If we're saved by faith

[mailmandan]

Because we are not saved by faith alone.

We are saved through faith (rightly understood) IN CHRIST ALONE. (Romans 3:24-26; 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9 etc..). The Bible clearly states in many passages of scripture that we are saved through belief/faith "apart from additions or modifications." (John 1:12; 3:15,16,18,36; 6:40,47; 11:25,26; Acts 10:43; 13:39; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16; 3:22-28; 4:5; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8 etc..).

You don't need to add the word "alone" next to "belief/faith" in each of these passages of scripture in order to figure out that the words, "belief/faith" stand alone in connection with receiving eternal life/salvation. Do these many passages of scripture say belief/faith "plus something else?" NO. So then it's faith (rightly understood) IN CHRIST ALONE.

You need to do more than one thing to live physically (eat, breathe, drink water, etc), and you need to do more than one thing to live spirituality (repent, faith, confess, baptism, obedience, etc. All these things have scripture attaching them to salvation. Yet many people stick with just one of them (mostly faith) and claim that’s all that’s needed.

Your 5 step plan of salvation that is clothed in faulty human logic comes straight out of the church of Christ and is the result of bad semantics and flawed hermeneutics. We are saved the moment that we place our faith (belief, trust, reliance) in CHRIST ALONE for salvation. Prior to this, we repent "change our mind" and the new direction of this change of mind is faith in CHRIST ALONE for salvation. Repent and believe the gospel are two sides to the same coin. Inseparable.

In regards to confess, in Romans 10:8-10, we read - Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, "in your mouth and in your heart" (together) that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (notice the reverse order from verse 9 to verse 10) - that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Confess/believe; believe/confess. Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are not two separate steps to salvation but are chronologically together. According to your 5 step plan of salvation, such a person remains lost until after they are water baptized, in contradiction to Romans 10:8-10.

Water baptism "follows" saving belief/faith in Christ (Acts 10:43-47; 11:17,18; 15:8,9) and so do further acts of obedience/works and we are saved through faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

 

[garee]

The English word ‘appeal’ is a translation of the Greek word ἐπερώτημα meaning an appeal or request. Therefore, Peter is saying that water baptism, when it is an appeal to God requesting from Him a good conscience, “saves” the recipients of the baptism, and that this is made possible “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 3:21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (NRSV)



Genesis 6-8 is NOT a parable, and no parables are included in those three chapters! Moreover, Peter is NOT referring to the salvation of anyone’s flesh, but his or her soul—as is seen by his reference to the conscience, which is a part of a man’s soul rather than his flesh!

If without parables Christ the Holy Spirit of God spoke not .Why would it not be a parable? Did Noah and his family received the end of their faith the promised new incorruptible bodies? Or are they like all saints, all died not receiving the promise. (Hebrews 11:39)

What literally happened other than they stayed dry?

God has not left us as orphans with no way to understand the unseen spiritual understanding which he does hide his mysteries in parables. . We need all the tools as prescription he has given us to search out a matter. I would think the fear as to avoiding searching them out is not of God. But is of the god of this world who do require men walk by sight after that literally seen as if somehow the kingdom of God is of this corrupted creation..

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Co 4:18

We must compare spiritual things not seen with spiritual not seen if we are to find the good news, the pearl of great cost.

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.But as it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1Co 2:13

Comparing the spirit of the word to the same spirit of faith according as it is written. Not comparing the letter of the word as that seen to the letter. The letter kills showing us all men stand guilty. The unseen spirit heals unto eternal life.

Without parables Christ the Holy anointing Spirit spoke not. It is the signified language he uses to speak to His new creation the church.

Parables are the signified language of God designed to hide the unseen spiritual understanding from the lost and therefore giving the honor of searching out the spiritual as the gospel hid to a kingdom of priest .(the believers)

Matthew 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

Mark 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

The ark is a metaphor used in that parable to signify Christ the unseen Holy Spirit of God. The gospel is signified by water. Literal water can make nothing perfect other than getting a person wet. Water is used in ceremonial laws as shadows of the unseen as an appeal for a good conscience but like Arron sons when they were baptized its showed their appeal to be false and he slew them both . The flood represented the end of the world when the true Arch Christ comes to next time in the end of the world .

The flood in that parables used as a shadow represented the end of the world . Did the world come to an end and Noah and his family received their new incorruptible bodies or was it used as a parable for the time then present?

 

[garee]

Originally Posted by OneFaith
Because we are not saved by faith alone.

Christ's three day labor of love was not alone . He worked it out according to his faith or what he hoped would satisfy the just demands of our father in heaven . Can't separate the work of Christ from the belief or faith of Christ.

Things don't just happen without planning and having the faith to work it out .

Could you imagine our faithful Creator in a hope of creating something would appear from non matter and he would work declaring what he believed would occur but nothing did . It would show how his faith is dead seeing it produced nothing.

When he said let there be... what he hoped for as a living faith it did become sight. It is how we know what is good and what is not by believing what he says. after each order he who is not sen confirmed the things seen as good .Only God is good. Good does not come from his corrupted creation. Even the Son of man who declared His flesh profits for nothing when approached as the one good master . He attributed it to God not seen and declared again only God not seen is good.

Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

God saw ...... Likewise when he sees the blood not when we see it .We walk by faith not by sight