8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB
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Ah, you found a way to stay in the thread despite your own claim to be "moving on" from it - by posting to me about posts I posted to other people. Bravo. That, perhaps, helps you save face. At least you might think that matters.
Post #430.
"You disagree with Paul."
Nope. I don't disagree with St. Paul. You merely claim I do and, as always, offer no proof whatsoever that I do. You may have forgotten - because you're not very good at this whole debating thing - that you tried this in post #92 and it didn't work then either.
You also quoted the same passage in Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB and posted the following words exactly as you'll see it here again: "8For by grace you have been saved through faith;"
Now, notice Paul says we are saved by GRACE. I agree with that entirely. He says we receive that grace through FAITH. I agree with that entirely. What I don't do is assume - as Protestants do - that that means St. Paul saw no role for God's works started within us in our salvation. After all if God works in us, that is grace because it is entirely a gift He wields through His sovereign power and no one's else's. And let's not forget the verse you posted but did not emphasize: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (RSV/CE) The following article explains it far better than I could and most likely you'll never read it anyway: http://timstaples.com/blog/how-works-work
John 3:3-8 Jesus answered him,“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:14-18 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son 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?”