Not By Works

I agree with what you say.

Yet I'm confused with "We are not required to activate our flesh"

Can you explain it to this dummy please

I agree with what you say.

Yet I'm confused with "We are not required to activate our flesh"

Can you explain it to this dummy please

Mr. BillG you are so funny and no dummy!!... sadly churches send us more on path of bondage than freedom, I just know that if we look at sanctification as a goal in life we miss completely what Jesus has already given us by His Grace.

I think all the exhortations are in the scripture for a reason, because we have an independent will and God does not override this, neither are we called to strive in our own effort to sin less and less....we already have the person within us, the one who is Sinless and Holy.

It is bigger and better than fleshy obedience ....in Christ we are called to yield and receive this is walking in the Spirit.

Allowing Him to operate through us ....how you may ask by agreeing with Him (ie renew your mind) that we are new creations in Him and the sanctification within will manifest outwardly.

Think on this ...16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly ....the message of who you are in Jesus, sanctified completely is powerful but you need to let it happen

This is why "sin less and less" is wrong because any of us can slip back into a fleshy walk, it does not mean we are less sanctified...this is a very terrible teaching....if we go back to walking by the flesh we have put aside who we are in Christ, but Christ will never abandon us.

It does not get any plainer..........Our righteous works have ZERO to do with Salvation!

English Standard Version
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Berean Study Bible
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Berean Literal Bible
He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

New American Standard Bible
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

King James Bible
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;

It does not get any plainer..........Our righteous works have ZERO to do with Salvation!

English Standard Version
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Berean Study Bible
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Berean Literal Bible
He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

New American Standard Bible
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

King James Bible
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;

It does not get any plainer..........Our righteous works have ZERO to do with Salvation!

English Standard Version
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Berean Study Bible
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Berean Literal Bible
He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

New American Standard Bible
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

King James Bible
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;

It does not get any plainer..........Our righteous works have ZERO to do with Salvation!

English Standard Version
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Berean Study Bible
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Berean Literal Bible
He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

New American Standard Bible
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

King James Bible
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;

Before you make a broad statement that NO WORKS SAVE US , you need to read John 6:29. “...this is the WORK OF god that you believe...”. You have just eliminated Faith as necessary to salvation b



If you say we are not saved by works, then you are saying we are not saved by faith! John 6:29 “!


Mark 12:24- you are mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. If you insist that we cannot be saved by works then you have just eliminated faith because faith is a work! Read it in John 6:29. Obviously you do not know that there are at least 3 or 4 different kinds of works talked about in the Bible: works of the law of Moses “whoever seeks to be justified by the law, he is fallen from Grace (Galatians), there are boastful works, “ not of works lest anyone should boast”, Ephesians , these would be works that men have thought up by themselves, not commanded by God. Playing Ball for Jesus and selling chicken dinners to raise money for good causes are some that come to my mind, mzybe you can think of others. These were the kinds of works that men on the day of judgment told Jesus “ but Lord l, Lord, have we not done many mighty works in your name? “ But Jesus said “Depart from me you who work lawlessness. “. That means without lawful authority from Jesus. Has He told you to do these things? Then you may be working without law or his authority. There are others (works of the flesh Galatians) but the most important one that you must understand is that there are also WORKS of God. These are works approved of God. They come from God, not men and they are COMMADED BY God. So yes, we ARE SAVED BY WORKS- the works of God. That’s why James says we are saved by works and Ephesians says NOT by works. There is no contradiction there between Paul and James. Paul specifically identifies the kinds of works he is talking about (boastful works) and James identifies the kind he is talking about. (Works of God).

Oops forgot this part

Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? –Gal. 3:2-3

I lived this way far too long trying to "be good" in my own self effort....let me tell you it is a losing battle especially for the born again believer, and I know for a fact God does not like it, it sets aside the riches/grace of Christ Jesus which is a complete travesty.

Are you implying faith is a work?

Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

You begin the Process of Sanctification, or is learning to walk like JESUS,

Wow, that is says it all, but I doubt you understand it properly.

it seems, as all the legalists do, that " yes, works save ".

We do not learn to walk like Jesus, that is my point .... the end point is already the beginning point....do you see, there is no process.

Before you make a broad statement that NO WORKS SAVE US , you need to read John 6:29. “...this is the WORK OF god that you believe...”. You have just eliminated Faith as necessary to salvation b

If you say we are not saved by works, then you are saying we are not saved by faith! John 6:29 “!

You will not be PERFECT at it in this BODY.

Not about sinning less and less it is about waking in the Spirit consistently as possible.

Right, it's about trusting more and more.

Are you implying faith is a work?

Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

All well here bro.
On our way back from a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords.

Tor and I celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

It's 8 here as I post.

We have had an amazing time.
Seen the beautiful creation of God.
Cruising in the Fjords.
Excuse the pun but it really does float my boat.

I could sit and watch the ocean all day.
When I do I am always reminded of Job 38-42.

It does my heart good, it humbles me.

How is my bro doing?

Faith is not a work, but in this passage the measure of faith given to us is with regards to the use of the gifts that God has distributed.

I do think "salvific" faith is a gift only "salvation" is the gift in Ephesians, you might disagree but believing and faith are one and the same and God does not do our believing for us.

That is the way I see it anyway.....