Not By Works

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John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
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The only text that talks about faith only denies that it is by faith only:
James 2:24: Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Now I am in complete agreement that James is not saying it is faith plus works, but he does say it is not "faith only".

Paul in Ephesians 2 says we are saved "by grace through faith": so we can surely add grace into the equation of what brings salvation.

I am just arguing that to say "salvation is by faith alone" is at the best inadequate and incomplete; and we might even say that it is Biblically incorrect. I would rather hear someone say simply that we are saved by faith than to say that we are saved by faith alone.

My quibble is with the word alone, not with the faith.
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
 
Dec 28, 2016
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The only text that talks about...
And therein lies the problem; you're looking for "a text", a pretext or proof-verse to prove this doctrine and are asking others to do so simply because you believe it doesn't exist, so you're question begging.

This is a fallacy and weak hermeneutic as there are some biblical doctrines that cannot be solidly proven with one stand alone verse. Triune God for example.

That said the text you are providing in James 2:14 does in fact prove Sola Fide in its context, that and add in some 2 Timothy 2:15 principle as well for further insight.

You need to move beyond your "verse-ologist" mentality and I hope you will my brother.
 
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DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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ok shamah

if you want an answer

then what do you believe it means to obey Him
and in a way that leads to salvation?


so i know we are talking of the same thing
A fair question and one that all of us should consider.

The flow and form of the Bible is one of man obeying the will of God and God in turn rewarding man for his obedience and punishing defiance. From the first commands in the Garden of Eden to the commands for repentance for the churches in Revelation this has been the case. To deny this is to miss the very purpose of the scriptures themselves.

So what does God expect of His followers?

The foundation of any desire to follow God is belief. A belief that God both exist and rules all creation. A belief that acknowledges both His and our positions in the universe, a position that He determines and not us. A follower must believe that God has come to Earth as the only begotten Son, that person being Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We must believe He came in the flesh, both wholly divine and wholly human. We must accept His physical death and physical resurrection from the dead, His ascend back to Heaven and His future return to Earth. We must accept His death as the only answer to the penalty of sin.

John 3:16, John 8:34, Acts 16:31, 1st John 5:1


We must confess the above truths and not deny them. When called upon to proclaim our allegiance it must be to this Jesus and no one else.

Romans 10:9, Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8, 1st John 4:15


We must repent of both our old ways and embrace the new life God has planned for us.

Acts 3:19, Matthew 4:17, James 4:8, Acts 17:30

We must submit to be water baptized as commanded, so that our sins will be forgiven.

Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1st Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16


To those who endure in the faith until death will receive the crown of life, the promise of salvation.

Matthew 24:13, Matthew 10:22, Revelation 3:11, Mark 13:13

To ignore or deny any of these requirements is to put your own understandings before a sovereign God.

This is what I believe it means to obey Him. If someone wants to label this a works based theology, so be it. But I do not believe for a moment that my obedience to the commands of God earns any merit towards my salvation. It is the grace of God that provides us this salvation, but it is we who must answer the call of God on His terms not our own.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
On the contrary, Ephesians 2:8 that you underlined and bolded, says that we are saved "by grace through faith". It does not say we are saved by faith alone.


faith minus works is faith alone.

Grace means it is a gift, but God will not make us take it, or force it on us, he wants us to take it, and we will only take it if we have faith,.

Romans 4 says the same thing
 

DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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Exactly.....he pushes the same garbage the Pharisees pushed and a psuedo blend gospel has no power....nor does he obey and keep the law....
a psuedo blend gospel has no power....
power?? Tell us about this "power" that your faith only theology has over any other gospel. We are all in the same boat, each of us searching for the truth. Some more then others but searching nevertheless. The Pharisees were pushing garbage, as are the followers of faith alone regeneration theology. A different type of garbage but still garbage.
 

DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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There it is. You finally admit that you teach FAITH + WORKS = SALVATION. Of course, many of us already knew this.
I would not be so quick to label Shamah's views as wrong. Your take on what is faith and how that faith must be accepted can easily be seen as works also.
 
J

joefizz

Guest
power?? Tell us about this "power" that your faith only theology has over any other gospel. We are all in the same boat, each of us searching for the truth. Some more then others but searching nevertheless. The Pharisees were pushing garbage, as are the followers of faith alone regeneration theology. A different type of garbage but still garbage.
Not really more of that we have found the truth,but sharing truth is a roadblock because each individual may have a different denomination and therefore a different belief,but it's a good thing that God made things "Simple" accept all Jesus did for us and accept him as lord and saviour sincerely and humbly,or not,there are but two choices,we may still deliberate over this and that but Jesus is the only way to salvation,and eternal life,if you have accepted him or not should be our "first concern".
 

fredoheaven

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2015
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power?? Tell us about this "power" that your faith only theology has over any other gospel. We are all in the same boat, each of us searching for the truth. Some more then others but searching nevertheless. The Pharisees were pushing garbage, as are the followers of faith alone regeneration theology. A different type of garbage but still garbage.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

So this is the power of God unto salvation, the gospel that we beleived.


 
J

joefizz

Guest
It seems that the claims of some knowing the Word are vain & empty.

38“You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42“Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
And there is nothing about lieing or falsifying scripture in those passages,so you wasted your time,my point of nice as I clarified in a later post is that we are to speak truth no matter our affliction just as you stated in your passages,we are to be kind but not "nice":take no stance as to not hurt someone's feelings even if what one is saying is true,speaking as if a person's feelings mean more to you than serving God is to do wrong by him,Jesus was very kind but his words were like scorching flames to many whom he spoke with,and he didn't play favorites,when he spoke he was either directly blunt,unwaveringly truthful,authorative,or,wise,not some "pity party" type talking like "there there",and so neither are we to treat God's word as "nice" it is a pain to many who don't believe and it's pages have many events that are tough to stomach,the bible is to be like a fire to you that is only quenched by speaking it's truth.
Kind,yes,compassionate,yes,Loving,yes merciful yes,nice(or. saying what people want to hear),no.
 

VCO

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2013
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The only text that talks about "faith only" denies that it is by faith only:
James 2:24: Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Now I am in complete agreement that James is not saying it is faith plus works, but he does say it is not "faith only".

Paul in Ephesians 2 says we are saved "by grace through faith": so we can surely add grace into the equation of what brings salvation.

I am just arguing that to say "salvation is by faith alone" is at the best inadequate and incomplete; and we might even say that it is Biblically incorrect. I would rather hear someone say simply that we are saved by faith than to say that we are saved by faith alone.

My quibble is with the word alone, not with the faith.
That is why Martin Luther wanted to kick the book of James out of the Bible. HE THOUGHT JAMES WAS ADVOCATING YOU WERE SAVED BY FAITH, PLUS WORKS. He did not realize that JAMES believed that you are saved by Grace through faith the very moment you believe, and the evidence that IT REALLY HAPPENED is in your obedience, and the HOLY SPIRIT IS STILL AT WORK IN YOUR HEART, is your LOVE FOR GOD as it manifests itself in your Christian Lifestyle.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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I would not be so quick to label Shamah's views as wrong. Your take on what is faith and how that faith must be accepted can easily be seen as works also.
I see people saying such things as faith is a work, but that makes no sense when works follow the coming to saving faith. Also, faith is a gift of God, so how can it be counted as a work of ours? It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Our works are in cooperation with the will of God, after receiving the gift of His grace, which grows into faith. I honestly don't think anyone had said anything differently, or that contradicts that. The contention put forth is that one must have works to be saved, but again, works follow the act of having been saved. Another problem is when people come in and say that if you sin, you are not saved, but even those people will admit they still sin, so it is a self defeating line of attack for the person who employs it.
 

DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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I see people saying such things as faith is a work, but that makes no sense when works follow the coming to saving faith. Also, faith is a gift of God, so how can it be counted as a work of ours? It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Our works are in cooperation with the will of God, after receiving the gift of His grace, which grows into faith. I honestly don't think anyone had said anything differently, or that contradicts that. The contention put forth is that one must have works to be saved, but again, works follow the act of having been saved. Another problem is when people come in and say that if you sin, you are not saved, but even those people will admit they still sin, so it is a self defeating line of attack for the person who employs it.
I never said in my post that faith was a work.

Some people see the acceptance of a certain view on what is "faith" and the proper response to that faith as a work. In other words, you must accept their concept of faith and you must not deviate from this proper understanding of said faith in order to receive salvation.

Mailmandan certainly fits this label.
 

DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

So this is the power of God unto salvation, the gospel that we beleived.


"believeth" what? Which gospel?

I do not see any more "power" in dcontroversal's view then any other person's view of the gospel.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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I never said in my post that faith was a work.
I never said you did, either :)

Some people see the acceptance of a certain view on what is "faith" and the proper response to that faith as a work. In other words, you must accept their concept of faith and you must not deviate from this proper understanding of said faith in order to receive salvation.

Mailmandan certainly fits this label.
Works come out of faith. I highly doubt that Dan sees faith as a work.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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"believeth" what? Which gospel?

I do not see any more "power" in dcontroversal's view then any other person's view of the gospel.
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. Here, Jesus is talking to those who deny His Deity, telling them they will die in their sins if they do not believe Who He is. The saving gospel includes the Deity of Jesus Christ. By His own words he articulates that you must believe Who He is, or you will die in your sins (not be saved).
 

DJ2

Senior Member
Apr 15, 2017
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I never said you did, either :)

Works come out of faith. I highly doubt that Dan sees faith as a work.
I also highly doubt that the people Dan labels as followers of works salvation see their respond to God as works.
 

fredoheaven

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2015
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"believeth" what? Which gospel?

I do not see any more "power" in dcontroversal's view then any other person's view of the gospel.
I have provided scripture reference about this gospel, it is the gospel of Christ that Paul preached. Here's more terminology as you wish

1. The Gospel of the Grace of God

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2. The Gospel of his Son

Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

3. The Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

Perhaps, you might be assuming the kingdom gospel or the everlasting gospel preached by the angel. The power of God unto salvation into this dispensation of grace are the one mention # 1-3

Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:



Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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I also highly doubt that the people Dan labels as followers of works salvation see their respond to God as works.
I have witnessed more than one person on this site calling faith a work.