Justification by faith alone, anathema?
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Very good questions. Works are a reflection of love, first the love of GOD by following his commands, to love him with all your heart, second to love your neighbor as yourself as thought by Jesus the messiah;
The Great Commandment
Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Mat 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Some examples of works can be found in the following verses that came to mind, I have added all verses of this chapter for proper context;
The Final Judgment
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fedthee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and tookthee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
As for how much works, as much as the lord will allow you.
Peace be with you.
JF
The Great Commandment
Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Mat 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Some examples of works can be found in the following verses that came to mind, I have added all verses of this chapter for proper context;
The Final Judgment
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fedthee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and tookthee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
As for how much works, as much as the lord will allow you.
Peace be with you.
JF
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Hi emprezza,
Paul had these sorts of accusations while he was preaching and teaching. That he wasn't an apostle etc etc.. Yet he met Peter and James Gal 1:18-20. Infact he didn't go there made an apostle he already was one. And of Galatians we see another defence of his Apostleship an authority delegated by the Messiah. Those who say Paul is not teaching the gospel and replace it with something else are accursed.. I would assume stating that the Messiahs delegated witness who has Messiahs authority as an antichrist would fall into that category.
I would say calling Paul antichrist could only come from someone who is anti - Christ.
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I'm sure it ore dates the 1500's
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”. Acts 16:31.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2:8-9.
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Phil 3:9.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God John 1:12.
And of course.. We could go further back that to Abraham.
That's what was being said in the 1500's the church had lost the truth of salvation and turned it into a works righteousness. Rome wouldn't believe it so seperated itself from the universal (catholic) Church. The Roman universal (Catholic) teaching is not the universal (Catholic) gospel. That is justification is by faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone.. And our sole authority in matters of faith is scripture alone.
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The only time Scripture mentions Faith Alone is when it explicitly says Justification is NOT by faith alone (or faith only)!
"18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [f]your works, and I will show you my faith by [g]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [h]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [i]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."
God Bless.
"18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [f]your works, and I will show you my faith by [g]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [h]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [i]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."
God Bless.
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When Martin Luther, who first proposed "faith alone", saw that St. James did not agree with it, he wanted to remove it from the Canon, even though it had been in the Canon for over a 1000 years from the 4th century onward. He called it "an epistle of straw" and a "Papist(derogatory word for Catholic) epistle" just because it didn't agree with his opinion, yet it is Scripture.
"The Christian church largely relied upon the Septuagint in the canonization of the Christian Bible and Paul quotes from the Deutrocanonical books in the New Testament. In the 16th century, Martin Luther wanted to remove many books from the Bible (including the NT books of Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation) but was only successful in removing the Deuterocanonical books, apparently unaware the New Testament quotes from them as scripture.[12]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books
"The Christian church largely relied upon the Septuagint in the canonization of the Christian Bible and Paul quotes from the Deutrocanonical books in the New Testament. In the 16th century, Martin Luther wanted to remove many books from the Bible (including the NT books of Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation) but was only successful in removing the Deuterocanonical books, apparently unaware the New Testament quotes from them as scripture.[12]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books
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I would certainly that saving faith is never a faith that is alone.. But the faith that justifies is alone.. Sanctification is synergistic, but even that not of our own doing. Yet we do them.
The fact is we are Justified on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. He did the work not us. We cannot add to nor take away. But just believe and his perfect righteousness is imputed to the one who believes.
Unless of course you think Christ's work wasn't enough. That his righteousness on its own is not enough, that believer has to add his own🤔
If there's no imputation there is no sola fide, and if there's no sola fide there's no gospel.
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3 verses that say speak of obtaining eternal life after persistence/perseverance in faith and bearing fruit in good works.
"Galatians 6:7-10 +
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Romans 2:6-7 +
6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
1 Tim 6:18-19 +
18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life [i.e. eternal life].
God Bless.
"Galatians 6:7-10 +
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Romans 2:6-7 +
6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
1 Tim 6:18-19 +
18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life [i.e. eternal life].
God Bless.
Isn’t it funny that you are using Paul’s letter to justify his apostleship. He did not learn the message of Jesus. He did not even meet Jesus. John called him the antichrist and wrote that he should bridle his tongue. Peter was a little less direct. Peter said that Paul’s message was difficult for even him to understand. And Jesus said we should not believe anyone who said he has appeared in the wilderness, that his second coming would be known by everyone. All of Paul’s revelations were private and no one else could corroborate them.
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Save by faith alone yes
but we have to know what is faith
for example Noah save because of faith
in the sense he informed by God about the coming flood
because of his faith He work 10000 hours to build an ark
so faith do not mean not work
God promise to bless Abraham if he move to usrael
because of his faith he walk 2000 mile from Iraq to israel
so in this case faith cause he work
faith cause us to invite Jesus in and He will make us to be like Him, than we will bear the fruit of love it may make us work to feed the hungry, cook for them or other loving work
not because save by work, but save may make us work
we work because we save not all the way around
but we have to know what is faith
for example Noah save because of faith
in the sense he informed by God about the coming flood
because of his faith He work 10000 hours to build an ark
so faith do not mean not work
God promise to bless Abraham if he move to usrael
because of his faith he walk 2000 mile from Iraq to israel
so in this case faith cause he work
faith cause us to invite Jesus in and He will make us to be like Him, than we will bear the fruit of love it may make us work to feed the hungry, cook for them or other loving work
not because save by work, but save may make us work
we work because we save not all the way around
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