In Genesis 15, Abraham was having a "moment" (one of those hallucinatory visions) where he was hearing voices he attributed to God. The whole chapter is intended to justify Israel's claim to the region as something God-given.
In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham and when he is willing to kill his only son God stops him, because God was now convinced (!) that Abraham really did believe in Him.This is what it says:
Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only so. [Gen 22:12]
It seems to me that the all-knowing God somehow wasn't really sure if Abraham feared Him, so in order to make sure he did, God subjected Abraham to this cruel test.
And again, it was Abraham's wiling less to act on faith (kill his own son) and, not on faith alone. Not even all-knowing God accepted his faith alone but wanted a proof-positive test of it. I think the story is a naive folklore with a twist.
It WASN'T action at the place "The Lord Will Provide" that made Abraham righteous, it was faith well before that.
NO it wasn't if God wanted to test him.
Christ does NOT teach that righteousness is earned by works. Instead, He says: John 6:28-29 : 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
In context of the whole section, Jesus tells them that in order for them to do the work of God, they must believe in the One He sent. You can't do Christian work without being a Christian, FK! Christians who do good works credit them to God, and not to themselves. Whereas someone who does not believe will credit good works to himself instead of Christ, but it's still God's work because all good is from God. .
Do you still believe that you are "made acceptable", i.e. saved, to God by the physical works you do?
The Bible says we will be judged for what we have done, FK. We will be judged (righteous or unrighteous) in the eyes of God based on our deeds; the Bible makes that perfectly clear
Kosta: and God even obliged Himself to reward us for obeying His commands.
FK: This is the first admission I can think of wherein an Apostolic acknowledges that God owes a debt to man for performance. We have been screaming this from the mountaintops as being Apostolic error for years, always to denial
You have a vivid imagination. I think it was pretty clear from the way I worded it that God doesn't "owe" us a debt except by His own will and integrity. When God promises something, it is He who obliges Himself, and he will keep Hos sword.
Your side's whole "certainty" of salvation is based on the biblical passage where God promises to never let go of His sheep. If you didn't hold God to His word, you would not be certain!
Truly, if a believer doesn't hold the Word to be faithful, then the believer wouldn't believe. A word study of the Greek word PISTIS helps one understand the significance of faith and belief as expressed in His Word and how He provides.
Testing is part of the believer's life in Christ after initial saving faith. It is more closely associated to continuing sanctification than initial positional sanctification.
Abraham was a condemned unbeliever before he was a believer by faith alone in what God provides alone.
I see, and the basis for this unique interpretation is what? Is it what you would call "private interpretation" or is this what your Church specifically teaches?
In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham and when he is willing to kill his only son God stops him, because God was now convinced (!) that Abraham really did believe in Him.This is what it says: [Gen 22:12] It seems to me that the all-knowing God somehow wasn't really sure if Abraham feared Him, so in order to make sure he did, God subjected Abraham to this cruel test.
It sure could seem that way. However, those of us who consider the totality of scriptures are not confused. The totality of scriptures reveals an omniscient God, so we immediately know that God was using a technique here and did in fact already know all about Abraham. This is akin to God appearing not to know where Adam was in the garden. Of course He knew, but He was using a communication technique in order to impart something to the listener for His own reasons.
And I don't think there was anything cruel in this test. What an eye-opener, what would you (generic) do for God if He asked you? Would you trust that whatever God wanted was right by definition, or would you put God to the test by making Him pass the test of what you think is right on your own? I think that's a very tough question to answer even for very faithful believers. I am so thankful that we have the true story of Abraham to guide us. I am sorry that you do not find it inspiring or useful.
FK: Christ does NOT teach that righteousness is earned by works. Instead, He says: John 6:28-29 : 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
In context of the whole section, Jesus tells them that in order for them to do the work of God, they must believe in the One He sent. You can't do Christian work without being a Christian, FK! Christians who do good works credit them to God, and not to themselves.
Amen, I'm glad we can agree on that, although I don't see how this works in with your works-based salvation model with free will.
The Bible says we will be judged for what we have done, FK. We will be judged (righteous or unrighteous) in the eyes of God based on our deeds; the Bible makes that perfectly clear.
This is what I mean. This doesn't appear to match your above. In the same breath you say that credit for good works goes to God, AND, that we will be judged for Heaven based on our works. You can't believe in both.
Your side's whole "certainty" of salvation is based on the biblical passage where God promises to never let go of His sheep. If you didn't hold God to His word, you would not be certain!
Yes, we rely on God's promises, but the difference is in the very nature of the promises we respectively believe in. The promises we rely on are of the kind: "I intend to do this in my sovereignty". The promises Apostilcs rely on are of the kind: "I'll trade you this in exchange for this". These are very different outlooks on the power of God. One acknowledges an omnipotent and sovereign God and the other has God as a tradesman, bargaining His wares with the general public.