FAITH ALONE?????????

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oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
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#21
Not having the imputed righteousness of Jesus will keep one out of heaven period, there does not need to be any show of works to be justified.
Saving faith is evidenced by good works. You are correct that good works do not need to precede, but they should follow.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
3,950
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#22
Saving faith is evidenced by good works. You are correct that good works do not need to precede, but they should follow.
Seems like you have changed your position? There is a big gulf between SHOULD and WILL.

Words matter.

Was it not you that stated, no works, no faith?
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
16,694
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#23
Saving faith is evidenced by good works. You are correct that good works do not need to precede, but they should follow.
What good works? How many? Do lost people display good works?
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,701
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#24
Doesn't the New Testament say that we can have faith enough to move mountains, but without love we are just noisy/clanging cymbals?
Yes, it does. Love is the evidence and fruit of the new heart God puts within us.

Which is more important Faith or Love?
Faith is the precursor to all good fruit. The horse must come before the cart. We are nothing without Christ in us.

But God says if you don’t have love in your life, all that you know is worthless.
It is evidence that true faith is lacking. To know Him is to love Him, and to love Him is to obey Him, and to obey him is to love others in a self-sacrificing way.

If one doesn't have love in one's life, then one ought to question whether the Spirit dwelleth within and has been given full control.

And, Oyster, I agree with your post, about the importnce of faith butl, to be clear the Bible never cites 'faith alone'. If so, show me the words 'faith alone' in Scripture. Thanks.
And thank you. Good discussion.
I agree that many elements are important in the life of a christian, but at the moment I am just focusing on what is required for initial salvation. The thief on the cross is useful because it isolates initial salvation for what would eventually have followed if he had lived another day.

show me the words 'faith alone' in Scripture
:(:rolleyes: Let's not play that silly find-the-exact-wording game. The meaning of the Scriptures is clear when it comes to faith in the shed blood of Jesus being the only way to salvation.
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,701
113
#25

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,701
113
#26

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
3,950
1,571
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#27
What good works? How many? Do lost people display good works?

If your dogma leads to this kind of question which cannot be answered, one would think they would go back the drawing board. :unsure:

"How much" reveals false doctrine.
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
9,415
2,489
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#28
No doubt that Scripture, the Bible, puts a lot of emphasis and importance on faith. But where does Scripture, the Bible, state 'FAITH ALONE'? TIA
The expression "faith alone" does not come from a Biblical quotation, but from a Biblical proposition.

It is similar to our understanding of "trinity"... it is a thing taught in scripture, so Christians decided to create a term for it, to easily identify the doctrine.

Claims & Logic:
1.) No one who teaches on "faith alone", or the "trinity", or the "hypostatic union", ever claims those exact terms are quoted from scripture verbatim.
2.) No one ever makes that claim.
3.) You cannot demand people defend a claim they never made.
4.) I can't demand that YOU defend some claim that YOU never made... it's just silly.
5.) So what claim actually IS made?
6.) The claim is that "faith alone" is a doctrine, which the bible TEACHES.
7.) So if we want to argue, we need to argue whether or not the concept of "faith alone" is TAUGHT in scripture as a doctrine... regardless of the specific words used to convey that teaching.

Discussing Doctrine:
1.) I think it's good to discuss this doctrine, and this particular expression.
2.) I think there's a lot of nuance to this topic, and many related doctrines involved.
3.) I think it's a great topic for discussion.
4.) However, when we're talking about doctrine, it's usually a fallacy to demand people provide particular phrases from scripture. Because when discussing doctrine, doctrines don't depend solely up on a particular phrase in the text, but on a "body of teaching" in the text. The word doctrine literally means "teaching", and there are many ways to describe or teach an idea. Jesus taught doctrine, and he worded things in lots of different ways.


It's great to discuss these topics... but we can also afford to tone it down a bit, and relax.


C.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
16,694
3,547
113
#29
The ones that follow salvation and are done out of a pure heart.


I'm going to say................ five. :oops::rolleyes:


They certainly do many works.
Goodness in man's eyes or God's eyes?
Many lost people, out of their own love for others, give money, food, clothing, housing, etc...

Works should follow salvation. Our labor is what will be judged at the JSOC, good or bad. Some will have bad works which will be burned up.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
16,694
3,547
113
#30
If your dogma leads to this kind of question which cannot be answered, one would think they would go back the drawing board. :unsure:

"How much" reveals false doctrine.
Exactly! I've been saved for over 40 years. If I had a few good works 35 years ago, I'm I justified? Sometimes the extreme examples need to be stated to show the truth.
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
12,867
5,166
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#31
No doubt that Scripture, the Bible, puts a lot of emphasis and importance on faith. But where does Scripture, the Bible, state 'FAITH ALONE'? TIA
really it says it here

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭5:24‬ ‭KJV‬

what I mean is

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

the issue is that we try to claim faith and also reject Gods word at the same time so it’s not really faith

faith isnt just to say “ I believe in God “ faith is to hear and trust Gods word and follow after Because you trust and believe him

At he issue is that faith comes when you start hearing and believing the gospel which teaches us what to do and not do

so something like this

“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall be given into your bosom.

For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:35-38‬ ‭KJV‬‬

if we now say “ that doesn’t apply I don’t need to believe that I’m saved by faith alone “ then it’s not really faith it’s rejection of the word of God and trying to make another way

as we learn from the word we’re growing in faith as we reject the word we’re just fooling ourselves and showing we don’t have any faith because we don’t trust What God is saying will save us that’s not faith it’s faith when we hear and believe his word and act after it

it’s actually a lack of faith when we reject the things God told us are important and will save or condemn us we have to hear and accept the lord word in order to have faith