Posted on 03/25/2020 10:02:02 AM PDT by amessenger4god
And now apart from law the righteousness of God has been revealed, testified to by the Law and the Prophets, and the righteousness of God [is] through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and on all those believing—for there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—being declared righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that [is] in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth [as] a propitiatory covering, through faith in His blood...
...and with blood almost all things are purified according to the Law, and forgiveness does not come apart from blood-shedding.
And I make known to you, brothers, the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you also received, in which you also have stood, through which you are also being saved, if you hold fast [to] the word—what I proclaimed as good news to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Writings, and that He was buried, and that He has risen on the third day according to the Writings...
Therefore they said to Him, “What may we do that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you may believe in Him whom He sent.”
Beloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God, and whatever we may ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commands, and we do the things pleasing before Him, and this is His command, that we may believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ, and may love one another, even as He gave command to us, and he who is keeping His commands, remains in Him, and He in him; and in this we know that He remains in us, from the Spirit that He gave us.
...because everyone who is begotten of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcame the world—our faith; who is he who is overcoming the world, if not he who is believing that Jesus is the Son of God?
O thoughtless Galatians, who bewitched you, not to obey the truth—before whose eyes [it] was previously written [about] Jesus Christ having been crucified? I only wish to learn this from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so thoughtless? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now end in the flesh? So many things you suffered in vain! If, indeed, even in vain. He, therefore, who is supplying the Spirit to you and working mighty acts among you—[is it] by works of law or by the hearing of faith? According as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness; know, then, that those of faith— these are sons of Abraham, and the Writing, having foreseen that God declares righteous the nations by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham: “All the nations will be blessed in you”; so that those of faith are blessed with the believing Abraham, for as many as are of works of law are under a curse, for it has been written: “Cursed [is] everyone who is not remaining in all things that have been written in the Scroll of the Law—to do them,” and [it] is evident that in law no one is declared righteous with God, because “The righteous will live by faith”; and the Law is not by faith, rather, “The man who did them will live in them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us, for it has been written: “Cursed is everyone who is hanging on a tree,” that the blessing of Abraham may come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Please include a citation for that. Faith alone!
Repentance is simply moving from trying to save ourselves, to recognizing that only Christ can save us- it’s not our works that save- is our repentance- or rather our change of mind- When we recognize that Christ is the only one Who can save, and humble ourselves before Him and ‘Believe on His name’ by asking Him to be our savior, since we now recognize we can’t be our own savior- we become a child of God at that moment- We move from self sacrifice, to Christ Sacrifice- We humbly admit we can not save ourselves, and throw ourselves on His Mercy, His grace-
Not unlike a person who owes a great debt they can never pay back throwing themselves o n the mercy of the one they owe the debt to, asking to be forgiven, knowing they don’t deserve to be- because they are incapable of paying the price themselves- That is when Christ steps in and Says ‘Your debt is forgiven you- forever’ ‘Paid in full!’
Exactly so, good works and love naturally flow from those who stand in good with God.
How could it be otherwise?
By their works you shall know them....
The very asking of (and arguing over) that question reveals a dysfunctional, failed paradigm trapped in perpetual bondage.
It's like the one-hired-always-hired attitude. It's the entitlement mentality a government bureaucrat or cliche union employee, the ones with no hope of escaping the daily grind and the grousing about the status quo.
No clue that the place of liberty is found within.
Often it leads to resentment of the guy who has enough and walks out the door to pursue his dreams. The difference is that the dreaming man isn't looking at the clock waiting to punch out. It's not any work at all if it love, so what's an 18 hour day if that's what it takes to get there. He's not even watching that clock anyway.
"Your sins are forgiven so you can get up now," is not a message desired by the disabled-by-choice.
Establishment Jesus is the fake Jesus whom Jesus warned everyone about, but hey if you like your doctrine you can keep your doctrine. Everyone to his preferred concensus conformity comfort zone.
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
This writer is very good. I wish I knew more about him.
My experience in studying the word, and in prayer, shows me that the conundrum of faith vs works is pretty much obviated when I consider what faith is. I think it is consistent with the whole of scripture to say that faith has 3 parts to it. It may surprise some that it is not simply believing.
Instead I find that faith starts with belief (from the head), then proceeds to trust (from the heart) and manifests itself most fully in obedience (e.g. hands, feet, mouth). It takes all three facets to complete the circuit of faith.
So when James says “faith w/o works is dead”, I think he means that a person may proclaim faith easily; but without putting it into practice, it’s more like an incomplete pass in football, or a foul ball in baseball — it doesn’t count to you for righteousness (as the Word says of Abraham).
Yes, I think this writer and I could have some very healthy and inspiring discussions.
[[Commandments were broken and my works condemn me and I might not even know.]]
Your works no longer condemn you, your works can only cause consequences both here and in heaven (ie loss of crowns, rewards in heaven)- We will still be held accountable for our sins here on earth, ie we will be arrested, or suffer health problems, or die prematurely, and we will lose blessings that God had intended for us on this earth if we live in continual sin- some of these consequences are very severe-
God warns us all through His word- ‘Do NOT do these things’- Yet we don’t listen- doesn’t mean we lose our salvation- only that we lose His beast, and must suffer the consequences- We may think we get away with sins, but we don’t- there is always a penalty to pay for disobedience- soem very severe-
God sees all- we don’t get away with anything- but the good news is that our eternal life is secure- again, not a license to sin- We want God’s best- and we want to avoid the bad consequences of sin here on this earth-
Better a servant in Heaven than a ruler in Hell.
No. The thief on the cross is your proof.
He repents, accepts Jesus for who He is, asks Jesus for forgiveness, and was SAVED!
“This thief was neither baptized nor partook of the Lords supper he believed and was promised to be with Jesus. He did no works but only believed.”
[[only that we lose His beast,]]
Doh- meant that it only means that we lose His BEST- not beast- uggh
Well, yeah, that is sarcasm because nobody preaches that.
So you’re tilting at windmills.
People can say anything, but they do their truth.
Faith without works is just a bumper sticker.
I agree. I’m always suspicious of those who want to turn God into a giant celestial accountant.
That's what people did when they came to Jesus in the gospels; they came to Him as they were.
And he did a work in their lives and they changed and were not the same.
We CANNOT clean ourselves up enough to make us acceptable to God. If we don't come as we are then we are not being honest with God and we will get nowhere with Him.
And maybe this is true without my realizing it, since my ways are not His Ways.
So, I study Him and His Father and seek a relationship with Him, coming to Him as the sinner that I am, and asking Him for His Mercy.
They are EVIDENCE of salvation.
“Faith without works is dead.”
If you are a Christian but have no good works and are ignoring God’s law you need to repent.
God is not the author of confusion. That is Satan’s job and he has been busy working as Biden’s speech writer lately.
So I don’t know why we Christians feel the need to tread water like this instead of making hay while the sun shines.
Faith is the pass/fail. Without it, you are not getting past the guy with the clipboard - regardless how many works you slip him.
Yet works definitely matter. And factor into your later rewards. It’s not strictly a pass/fail system. If you think we all get the same after-life package deal: a cloud, a harp and bright white robes... then you have not read or have not understood.
Again, God is quite logical. It does not seem possible to me that a person could read the whole of His word and not understand both that faith saves and that works matter.
By design, we have wildly varying abilities and dangerously common temptations. We shouldn’t curtail works to conform and shouldn’t demand others conform to any definitions of required works.
There is no better works than to aid the Father toward a bigger harvest - it is our eternal purpose during this shortest part of our existence. Planting of seeds and nurturing the growth of faith.
Make the most of what He has given you. And you will be justly rewarded.
Don’t be that guy with 1 hidden talent.
Well said.
From Rev 20:12 do you think “the dead” refers to the children of God?
Wow. That’s brilliant. I hadn’t seen it before. Thanks for sharing.
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