1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Without His Spirit you cannot discern. The overwhelming message of the New Testament is that by faith we are made new. Read a few examples:
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. [This woman, in Judaic law, was a wholy unclean one because of her issue of blood for years and years. Knowing she was unclean, knowing what an offense her presence would be counted, in faith that He could heal her she snuck up and touched the hem of his garment, thus she had faith that doing this deed would make her whole ... and Jesus confirmed her faith, not her deed, by acknowledging her deed which followed her faith!]
Mark 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Mark 10:52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. [What did Jesus say made this blind man whole?]
Luke 17:19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Acts 3:16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. [What did Peter declare brought this cure of a man crippled from birth?]
And how does one gain this astonishingly powerful faith? ...
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And where is found this Word that brings faith? ...
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
And what is the result of this faith which cometh by hearing? ...
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
To set about to do this great work on your own power is to deny the Holy Spirit the transformative work He is sent to believers to do. BY faith you can walk in newness of life and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That renewing is the work of His Holy Spirit! Is there better than God's good pleasure? Not for those created by Him. Well then where is Mormon boasting of 'after all that we can do'? ...
Romans 3: 23-28 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
As a man believes himself fulfilling the deeds of the law to obtain righteousness, he is stumbling in the same lie fed to eve in the Garden. Mormonism is the purveyor of this same lie, that by the deeds of the law a Mormon can be made rigtheous enough to obtain God's Grace. That is blasphemous for it denies the Holy Spirit His work in them, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
It is a lie to say that the predominance of the New Testament is other than justification by faith. Once faith arises, faith in His Deliverance, then works will follow as they are authored by His Spirit in you.
You’re good.
Perfect demonstration of received faith and a pointed example where God says “ALL” meaning everyone and every last person have fallen short of the glory of God.
God gives no set aside for a special group of people, a system of belief and most importantly any specific works nor the volume of works for your salvation.
Man can do nothing to effect his salvation but for accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Your spirit will be changed in that moment and you will act demonstrably different and changed ever more as your conscience will direct you.
Will you do it perfectly? Nope! You are a messed up unit just like every other being.
But will work in you and through you compelling you move and act as he would have you for the edification of God, the improvement of man and by example leading others to move closer to God and others who will absolutely cry out for God’s help and receive it through salvation and a changed spirit.
[MHGinTN] It is a lie to say that the predominance of the New Testament is other than justification by faith. Once faith arises, faith in His Deliverance, then works will follow as they are authored by His Spirit in you.
[Stourme] I bow to your elite strawman skills. Creating a false argument around points we were not discussing then attacking those points.... whew.
[MHGinTN] BTW, Stourme, there is a way to understand this passage in James as not contradictory to the rest of the scriptures. Would you like to read it? ... Here goes:
No! I don't need any gobble-d-gook. I don't need any spin cycle wacked out drawn out ratonalizations....
James 2:14 - 17
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
The context is clear and plain... it doesn't need to be translated into hebrew, greek, latin or klingon
Faith without works is dead. What works? Verse 15 & 16. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Period.
With out doing those works, you have no faith, and without faith you cannot be saved.
---> Now, will you admit that with out feeding the hungry and clothing the naked you cannot be saved? <----
All I'm asking you to do is just say that James was correct.