Initial Salvation?
Ephesians 2:1 says you have been quickened (or made alive). This obviously happened one time when we first accepted the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, and we sought forgiveness with the Lord Jesus according to Romans 10:9, and Romans 10:13. We gain access to God’s grace through faith (Romans 5:2).
You said:
I'm sure what you mean by this is when one is initially saved, but one is either saved or lost (not saved).
So in some cases, a person can be saved solely by God’s grace through faith without works.
Even babies who die are not even saved by faith. They are saved solely by God’s grace (Which is provided by what Jesus did for us with His death, burial, and resurrection).
But if a believer (who has accepted God’s grace) lives out their faith, they then need to enter into the action described in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says God has chosen you to salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and a belief of the truth. Romans 8:13, and Galatians 6:8-9 also teach the same truth that you need to live a holy life by the Spirit in order to reap everlasting life. Of course many in your camp will either ignore these verses or they have some odd ball interpretation on them. But you are free to try and explain these verses from your belief if you can.
You said:
It is a state of being. That one has "everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)
I am sure you have read this verse a ton of times and never seen it.
Lets read the full version of this verse.
John 5:24
”Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
So the conditions for you to have everlasting life, and to not come into condemnation and to pass from death unto life is….
#1. Hear or obey God’s Word (i.e., heareth my word)
(Note: A similar phrase of hearing or obeying God’s Word is used by Jesus in John 8:47).
#2 Believe on him (the Father) that sent Jesus.
So we have to be meeting these two conditions. Meaning, if you are not obeying God’s Word you do not have eternal life.
This is also expressed in 1 John 2:4. The person who says they know the Lord and they do not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in them.
You said:
And if one possesses eternal life, he cannot pass from life back unto death (or the life he has is not eternal). It is a permanently finished transaction.
1 John 5:12, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
1 John 5:12, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
Actually there are tons of Scripture verses that would negate that teaching in several different categories.
I will supply these different verse lists at another time when I have more time.
Jesus alone possesses immorality. (1 Timothy 6:16).
So you have to abide in Christ in order to obtain eternal life because He is the source of life.
Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
You cannot have eternal life without Jesus.
The way we know Jesus is if we find we are keeping His commands (1 John 2:3).
You said:
The context of the second chapter of James is not salvation. The man's justifcation in verse 24 is not of his soul, but his standing before God and his testimony before the world.
There are no chapter breaks in the original manuscripts. James 1 sets the stage of discussion for James 2.
James 1:21-22 says:
21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.“
James is warning those who are wrongfully having respect of persons by saying that they need to receive the engrafted Word which is able to save their souls. This is further backed up by the fact that James 2:17 says faith without works is dead. A dead faith cannot save anyone. Plus, if you were to read James 2:24 again, it ties in works and faith in with the word ”justified.” You may try to do the fancy dance and say that “justified” in James 2:24 is in reference to being justified before men, but this same word ”justified’ is used for faith in the same verse, too. James says You see how a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24). Meaning, you are not going to argue against justification by faith is a part of salvation (which is taught in Romans 5:1). Yet, James is saying we are not justified by faith alone.
You said:
Abraham was a saved man already (as pointed out in verse 23 which explains how he was saved by faith) and he was not offering Isaac up for his own soul's salvation. He was being obedient to the God Who had already saved his soul, so that his faith was made perfect (v.22), meaning complete or mature. He showed his faith by his works.
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