Until you start a life of Faith an faithing , Your stuck outside of Christ at the drawing of the Father phase of the Salvation process . It begins with pisteuo , pisteuo in the Vines Greek dictionary , " a personal surrender to Him and a life inspired by such surrender " . The Strongs , " pisteuo means NOT just to believe ."
My life of faith started several years ago when I
placed my faith (belief, trust, confidence, reliance) in Jesus Christ alone for salvation after leaving the Roman Catholic church, so I am not stuck outside of Christ at the drawing of the Father phase, but I find your false accusation to be ironic.
Although it is our responsibility to choose to believe and we will be held accountable for unbelief (John 3:18), saving faith in Christ is never exclusively a matter of human decision. Unless the Father draws us in and enables us (John 6:44,65), we would NEVER come to believe all by ourselves. The approach of the soul to Christ is initiated by the Father, but He doesn't force us to choose Christ, we must choose Him. The impulse to faith in Christ comes from God.
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation—having also
believed, you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. According to Ephesians 1:13 and Romans 1:16,
believing the gospel is enough to be saved and does not leave you stuck outside of Christ.
As I already previously explained to you (but unfortunately it continues to fall on deaf ears) John 1:12 is attached with "a personal surrender to Him" in Vine's definition. John 1:12 - But as many as
received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name. There is the personal surrender to Him. When we choose to
believe in/have faith in Christ unto salvation (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8) we are
entrusting our spiritual well being to Christ, along with placing confidence, trust and reliance in Him for salvation. That would be a personal surrender to Him, resulting in justification (Romans 5:1) and that is the ROOT of salvation.
The FRUIT of salvation would be living by or "out of" faith, as we see 2 Corinthians 5:7 attached with "a conduct inspired by such surrender" in Vine's definition, which reads - For we
walk/live by faith and not by sight. This is our continued walk with the Lord by which by or "out of" faith believers bear fruit/produce works. So faith in Christ is the ROOT of salvation and "a conduct inspired by surrender" which FOLLOWS and produces good works would be the FRUIT. The Vine's definition is mixing Cause and Effect.
Your alleged "complete" definition of pisteuo amounts to salvation by grace through faith PLUS WORKS, contrary to salvation through faith, NOT WORKS (Romans 4:5-6; 11:6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9 etc..). The natural man CANNOT UNDERSTAND and is SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED (1 Corinthians 2:14). The gospel is hid to those who DON'T BELIEVE (2 Corinthians 4:3,4).
As I previously mentioned in post #76,740, I have a Strong's expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible and Pisteuo #4100 says -
to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), to entrust (especially one's spiritual well being to Christ). It goes on to say, Pisteuo means not just to believe,
but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon. *Nothing there about a life inspired by such surrender which follows saving faith in Christ/fruit of faith/good works being mixed in with the definition of Pisteuo.* In the saving sense of Pisteuo, I agree with Strong's.
Saving faith is belief, trust, reliance in Jesus Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
BUT, don't lose sight of the fact that depending on the CONTEXT, Pisteuo
can mean just to believe. *In James 2:19, we see that the demons
believe "mental assent" that "there is one God," but they
do not believe/entrust their spiritual well being to Christ; have faith/confidence/reliance upon Christ for salvation. Their trust/confidence/reliance is in Satan, as demonstrated by their rebellion in heaven and continuous evil works.
*Keep in mind the Greek for "believe" in James 2:19 is Pisteuo. No personal surrender to Christ there or a life inspired by such surrender.
Until the lightbulb goes on and you realize "believing" is not the complete definition of pisteuo , as the Strongs says . And , you begin to fulfill pisteuo , as the Vines says , the Spirit of Christ , Christ , His word , and His promises in His Word are not yours yet .
Believing, trusting, confidence, reliance in Jesus Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of my salvation is the complete definition of Pisteuo, as the Strong's says. No supplements needed. Your warped view of Pisteuo based on your skewed view of Vine's and Strong's has blinded you to the truth.
Your choice . Just think a week ago you didn't have a clue . Now you do , and you will be held accountable for what you know today , not a week ago .
Your choice. You can repent and entrust your spiritual well being to Christ by placing your trust, confidence, reliance in Him as the ALL-sufficient means of your salvation or you can refuse to repent and continue to trust in works for salvation and remain in unbelief. I hope and pray that you make the right choice!
I understand and accept all the anger this had generated . I don't hold any of it against all of you . I fought for you all the best I could
You are fighting against the truth, not for the truth just as you are fighting against believers, not for them. You are not fooling me or any of my brothers and sisters in Christ on Christian Chat.
Let me know when you are ready to repent and believe the gospel.