Is the faith God bases our salvation on more than our beliefs alone?

[arthurfleminger]

Faith in Jesus consists of believing in Him as Lord, God, and Savior and also in believing what He taught. Jesus tells us straight out, so clearly that we must put into practice what he taught, "Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. But everyone who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. "

Notice Jesus says that one must obey and do. So, if you feel that faith alone will save you, you are fooling yourself and building your faith on loose and shifting sand. Faith in Jesus consists of more than accepting Him as your Savior, it also includes following, doing what He taught.

At the Last Supper Jesus asked His disciples/apostles, "How can you say you love Me if you don't obey my commandments. Can you be a Christian without love of Jesus and expect to get to heaven? I don't think so.

And again, I reiterate that 'Salvation through faith alone' is never ever taught in the Bible. The only place where 'faith alone' is cited is when James asks if one can be saved by faith alone we get the Biblical answer, "As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. Berean Literal Bible You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. King James Bible Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. New King James Version You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.


A

 

[SophieT]

Faith in Jesus consists of believing in Him as Lord, God, and Savior and also in believing what He taught. Jesus tells us straight out, so clearly that we must put into practice what he taught, "Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. But everyone who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. "

Notice Jesus says that one must obey and do. So, if you feel that faith alone will save you, you are fooling yourself and building your faith on loose and shifting sand. Faith in Jesus consists of more than accepting Him as your Savior, it also includes following, doing what He taught.

At the Last Supper Jesus asked His disciples/apostles, "How can you say you love Me if you don't obey my commandments. Can you be a Christian without love of Jesus and expect to get to heaven? I don't think so.

And again, I reiterate that 'Salvation through faith alone' is never ever taught in the Bible. The only place where 'faith alone' is cited is when James asks if one can be saved by faith alone we get the Biblical answer, "As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. Berean Literal Bible You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. King James Bible Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. New King James Version You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.


A

And again, I reiterate that 'Salvation through faith alone' is never ever taught in the Bible.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

The only place where 'faith alone' is cited is when James asks if one can be saved by faith alone

28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Romans 3:28

the common error you have made is confusing the finished work of Christ with a believers works AFTER salvation

I am sure Paul knew better than do those who make that mistake when he stated that we are justified by faith alone and no works of the law. the law demands obedience; salvation demands faith

further, you are obviously wrong when you cite James as being anti-faith alone.

are you perhaps anti Paul's teaching, which far exceeds any contribution by James

 

[Blik]

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9



28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Romans 3:28

the common error you have made is confusing the finished work of Christ with a believers works AFTER salvation

I am sure Paul knew better than do those who make that mistake when he stated that we are justified by faith alone and no works of the law. the law demands obedience; salvation demands faith

further, you are obviously wrong when you cite James as being anti-faith alone.

are you perhaps anti Paul's teaching, which far exceeds any contribution by James

Do you think that "faith alone" means that we need not have faith in the work that Jesus asks us to do but only faith in Jesus's ability to save?

 

[SophieT]

Do you think that "faith alone" means that we need not have faith in the work that Jesus asks us to do but only faith in Jesus's ability to save?

I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

 

[walknlight]

I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Ps 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

 

[Blik]

I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

If you put your faith in your works as the reason for God to save you, then your works mean nothing.

If you put your faith in all of Christ as the God you accept within, the God whose work was the base of your salvation, then you work for the Christ within and you know Christ did not sin. So you repent and follow the footsteps of Christ. It is impossible to accept Christ within as right and accept sin within as right.

 

[SophieT]

Round two since round one did not get the desired response

If you put your faith in your works as the reason for God to save you, then your works mean nothing.

If you put your faith in all of Christ as the God you accept within, the God whose work was the base of your salvation, then you work for the Christ within and you know Christ did not sin. So you repent and follow the footsteps of Christ. It is impossible to accept Christ within as right and accept sin within as right.

sounds like you are copying from a Catholic Mystics reference book on how to confuse yourself

I'll just stick with what I said the first time (see below)

do you have a problem with me putting my faith in Christ?


Round one for reference
Blik said:
Do you think that "faith alone" means that we need not have faith in the work that Jesus asks us to do but only faith in Jesus's ability to save?

I said
I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

 

[Blik]

Round two since round one did not get the desired response



sounds like you are copying from a Catholic Mystics reference book on how to confuse yourself

I'll just stick with what I said the first time (see below)

do you have a problem with me putting my faith in Christ?


Round one for reference
Blik said:
Do you think that "faith alone" means that we need not have faith in the work that Jesus asks us to do but only faith in Jesus's ability to save?

I said
I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

Most of the four gospels consists of instructions to us who have faith in Christ, and those instructions center on works. We are to listen to Christ when Christ tells us that it is not our works but our faith in all Christ is that our salvation is based on. Your posts tell me you hear these words of Christ. Why the objections then to any other instructions from Christ? If you have faith in Christ you would listen to Him.

 

[SophieT]

Most of the four gospels consists of instructions to us who have faith in Christ, and those instructions center on works. We are to listen to Christ when Christ tells us that it is not our works but our faith in all Christ is that our salvation is based on. Your posts tell me you hear these words of Christ. Why the objections then to any other instructions from Christ? If you have faith in Christ you would listen to Him.

have you not heard?

Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected by the same power that is able to keep us from falling

there is only one gospel and that is the one I believe

 

[Blik]

have you not heard?

Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected by the same power that is able to keep us from falling

there is only one gospel and that is the one I believe

I have heard! We are to have faith in Jesus and follow Him to eternal life, it is a blessing. Have you heard?

This OP is not in regard to that, it is asking if you have heard that we show love in the Lord by our actions. Have you heard about that? We are to listen to all of Christ.

 

[SophieT]

I try to allow the word of God to order my thoughts regarding salvation

that is what I think

PUT YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. NOT IN YOUR WORKS

 

[Gardenias]

This round and round is becoming obnoxious!

 

[eternally-gratefull]

This round and round is becoming obnoxious!

All these people who claim faith saves, Yet want to take us back to works as a means of maintaining our salvation. Especially returning to our jewish roots (the law)

I just think of this verse

Gal 3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

It sad people think we begin in the spirit (faith) and must perfect that salvation in the flesh (works). And do not see how foolish they are in their thinking.

Then again. This is what God says about human reasoning.

 

[Ogom]

.....

James says that unless our faith in all that Christ says is strong enough to make us act then it is a dead faith. Christ says some things that are almost alarming, like don’t fight our enemies but love them even when they insult you. Psalm 24:1 tells us that the world and everything on it belongs to God, so God has a right to some of the wages we work so hard for. Do I need to have faith in such things, do you think?

Our salvation is based on the forgiveness we receive of our sin. Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Wouldn’t this mean our salvation requires us to forgive others? Could it possibly be that we can miss salvation by being unforgiving?

.....

we have to seek the Truth /tRuTh / TrUtH /TrutH (variations on truth) from God Himself or we will never really know .... just think we know, and at that level (milk/ herbs / meat) we might -- in ways .... but God's thoughts are not ours...

at any given time we can know/ have a small part of truth (milk maybe or only 1 piece or a few) but God can reveal more and more to any.... if we are willing to learn (Sermon on the Mount), and as we are able to actually understand / comprehend / fathom / contemplate / reason / receive in our spirit -- from God / the Spirit.

 

[Ogom]

The Beatitudes


2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

[Pilgrimshope]

Scripture tells us: "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

I have found myself reacting to an insult a poster has made to me in a way that does not follow these instructions from our Lord, and many posters are in rebellion to these words. Some posters feel they are right in their attitude toward other posts. We know the Lord tells us we may discuss His ways with each other, we can disagree. I am speaking of the personal insults, not the disagreements.

I feel it is important that we listen to the instructions our Lord gives us, face up to our failures, and ask forgiveness for ourselves. We are accept what the other poster decides to do with love for him. That isn't easy to do.

This is only one incident of sin, how do you think the Lord wants us to handle sin, the times we do not follow Him? This is only one example of that.

I agree with this completely and believe this is what it’s all about

“I feel it is important that we listen to the instructions our Lord gives us, face up to our failures, and ask forgiveness for ourselves”

and also This

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”



And my opinion to your question is he wants us to repent and turn towards his ways whenever we find our own self living contrary to his ways. I think it’s extremely important to acknowledge when we are aware of our sin and confess to the lord in prayer our hearts guilt for our sins.

if we live that way , we’re never going to fall away we all stumble in truth especially those who refuse to admit it but Gods grave is a true thing it’s always there for the repentant to make us clean again

but if we know we’ve sinned and continue willfully in those behaviors and act as if his words don’t apply to us I believe we’re on a dangerous path that leads nowhere good in Christ

to simplify I believe in repentance when we realize what we’ve done is wrong and I believe that repentance begats forgiveness from the lord.

Jesus doctrine is sufficient for the imperfect what I mean is when you add the gospel tonthe equation things like this

“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:”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:36-37‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I personally believe that is Christian doctrine for our walk after we convert to Christ so if we are not forgiving in Christ we can’t expect forgiveness by his own word but if we forgive he’s always going to be forgiving towards us .

This isn’t everything but one can see how the law of mercy there “ mercy to the merciful “ allies for us to Make mistakes repent and then forgiven as if it never occurred between our relationship with the lord I mean earthly consequences don’t go away because of repentance but in Christ we have forgiveness from our sins


I believe it’s a lifetimes walk we’re all doing some are doing great walking the walk others just are t there yet they are immature but still belong to the lord as the others

 

[Evmur]

Jesus tells us that only those who do the will of the Father will be saved. So what is the Will of the Father? That's simple and is summed up in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells us that those who love God with their whole heart and their neighbor as themselves will obtain eternal life/salvation.

Note the paradox here. Jesus is praising the actions of the Good Samaritan. However, Samaritans had no faith in the One True God as they had become idolators and estranged from the One True God of Israel. Yet Jesus points out this Samaritan of no faith as being the example for obtaining salvation. Jesus points to his example and says, 'Do this and you shall live, have eternal life.'
Again, no mention of faith alone.

Every 100 years or so the Catholic church produces a saint like Mother Theresa. The true fact is that not one of us has loved God with all their heart and mind and soul.

Our picture in the parable of the Good Samaritan is rather that of the man who is found beaten and robbed and nigh to death, we need to be rescued.

Trying to make Catholics understand that they are the ones who need saving is a herculean task.

I remember before I was saved, being faced with a long train journey I bought a paperback Living bible to read. I read Romans 1. where Paul enumerates all the sins of the heathens. Then I turned the page to chapter 2 and read

"Just a minute YOU are doing the very same things....do you think God who is Judge of all the world will condemn others but overlook your sins?"

I was shocked ... being raised Catholic I thought I was ok until I read that.

 

[Evmur]

For sure, our salvation is based on more than 'faith alone'. Nowhere in the bible say that faith alone will save us. In fact, the only place where the Bible mentions 'faith alone' is in the book of James and it tells us that faith alone will not save us, faith without works is dead.

Jesus emphasizes this. He tells us that many will have faith in Him and call out 'Lord Lord' but won't be saved. But only those that do the Will of the Father in heaven will be saved. Satan believes that Jesus is God and he's always believed that, but Satan wasn't saved.

Finally, in the Gospel of Matthew, the Judgement of Nations, we are told that we show love of God through love of neighbor. Those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked visit the sick and imprisoned will inherit eternal life because when they showed their love to their neighbor they were also showing their love to Jesus.

The judgment of nations is a blueprint for how each of us will be judged. But the Judgement of Nations gospel doesn't mention having faith alone at all.

It is true that works won't save us, but we shall know our faith through the works they produce.

Satan believes that Jesus is God and he's always believed that, but Satan wasn't saved.

Actually what that crowd said was "Lord did we not do this and did we not do that and work our butts off for You"

Jesus replied "get out of it, who are you trying to kid?"

 

[Evmur]

James, show me your faith without works, it is dead.

Faith is the key, faith opens our eyes to see that we are lost and cannot save ourselves, what we need is is to be re-born, we need to receive Christ into our hearts and lives. When He comes as our Lord and Saviour He will do HIS works THROUGH us.

Those are the works James was looking for. True faith is the key, no other way.

 

[GRACE_ambassador]

op: beliefs alone?

Yes, and no:

God's Simple Will!