Balancing faith and work, a dilemma

[Patnubay]

Whenever a man succeeds in an endeavour, it is accounted to his faith. That God provides, by grace he is blessed, God loves unconditionally and many others. ( regardless of the presence of sins )

Whenever the same man fails in an endeavour, it is accounted to his sinfulness. Sin separates man from God and the sinful man falls short of God's blessings and plans. ( regardless of his work ) We see all these in the books of Kings and Judges.

In an another thread, Crossnote said this (my apologies for the quote):

Faith and doing are always together, but when God justifies, it is not on account of our doing, it is on account of our faith.
Another person cannot see 'faith' but can see our doing; yet God can not only see our doing He can 'see' our faith as well.
So we are justified by faith alone (as God declares) yet that faith is not alone.

If it is all on the account of faith, how come sin causes downfall? Good examples are Moses missing the promise land and the downfall of David's kingdom.

And if sin causes downfall, how come, sometimes, sinful acts are blessed? Good examples are Abraham's son to Haggar and Jacob's fraud.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

Sin causes downfall because we are led astray by the longings of our flesh and sin.

What Abraham did regarding Hagar and Ishmael wasn't sin.

Jacob actually owned the birthright because Esau sold it to him, so he didn't deceive anybody to get it. But he did allow his mother to talk him into deceiving his father to receive the death bed blessing. He paid for it many times over throughout his life.

 

[Patnubay]

Sin causes downfall because we are led astray by the longings of our flesh and sin. You're missing the point.

What Abraham did regarding Hagar and Ishmael wasn't sin. I was referring to the impatience and the lack of trust on God's promise.

Jacob actually owned the birthright because Esau sold it to him, so he didn't deceive anybody to get it. But he did allow his mother to talk him into deceiving his father to receive the death bed blessing. He paid for it many times over throughout his life. How sure are you that what Jacob had was the payment for that specific deception?

Not the point I am trying to make.

 

[crossnote]

Whenever a man succeeds in an endeavour, it is accounted to his faith. That God provides, by grace he is blessed, God loves unconditionally and many others. ( regardless of the presence of sins )

Whenever the same man fails in an endeavour, it is accounted to his sinfulness. Sin separates man from God and the sinful man falls short of God's blessings and plans. ( regardless of his work ) We see all these in the books of Kings and Judges.

In an another thread, Crossnote said this (my apologies for the quote):


If it is all on the account of faith, how come sin causes downfall? Good examples are Moses missing the promise land and the downfall of David's kingdom.

And if sin causes downfall, how come, sometimes, sinful acts are blessed? Good examples are Abraham's son to Haggar and Jacob's fraud.

Whatever is not of faith is sin. The root of sin is unbelief. So it is not sin that is the first cause of our downfall (as if we can blame a separate entity called sin), but rather it is our unbelief.