I absolutely do acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, as do all believers. I acknowledge Jesus as Lord who came in the flesh and taught regarding eternal life. John 3:14 - As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 6:28 - Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
John 6:40 - For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day ... 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
John 11:25 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
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 9-10) - 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.
1 Corinthians 12:3 - Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except BY the Holy Spirit. There is divine influence or direct operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person when confessing Jesus as Lord. This confession is not just a simple acknowledgment that Jesus is the Lord (even the demons believe that), but is a deep personal conviction that Jesus is that person's Lord and Savior. So simply believing in our head (and not in our heart) that God raised Him from the dead does not result in righteousness and simply giving lip service to the words "Jesus is Lord" not by the Holy Spirit is not unto salvation.
Trusting and believing in Jesus does not include trusting in works for salvation. (John 6:28-29; Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9) That's trusting in self. I've heard numerous works-salvationists (including Roman Catholics, Mormons and SDA's along with other misguided teachers of the law) cite Matthew 19:16-30 in their efforts to pervert the gospel and teach salvation by works.
Jesus was testing this rich young man who confidently and (self righteously) declared that he has kept the commandments from his youth up and qualified for heaven under those terms. Yet Jesus knew the man's wealth had become his idolatrous god, which kept him from believing in Jesus. The rich young man missed the point that Jesus was making, failed to place his faith in Jesus for salvation, and continued instead to trust in his riches (vs. 21-23). The rich young man went away sad because he could not part from his great wealth, not even in exchange for eternal life.
*If keeping the commandments is the basis or means by which we "obtain" eternal life, then why isn't this remark the pattern for all discussions concerning eternal life? Why didn't Jesus mention "keeping the commandments" IN ADDITION to believing in Him in John 3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26? Why didn't Peter say, "whoever keeps the commandments" shall receive remission of sins in Acts 10:43? Instead, Peter said - .."whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. Why didn't Paul mention to the jailer who asked, "what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) by replying in Acts 16:31, "keep the commandments, and you will be saved?" Instead, Paul said - "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.."
Jesus knows the hearts of all men and responds to each individual a little differently because He knows where their need is. He didn't respond to the woman at the well, or to Nicodemus or to the rich young man the exact same way, yet the consistent pattern in scripture is obtaining eternal life through believing in Him/faith in Christ. *BTW nobody has "perfectly obeyed" all the commandments (except for Jesus) and the Greek word for "keep" is "tereo" which means to guard, observe, watch over and not perfectly obey. In 1 John 2:3, we read - By this we know that we have come to know Him, (already have come to know Him - John 17:3) if we keep (guard, observe, watch over) His commandments. This is the demonstrative evidence that we have already come to know Him/are already saved.
I was once in a discussion with a Roman Catholic who claims that he did not teach salvation by works, then afterwards contracted himself by making this statement below:
We ARE saved by faith - as long as you properly define "Faith". Faith is NOT simply "believing". Faith INCLUDES: Being baptized, eating His body and drinking His blood/partaking the Lord's Supper during Mass, works of mercy and charity, obeying his commandments, doing the will of the Father etc..
*Notice how this Roman Catholic re-defined faith to "include" works and the end result is salvation through faith + works. *Works-salvationists in general make this same error.
*In context, who was Jesus addressing here? - The Pharisees and scribes. NOT believers.
Descriptive of works-salvationists (Matthew 7:21-23)
Yes, go makes disciples, baptize converts and teach them to obey everything Jesus has commanded, which does not include teaching and seeking salvation by works.
I find it interesting that LGW (prior to getting banned from CC) quoted this scripture a lot and accused believers of failing to hears the words of Jesus and keep them, yet LGW perverted the gospel by teaching salvation by "grace plus law, faith plus works."
I acknowledge and humbly receive the true teachings of the Lord and I also trust in Jesus Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of my salvation. I just don't trust and believe in your misinterpretation of scripture that results in works salvation.