Justification by faith alone, anathema?

Faith Without Works Is Dead

James 2:14-26 (NKJV)
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.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [a]your works, and I will show you my faith by [b]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [c]dead? 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 [d]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [e]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.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

PEACE,

JF

It is important, because the Confusion shows the definite need to
prayerfully And Carefully study God's Word Of Truth, in His Contexts
(Rule 3 Of Bible study Rules), Rightly Divided, in order to Biblically
answer said confusion (that God is not the author of!):

God’s Context Of ‘prophecy/law’ program:

• TWELVE Apostles (Mat. 10:2; Luk 6:13, 22:14;
Acts_1:26 = “ALL ‘FILLED With The Holy Ghost’” ch. 2 v. 4!)

• gospel of the kingdom (Mat. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14; Mar 1:14-15)

• Commission (Mat. 28:19-20)


Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15) From “Things That Differ” (online)

God’s Context Of GRACE / Mystery Program Has Its Own:

• Apostle (Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 2:7)

• Gospel Of GRACE (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 2:8-9)

• Commission (2 Cor. 5:14-21; Eph. 3:9) To "The Body Of Christ!":

"Grace Through faith," Apart From ALL [man's] works, To Eternal Life!
(Eph 2:8-9; Rom 3:24, 4:5; Tit 3:5-7; Now God's OPERATION 1Co 12:13)

Conclusion: TWO Different programs are Not the same; Never Mix
them Up in Confusion (Romans_11:6), Correct?
-----------------------------------------------------
Are we sure we are "Approved Unto God"?



GRACE, Peace, And JOY...

No matter how nice you come across you are still promoting a heretical cult.

Like a viper disguised as a lamb.

be careful that you are not led astray by Paul’s lies which he himself admitted to.

“But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:5-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.3.5-7.ESV

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:19-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.9.19-21.ESV

I would ask Paul the following question—>
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭8:36‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.8.36.ESV

Even Peter says Paul’s teaching is hard to understand. The faith alone premise have many deceived into thinking their salvation is secure while they continue to live in sin. Jesus will say to sinners “depart from me, I do not know you”.

Doesn’t that sound like the devils work to you? The devil is still trying to separate us from God’s fellowship.

Dear Chris, brother in Christ, I have posted a few threads ( a few more to come ) about false prophets, teachers. The objective was an important one, that people part of a cult or following false doctrine have the tools to distinguish the true word of GOD. You have forgotten the words of Jesus the messiah who came in the flesh. To redeeme us , to teach us the truth and proclaim the kingdom of GOD. I do hope you verify the words you speak of behalf of your teacher against the word of GOD or the teachings of Jesus. Could you for a moment consider you are following a different Gospel that Jesus was teaching? In doubt you will never go wrong following only the teachings of Christ, he is true and the only way.

Be very careful and be very wise, remember the words of the serpent (satan), in genesis how he twisted the truth and nullified the commands of GOD when the serpent said;

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wastnaked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall beto thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Peace,

JF

Peter agrees with Paul, Paul is Peters beloved brother. In fact Peter says he is 'our' beloved brother, who teaches the same salvation as Peter.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.


This next bit refers to you emprezza:

There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures____

-___take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability (2 Peter 3:15ff)

Peter says that people like you are ignorant, unstable, and you twist scripture to your own distruction. No one should follow you or listen to you as you are lawless and unstable. To get straight to the point a heretic.

Yet I’m not the one who was persecuting Christians then lied about private revelations in the wilderness. Paul admitted in writing to lying in order to gain followers.

Jesus said his second coming will be apparent to all —>
“So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:26-27‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.24.26-27.ESV

If we are to believe Paul, Jesus already had his second coming that only he knows about.

Don’t be fooled by Peters politeness both Paul and Peter disagreed on many topics. —>
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/gal.2.11.ESV

My analysis is that Paul was simply too well connected for mere fishermen to condemn him in stronger terms. However, the inconsistency between the two viewpoints is laid out in the Bible for you to learn from.

““Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:16‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.10.16.ESV

So Peter is lying by what he said, about Paul.. A beloved brother, and Paul is a lier.

I think your doctrine is demonic.

I know well the reference you mention, I am currently researching it, it is a complex issue but in essence the are particular verses that are contested. In other scriptures, there is evidence that Peter is not O.K. with the teachings of paul. I will explain when I know more. I will definitely post on this when ready. I will not elaborate until then, it may take time.

Peace and many Blessings be upon you,

JF

I didn’t say Peter is lying. I said he was being polite. Paul had no such social graces on the other hand.

Calling my doctrine demonic only serves to prevent others from questioning their own beliefs for fear of being ostracized. But if you don’t ask questions of things that people tells you, do you truly know whether you believe it?

Hi Jesusfollower,

It's good you look into these things 👍.

I think you may be referring to Peter siding with judaizers until Paul rebuked him. For Peter feared those who visited. As Paul said he acted hypocritically. Thats not saying he disagreed with Paul.. For he was eating with Gentiles before the judaizers arrived. He just acted hypocritically.. But the problem was resolved. In fact Peter agreed with Paul, if you read galatians.

But it's good you search these things out for yourself 👍. Don't be fooled by those who as Peter says 'twist Paul's teaching to their own distruction'.

You cannot have people under bondage if you preach and accept justification by faith alone.. To exploit people and get them to work works for you,, you have to push a works salvation religion.. The catholic religion has a lot of people under bondage to them because they have them indoctrinated into their works salvation religion..

Wasn't Ephesians written in the first century? Seems it's been around at least since then.
Question though: in Matthew 7 why does Jesus say to those who call Him Lord Lord to depart from Him? Don't they even list their works and yet are still sent away. Why was that? If you look at their works they would seem to exceed those of most here probably.

2 Peter 3:15,16 KJV
15And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

According to the above passage, Peter said that those who are unlearned and unstable distort Paul’s letters, as well as the Old Testament scriptures, with the end result being their own destruction.

I guess you will come back and read these replies, but calling Paul a liar certainly falls outside of what is revealed by Paul or his co-Apostle, Peter, who vouched for him.

So what you’re doing is actually just accusing Paul, it’s false though. I’ll be the first to admit many “Christians” have called me a liar before, too, the irony is that calling someone a liar who isn’t lying is actually lying. Isn’t calling someone a liar who isn’t lying bearing false witness? That’s why it isn’t for people to judge someone else’s alleged sins.

It’s better to reserve your judgments on people or judgement can return to you swiftly, maybe instantly. In the case of the Bible, it isn’t wise for you to create doubt in a single part of the OT or NT because it undermines the integrity of the whole Bible.

I won’t leave you without a solution, but your ignorance, arrogance, and possible malicious intent won’t help you. You need to repent and place your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins if you haven’t already.

The question of a justification by works that flow from faith, is one tricky problem to deal with.

James 2:14
What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

That is the million dollar question that James asks the reader.

Is it possible to have a faith in Jesus without even one work and still be saved?

I would answer no, we are a new creation in Christ and created for those very works.

So it would be impossible to have a faith devoid of works.

I honestly think that Paul would answer the question James asked, shown below.

We are saved by grace through faith and that is a gift of God. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. So anyone claiming faith without any works is not a Christian.
In other words, you can talk the talk, but you must also walk the walk.

Does that mean that we are saved by faith and works? Certainly not. We are always saved only by grace through faith in the end.

We cannot save ourselves no matter what we do!

And you show you don't understand them, if you reject pauls teaching there is no Salvation plan left for you, Only the Blood of Jesus can take away sin, And you must be born again, When you become a child of God God can't say he doesn't know his own child, so that's why you must be born again

Salvation was secured 2000 years ago when Jesus Died for the sins of the world, he proved it by raising from the grave, Salvation is by grace for anyone that comes to Jesus in Faith, That's how you are joined to God spiritually its called the new birth and it has to be done before you die (Today is the day of salvation dont harden your heart) and when you receive God in you that is your seal of eternal life as only God is immortal, HE also said he will never leave or forsake us

So believe Jesus When he said you must be born again, And follow the Gospel he gave to paul to be saved otherwise

2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Today is the Salvation you can't leave it until you die, that's when they will hear I never knew you

I perfectly understand and know what you are saying, what I find about paul and peter interactions i will post without any bias. It will take me a few months, I have to go through a lot of historical documents, fortunately I have full academia access to any library in the us and Canada. ( I never use wikipedia, I have learned a long time ago that wikipedia if FULL of mistakes)

All I want is the truth!

Blessings,

JF

That's good, there many academic commentaries out there, but you have to purchase those and their not cheap. So if you can look through academic journals online etc.

I would agree with wiki. Anyone can write and edit a wiki page. Although it can be helpful.. It may not be very accurate. Thats why (usually) you will not be allowed to quote from wiki in any academia (for any work you hand in).

What subject matter/topic would you be searching for?