Right works complete faith like James says, which by definition means faith alone is not sufficient for salvation. That which is already complete doesn't need completion.
Ephesians 2 is not preaching faith alone.
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Justification is.
The only prerequisite to being chosen by God for salvation, is repentance from sinning against God.
Mar 2:17
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Mat 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
What part of "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us'" don't you understand are not present works of God's righteousness?
2Ti 1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Heb 4:9
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Of course, if you're still doing works of your own righteousness, then you wouldn't understand the difference between still doing your own works, instead of doing God's works.
Repent of your own dead works, and Jesus Christ will justify you with His own righteous deeds:
1 John{3:7}
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that is doing righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
Right. No grace, no faith, not repentance, no works.
Got it. You've perfected the changing of Scripture by separating Scripture from Scripture, in order to preach your own gospel, that does not begin with repent ye...
God grants repentance from dead works for faith and salvation.
Acts{11:18}
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Acts 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
2 Cor {7:10}
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:
And God's granted repentance is from all our own works. Only sinful man grants himself a partial byproduct of 'gradual' repentance by their own faith-alone.
Gal 1:6
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Circumcision and baptism of Christ is included in other verses of salvation and sanctification. Once again, by separating Scripture from Scripture, you first remove salvation and justification from repentance and works, and now you remove Christ's circumcision and baptism of the Spirit from His own sanctification from sins.
Now you're getting an F+ in perverting the whole gospel of God, from whole repentance unto salvation, into your own personal version of salvation without whole repentance from your own sinful works.
Rev 3:15
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
False. It is not saying none of Abraham's works justified him. Nor can Scripture say it, since Scripture says his work of offering up Isaac did justify him.
Rom 4:1
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
It is saying none of Abraham's works with the flesh justify him.
Heb 11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
It is saying that Abraham's work of faith toward God justified him.
Separating Scripture from Scripture contradicts Scripture by changing Scripture.
Since is God's Scripture being given, then it's His point.
And of course you don't understand something so simple a child can understand.
Mat 13:19
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Luk 8:12
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Only honest sinners and justified saints understand the need for repentance from sins and trespasses, to be saved from sinning.
It's only them blinded by their own faith-alone justification, that will not understand what is so plainly preached in Scripture of God:
Isa 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Mark{1:15}
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Acts 2:37
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?...Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts{11:18}
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
2 Cor {7:10}
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:
Rom 2:3
And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
1 Cor 6:9
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…Gal 5:19 and such like of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Correct.
Eph{2:8}
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Man's own faith-alone never saves nor justifies the sinner with Jesus Christ the righteous.
No man is justified by his faith, when committing sin and trespass against God.
Sure. We choose either to walk in the Spirit or not. The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is twofold:
...unbelievers can only choose to walk according to the world, and...
...believers who walk according to the world are chastened and trained to walk in the Spirit; unbelievers are not.
Yep, we are drawn by the Father and we respond to that drawing by faith in Jesus. I think we may receive the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus, but it's not clear to me because some people told Paul they had not received the Holy Spirit and then it happens after Paul baptizes them.
We are born of the Spirit, which is an impartation that no man can predict:
John 3:6-8 King James Version
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
How we see things changes and allows us to come to faith in Jesus Christ. It is entirely a gift from God.
You stated your theology yet again.
You said that you must repent of all sin before you are forgiven by Jesus.
That is impossible.
We stand by that faith in Jesus to teach us how to behave well, there by, eliminating our misbehavior.
If you pursue the love of others you will begin to understand how far short you fall (sin). From the Lord's
unconditional love for us. We learn from so many examples in the O.T of that lack of trust in the Lord's
work (love for us), rather than simply accepting (by faith). That no matter what happens the Lord always
remains faithful to His promises.
It is ultimately the Lord's work that matters and only the Lord can save and has saved so many.
Our repentance is required but it is far better to reach for that unconditional love of others.
Which grants the recipient a deep understanding of our own mistrust and selfish desires.
Loving others is the goal of all Christian instruction.
1 Timothy 1:5
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
By all means, attempt to apply that goal in you life and learn what repentance really means.
It's not about giving up drinking and gambling.
There is much here that is true and some misunderstanding.
First, salvation occurs when God approaches an individual and makes them alive and changes their heart and puts His Spirit within them. This is the spiritual birth. This takes place prior to faith. After being made alive, the individual hears the gospel and believes. All believers have the indwelling Spirit...Romans 8:9.
The baptism with the Spirit is not the same as the indwelling of the Spirit. An example of the indwelling of the Spirit is 1 Corinthians 12:13. The indwelling of the Spirit is where we are placed into the body of Christ. It is nonexperiential and judicially places an individual into Christ. The baptism with the Spirit is a sealing of an individual with Christ, such as is found in Ephesians 1:13. It is experiential and evident to all. There will be outward signs such as speaking in tongues and other manifestations of the Spirit. We see this in operation the day of Pentecost and throughout the book of Acts.
You are in error and directly contradict the meaning/intent of the below verses. The requirements for salvation couldn't be made any simpler or clearer than of how those verses depict it, so at least for now, you are incapable of coming to correct understanding, and thereby try to turn salvation into man's work instead of God's work through Jesus Christ, Savior (do you understand what Savior actually means?) So, I'm not going to go through and untangle your entire post given as you've contradicted yourself numerous times in it, and I don't feel like expending the necessary time and effort to explain your error to you. But, if you'd read the verses below carefully and actually think about what they are saying, it could go a long way in leading you to a correctly comprehension of salvation. Notice there is no requirement mentioned therein that man must satisfy - it is all strictly between God and Jesus Christ.
The concept is actually extremely clear and simple - it is all a free gift from God unto those whom He had chosen for it with nothing required from its intended recipient, and that is what makes it by grace and not by works.
[Tit 3:4-7 KJV]
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
That's not my problem that's your problem since you cannot synchronize the verses I posted with the verses your referencing. I can.
I hardly think that looking through scripture for answers is just flapping ones jaw.
If you understand the scripture that I quoted you to be true then whatever scripture you're referring to you need to read it and figure out why you can't discern the same thing out of it.
most likely it is because an institutionalized religion has given an oblique definition to something that defines their position theologically.
I know you didn't ask me but since we're carrying on the same debate that's a simple answer if you ever were observing somebody and you witnessed their works it would be evidence they had faith if you just see somebody standing there appearing to do nothing you do not see their faith.
The better way to say this would be works is a sign of your faith you can even substitute the word "fruits are a sign"
Oh yes there's a scripture on that too
You guys are looking at this in a moment by moment pattern these statements were made by Eternal being even if in spirit if you are saved your good works occur both when you're willing to do them and when you're not paying attention you end up doing them you can still do the wrong thing you can still sin.
Even if you never intended to do a good work once you are saved ultimately unless you immediately died you would still be doing good works even if you're not aware of it. The spirit Works inside. As someone cleverly mentioned before at Salvation we have a new heart and a new law written upon it that our spirit begins to operate on even if we are not fully aware of what it's really doing after that you may wish to also do a good work say feed the hungry at a conscious level
maybe you and your sister are fighting with your mom and you decide to walk your sister to school instead of your mom taking you because you're mad and during that walk your sister confides and you have other trouble and share is her concerns and increases the bond between you and sees Jesus in you and yet this was all brought about by you being angry with your parent this could be an unintended good work
so in the end when we are judged it's about the body of work including not just your conscience decisions but the unconscious ones as well
Bear in mind that the slogan "faith-alone" seeks to answer a very specific question, and if you forget the question, the slogan becomes misleading. “Faith alone” never meant “faith isolated from everything else in the Christian life.” It meant “faith, not external works of the law or sacramental performance, is what God looks at when He renders the forensic verdict of righteousness.”
The Reformation wasn’t asking, “What is the only thing that exists in the Christian life?” It was asking:
On what basis does God justify a sinner — on outward actions or on inward trust?
Paul’s own contrast is between:
- works of the law (external, performative, covenantal markers), and
- faith (the inward posture of trust that receives Christ).
Faith not baptism
Faith not penance
Faith not confession
Faith not regular prayer time
Yes, works serve as the proof and completion of genuine faith. Works are the fruit, by product and demonstrative evidence of genuine faith, but are not the very essence of faith and are also not the basis or means by which we obtain salvation. Faith that saves is not merely intellectual belief but involves trust and reliance which results in producing good works, which mature and perfect faith.
Salvation by faith (rightly understood) in Jesus Christ alone is faith that trusts in Jesus Christ "alone" for salvation. (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9) Which is not to be confused with an empty profession of faith/dead faith that remains "alone" barren of works. (James 2:14-24)
Agree 100% but faith without accompanying works is dead, non-salvific. Works complete the faith that saves us. James is crystal clear.
And there you have it the unwillingness to find the truth that's why you're stuck where you're at
And there you have it with you people it's always the same old thing, you think volume wins the debate.
If you don't want to pick one that's your choice. I've ridden this bull in this rodeo with you cowboys so many times Ive stopped caring. If you're that incapable it's a waste of time to even give you the time of day