Not By Works

What happened to your belief in eternal salvation, or is that still to come, in Glory perhaps?

If the prize is salvation then it's something to be earned. Yet again, that makes it not a gift at all.

Thank you. That is a wonderful testimony.

Never said we have to obey the Lord to be saved. Obedience comes in our daily walk with Jesus.

He rejects the unbeliever,

and what does John say about unbelievers who once walked wiht the church?

They were NEVER OF US.

ps. What does it take be to called wicked? 1 sin,

1 sin caused the fall of mankind and the mourning of Gods creation as it dies.

1 sin can cause death (the penalty of sin is death)

if your following jesus to earn or maintain salvation by what you do when you follow him,

It is called works.

If your following because you have been saved, and you have faith his way is the right way, Then you will be sanctified, but you were saved long before you followed him

I pray one day you see the difference.

no,

then your trying to earn salvation, which is impossible.

I keep running the race so I wil not get stagnant, not get lazy, Not give into self. and commit even more sins.. than I would otherwise. not to earn salvation

We have agreed salvation is a gift. I see images of people being overcome by the tares if they do not know what it is to grow in grace.

I have things to do.

Wow, YOU ALL, have been busy the last 24 hours or so.

I love Jesus with all my heart and will follow Him all the days of my life. I try to be an example to others in my daily life and try to be like the Good Samaritan. I sincerely hope people see the love of Christ shining through in all I say and do. At the end I hope the Lord will say to me, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

The second paragraph is your post above, can't figure out how to add post as a quote.

You are right, following Jesus isn't works and it is a way of life.
It's a life that we should seek after.
A righteous life?
If one could lead a righteous life would one need Jesus?

Afterall

Romans 3:10-12
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

So we righteous by what we do.
We are righteous because of the following

Romans 3:21-26

God’s Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So we can't do the following

Romans 3:27-28

Boasting Excluded
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

We are declared righteous on account of Jesus and what he has done, having his righteousness attributed to us based on what he has done based on our faith in him.
Our Lord who died and rose again to reconcile us to the Father.
There is no one righteous other than our saviour.

If we miss this then this leads to "I must do and must do to be saved to make myself more righteous"

Rather than doing because we are saved and God has imputed the righteousness of Jesus to us and we have been justified by faith.

My friend we all want to be Jesus, we all want our light shine before men.
Our Lord will say "Well done" to those who knew him.
Not those who had great works but did not know him.

We should always encourage each to grow in Jesus, run the race with them.

If we have placed genuine saving faith in Jesus as prescribed in many verses in the Bible then he will say "Well done my good and faithful servant"

God bless you.

Bill

However we need to careful

Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Who sowed the good seed and who sowed the tares?
The tares were not sown by God.
We have good seed and it seems obvious that the good seed manifest wheat.

Matthew 13:38
38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

Matthew 13:23
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

So we see that we at the end of time Jesus will reap his harvest.
To me the tares if so sown by satan were never believers in the first place.
Their purpose being either hangers on but probably those who came to deceive the elect, if that were possible.

Matthew 24:24
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

So we righteous by what we do.

Sorry I want to clarify, the above was in post 65,990.

It should have been a question and not a statement.
Hopefully after that the rest that I posted would have made that evident.

You NEED to rethink the Parable of Ten Virgins. It is the Difference between Church Goers and Born Again Christians. NO HOLY SPIRIT IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO ONLY SETTLED FOR KNOWING ABOUT JESUS, and REALLY KNOWING HIM, Intimately, Submitting to HIM as LORD Meaning Master, AND HAVING THE HOLY SPIRIT BIRTH THEIR HUMAN SPIRIT INTO ETERNAL LIFE, AND HAVING HIM POUR GOD'S LOVE DIRECTLY INTO OUR HEARTS, Rom. 5:5.

THOSE WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THEIR HEARTS, ARE NOT ONLY THE FIVE FOOLISH VIRGINS, BUT ALSO THOSE JESUS TOLD US ABOUT IN MAT. 7.

Matthew 7:21-23 (HCSB)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but ⌊only⌋ the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’
23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’


That KNOWING HIM intimately and personally, is a synonym for BORN AGAIN, and JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, and FOREVER.

John 3:5-7 (HCSB)
5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

Matthew 25:1-13 (HCSB)
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins {Church Goers} who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.
2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible.
3 When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take olive oil with them.
4 But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps.
5 Since the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
8 But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
{That is a synanym for the Born Again experience where the HOLY SPIRIT births our human spirit into Eternal Life}
9 “The sensible ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves.’
10 “When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
11 “Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘I assure you: I do not know you!’
13 “Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.

1 John 2:4 (HCSB)
4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn't keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

EVERY SINGLE TIME it is the LACK OF NOT BEING BORN AGAIN, disqualifies one from being one:

John 1:12-13 (HCSB)
12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God,
to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.


Received Him as WHAT?


Colossians 2:6 (NIV)
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,


Romans 10:9-13 (NASB)
9 that if you confess {Not just PROFESS it, as it is not a confession unless you have willingly out of LOVE FOR HIM, actually received HIM as your LORD and Master.} with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."


It is all there, and yet so many miss it. Sadly some Churches NEVER teach Born Again, and some misinterpret it.

I personally think, at least 50% will miss the BOAT (Not get to go to heaven, because they NEVER were Born Again), having their Human Spirit birthed into Eternal Life:

Matthew 24:37-42 (HCSB)
37 As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
38 For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.
39 They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be:
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left.
42 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

Luke 17:34 (HCSB)
34 I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other will be left.


EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO DOES NOT MAKE IT, WILL BE FOR THE SAME REASON, THEY WERE NOT BORN AGAIN.

They all think they DESERVE to go to HEAVEN, because of their WORKS, and they will be bitter towards HIM:


Matthew 13:41-43 (HCSB)
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears should listen!

I agree we need to be careful and you end by saying, "
To me the tares if so sown by satan were never believers in the first place.Their purpose being either hangers on but probably those who came to deceive the elect, if that were possible.
Matthew 24:2424 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

I'm reminded of 1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

Also Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to be on our guard against these people, even on Christian forums like this:

Act 20:29-31 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Obviously, we can be drawn away and the writer of Acts tells us he tearfully warned the people of this every night and day.

May the Lord bless you and keep you all.

Salvation is not something you win on a game show, "it is the gift of God"

Ephesians2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Ummmmmmmm....your right we cannot assume eternal salvation....why? Because we can KNOW we have eternal salvation.....

HAHHAHAAHHAHHA love it.......they think it is don't they....Ummmm Monty....I will take door number three please....

I hear what you are saying.

But Jesus himself said
"Even If it was possible to deceive the elect"

So is it possible that the elect could be deceived to the point of destruction?

I don't believe that to be the case.

Yes I agree that we need be on guard against ravenous wolves, people who come to deceive.

With regards to John and and Jude such were never saved.

With regards to Acts yes may we be the same.
We need to remember that Peter went to strength and strength.
We must do the same.

Amen bro.....the very verses they use to peddle their false gospels like a street organ player in Bombay with a dancing monkey actually teaches eternal security HAHAHHAHA wow....gotta love these "I keep myself saved" crew.....also identified as the MANY that come before the throne of JESUS saying.........

HAHHA watch him start tap dancing..........bdeeeee bdeee bdeeeee