Go for it.
Romans 11:6 (HCSB)
6 Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.
Titus 3:4-7 (GWT)
4 However, when God our Savior made his kindness and love for humanity appear,
5 he saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain his approval. Instead, because of his mercy he saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal.
6 God poured a generous amount of the Spirit on us through Jesus Christ our Savior.
7 As a result, God in his kindness has given us his approval and we have become heirs who have the confidence that we have everlasting life.
Not because of works of righteousness we have done, not because we did the required number of good works, not because we rubbed HIM the right way like He was a Magic Genie; BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US ON THE CROSS, A COMPLETE GIFT OF GOD, NOTHING TO BE ADDED TO IT. Where does Obedience come from then? IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SALVATION; but it has EVERYTHING to do with GOD's LOVE that HE HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT POUR INTO OUR HEARTS, Rom. 5:5. God's love HE poured into our hearts, will produce or spawns that same kind of love HE poured into our hearts. YES, Obedience is produces in us by that LOVE.
So you do not get to pat yourself on the back for obedience, because it is something GOD put in us.
Romans 3:27-28 (TLB)
27 Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why?
Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him.
28 So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.
1 Peter 1:3-6 (HCSB)
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials
Ephesians 2:8-9 (HCSB)
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
Romans 4:4-5 (CSBBible)
4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous,
his faith is credited for righteousness.
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Still looking for the questions I asked in Post #72, 496, to be answered.
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