Not By Works

SALVATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DEEDS.

Are you saying part of works is our part of insuring SALVATION? If so, then that IS A FALSE GOSPEL, and I am prepared to show you why, and I hope you do not mind, or get offended. You apparently do not KNOW, that SALVATION took place before we were even BORN, and we Received it that Moment Saving Faith from the HOLY SPIRIT came into our heart. Before any deeds took place, because SALVATION is solely of the Human Spirit. Yes I know that there are verse that talk about the saving of the body, BUT THAT IS A REFERENCE TO SANCTIFICATION, and should NEVER be Confused with SALVATION of the Human Spirit.

John 3:6 (HCSB)
6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 🡸 Notice, Born Again has NOTHING to do with the BODY, is only effects the Human Spirit. HE immerses our Human Spirit to into the Spiritual Body of CHRIST, 1 Cor. 12:13, and puts GOD's LOVE IN OUR HEARTS, Rom. 5:5. With GOD's LOVE in us, we can never return to the old way of life, we are a NEW CREATION:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

What you have been thinking about the body learning to walk like CHRIST, is actually SANCTIFICATION. It takes a LIFETIME, and we will not be perfect until the Resurrection. Trying to merge SALVATION and SANCTIFICATION is impossible, and LEADS to a multiple of ERRORS in translation.

When DID GOD SAVE US?

2 Timothy 1:9 (HCSB)
9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

The VERY MOMENT HE PLANNED OUR SALVATION, just before HE wrote our NAMES IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

When DID WE RECEIVE SALVATION?

When we first wanted JESUS CHRIST TO BE OUR LORD AND MASTER, Rom. 10:9-10, BEFORE ANY DEEDS could be ACCOMPLISHED.

Ephesians 1:11-14 (HCSB)
11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,
12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 🡸 Long before your first deed, you received SALVATION, everything after that is part of SANCTIFICATION.
14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

Galatians 2:16 (HCSB)
16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.

Romans 5:1 (NASB)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
................PAST TENSE ⮵

Romans 5:8-10 (NASB)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Does that make sense to you? I hope and pray? You see, I used to be just like you. Thought Salvation was just Part of Sanctification.
I was a Lutheran, and thought that my infant Baptism was part of what saved me. HOWEVER, after Three Attempts at SUICIDE the last week of 1977, I KNEW I WAS ON THE WRONG ROAD, headed to the DESTRUCTION OF HADES/HELL. I broke down and cried when the CONVICTION CAME AT ME WAVE, AFTER WAVE, AND like a Baby wept great sobbing TEARS, begging HIM TO FORGIVE ME for my whole Lifestyle, over and over again, for over 2 hours. When I RECEIVED HIM, the HOLY SPIRIT GAVE ME A PRAYER, because the Church I was in NEVER taught Born Again. I PRAYED, and MEANT IT WITH MY WHOLE HEART (Human Spirit): "Lord Forgive Me, Lord Forgive Me! If you have a purpose for my life, You are going to have to come into to it, and run it. I can't do it, I am making a total mess of it." I meant that prayer with my whole being, and no one in my Church ever prayed like that. IT WAS A TOTAL SURRENDER TO HIM, AND I WOULD NEVER TAKE IT BACK THE CONTROL, EVER!

OH, YES, HE REALLY DID TAKE CONTROL OF MY LIFE!

So would you like to share what You think romans 3:21 Is saying and then when you combine that with romans 4:5, what is the conclusion you will get?

The fact that Jesus states faith the size of a mustard seed is still great faith says a lot about the power and beauty of faith.

James said --Show me YOUR FAITH and HE QUALIFIES what faith he is addressing by....even the DEMONS BELIVE! Paul said...Therefore we conclude that a man is justified "BEFORE GOD" by faith without the deeds/works of the law...

context and verbiage man....!!!

They absolutely cannot grasp being justified before God and how that actually takes place.

All before being truely saved you say...wow man.....You really have missed the mark dude

Luke 24:10-11
[10] It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. [11] And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

None of the disciples believed the resurrection yet.

So true... if one is still "working" for justification hard to grasp ceasing from work.

Romans 4:5 (AMP) - But to the one who does not work [that is, the one who does not try to earn his salvation by doing good], but believes and completely trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God). 6 And in this same way David speaks of the blessing on the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

Have no idea how you can surmise my post as "robbing faith." As for the verse(s) being directed towards Israel, everything in the bible can be directed towards any nation, individual, group.

Amen.

The succinct fact here is that Abraham had "faith" that God would work things out because of his great "faith" he knew he could trust God to intervene. After-all, God had promised that through his son a great nation would evolve.

You repeat the word "context" but you've presented nothing really about the context that indicates James is talking about a different justification than Paul. Yes, James is ridiculing the flat belief some call "faith" that is not justifying faith. He states "show me your faith" to bring forth that such a thing does not exist. Without actions that are in line with the faith it is not the faith that saves. It is clear he is speaking of the same justification Paul refers to because he cites the same Scripture Paul cites(Genesis 15:6) and highlights how what Abraham did was in agreement with what he believed. The whole of the argument points to James clarifying what saving faith is rather than explaining how to demonstrate such a faith before men.

The first requires more explanation than I care to go through in a post, but the second I should be able to address fairly quickly. Any verse can be directed towards any nation, true, but in order to get a meaning out of the verse we must be able to see that within the intended meanings of the original context. The context of Isaiah 64 limits the usage of Isaiah's words to a situation in which a gross sin is being committed and nothing within the context suggests he was making an anthropologic point so it is inappropriate to use it for such a point. The same is true of Psalm 51 and Romans 3:10 which are often stripped of their context for the same point.

You should really stay with the last statement, rather than trying to harmonize faith + works for salvation which is contrary to James and Paul. James knew the plan of salvation and he knew that faith alone justifies and he writes nothing to the contrary.

Works do not complete faith. It is Christ Jesus who completes faith, He is author and finisher of our faith because of His work.

Can I make a suggestion please?

When you make a post with many sentences can you break then into paragraphs.

It makes the post easier to read.

Thanks

Romans 3:21 must be understood within the context of everything that came before it which was a discussion of how God made known to men the reality of sin via the law. Paul then pivots to speak of the revelation of what it means to truly be righteous and appeals to the universal nature of this revelation since He appeared before all men. This ties into Romans 4 because it highlights that the Jews are not the special caretakers of this revelation and their heritage is by faith not the physical descendency from Abraham. All of this is to address the problem in the Roman church which arose from the exile of the Jews from the city causing there to be a Jewish church and a gentile church within Rome rather than having the mixed multitudes of other churches.

James literally says "You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;" so to deny that works perfect faith is to deny what the Bible actually says because you can't let James speak for himself. I agree James writes nothing to the contrary of the actual plan of salvation, what I deny is Luther's separation of sanctification from justification because the Bible makes no such distinction. Where there is sanctification there is justification, and where there is justification there is sanctification. Without works, faith is dead.

I appreciate the suggestion and will try to keep it in mind when I make posts.

Thank you and I apologize for writing bricks of text.

No apology needed.

Post away
With
Broken
Sentences
And
Paragraphs

😎