So then all men are saved, and since the gift of God was to all men, if any man not be saved it is Gods fault.
WRONG, there you go again, with your erroneous presuppositions about what we believe.
HONEST, your teachers taught you lies and errors about what we teach and believe.
Salvation was made available to all men as a gift; but it is not your possession if you do not receive it, or turn your back on it.
There are a multitude of reasons why many do not receive the free gift of Salvation,
One of the MAJOR ones is PRIDE, "I can do it myself, I will show you GOD."
Receiving that free Gift requires a broken, mourning spirit, literally
mourning over your own utter sinfulness,
and a willingness to cry out to GOD,
"I can't do it, please save me GOD."
Coming to that kind of broken humbleness is a hurdle that many cannot get over;
because they cling to their pride, wanting to DO IT THEMSELVES, never realizing
THEY CANNOT.
I can't do it, are the most powerful words that I know, when it
comes to getting SAVED. As long as you are unwilling to surrender all to Jesus,
INCLUDING your vain efforts to SAVE yourself; you will fail to get over that last hurdle.
Let me point out a major flaw in your works righteousness theology, from the book of JAMES.
You pridefully point to:
James 2:20 (KJV)
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20 [/SUP] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that
faith without works is dead?
AND then claim that proves we are to earn part of out Salvation, while ignoring:
James 2:18 (NKJV)
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18 [/SUP] But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works."
Show me your faith without your works, and
I will show you my faith
by my works.
AND failing to notice that JAMES is comparing false faith to true faith and clearly is stating
that the true faith will produce as evidence of it's genuineness, good works.
Okay, so you still want to continue to believe that you are earning part of your Salvation.
STAYING in the book of James, let's see what else James had to say about striving to establish your own righteousness.
James 2:10 (NIV)
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10 [/SUP]
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Now imagine, you have struggled your whole life to keep His commandments and do good works, and you are on your death bed dieing of a failing heart. The nurse comes in to give you a shot to make you more comfortable, and the needle stings more than you think it should, and without thinking you curse at her, take two more breaths and die. Using your favorite book of JAMES,
that makes you guilty of breaking ALL OF THE LAW, without confessing it as sin.
ALL that work to earn your righteousness and Salvation, goes DOWN THE DRAIN. Where are you going then, Heaven or HELL? Like I said, it is a MAJOR FLAW in your theology. Every time you have one sin, no matter how small you see it, GOD SEES IT AS YOU BECOMING GUILTY OF BREAKING ALL OF HIS LAW.
When as we teach and believe, you CRY OUT TO GOD, "
I can't live up to your Standards GOD, PLEASE SAVE ME THE SINNER. Come into my heart LORD and You live it through me, PLEASE!"
(Luke 18:10-14) THEN you will soon realize that every time you do something good, it is CHRIST in you doing it,
NOT SELF. HE GETS ALL THE GLORY,
NOT SELF. You will be AMAZED at what you can do, when you LET THE LORD DO IT THROUGH YOU,
NOT SELF. You want something that you alone can take full credit for, then take full credit for everything you do wrong, and for everything you fail to do right, and confess it all as SIN.