The Torah is Still Binding and We Must Obey It

Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and it is by the Mosaic Law that we have knowledge of what sin is (Romans 3:20), so while we do not earn our salvation as the result of having first obeyed it, living in obedience to it through faith in Jesus is intrinsically the content of the free gift of him saving us from not living in obedience to it. Our salvation from sin would be incomplete if we were only saved from the penalty of our sin while we continued to live in sin, so there must be an aspect of our salvation from sin that we are experiencing in the present by obeying God's law. Being a doer of God's law has nothing to do with trying to deserve salvation, but rather it is part of the content of God's gift of salvation, so freedom from the law would be freedom from salvation.

In Titus 2:11-13, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so we are not required to have first done those works in order to earn our salvation as the result and we are not required to do those works as the result of having first been saved, but rather God graciously teaching us to do those works is the content of His gift of saving us from not doing those works. Moreover, in Titus 2:14, it does not say that Jesus gave himself to free us from God's law, but in order to free us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to God's law is the way to believe in what he accomplished through the cross (Acts 21:20) while returning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from is the way to reject what he accomplished.

In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Acts 13:38-39

We do not earn our justification as the result of having first obeyed the Law of Moses even through perfect obedience because it was never given as a means of doing that (Romans 4:1-5), but that does not mean that we are not required to obey it for the purposes for which it was given or that our justification does not require us to be doers of the law of Moses (Romans 2:13).

Yada yada yada.

Ask that question to all the people who lived between Adam and Moses... all ~2500 years' worth.

How else do you know? Because those of us who have the Holy Spirit within us are directed by Him away from unrighteousness. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit need external controls such as laws.

I don't need a written law to tell me to put God first, remember the Sabbath, or honour my parents. I also don't need a written law to tell me to stone the neighbour who is committing adultery. That one's still binding on you, if you follow the Torah.

You don't, of course. You just pretend that you do.

Salvation is by/through Christ's alone and in no way by what man might do. It is a gift of/from God.

I agree that salvation is by/through Christ alone, but Christ is God's word made flesh, so following his example of obedience to God's word is the way to have salvation by/through Christ alone. Again, Titus 2:11-13 describes our salvation as being trained by grace to do those works, so being trained to obey God's law is the content of His gift of salvation, which involves our participation.

The content of a gift can itself be the experience of doing something, such as giving someone the opportunity to experience driving a Ferrari for an hour, where the gift requires them to do the work of driving it in order to have that experience, but where doing that work does not detract from the opportunity to drive it being completely given to them as a gift. In a similar manner, the content of God's gift of eternal life is the experience of knowing God and Jesus (John 17:13) and the gift of God's law is His instructions for how to have that experience (Exodus 33:13, Matthew 7:23). The problem is that you see the position that we our salvation requires us to be a doer of the law as the position that having first obeyed God's aw is prerequisite for salvation when having the experience of being a doer of the law is actually part of the content of the God's gift of salvation.

No, no one receives salvation because of their obedience to God's word, instead, obedience results FROM salvation. You don't get to have it both ways: either it is fully and completely a gift by/from Christ, or it is by man - completely one or the other. Your statement therefore logically contradicts itself. Natural man cannot even know God's salvation much less be obedient to it. If by Christ, then He has done all needed to bestow salvation in its fullness upon whomsoever He has chosen to receive it, which is why He alone holds the title of Saviour and man does not. Man cannot contribute in any way to it, but only to be its recipient.
What do you think the title of Saviour means if not that He alone saves?

[1Co 2:14 KJV] 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

[Rom 1:4-6 KJV]
4 And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

LOL - That settles it.

I was raised in the church. I studied. Purchased thousands in materials, conferences, even thinking I was an expert in some doctrines. The only problem is that decade after decade, I became more and more sick in my sinful life. I always believed I was a genuine Christain, but I also wondered when my Romans 12:2 Transformation was going to begin. I was finally and Powerfully Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and it was that moment that I realized I was not actually saved. Since that day, life has been a fast-track of pain and misery to shape and mold me for whatever is in store.

Obedience is the evidence of the Work of Christ upon a person's heart. This is the "heart" of the Bible.

Thank you kindly. Refreshed and renewed.

Happy New Year 2024

Salvation is a gift from the Lord, but if man does not find and accept it man will never get saved

Man must make a decision to believe in order to get saved and man id free to reject the gift of salvation s we are co-laborers with the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Whoso ever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13)

Sure the Lord provides the gift of salvation and opens one's eyes of their need for salvation, but man must make the decision to receive the gift.

God cannot do that part for me since God made man in His Own image - God has free will, and so does man.

And then there is the group of people who were clearly chosen by God, meaning they didn't choose Him, but He chose them. Their opinion is meaningful.

Wow, I got saved and the Lord delivered me from pain and misery which was what I had when I was a sinner.

The way of the transgressor is hard (Proverbs 13:15)

Sure the old devil tries to opposes us, but for me it's been far easier living as a Christians than it has living aparet from God walking in darkness as a sinner.

I wouldn't trade my relationship with Him for anything!

Not if they are calvinists.

They think God picks a few to be saved and then prevents all others from getting saved.

This is because calvinists get God and the devil confused.

Those are some very nice earrings, me lady.

One great thing about getting old is becoming forgetful. In all that I've forgotten one dribble of information is the difference between Calvinism and that other one. haha

So thankful that the Lord caused me to stop dwelling on what others think. In His way, He said, "Maybe you should concern yourself with what I think."

I began studying the Bible.

May I ask Soyeong, what is the gospel?

What is the good news?