Has anyone heard from Calvinist Dark Lord lately?
Posted on 09/11/2019 10:52:15 AM PDT by Gamecock
Excellent article. Thanks for posting it. The great cloud of witnesses that came before us as brothers and sisters in the faith testify to the truth of the gospel which was preached from the start and it has never been lost. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.
.
He saves his sheep by writing his laws on their hearts, just as Jeremiah and Paul prophecied. That is the faith that is the gift of Yehova, lest any man boast.
Has anyone heard from Calvinist Dark Lord lately?
What in those books is necessary for salvation and doctrine?
he problem with protestants’ radically separating justification from sanctification
faith + works = salvation
salvation + faith = works
Except that snippet from James DOESN'T say "we are not saved by faith alone"! Instead, in context, it says we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. It's about how those around us see the faith we profess - our outward works demonstrate our inward/living faith. Do you think God cannot see into a person's heart and know if there is genuine faith in Jesus Christ?
Don't you think it strange that there is no other place in Scripture but that one from James 2:24 that says that? Will you toss out all the hundreds of verses that clearly teach we ARE saved by faith and not by our works just because you find one that seems to say the opposite? Will the Holy Spirit contradict Himself? Why don't you read the first two chapters of James so you can understand what God is teaching us. Look at the ancient people mentioned who are set up as examples of living their faith. Hebrews chapter 11 also talks about them and it is abundantly clear that they were saved because they had genuine faith - they were all commended for their faith but it was their faith ALONE that saved them. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Romans 4:3)
Yes, and one who refuses to give them up will not be saved despite his faith. Thus says St. Paul.
A Christian is not going to practice these.
If only this were true. There have always been plenty of Christians who remain attached to sin. Paul is addressing his remarks to Christian believers, not to pagans. But if you were to say that such are not true Christians, then you have just admitted that faith alone is not enough: refraining from sin must be added to it.
IF a single act of sin would nullify your salvation then Paul is in trouble as well as he noted he struggled with something.
Not if he repents of it later and seeks forgiveness. But if one were to commit a grievous sin against God and then refuse to repent, then he would loose his salvation by his own choice.
Yet, Jesus told the people He met to believe in Him.
Agreed, but he also told them to keep the Commandments!
I again will ask, IF it is faith + works, how many "good" works do you have to do?
Your question betrays a complete lack of understanding of Catholic teaching. One does not earn salvation by racking up brownie points through good works. Salvation is a complete gratuitous gift of God. The good works required are keeping one self from sin, or do you believe that one can remain in sin and still be saved by faith alone?
placemarker
+
Oh get off the deceit train! The Catholic religion teaches that one must follow the sacraments to ‘obtain’ salvation. Don’t take the mark, just don’t do it.
Of course, because this is what Jesus taught. Read the Bible. But remember, the sacraments are the works of God, not of man.
I’m not trying to disagree with either of you. But, first, the word “faith,” is such a problematic word in Greek, meaning belief, trust, faithfulness, and more. It contains the entire spectrum from assent to action.
Second, Jesus answered the question, “what must we do to do the works of God?” with the declaration, “the work of God is to believe in the one he has sent.” That includes more that assent to Jesus’ character and work. See paragraph above.
Third, the very question, “how do you know you’ve done enough,” or “how do you know you’ve done the right works?” presumes a self-centered salvation, which is the antithesis of what grace by faith is: God doing for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves by putting our entire weight and confidence in Jesus’ work in us by the Holy Spirit. Of course we can’t be sure of ‘what’ and ‘how much’ we do, but our trust is not in our own judgment, rather in the promise that Christ is taking even our mistakes on himself and making our lives whole and fruitful. Doing for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves — eyes on Him and *not on ourselves.*
"They worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen." —Romans 1:25
First off, everything should be verified by two or three witnesses. If you are trying to build a doctrine on just ONE stand alone verse of Scripture, you are going to fall into error. ONE verse can be taken out of context.
The other thing is, many verses are only sentence fragments. The designations for verses are not based on any grammatical sense, as in they are whole complete sentences. So to demand ONE verse can leave you with an incomplete thought.
So you should at least be willing to take one complete thought expressed in one sentence, even if it contains multiple *verses*.
That said, here are some verses that are one liners that agree with each other.....
Romans 3:21-25 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
I suspected as much.
It seems that you were not genuinely interested in learning is salvation was truly by faith but wanted to find justification for your belief that you have to somehow work to add to your salvation, s if there was anything anyone could do that could meet God;'s holy standard for righteousness.
Well, work away if you want.
Pt yourself on the back, and then you face God you can let Him know how beholden He is to you and how He has to let you into heaven cause you did so well in your works.
I pray all the time for them that the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to understand that they can NEVER merit, deserve or earn their salvation which is why it is because of God's mercy and grace alone that we can be saved. He gifts to us eternal life by His grace THROUGH faith and not of anything of ourselves - not of works so that no one may boast. I pray that they will come to understand just how much God loves them and what Jesus Christ suffered and died for so that we can have eternal life. No one says that we shouldn't live in obedience to God so that He is glorified and honored - that IS what He created us to do - but that our works do not contribute to our salvation. Jesus paid it all - IT IS FINISHED - he said. By His one sacrifice, he has perfected forever those who are being saved - we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I sincerely hope they will come to know the peace of God in Christ Jesus and rejoice in the assurance of their salvation - to the glory of God.
And the difference is.......
Salvation is not earned by works and it's not kept by works.
It's given and that's that, sin notwithstanding.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.