Hi SG,
How are your feet doing?
Yes indeed it is faith that saves, nothing more or nothing less.
Having read what you have said a few thoughts have come into my head.
Firstly what struck me was faith being a fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
So I can't see faith but I can see faithfulness.
I know faith is a gift.
Ephesians 2:8
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
So if we have faith then we manifest fruit.
I think the gift of faith is for all
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But a person has to receive that gift by repenting of the sin on unbelief in Jesus.
That comes as a result of
Romans 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In my own mind I can't reconcile people in the OT who were saved were so as a result of having the Holy Spirit in them that caused them to repent of the sin of unbelief.
In my mind they were saved because God spoke, they heard and believed
So like in Romans 10 they heard God and believed.
There are not many in the OT that I can recall who had to repent of the sin of unbelief, in terms to receive salvation.
God spoke, they heard they did. Therefore saved by the gift of faith given by God.
Yet there are many who refused to walk by faith.
Maybe I have a blockage in that the Holy Spirit resides in a person after Jesus died and not before.
Does the above make sense?
If not can you please explain to me why.
Bill