Eternal Security: What do you do with James 2?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#81
I believe apostle James was talking to Jews about true faith,If It Is real will produce works shown that Men could see.

James 2:18
King James Version
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Romans 4:1-2
King James Version

1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God.
I am certain that God never ever speaks to "Jews" only, The only "only" that applies to God is that God only speaks truth. That truth is never, ever, meant to be exclusive. Truth stands alone for all humans to know.
 
Dec 9, 2011
14,140
1,805
113
#82
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8-10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Abraham is the example we have in James and many other places regarding faith. Paul points here

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:6-9‬ ‭

Abraham didn’t just believe that God exists , he believed what God said to him . This is the source of faith. He was accounted righteous here because he believed what God said regarding his promised seed

“And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15:4-6‬ ‭

James is explaining that there is a fulfillment of faith which was Abraham’s obedience

“And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22:15-18‬

James is not disparaging salvstion through faith and by grace but instead he is completing our understanding of faith not being an empty thing but having power beyond the words.

Abraham was accounted as righteous before his actions completed his faith , but faith being sincere obeyed and was fulfilled the righteousness that was decreed first came to pass when Abraham was tested

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:21-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

God speaks forth righteousness to Abraham first by faith , and later Abraham’s faith obeys because he believes so it is for us in Christ

“(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:17-18, 21-25‬ ‭KJV‬‬

it’s about believing the word spoken by God before we have evidence Gods word has creative power he is calling for righteousness from us who were once incapable sinners. Speaking forth light into our hearts with effectual power to change our core being from sinner to born again man walking by faith.

James and Paul work perfectly together to give us a complete understanding of faith that works and saves us even before we have performed that which faith is calling for
Yes Abraham didn’t believe GOD because of what he saw he believed the WORD of GOD without seeing.
 
Dec 9, 2011
14,140
1,805
113
#83
There is really no such thing "faith alone": and that is what James says here = a faith by itself (with no works) is dead, hence is not a saving faith at all.

A person is saved by grace through faith, not of works (Eph. 2:8-10), and James is clear that a true faith will have some level of works.

If one comes to the text of James with an open heart and without preconceived doctrine, it is easy to take James at face value for what he says, without having to try to twist, turn, and duck to get around what the text says.
Do you believe that the thief on the cross received salvation by faith alone or would you say he had faith plus works and some believe that believing Is a work?
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
14,579
5,875
113
#85
Yes Abraham didn’t believe GOD because of what he saw he believed the WORD of GOD without seeing.
yep God told him something that God was going to do for Abraham and Abraham believed it. Abraham wasn’t told what he had to do for God , but what God was going to do for him.

later Abraham’s faith was out to the test he still acted by the same faith in God but this time it was asking Abraham to do something by that faith.

faith is the key of it is based upon Gods word it cannot fail. If it is placed in ourselves it will ever fail.
 

JBTN

Active member
Feb 11, 2020
220
79
28
#86
This isn't another thread on faith v. works. It's a question to those who do believe in eternal security. I'd like to hear your comments.

Three scriptures in James 2 present a very serious problem for faith only. They are:

James 2:14

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?"

James 2:17

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:22

"You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;"

What do you do with these scriptures?

Ignore them?
Pretend they don't exist?
Are the mistranslated or misunderstood?
Should James be removed from the canon?

I'd like to hear your explanations for why these scriptures don't mean what they apparently mean.

For James 2:17 and 22 I think it helps to look at the analogy in James 2:26:

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/jas.2.26.ESV

Here the word body (soma) means a physical body and is analogous to faith. Our spirit is analogous to works. When you look up the word nekra you see words like unable, ineffective, powerless, and unresponsive along with dead. The obvious thing here is that the body doesn’t disappear or cease to exist when it is separated from the spirit. It is still there. So, faith apart from works doesn’t mean that faith doesn’t exist its just ineffective, powerless, and unresponsive. Again, think about Romans 4:5. This verse alone implies that it is possible for faith to exist without works.

“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.4.5.ESV

For verse 22 the analogy tells us that the spirit makes the body responsive, effective and powerful. Thinking back to the word profit in 2:14, works make our faith effective and powerful, resulting in increase or gain to the cause of Christ.

With all of this being said I do believe that a true faith will produce many good works.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#87
I have yet to see one claim that it's our works. BUT as I said in the Post you responded to,,

faith, Hope, Belief, salvation, are nothing

WITHOUT CHRIST.

Your hope is dead, your faith is dead, and you have no salvation without HIM.

there is no need to circle the wagon around the camp of OSAS or any other thing if you Don't have Christ you have nothing
The op has made the claim numerous times

Some have stated works are evidence of faith but they play no role in our salvation. I agree, works are evidence of our faith, but they play a very important role in our salvation.

.
I agree with you in the rest. I was making a statement about why we keep having these discussions
 

de-emerald

Well-known member
May 8, 2021
1,652
574
113
#88
Eternal life is eternal my friend

You are preaching conditional life

once again, The endure to the end passage is about those living in the tribulation period. And speaks of enduring to the day christ returns. In which case, You will be saved from tribulation and enter his 1000 year reign with him

It is giving them HOPE in the time of great tribulation

its sad people have taken Gods words of encouragement and turned it into legalism.
i allways thought to endure to the end was also to stand firm in your faith for reason being the enemy can make you endure really badly, if you know what i mean. like if i do drugs i will invite the devil into my house, or if i do the quija board, i will invite the devil into my house, or if i smoke i could endure badly untill the end. but if i work at faith believe in faith and keep my temple clean, and work at good health, i will endure so much more easyier until the end, so what im saying is we all have to endure untill the end but some will love the endurance others will have a diffacult time by being unhealthy. im getting really health concsious u know, imworried about the middle age spread in 10 years, i really dont want to suffer with that one,

Then theres stability, if we save money for the future in our retirment we have hope we will live out our last years in security. if we dont save we have less hope, the devil wants us to have no future no hope no stability and for us to quander our future., its a bit like the devil will tempt people to spend there savings on drink drugs and cigarettes or gambling, because the devil knows thats the way to ruin a future. its the same for processed food ive learned the makers make them so addictive.
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,031
4,456
113
#89
Can't see what relevance of James 2 concerning eternal security.

It has nothing to do with it at all.

The whole chapter is based on personal favoritism.
That being how the rich were treating the poor.

James 2:1-4

Beware of Personal Favoritism
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

James 2:8-9
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

V8 States that if you really fulfill the royal law you do well but if you don't you commit sin.

The royal being loveing your neighbor.

V9 concerning the law.

Leviticus 19:15-18
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

With regards to Abraham.

James 2:21-24
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Was he justified when offering Isaac?
Yes he was but did it declare him as being righteous?
No it did not.

Genesis 15:5-6
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

He believed this, it was his faith that declared him righteous and Isaac wasn't even born then.

Now if we want to look at actions or works that justify Abraham is it this

Genesis 15:7-11
7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Firstly notice what God said to Abram.

He bought him out of Ur.
One day Abram is going around his business he hears God to leave his life in Ur to a land Abram knew nothing about.

Yet he went.
It was out of faith he did so.

Isaac was not born then.

So Abraham was not justified by offering Isaac but in doing so because of his faith his faith was justified by doing so.

This is what James is saying.

And here is the precursor

James 2:14-17

Faith Without Works Is Dead
(cf. Gen. 22; Josh. 2)
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Let's look at what Jesus said.

Matthew 25:35-36
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

We see thirsty, naked, stranger .

Who was he talking to?

Matthew 25:37-40
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

So these people, the righteous people were justified by what?

Their works before men.
We are declared righteous by faith and as a result works will follow.
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
14,579
5,875
113
#90
For James 2:17 and 22 I think it helps to look at the analogy in James 2:26:

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/jas.2.26.ESV

Here the word body (soma) means a physical body and is analogous to faith. Our spirit is analogous to works. When you look up the word nekra you see words like unable, ineffective, powerless, and unresponsive along with dead. The obvious thing here is that the body doesn’t disappear or cease to exist when it is separated from the spirit. It is still there. So, faith apart from works doesn’t mean that faith doesn’t exist its just ineffective, powerless, and unresponsive. Again, think about Romans 4:5. This verse alone implies that it is possible for faith to exist without works.

“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.4.5.ESV

For verse 22 the analogy tells us that the spirit makes the body responsive, effective and powerful. Thinking back to the word profit in 2:14, works make our faith effective and powerful, resulting in increase or gain to the cause of Christ.

With all of this being said I do believe that a true faith will produce many good works.
it’s probably a biblical
Analogy or rather example

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and man became a living soul.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬

until the spirit of life came the body was nothing but formed dust and would have remained dust but when the spirit came into the body man became a living soul

Like faith is complete by works the body is completed by the spirit. Like faith is made alive by works so is the body made alive by spirit
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,453
2,684
113
#91
This isn't another thread on faith v. works. It's a question to those who do believe in eternal security. I'd like to hear your comments.

Three scriptures in James 2 present a very serious problem for faith only. They are:

James 2:14

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?"

James 2:17

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:22

"You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;"

What do you do with these scriptures?

Ignore them?
Pretend they don't exist?
Are the mistranslated or misunderstood?
Should James be removed from the canon?

I'd like to hear your explanations for why these scriptures don't mean what they apparently mean.
Well to put it simply it is a matter of those who are christian by title only. I am sure you have seen plenty of it these days those who go to church whosay they are Christians but show anything but they are judgmental they live in the ways of the world they lack that fire and passion for God.
Works are the fruit of the spirit they are the produce of a saved believer we don't even have to try to do works it just comes naturally as if by instinct
There many who claim to have faith but are speakers not doers, there are many who believe they are saved but lack any kind of love or anything by the spirit. Anyone can have faith and claim to be saved
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,314
1,443
113
#92
Do you believe that the thief on the cross received salvation by faith alone or would you say he had faith plus works and some believe that believing Is a work?
The thief had faith - that is clear.
The thief gave a verbal testimony - that is works - that is clear.
But he was not saved by his works, but by his faith: but like all faith that saves his faith was not a "faith alone," for such a faith is dead.

The question of whether "believing" is a work is a question only asked by those who insist that works must be totally separated from faith. For myself, I have no problem talking about and promoting works: I love good works because it is part of living a victorious life above sin. But the works do not bring salvation: we are saved by God's grace through faith.

So, is "believing" a work? Dumb question that doesn't matter!! (my opinion!) Believing and works are so intertwined that you cannot have one without the other and both are a clear part of the picture of salvation.
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
14,579
5,875
113
#93
Can't see what relevance of James 2 concerning eternal security.

It has nothing to do with it at all.

The whole chapter is based on personal favoritism.
That being how the rich were treating the poor.

James 2:1-4

Beware of Personal Favoritism
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

James 2:8-9
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

V8 States that if you really fulfill the royal law you do well but if you don't you commit sin.

The royal being loveing your neighbor.

V9 concerning the law.

Leviticus 19:15-18
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

With regards to Abraham.

James 2:21-24
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Was he justified when offering Isaac?
Yes he was but did it declare him as being righteous?
No it did not.

Genesis 15:5-6
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

He believed this, it was his faith that declared him righteous and Isaac wasn't even born then.

Now if we want to look at actions or works that justify Abraham is it this

Genesis 15:7-11
7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Firstly notice what God said to Abram.

He bought him out of Ur.
One day Abram is going around his business he hears God to leave his life in Ur to a land Abram knew nothing about.

Yet he went.
It was out of faith he did so.

Isaac was not born then.

So Abraham was not justified by offering Isaac but in doing so because of his faith his faith was justified by doing so.

This is what James is saying.

And here is the precursor

James 2:14-17

Faith Without Works Is Dead
(cf. Gen. 22; Josh. 2)
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Let's look at what Jesus said.

Matthew 25:35-36
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

We see thirsty, naked, stranger .

Who was he talking to?

Matthew 25:37-40
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

So these people, the righteous people were justified by what?

Their works before men.
We are declared righteous by faith and as a result works will follow.
“We are declared righteous by faith and as a result works will follow.”

that’s James point but he adds what many won’t acknowledge that if the works don’t come faith can’t save
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,314
1,443
113
#94
Some have stated works are evidence of faith but they play no role in our salvation. I agree, works are evidence of our faith, but they play a very important role in our salvation.
Amen! I agree.
I would add that in making the above statement one must understand that "salvation" is not just initial justification (being born again), but also includes being saved from the power of sin in daily life.
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,314
1,443
113
#95
Do you believe that the thief on the cross received salvation by faith alone or would you say he had faith plus works and some believe that believing Is a work?
No one has ever been saved by "faith alone" because such a faith does not exist.
No one has ever been saved by faith + works because our own efforts will never be able to satisfy God.

As all of us, the thief was saved by grace, through faith, not of works - but he became the workmanship of God!
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,314
1,443
113
#96
I have yet to see one claim that it's our works. BUT as I said in the Post you responded to,,

faith, Hope, Belief, salvation, are nothing

WITHOUT CHRIST.

Your hope is dead, your faith is dead, and you have no salvation without HIM.

there is no need to circle the wagon around the camp of OSAS or any other thing if you Don't have Christ you have nothing
Amen! Bull's eye!

Salvation is all about Christ!
 

GRACE_ambassador

Well-known member
Feb 22, 2021
3,239
1,633
113
Midwest
#97
We're saved—we're being saved—and we will be saved. Salvation's an ongoing process and works—or actions—for those afraid of the word works are just as necessary as faith.
Precious friend, so glad you brought this out! A better title could be:

"Works Within The THREE Tenses Of God's ETERNAL Salvation"?:

"But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver: in Whom we trust that He will yet deliver us;
(2 Corinthians 1:9-10 KJB!) = The THREE Tenses Of God's ETERNAL Salvation:

Precious friend(s), is not the Solution to Confusion recognizing
God's Differences Between "HIS Relationship With us," And
"our fellowship with HIM!"?

God's Will, Today, Under HIS PURE GRACE? Very Simply:

(1) Past Tense = "God delivered us from so great a death":

God Establishes HIS Eternal Relationship With those who humbly:

believe, 100% trust, place Total faith, In The LORD JESUS CHRIST, HIS
Death {Precious BLOOD}, Burial, And HIS Resurrection, According To The
Scriptures! (
1 Corinthians 15:3-4; cp Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3-5 KJB!)

"GRACE Through faith" In The Merits Of HIS
Precious And ALL-Sufficient BLOOD} Results:

All sins Forgiven, HIS Eternal Life, And, Peace With God!

{This Is Eternal DELIVERANCE From the Death PENALTY of sin!}
Justification = "God delivered us from so great a death"
{PAST Tense}, First, And, THEN:

(2) PRESENT tense = "God DOTH Deliver":

The believer SHOULD do "good works" {Which will NEVER
EQUAL CHRIST's TOTAL Payment For the above PENALTY
of sin!},
for Which we Are Created In CHRIST JESUS, to perform for HIM,
having "been Called into fellowship With HIM!"
Amen?:

We "work out OUR OWN salvation" {This SHOULD Be a
lifetime of DELIVERANCE From the POWER of sin!}
Sanctification = "God DOTH Deliver" {present tense}, as we should:

(2a) "Present your body a living sacrifice" To The LORD
(Romans 12:1-2 KJB!)
:

(2b) Fulfil ALL Of His Law, In "ONE Word: LOVE your neighbor
as yourself!" (
Galatians 5:14; Romans 13:8-10 KJB!)

(2c) Study HIS Word Of Truth, Rightly Divided, to show
yourself Approved Unto God! (
2 Timothy 2:15 KJB!)

Eternal Results: reward {or loss, as NOT all WILL do "good works" Correct?}
(1 Corinthians 3:8-15 KJB!), ruling and reigning {or not} With CHRIST, Which
Will FINALLY Be At The Judgment Day:


(3) Future Tense = "God Will Yet Deliver":

CHRIST's GLORIFICATION of All {faithful AND UNfaithful} "members"
Of HIS Body!! {This Is Eternal DELIVERANCE From the PRESENCE of sin!}
"God Will Yet Deliver"
{Future Tense} - Amen?
-----------------------------
Helpful, Precious friend?
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#98
Can't see what relevance of James 2 concerning eternal security.

It has nothing to do with it at all. .
I believe scripture tells us that it does have something to do with eternal security.

Jesus said that it isn't those who say Lord, Lord that enters the kingdom but ones who do the will of the Father.

It is like this: you can believe with faith that Christ can save you, but not believe what he says about murder or judging others. Just because you believe in one thing he tells us does not mean you have complete faith in the Lord.
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,031
4,456
113
#99
“We are declared righteous by faith and as a result works will follow.”

that’s James point but he adds what many won’t acknowledge that if the works don’t come faith can’t save
Never said anything different.

Yes works will follow, that's the result of faith.

If one does not show works then one has to ask the question why?
It not a cut and cold case.
Even Jesus said we will produce works at varying levels.

Yet before writing people off we need to come alongside in love and seek why.

The first verse in John

James 2:1

Beware of Personal Favoritism
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

He is addressing the very people who he calls brethren, which could also be translated as brothers.

I have posted on this thread and I asked you if you read it and yet you quoted just one sentence. I am not sure you read it fully.

But anyway that post was along the lines of

"Works do not save us, faith saves us"

I quoted

Ephesians 2:8-10
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. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

See I believe that.
Yet you intimated I did not.
 
Dec 9, 2011
14,140
1,805
113
The thief had faith - that is clear.
The thief gave a verbal testimony - that is works - that is clear.
But he was not saved by his works, but by his faith: but like all faith that saves his faith was not a "faith alone," for such a faith is dead.

The question of whether "believing" is a work is a question only asked by those who insist that works must be totally separated from faith. For myself, I have no problem talking about and promoting works: I love good works because it is part of living a victorious life above sin. But the works do not bring salvation: we are saved by God's grace through faith.

So, is "believing" a work? Dumb question that doesn't matter!! (my opinion!) Believing and works are so intertwined that you cannot have one without the other and both are a clear part of the picture of salvation.
Your answer Is not clear,was the thief on the cross saved by faith alone In CHRIST alone to the glory of GOD alone OR were works necessary for him to receive salvation I’m not talking about what would the thief on the cross have done If he got saved and he wasn’t on the cross?