I used to love Pastor John Piper, but does he believe in Lordship Salvation?

So either way, we are required to do works. Both under the law and under grace.

A quote here from the got questions article:" James emphasizes that good actions will naturally flow from those who are filled with the Spirit"
And "James questions whether someone may or may not have a saving faith if the fruits of the Spirit cannot be seen"

It also says in the article: "He declares to them that even if they try their very best to keep all the various laws and rituals, doing so is impossible, and transgressing the tiniest part of the law made them guilty of all of it (James 2:10) because the law is one entity and breaking one part of it is breaking all of it."

I feel that those who believe that faith and works go together, after awhile they start thinking it is their works that save them. And they condemn those who they see as not bearing as much fruit as them. I have a problem with this, and I usually like to ask such people if they themselves are perfect.

Though i don't know how to harmonize all the Scriptures relating to salvation, I've always kept this one in remembrance: 1Peter 2:16 you are free, but still you are God's servants, and you must not use your freedom as an excuse for doing wrong.

So even tho I'm saved by grace, that does not mean I must live anyhow please. So that's my simple way of looking at it.

In context, "can such faith save them" is in reference to judgment:

"12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

James 2:12-14

.

Both.
We are saved from sin, legally speaking, the moment we believe.
But we are also being saved day to day, practically speaking, from the power of sin in our lives.

No, they can not be separated from salvation.
You can't be saved unless you are justified. And justification results in regeneration and sanctification.
Ultimately, the absence of regeneration and sanctification in a person's life indicates they have not been justified in Christ.

Thank you.
I gathered the following ideas from different posts:
"Faith is given to me as a gift from God"

I think I have the free will to accept or deny the gift of salvation, there are many sermons but it's not every sermon(referring to sermons about salvation)that will convince me of my sinful state and my need for a savior.

I don't consider my free will to be an act of work as it has northing to do with how I treat people. The word "work"is mostly mentioned in relation to how one treats people and not how one exercises his or her mental ability. I think the idea of God inserting His faith in me prior to responding in trust bypasses man's free will.

1Thes1:5"our gospel did not come only in word but also in power, in the Holy Spirit and in great conviction". Great Conviction in these text has resulted in the above thoughts, along with the other posts I read.

"God inserts His faith in me"
Every mental activity falls away once I respond in trust in God. I think that is where God inserts His faith in me lest I boast.

Please correct me or put everything I said in the proper perspective

I gathered the following ideas from different posts:
"Faith is given to me as a gift from God"

I think I have the free will to accept or deny the gift of salvation, there are many sermons but it's not every sermon(referring to sermons about salvation)that will convince me of my sinful state and my need for a savior.

I don't consider my free will to be an act of work as it has northing to do with how I treat people. The word "work"is mostly mentioned in relation to how one treats people and not how one exercises his or her mental ability. I think the idea of God inserting His faith in me prior to responding in trust bypasses man's free will.

1Thes1:5"our gospel did not come only in word but also in power, in the Holy Spirit and in great conviction". Great Conviction in these text has resulted in the above thoughts, along with the other posts I read.

"God inserts His faith in me"
Every mental activity falls away once I respond in trust in God. I think that is where God inserts His faith in me lest I boast.

Please correct me or put everything I said in the proper perspective

There are multiple schools of thought on how salvation works. I will convey mine. Obviously, I think my understanding is correct or it wouldn't be my understanding.

Aside: You may of noted that I used the dictionary to define words in the past.

I will explain via the logical order of salvation. I say logical because many of these event occur at the same time.

1) Faith cometh by hearing. Romans 10:17 This can be called the GENERAL CALL. First one must hear the gospel. Some will accept, other will not. I will explain why IMO later. Those that don't hear the gospel are lost. (Roman 1) Aside: I don't want to go down this tangent now.

2) God, in eternity past chose who would be saved. They are not chosen due to any characteristic God knows of them. They don't even exist at this point. They are nothing. You cannot obtain knowledge from nothing. Eph. 1:4

Step 3 to 6 happen at the same time. They are listed in logical order.

3) The ones God selected in step 2 are, at some point in their life, regenerated by the Spirit. Regeneration is the instantaneous impartation of eternal life by the Holy Spirit to the spiritually dead; it is to be “born again”. God is the author (John 1:13; John 6:63), the Holy Spirit is the agent (John 3:8) or efficient cause and the Word of God is the instrument (John 15:3; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23).
...Regeneration is irresistible. That means EVERYONE selected by God to be regenerated will be saved and none will be lost later in life.

4) You are put IN CHRIST. " In Christ” may describe a Christian better than any other phrase. Also phrased as “in him”, “in the beloved”, “by him”, “through him” and “with him”. To be in Christ is to partake of all that Christ has done, all that He is, and all that He will ever be. Union in Christ includes union with His death, burial, and resurrection in a judicial sense. This is the best deal you will ever partake. Your sins are imputed to Christ and His righteousness is imputed to you. (Imputation - to be treated as if you did something ... example: citizen of U.S. so certain rights and recognition given you though you did nothing to earn them)

5) You are given faith/belief and repentance. You depraved will (Romans 3:10-19) is changed by God. You cannot change your will due to your depravity. God must do it for you. "Free will" is defined as "We always choose what we desire most". You will never seek God unless He changes your will. God changes your will by giving you faith/belief and repentance. You 'free will' now and forever will believe and obey God.
There is much debate about this. Others will say you can decide to chose God and not. Therefore I list the following verses show faith comes from God, not oneself. Roman 12:3, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, Eph. 2:8-9, Phil. 1:29, Jeremiah 24:7, Luke 17:5, John 6:29, Acts 3:16, 1 Corinthians 2:5, Hebrews 12:2 .. I could do more
The following verses show it is God will who is saved: John 1:12-13, Matthew 11:27, John 6:63-65, Romans 9:16, Ephesians 1:4-5, Eph. 1:11,
I could go on..

6) You are justified by faith. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us positionally and judiciously as righteous in his sight due to the “righteousness of Christ; imputed to us, and received by faith alone (faith by the instrumental cause) (Genesis 15:3; Acts 13:39; Romans 3:23; Romans 4:5; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:24; John 3:18; John 6:28-29; John 8:23-24; John 20:31). It is predicated upon “Christ’s fulfillment of the law” and “his substitutionary death” as a ransom payment for the believer.

7) Sanctification -to be “set apart” from that which is unholy to that which is holy. Sanctification is that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation, by which the holy disposition imparted in regeneration is maintained and strengthened. God does not share with us the work of sanctification, any more than he shares with us the work of justification. He must do all (1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Peter 1:2).

8) Glorification - glorification speaks of the sanctification and moral perfection that we will take on at the resurrection, when Christ appears. We shall be made like Christ and take on His holiness, perfection and immortality.

That's how it works in my opinion and many other theologians. Other will disagree. I will let them state their opinion (or as they would state it .. the correct biblical interpretation).

Warning: There are many verses that the other side(s) may present to support their ideas. Beware of verses where it say things like ...
you must do "X" to be saved. These statements is true, but they do not say WHAT CAUSES you are to do "X" or "Y" to be saved. Because God is not detectable by the 5 senses one assumes that what ever you are asked to do, you do via your own power without God causing you to do it. So seek verses that explicitly tell you what is the cause of you to do "X" or "Y" for salvation. When the verse gives a cause I am confident it will say God is the cause. I am confident you will not find a verse that says GOD did not cause "X" to happen, you did it yourself. THUS, NONE CAN BOAST. THUS, NONE CAN DO A WORK FOR SALVATION.

IMO
Aside: Don't take anyone's word for it. Read three SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY books for yourself. I say three so you will get several opinions. Ignore any statement not backed up by scripture. I don't want to mention 3 books as that would bias your search. Good Luck on your quest for truth.
Aside2: I like gotquestions.com. It is a place to get answers.

Jews always regarded salvation as a future event, that will take place when Jesus returns to usher them into the promised kingdom.

That is their blessed hope, the concept of being saved right now is alien to them. Thus they see their task as repenting now and making sure they do well in the midst of trials so that they can be considered worthly to be saved when Jesus returns.

If you read Hebrews to Revelations, that is commonly spoke of. They were expecting the Tribulation to come very soon.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1 Peter 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Yes.
That is how I understand it.
The ability to know the gospel really is true is a gracious gift of God given to us so that we can then trust in Christ and be saved.

I agree with this.

This is true.
Only the Holy Spirit can convince a person of their sinfulness and their need for forgiveness.
The hope is that the conviction of the Holy Spirit will come through the spoken word when the gospel is preached:

"44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message." - Acts 10:44

"36“...God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?" - Acts 2:36-37

Paul does say the works that don't justify are the works of the law, specifically.
We Christians do have the habit of leaving off the 'of the law' part when referring to the works of the works gospel.

The agent of 'faith' is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit speaks the testimony of God about Jesus to our hearts.
That testimony is irrefutable for it is the voice of God himself, convincing the person of the truthfulness of the gospel.
And so it is in that way that faith is in you before you decide one way or the other about believing in the truth.

I would adjust what you're saying this way:
Prior to salvation, the Holy Spirit is in you in the sense that he is speaking the truth to your heart. He's inside you that way. That's the call of God. But he takes up residence in you and seals you in himself when you respond to his his call with trust in Jesus and are saved.

Thank you. I will do a thorough research

To summarize your school of thought. God changes my deprave will by giving me faith/belief, therefore, what God did in the beginning will sustain and keep me from loosing my salvation

Now I understand "once saved always saved", however, I cannot help it but wonder why Paul said in 1Tim4:1-2"The Spirit clearly says in later times some will abandon "The Faith"...
(it doesn't say their Faith but The Faith)

Thank you.

To summarize your school of thought. Faith is in me before I decide to believe. That faith is as the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. I can choose to respond in trust and I can also choose to respond in doubt at a later stage as per 1Tim4:1-2" The Spirit clearly says that in late times some will abandon The Faith"...

Agreed

Re: "once saved always saved" ... the definition of this varies depending on who you talk to. Some believe, so I am told, that this means that anyone making a confession of faith will go to heaven even though their life shows they did not trust (trust is an element of faith as is knowledge and assent).
Rather than get stuck with a definition that varies I will state it the way I believe it works.
God foreknew who he would save before the foundation of the earth. The following will happen to these people:
1) They will hear the gospel
2) The Spirit will regenerate them
....a) God will give them Faith and Repentance (Conversion)
....b) They will be IN CHRIST
.........i) Their sins are imputed to Christ
.........ii) Christ righteousness will be imputed to them
3) They will go through process of sanctification (becoming more Christlike though some 'highs' and 'lows'
4) The Spirit seal them (their salvation cannot be lost (John 6:39 and this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day
5) They are glorified

Your other point ... Some say we can lose our salvation ... I strongly believe you cannot lose your salvation, but everyone can be incorrect.
To be fair, there is scripture that seemingly supports both sides of the argument. I could dump a lot of stuff on you, as could the other side. Maybe I will answer it this way:
If you believe God chooses who he will save and gives them faith and does not lose any He has chosen
..........then you will believe you cannot lose your salvation because your eternal security is guaranteed by the ALMIGHTY
If you believe that it is up to you to have faith which comes from yourself
......... then you have to depend on yourself to finish God's work of salvation
I depend on God (doesn't make my contention right) while others depend on themselves (doesn't make my contention wrong)

Question for you: If you must do something to save yourself and continue to be saved, how is the not a WORK? (work = mental/physical endeavor to achieve a goal ... something God has asked you to do )

Are you making a comparison between gentiles and Jews, in that you are saying when gentiles seek to do good they are trying to work for their salvation?

No I am merely trying to establish my topic sentence in the previous post "the concept of being saved right now is alien to them"

For us now, under the gospel of grace, we are saved NOW, the moment we believe in 1 Cor 15:1-4

Thank you so much.

I am torn between two doctrines:
1. I am uncomfortable in the idea that one has to make use of their free will so as to be saved. Salvation is a gift from God and the glory should belong to Him alone.

2. I am also uncomfortable in the idea that once saved always saved. It makes one to devalue good deed/good works/righteousness and also condones a worldly lifestyle.

Question: Both doctrines are not perfect so how did you decide which one you would uphold?
Question: which doctrine has more scriptural reference?

Romans to Philemon is where OSAS came from.

The rest of the Bible is where non-OSAS came from.

You decide which side has "more scriptural reference"

Thank you

I really like useful distinctions like this one. It reminds me of the way I've seen "Faith without works is dead" approached. You don't have to work to be saved, but if you are saved works will necessarily result. There are just things that you end up doing if you believe someone died for your sins.

So if works don't result, you are not really saved?