[RnMomof7]

“And if by grace, it is not now by works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”

No sacraments, no church, no “good works” no rituals or traditions.. no meditrix, no rosary,...nothing but the finished work of Christ ..thats it Mark.. if men depend on their works or obedience to the law.. it is not of grace..

[metmom]

Romans 4:1-7 1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

Romans 6:22-23;7:4-6

22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.......7:4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

[MarkBsnr]

“And if by grace, it is not now by works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”

Paul is correct; it is you guys who get it wrong. The Grace of God enables our salvation; it guarantees our inheritance to salvation in Christ.

Yet if we walk away as the Prodigal Son did, we forfeit our inheritance. It is not until we return, as he did, beating our breasts in sorrow and plead for forgiveness, that we will gain that inheritance. The tax collector in the back of the church, not the Gnostic Pharasiacal Reformed who claim knowledge, surety and the elevated position as presaved in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Christians have the hope of Paul, not the surety of the Calvinist select. You may accuse the Church of claiming to give salvation but that is not the Church's position. We begin with Grace; without Grace there is nothing. With Grace, we have faith, hope, and love.

Not arrogant coronation of the Elect.