Is salvation something which God taunts in front of you and granted only when you have reached perfection before coming to Him or is it something promised to those who are in Christ? Is it taken away with the minutest sin, only to be regained a thousand times throughout one's life? Are we to live in a constant fear of losing salvation, even by that little "unconfessed" sin? You know, even that little sin of telling the Spirit, "not now, maybe later" is a sin. There are so many sins in one's life, how can you be certain all is forgiven? But they who are in Christ, God does not impute sin, but corrects them as a Father.
If there is but one who can stand before us and proclaim His absolute obedience to the Law, and proclaim we are to do likewise, could we also earn our justification by obedience to that which brought death? But what if that one says, "I came because I knew you could not, I died in your place and faith in me alone suffices?" Which one would you follow behind, the one who says salvation is through your deeds, or the One who says salvation is through Me and that justification is manifested through works of Faith, namely, a living faith displayed through love?
I know for certain that my salvation is not based on my deeds, that is, my righteousness, but my righteousness comes from the faith I have in Jesus Christ. Which will you pick, your works or His works?
I actually thought that you may have an eye to see when I first began reading your posts. Yet you believe in the lie like everyone else.
You come up with the same fallacies in response to what I write.
No-one is saying that one must reach perfection before coming to Christ. That is a foolish straw man.
That is something Tombo would say. Yet it is you saying it.
Repentance is simply where we change our mind and thus we TURN from our rebellion to God. It has nothing to do in regards to being perfect. It simply means to stop being a rebel through a broken godly sorrow.
I have used many illustration from the Bible and they are just ignored. The Prodigal Son parable is a clear teaching on repentance and the Prodigal Son left the pig pen in order to come before the father. Yet it is just ignored, the teachings of Jesus don't mean anything.
The teachings of Jesus are subject to a preconceived theology instead of our theology being subject to the teachings of Jesus. What foolishness. What utter foolishness.
Then all this constant talk about "earning." Earning and Perfection, the two favourite strawman lies which people formulate to attack to justify being saved in sins.
The Prodigal Son did not EARN forgiveness. Forsaking his rebellion was just meeting a condition that forgiveness be granted. It is just easier to create a strawman and attack that.
All this just goes to show that you have absolutely no idea as to what I am talking about cfultz. Not a clue in the slightest.
God is not looking for perfection in order to justify someone. He is looking for people to repent and forsake their sin and yield to Him with all their heart, soul and mind. Jesus taught in the parable of the sower that the seed which fell on the good and noble heart was the seed that produced fruit, 30, 60 and 100 fold. Yet most seed today is choked out by the thorns of sin.
We are to walk in faithful obedience. That doesn't mean never falling short, it simply means we are not in rebellion anymore. A very simple truth.
You cannot serve God and Satan at the same time. It is a very simple truth. Light and darkness do not mix. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot be obedient and disobedient at the same time. You are in one camp or the other.
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and
that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.