Loss of salvation???
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Since this is a command by the Lord's men, was that single work of belief also an act of obedience to the command?
Since Jesus commanded men to work to believe, was that work also an act of obedience to His command?
Is obedience to the command to believe, a work?
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.
They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:17
And, without grace suppressing our flesh (sin nature), as to free up our soul, to be made able to believe?
No one could believe!
Therefore, our believing was a co-working of God and the believer.
In a sense, there was a twofold work taking place when we believed.
For God the Holy Spirit was making us able to believe (grace).
And, us, believing when we were made able to believe.
That is what I believe it means to be saved by grace.
The Holy Spirit enabled our soul to discover that our soul wanted to believe.
grace and peace .......
He did not command them to work to believe.
He was simply telling them how easy it was to be saved.
The works the Pharisees were pushing on the people could be demanding and rough.
For example... you do not work to feel hungry before you eat.
What must I do to have dinner?
"Be hungry, and you shall eat."
Jesus said it was so (in God's eyes.)
Very different in execution from the usual means for the works of men.
And, it was not obedience to a command to believe.
The command was to be obeyed by them rejecting all other means they had been propagandized with to tell them how to be saved.
True faith is given as a free gift from God to those whom He saves as a part of the salvation process. To them, faith is unconditionally given. All necessary parts of salvation are provided by God; nothing is by man except to be its recipient and beneficiary.
[2Pe 1:1 KJV] 1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
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You are still not getting it!
“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.””
Hebrews 4:1-3, 6-7 NKJV
Scripture leads us to the conclusion that ALL of man is capable of believing initially, with our faith then made stronger through Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus; also given that the Lord desires that all of mankind be saved. Sproul was just dead wrong in his defense of extreme Calvinism, of which he now knows.
MM
The words and logic of John6:27-29 are very simple and very clear:
- Jesus commands work
- Jesus defines the work: believe
- Therefore Jesus commands belief
- Commands require obedience
- Therefore believing is obedience
The good works done in faith-obedience are done only after the single work of faith-obedience in Jesus Christ that He commands.
The single work of faith-obedience is non-meritorious because God says it is.
It's really that simple.
You are plainly clueless about what it means to be saved. And obviously, you do not want to know. You are not alone, of course. There are many who try to rule and control through fear.
I am born again. I do not want to walk away from God. There are many times when I've struggled and fallen. God restored me every time. I was born again when I stumbled and born again when I was restored. I was not saved one minute and going to hell the next. I no longer have the same pattern of falling then restoration. God has done a wonderful work in my soul. But I just as born again now as I was 54 years ago. I just know enough now to avoid some of the pitfalls that used to bring me down
I am not perfect, but I know this much: Jesus is my Life. I don't have to try to be a Christian. I am by the new birth. And the new birth is God's work. If it were up to me, I would never have made it this far. But Lord Jesus is the Author and Finisher of my faith. I've let Him down more times than I like to think about. He has never let me down.
I see that you are busy answering posts so there is no rush to answer mine. But I am curious what you might say concerning Jesus' parable of the sower. Specifically, what do you make of the fourth soil? Luke 8:4-8
What I mean is this. It appears that soil conditions are the determining factor in whether a seed will grow into a full-grown plant and survive.
I don't intend to disagree with you, but this might be a good time to point out the meaning of Romans 10:17.
Some Christians interpret Paul as saying that hearing the gospel is what brings about faith. I believe this interpretation stems from the phrase "faith cometh by hearing," which seems to clearly indicate that one must hear the gospel before they can believe it. This is logically correct, of course, and it goes without saying. The main reason for sending an evangelist to preach the gospel is so that people might believe it.
But that is not what Paul meant. You might notice that the word "cometh" is written in italics, indicating that the verb is not in the original Greek. There is no verb in the original Greek, presumably because Paul's readers would have understood the action from the context. In such cases, the translator supplies a verb for us and the editors print the supplied word in italics.
Moreover, although it makes logical sense to say that hearing the gospel brings about faith, we wouldn't expect Paul to say what everyone already knows. So what did Paul actually mean? He points out that God sent Isaiah to preach the gospel to Israel and Israel refused to believe it. In other words, in the case of Israel, hearing the gospel did NOT bring about faith. Just the opposite. Hearing the gospel only hardened them more.
That being the case, I propose that Paul meant to say something like this: "Faith must accompany the hearing." Paul isn't saying that faith is always the result of hearing the gospel. It isn't. He is saying that if Israel is seeking justification from God, when Isaiah speaks, they better believe him.
It's obvious based upon your post, that you're trying to change the subject from verses 1 Pet 5,6 and 2 Pet 1:1, and since I don't feel like following you down rabbit holes nor explain the above to you, at this point, I'll just go ahead and terminate this discussion.
The parable of the sower should be brought into the discussion. The reason God's word does not take root is because the hearer is unreceptive. It's the state of the person's heart. I went out at Billy Graham crusade event. I supposedly was saved, I filled in the decision card and so on. Someone I knew went out at the same time. He was for real, I was not. I could tell that he had changed.
About 5 years later, I was in a terrible mess. This time when I heard the gospel, I saw that I was a sinner and I gladly received Christ. This time, God's word, the imperishable seed, cause me to be born again. The Holy Spirit works to make God's word alive to us.
The written or spoken word must become the "rhema" word. That's when faith arises. This is the "word of Christ". The word "rhema" was used in the sense of unveiling. In ancient Greece, a sculptor would conceal his work behind a curtain. When he was done, he would have a public unveiling.
Some in Israel did heed God's word. They were the prophets, the judges, the righteous kings and priests. God always has had His faithful remnant. Even after God became silent for 400 years, there were still a few who sought God.
I think it is fair to say that faith comes by hearing. Until I "heard" the gospel for the first time, I had no faith even though I believed the facts about God and Jesus. It meant as much to me as Nero being a Roman emperor.
The act of faith in/trust in/belief in the all sufficient work of Christ Jesus and the acceptance of His gift is >>>>>>>a ONE time act just as being declared JUSTIFIED is a onetime pronouncement by God that cannot be undone.
That is what the Bible teaches and that is the Good News.
Anything else if false doctrine.
Sometimes when people are commanded to do something, it is done in a way that will become a stumbling block to those who do not belong to Him, yet others will be given the ability to understand or believe what is being spoken.
Is the fact that they were able to believe a work, or was it due to the gift given and received by grace? Just asking. . . .
Calvinism was an attempt to explain why things are the way they are for believers.
We got to keep in mind, Calvinism was as break away from the evil darkness of the Catholic Church.
It and needed something to stand firmly upon that was equally dogmatic to the Vatican.
Teachings that the murderous dumbed down Vatican could not refute, lest it started to get honest with its people.
So Calvinism came up with what the Catholic scholars did not have the spiritual moxie to get an upper hand with.
Satan was happy with the results. Since both sides had not a clue as to what the Christian way of life is to be, and
one kept the other side determined not to change.
C'est la vie!