Ok, so you guys who don't like Easy Believism, what must a man do to be saved if not simply believe? How many conditions other than belief are there?
My challenge to you is that if you don't believe in what many call "Easy Believism" then perhaps YOU don't believe the Gospel at all! Hmmm?
Comments?
Wrong! It is easy to see from scripture that salvation comes from doing God's will. Following His commandments.
Genesis 26
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
Clearly shows that Abraham, kept the commandments, statutes, and laws, and obeyed God.
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Shows the connection between righteousness and the law.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Luke 1
5 THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
What does 'the way' mean?
the way <3598>
Lexicon Greek 3598
3598 hodos {hod-os'} apparently a root word; TDNT - 5:42,666; n f AV - way 83, way side 8, journey 6, highway 3, misc 2; 102
1) properly
1a) a way
1a1) a traveled way, road
1b) a travelers way, journey, traveling
2) metaph.
2a) a course of conduct
2b) a way (i.e. manner) of thinking, feeling, deciding
Matthew 5:17-19, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
The heavens and earth are still here..... so is the law.
Matthew 19:16-19 (Mark 10:17,19) (Luke 18:18,20), ". . . Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him . . . if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments . . . Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself "
Luke 10:25-28, ". . . Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him. Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
Possessing and inheriting eternal life is always connected with doing something……
Matthew 7:21,
"Not every one . . . shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 5
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
John 7:49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
Acts 21:20
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Acts 21:24 (James talking to Paul)
Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Acts 21:28 (talking about Paul)
Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
You will find the expressed will of the Father in the Law, Prophets, and Writings…the Jewish Bible.
Mark 10
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Ecclesiastes 12
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Satan changes the true gospel into a counterfeit message by addition and subtraction. In other words, Satan adds human works or effort to the plan of salvation in order to make the message of none effect (I Corinthians 1:17).
Paul ought to KNOW! Since he used subtlety to CHANGE God's words. And also eliminated (subtracted) other words of God.
Look at these two verses??
Romans 11
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
As it is written. To what does Paul refer?
Isaiah 59
20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Do you see the difference????
They differ considerably in doctrine and content! One has the Messiah coming and 'cleansing' the sinner (Romans/Paul) and the other has the Messiah coming to those who have 'repented and cleansed themselves!'(Isaiah)
For Christians, Isaiah 59:20 presents a serious theological problem because in the third chapter of the Book of Romans, Paul insists that no one can merit his own salvation. One of the most fundamental underpinnings of Christian theology is the Pauline teaching that only the cross, not our own good deeds and heart-felt repentance, can save.
Paul bases this assertion primarily on the verse from Genesis 15:6, "And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." In both Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6, Paul sets out to prove from this verse that faith alone is what saves man, not his observance of the Law. Paul insists that this verse clearly demonstrates that Abraham was considered righteous through faith alone and not by his deeds. This quote, however, is taken completely out of context. A little further on in the Book of Genesis, the Torah describes the very fabric of Abraham’s "faith." In Genesis 26:5, the Bible declares that "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My Commandments, My statutes and My laws." It was Abraham’s unwavering obedience to the commandments of the Almighty in spite of the challenging tests placed before him that revealed his unyielding faith in God. Paul got it wrong.
Paul therefore rearranges the words of Isa. 59:20 so that Romans 11:26 appears to quote Isaiah to read that it will be the Redeemer (Jesus) who will turn away sin from Jacob. This, however, is not what Isaiah 59:20 says. As mentioned above, the original verse proclaims that the Messiah will come only to those who have repented of transgression.
It is not difficult, however, to understand why Paul found this revision of the prophets words necessary. In the next verse Paul continues to tamper and misquote the Jewish text to make it congruous with the alterations of the previous verse.
Romans 11:27 was designed to appear as a continuation of Isaiah’s words when he writes:
Romans 11
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Although the first half of this verse, "And this is my Covenant unto them," is correctly quoted from the first part of Isaiah 59:21, the second half has totally disappeared! Replacing this latter half of the verse which Paul expunged, is the interpolated text of Paul’s inventive mind, "When I shall take away their sins." This segment was invented by Paul in order to support his modifications of the previous verse (11:26).
Isaiah 59
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.
The Messiah will come only to those in Jacob who turn from sin. Such turning from sin will be accomplished in these last days (Daniel 9 timetable) through Messiah’s words. (Jesus preached "repentance" by the way). Such words, if kept in the mouth of God's people, and not withdrawn from their hearts and minds, will cause them to walk in the Commandments of God. Such will produce a righteous remnant in Israel which would qualify as the necessary remnant thus representing the Holy Nation and the Royal Priesthood to whom the Messiah would come. Such spiritual condition by the people of Jacob would be necessary to fulfill their calling as a light to the nations. This concept is totally foreign to the ideas of Paul who prided himself that he was no longer under such "Law" but under grace.
Do you believe Isaiah was a prophet of God anointed with a message "forever"?
How long is "forever"?
Is Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, considered somebody’s "offspring"? Of course. Then it is very evident that Paul allowed to happen in his life, what he was warned by Isaiah not to do,…he let the Words of God vanish from his mouth.
Paul apostasized from the faith of Jesus and set the direction for the apostasy of the Gentile followers of Jesus for the millennia to come.
I saw this at a Youth Group musical Thursday night. Two troubled kids were told to just ask Jesus into their lives, and everything would be better. He becomes the panacea for a troubled-filled life.
Repentance is a necessary component of salvation - an indispensible one, in fact.
People who ignore the above also ignore James. Many Christians for some reason do not like James. Notice that James clearly adds to the discussion of Abraham's faith being counted as righteousness. He doesn't do that accidentally. He is intentionally providing further perspective to Paul's words; probably so Paul isn't misinterpreted. I believe Acts 15 demonstrates that James and Paul were on good terms.
James 2 - 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[4] ? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[5] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Yes, he does!
Believers can do whatever they please. They cannot lose their salvation.
According to the article:
it is true that no matter what a person does after he is saved that person is still saved.
For the "saved" person, there are no eternal consequences to sin. Our salvation is guaranteed, regardless of our acts. We are saved because of our belief in Jesus. 'Nuff said.
Romans 11
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
In Acts 2:38, it is implied that one receives the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism.
However, in Acts 10 the Holy Ghost fell upon the Gentiles prior to any baptism.
Acts 10
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Obviously, baptism isn't required to receive the Holy Ghost. It was Cornelius' righteousness that made him acceptable to God, as pointed out in verse 35.