But you have been calling anyone who 'continues to believe' a works salvationist. But for some reason your 'continuing to believe' does not constitute a works gospel.
See what I mean? Now all of a sudden my continuing to believe is me trying to save myself while your's is applauded as the true gospel.
I think you two are having a misunderstanding of each other, in what you mean by what you say, perhaps because of terminology definition differences. Let me play the peace maker, and I will use simple terms to do it.
We are saved by GRACE, through Faith, and even that Faith is not of ourselves, it all is a GIFT of GOD,
Eph.2:4-9.
Even the abilitiy to
LOVE GOD is part of that GIFT, as it was poured into our heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to us,
Rom. 5:5. ALL ARE A PART OF HAVING BEEN SAVED, PAST TENSE.
We are NOT those who have only tasted the Heavenly Gift, but rather we are those who have Consumed it, and take His Word into our hearts.
Hebrews 6:4-6 (ESV)
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4 [/SUP] For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
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5 [/SUP] and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
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6 [/SUP] and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
Those who do that were not true Christians, even though they sat in pews, because they had the wrong kind of SOIL in their hearts in the first place,
Mat. 13:3-9. THEY FAILED TO CONSUME THE HEAVENLY GIFT AND HIS WORD, AN EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit is the Sower, that scatters the Seed of
FAITH AND LOVE. WHEN THAT SEED FINDS FERTILE SOIL IN THE HEART, IT WILL BE WATERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH THE WORD OF GOD (LIVING WATER). Therefore if that Salvation born of the Seed of Faith and GOD's LOVE, happened for REAL; it WILL produce an ongoing crop of LOVING OBEDIENCE in our lives,
John 14:15. NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE,
but because of what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are doing in the Fertile Soil of our hearts.
THEREFORE, this is WHO GETS ALL THE CREDIT:
Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
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6 [/SUP]
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Titus 3:5-7 (HCSB)
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5 [/SUP]
He saved us—
not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
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6 [/SUP] He poured out this ⌊Spirit⌋ on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
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7 [/SUP] so that having been
justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
CAN BOTH OF YOU, PH and DC, agree totally with the above post?
See we do not get to pat ourselves on the back for any part of our Salvation and Justification.