Many works salvationists merely "claim" to believe in the Lord, yet what they really believe in is "their works" (Matthew 7:22). Faith requires that we trust in Christ alone for salvation. Obedience which follows is works. So what is the will of the Father for us in receiving eternal life? John 6:40 - For my Father’s
will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. Salvation by works is not the will of the Father plain talk. If you don't
believe in Him for eternal life, then your so called obedience is disobedience and unbelief, as we see in Matthew 7:22-23.
Amen! We are saved through faith/believing in Him and obedience which
follows saving faith in Christ is
works and we are not saved by works, but
FOR good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
And what is the
will of the Father that precedes entering the kingdom, being saved? *Once again and please pay close attention - *John 6:40 - For my Father’s
will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. Salvation by works is
not the will of the Father, as many people will find out the hard way!
(Matthew 7:22-23).
So who obeys Him plain talk? The saved or the lost? I've heard many works salvationists use this verse to try and support salvation by works, including Campbellites, Roman Catholics and Mormons.
Only believers have obeyed Him by choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16; 10:16) in order to become saved, and
only believers obey Him "after they have been saved through faith" by keeping His commandments and practicing righteousness (1 John 2:3; 3:9,10).
In either sense, only believers obey Him. Unbelievers have not obeyed Him by refusing to believe the gospel (Romans 10:16) and
without faith its impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), so
unbelievers do not obey Him no matter how much "so-called" obedience that they attempt to conjure up through the flesh in a vain effort to receive salvation based on their works. Unbelievers obey their church, not Christ.
So in either sense, unbelievers do not obey Him.
I already explained this to you NUMEROUS times. I feel like I'm talking to the wall!
Abraham was saved and justified (in a legal sense=accounted as righteous) when he believed God (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:2-3)
many years BEFORE he offered up Isaac on the altar when he was said to be justified by works (in a declarative sense-shown to be righteous) and his faith was said to be perfected. Faith perfected by works simply means bring to maturity, carry to the end, to complete like love in 1 John 4:18.
When Abraham performed the good work in Genesis 22; he fulfilled the expectations created by the pronouncement of his faith in Genesis 15:6. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ABRAHAM WAS NOT SAVED UNTIL HE OFFERED UP ISAAC ON THE ALTAR. *He was not saved by works (Romans 4:2-3). Again, by you saying that Abraham was NOT saved UNTIL his faith was perfected when he offered up Isaac on the altar many years later, you are denying what God said in Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:2-3 and are also teaching salvation by works.
Of course, Acts 2:38, your pet verse. Again, in Acts 2:38, "for the remission of sins" does not refer back to both clauses, "you all repent" and "each one of you be baptized," but refers only to the first. Peter is saying "repent unto the remission of your sins," the same as in Acts 3:19. The clause "each one of you be baptized" is parenthetical. This is exactly what Acts 3:19 teaches except that Peter omits the parenthesis. So what kind of faith preceded their repentance in Acts 2:37? Their faith at that point was only "mental assent" that "Jesus was the Messiah and that they were guilty of crucifying Him."
That is not saving belief/faith yet. They still needed to repent "change their minds" and "trust exclusively in Christ for salvation" and so do you. In verse 40, they heard more from Peter and in verse 41, when they gladly received his word through repentance/faith, the end result was saving faith in Christ.
In Acts 10:43 we read
..whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. These Gentiles received
the gift of the Holy Spirit - Acts 10:45 - (compare with Acts 2:38 -
the gift of the Holy Spirit)
when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ - Acts 11:17 - (compare with Acts 16:31 -
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved)
BEFORE water baptism - Acts 10:47 - this is referred to as
repentance unto life - Acts 11:18.
When they obeyed Jesus Christ through repentance/faith, they were sprinkled with the blood of Christ BEFORE water baptism.
You are completely mixed up. We call on the name of the Lord when we receive Him through faith. This is not an additional requirement that we accomplish after we have been saved through faith. Repentance in receiving salvation precedes saving faith in Christ. Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are not two separate steps to salvation but are chronologically together (Romans 10:8-10). In Matthew 10:32-33, the broader context of this passage relates to the fact that the Pharisees had continuously denied Jesus while the disciples spoke about Him in every city they visited. We might paraphrase His teaching this way: "Whoever confesses me before men (such as you disciples), I will confess him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before men (like these Pharisees do on every occasion they get), I will deny him before my Father in heaven. Those who confess Jesus are those who recognize Him as being the true Messiah and trust in Him alone for salvation. Those who deny Jesus
(and those who give mere lip service confession) but refuse to trust in Him alone for salvation place themselves beyond any possibility of salvation, since salvation is found only in Him (John 10:9; 14:6). The word for "deny" is an aorist tense. This points to the fact that Jesus is not talking about a single instance of denial (as was the case with Peter, who actually denied Him three times - Luke 22:34), but is referring to life in its entirety. Hence, the person who throughout his life denies Christ (as was typically the case with the Pharisess and
includes unbelievers who may even give mere "lip service confession" - Matthew 7:21-23, but lack saving faith) will be denied by Christ before the Father.
"Became obedient to the heart to that form of teaching" does not equate to salvation by works. Before they
obeyed that form of teaching by
choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16; 10:16), they had been slaves to sin. In verse 16, there is a contrast between servants/slaves. There are only two kinds of servants/slaves in this world, in the spiritual sense; servants/slaves of sin unto death, or servants/slaves of obedience unto righteousness.
When we place our faith exclusively in Christ for salvation/believe the gospel by trusting in His finished work of redemption as the all sufficient means of our salvation, we then become "servants of obedience unto righteousness." Being slaves of sin is put in the past tense. Paul goes on in Romans 6:18 -
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."
Notice in Romans 10:10 - For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness.. *
Not believes "plus works unto righteousness."
Notice in Romans 4:5 - But to him who
does not work but
believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his
faith (not works) is accounted for righteousness.
The gospel is the "good news" of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone who
believes.. (Romans 1:16). We can plainly see what the gospel is now how do we obey it? Romans 10:16 - But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has
believed our report?" Those who
obey the gospel have
chosen to believe the gospel. Those who
refuse to believe the gospel have
not obeyed the gospel. Choosing to believe the gospel is the act of obedience that saves. Nothing here about salvation by works. Sorry to burst your bubble. The gospel is not a set of rituals to perform, a code of laws to be obeyed or a check list of good works to accomplish as a prerequisite for salvation. The gospel simply sets forth Christ crucified, buried and risen as the Savior of all who believe (trust) in His finished work of redemption as the all-sufficient means of their salvation. Praise God!
1 John 2:3 - Now by this we
know that we know Him, (already know Him/are already saved) *demonstrative evidence* -
if we keep His commandments. Believers keep His commandments BECAUSE they are saved, not to become saved. You seem to have a problem confusing DESCRIPTIVE passages of Scripture with PRESCRIPTIVE passages of Scripture.
In this the
children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God, nor is he who
does not love his brother. We
demonstrate that we know God by our love.
Those who do not obey the truth is
descriptive of those who are
lost. Notice that
ALL who receive eternal life are
described as such,
"patient continuance in well doing, seeking for glory, honor, and immortality" (vs. 7)
everyone who does good (vs. 10). Notice that
ALL who do not receive eternal life are
described as such, but to
those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness (vs. 8)
everyone who does evil (vs. 9).
The act of obedience that saves is
choosing to believe the gospel. Multiple acts of obedience/good works which
follow are the fruit, by product and demonstrative evidence of genuine saving faith/knowing God, but not the essence of faith and not the means of our salvation. Obedience "apart from faith in Christ" is not obedience. Just ask these many people in Matthew 7:22-23. We are not saved by works plain talk, plain and simple. I hope and pray that you will repent and believe the gospel. Please prayerfully consider the truth and God bless.