And I believe that GOD provided the Grace for us and he provided the faith that we needed(Grace through faith)
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of GOD.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of GOD.
[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD][TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]Ephesians 2:8[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] translation: NASB NIV MSG[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
I disagree with John Gill. Faith comes from our own freewill. Our faith has no merit in and of itself. The merit is in the object(Christ) of what we put our faith in.
How faith is a gift is the fact that the Holy Spirit makes our weak freewill faith effective for salvation~~Equal opportunity, equal privilege for ALL men.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
John Gill said it this way:
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
salvation is through faith, not as a cause or condition of salvation, or as what adds anything to the blessing itself; but it is the way, or means, or instrument, which God has appointed, for the receiving and enjoying it, that so it might appear to be all of grace; and this faith is not the produce of man's free will and power, but it is the free gift of God; and therefore salvation through it is consistent with salvation by grace; since that itself is of grace, lies entirely in receiving grace and gives all the glory to the grace of God: the sense of this last clause may be, that salvation is not of ourselves; it is not of our desiring nor of our deserving, nor of our performing, but is of the free grace of God: though faith is elsewhere represented as the gift of God, ( John 6:65 ) ( Philippians 1:29 ) and it is called the special gift of faith, in the Apocrypha:
found here:
Ephesians 2:8 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition...
So if one does not have faith and dies faithless and lost, that would be a moral culpability upon God for failing to give this person faith. Rather, man has been commanded to believe/have faith with that command implying that man has the will, ability and responsibility within himself to believe.
"not of yourselves" does not imply man's inability or has no responsibility to believe but man cannot devise his own plan of salvation to save himself. God devised a plan of salvation by which man could be saved and that plan requires>command men to have faith. This plan is God's gift to ALL men, not some men.
Gill: "(salvation) is not of our desiring nor of our deserving, nor of our performing"
Gill tries to avoid the fact that faith itself is a work, that man is to "work out your own salvation".
Men are commanded to desire the word of God, 1 Pet 2:2; which is able to save your souls, James 1:21.
Calvinism and the gospel do not mix nor match.
Paradise in Lk 16 (and 2 Corinthians 12), yes, the nice part of Hades.
Faith itself is not a work, but is God's gift, yes, also our responsibility
Could go on and on about this, but folks should understand the basic concepts of faith in my opinion.
Yes, but, see, I did a whole thread on this..........The Law of Faith........and don't want to beat a dead horse
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/114342-law-faith-established.html
Yes, but, see, I did a whole thread on this..........The Law of Faith........and don't want to beat a dead horse
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/114342-law-faith-established.html
1 Thess 1:3 'work of faith'Faith is not a work. But faith does cause action...
Grandpa said:The Reason you must work out your salvation with fear and trembling is so that you will understand, to the bone, that your faith is not your work.
Salvation requires man's obedience..CHrist is the author of salvation unto all them that OBEY him, Heb 5:9.Grandpa said:Your Salvation is not your work.
Grandpa said:The Grace given to you is not because of your "obedience".
Grandpa said:Not of yourselves means exactly what it says. Faith, Grace and Salvation don't come from you, or your works.
They Are the Gift of God. (Big Giant Period, end of story) If you want these things you must go to God to get them.
Grandpa said:So if you want to believe in free will, believe that nothing good comes from you and all you can do, all that is required of you, is that you have Faith that the Lord Jesus saves, that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Grandpa said:Salvation, Grace and Faith are great topics. I don't think that people do understand them. Not that people don't have the capacity. Only that these concepts are almost incomprehensible to us. I think if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit these concepts would be entirely incomprehensible to us.
Wasn't "Paradise" as Jesus spoke of to the thief on the cross considered Abraham's bosom? Would Paradise be one side of hell? Just asking...........![]()
I agree with this statement1 Thess 1:3 'work of faith'
One must work out his salvation for salvation requires obedient works in carrying out the will of God. Phil 2:12 (or any other verse) does not say "faith is not your work" that is an idea YOU ADDED to the verse.
Salvation requires man's obedience..CHrist is the author of salvation unto all them that OBEY him, Heb 5:9.
God's saving grace is given to all them that conditionally obey. It is never given to them that "obey not the gospel of Christ" 2 Thess 1:8 but vengeance is given to them that "obey not"
Salvation not being of myself means I cannot devise any plan of salvation to save myself. It does not mean I have no role in God's plan of salvation He has graciously given man. GOd's free gift of salvation comes with conditions./ No one on this forum has yet to devise a way to save a man who has not, does NOT CONDITIONALLY believe, repent, confess or be baptized.
Will the Lord save those that will not repent; Lk 13:3,5 save those that deny Him, Mt 10:32,33 that refuse to be baptized, MK 16;16? No.
The biggest misconception on this forum is by those that think grace/salvation are unconditional.
1 Thess 1:3 'work of faith'
One must work out his salvation for salvation requires obedient works in carrying out the will of God. Phil 2:12 (or any other verse) does not say "faith is not your work" that is an idea YOU ADDED to the verse.
Salvation requires man's obedience..CHrist is the author of salvation unto all them that OBEY him, Heb 5:9.
God's saving grace is given to all them that conditionally obey.
It is never given to them that "obey not the gospel of Christ" 2 Thess 1:8 but vengeance is given to them that "obey not"
Salvation not being of myself means I cannot devise any plan of salvation to save myself.
It does not mean I have no role in God's plan of salvation He has graciously given man.
GOD's free gift of salvation comes with conditions.
No one on this forum has yet to devise a way to save a man who has not, does NOT CONDITIONALLY believe, repent, confess or be baptized.
Will the Lord save those that will not repent; Lk 13:3,5
save those that deny Him, Mt 10:32,33
that refuse to be baptized, MK 16;16? No.
The biggest misconception on this forum is by those that think grace/salvation are unconditional.
I agree with this statement
You just couldn't leave it alone could you?you would LOL you think Big Daddy and his heretical church will save you. And of course guess who? You are unable to trust in God alone.
paradise would be the side that satin held the prophets but it was not the burning side.Wasn't "Paradise" as Jesus spoke of to the thief on the cross considered Abraham's bosom? Would Paradise be one side of hell? Just asking...........![]()