Thanx all for your answers so far.
Some answers I will be looking into more as they use texts I have not used. great stuff.
Many use Abraham as an example and rightly so as the Bible promotes Him as an example and it is said of Abraham:
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
while clearly Abraham doing these things did not save him it is evident from the life of Abraham that obedience was directly connected with true faith. Thus James says:
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Paul said this:
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
And again:
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is justified from sin.
So clearly just by these few verses we learn that death to self and a new life in the Spirit is part and parcel of Justification.
But that Justification is by Faith no one can contend as it is written:
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
So Paul makes it clear this is about faith in God not of works. But James says Abraham was justified by works. in other words Faith comes first and works follow that faith.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
So we see that Justification is more than a label but rather is a reality. not only have past sins been forgiven in Christ but they are made just by Christ.
Some answers I will be looking into more as they use texts I have not used. great stuff.
Many use Abraham as an example and rightly so as the Bible promotes Him as an example and it is said of Abraham:
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
while clearly Abraham doing these things did not save him it is evident from the life of Abraham that obedience was directly connected with true faith. Thus James says:
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Paul said this:
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
And again:
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is justified from sin.
So clearly just by these few verses we learn that death to self and a new life in the Spirit is part and parcel of Justification.
But that Justification is by Faith no one can contend as it is written:
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
So Paul makes it clear this is about faith in God not of works. But James says Abraham was justified by works. in other words Faith comes first and works follow that faith.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
So we see that Justification is more than a label but rather is a reality. not only have past sins been forgiven in Christ but they are made just by Christ.