaster connects the law and "avoidance of evil," which is a general description of works.
Ambrosiaster (fl. c. 366-384), wrote while commenting upon 1 Cor. 1:4b: God has decreed that a person who believes in Christ can be saved without works. By faith alone he receives the forgiveness of sins. Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VII: 1-2 Corinthians (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 6.
Latin Text: Datam dicit gratiam a Deo in Christo Jesu, quae gratia sic data est in Christo Jesu; quia hoc constitutum est a Deo, ut qui credit in Christum, salvus sit sine opere: sola fide gratis accipit remissionem peccatorum. In Epistolam B. Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, PL 17:185.
The above quotation puts a final nail in the coffin for any attempted Romanist wriggling, in that here Ambrosiaster makes it explicit that a person can be saved without works.
Chrysostom (349-407): God’s mission was not to save people in order that they may remain barren or inert. For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me, does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent. Homily on Ephesians 4.2.9. Mark J. Edwards, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 134. See also John Chrysostom. F. Field, ed. Interpretatio omnium Epistolarum Paulinarum per Homilias Facta (Oxford J. H. Parker, 1845-1862), 2:160.
Here Chrysostom explains that faith justifies and faith produces works, but still insists that works do not justify us.
Chrysostom (349-407): For a person who had no works, to be justified by faith, was nothing unlikely. But for a person richly adorned with good deeds, not to be made just from hence, but from faith, this is the thing to cause wonder, and to set the power of faith in a strong light. NPNF1: Vol. XI, Homilies on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, Homily 8, Rom. 4:1, 2.
This is a powerful statement for justification by faith alone. Chrysostom is arguing that even for those with works in addition to faith, those works do not justify them.
Clement of Rome: Whosoever will candidly consider each particular, will recognize the greatness of the gifts which were given by him. For from him have sprung the priests and all the Levites who minister at the altar of God. From him also [was descended] our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. From him [arose] kings, princes, and rulers of the race of Judah. Nor are his other tribes in small glory, inasmuch as God had promised, “Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven.” All these, therefore, were highly honored, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they wrought, but through the operation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ANF: Vol. I, The Apostolic Fathers, First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, Chapter 32.
The above conclusion provides a final testimony for sola fide. Yes, he does not use the term "faith alone," but he specifically rules out works. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2011/07/justification-by-faith-alone.html
I’m sorry, but your or other’s opinion, interpretation and quotes notwithstanding, the Church has never taught OSAS. The support from Sacred Scripture has already been posted several times.
The only time "faith alone" appears in Holy Scripture it is preceded by "not by."
Trying to separate faith and works is the root of the error.
I only used that phrase to help those who seemed confused about it. It is the difference between knowing the way and following it. Between knowing Jesus Christ died on a cross and believing Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Nothing "modernist" about it and certainly not a false doctrine. In fact, it is those who doubt that we are justified by faith apart from works who insist on qualifiers for what saving faith really is. The idea of answering an altar call is mocked as something called "easy believism" - a term not found in Scripture. Whenever Jesus called for faith, to believe on Him, he did not have to expound on what that meant. When he said, "Whosoever believes in him has everlasting life.", he didn't follow up with instructions for all the additional things that have to be done to have eternal life.
Like Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The "cross" I carry is the knowledge that I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. This is the faith that saves and will see me all the way home to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All I can do is present the Gospel as God has revealed it to us in His Holy Word. All I can do is pray for those who sincerely seek His face to find Him and be saved. God did not intend for us to live in fearful suspense never knowing where we will spend eternity. We CAN know, right NOW, that we HAVE eternal life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (I John 5:13)
I think the qualifiers come in with saving faith versus non-saving faith.
"Whosoever believes in him has everlasting life.", he didn't follow up with instructions for all the additional things that have to be done to have eternal life.
You might want to reconsider this opinion in light of what Jesus also taught about those who believe in Him.
Again, the error comes in when we try to separate faith and works, what we believe and how we act. It results in nonsense theology.
I’ve even seen some claim that repentance is a “work.”
Might as well go full Calvin.
Download Romans into an MP3 player and listen to it about 50 times. Think it through ,..through faith in Christ.
OSAS, because there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, we also can’t do anything to lose it once He gives it.
It is by faith, not by the law that we are saved because it is by His grace, not by debt.
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