Jesus clearly states that we are to keep His commands. And His commands are this: that we love God and neighbor.
God is not a task master; He simply looks at our heart ~ faith, hope and love.
"Not by works" - false!
- Thread starter DBurrage
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God is not a task master; He simply looks at our heart ~ faith, hope and love.
That we love our neighbor as ourselves is a summary of God's commandments.
But I agree with you.
Do you realise how much flak I've come under for suggesting that Christians should keep God's commandments!
I asked you if you believe we are not fully saved upon having faith in Jesus Christ. You responded with the above, however you wrote the following in your OP:No, I do not believe that, and that's not what this thread is saying (despite the admittedly confusing title)
I would like to contend that the notion that salvation is given to us ONLY in return for believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior is INCOMPLETE.
There’s a difference between keeping God’s commands out of love and reverence, and keeping His commands out of fear of not obtaining salvation or losing salvation.
I believe you’re catching flack because it really does seem you’re pushing the latter even though you deny doing so. Heck, even your thread title is confrontational.
I respect the passion everyone has here, including yours. I don’t want to argue with you so I’ll be glad to dialogue with you without arguing.
Ok I will clarify.
Christians are asked to do TWO things:
1. Believe in Jesus
2. Keep God's commandments (see below)
Christians have a duty to keep God's commandments:
John 14:15
"If you love me, keep my commandments"
Ecclesiastes 12:13
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind".
We are not required to keep God's commandments perfectly in order to attain salvation.
In fact, we will not be able to perfectly keep God's commandments due to our imperfection.
Jesus makes up for this shortfall.
However, if as Christians we don't turn away from sin following receiving Jesus into our lives, Jesus' sacrifice will not cover those sins:
Hebrews 10:26
"Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins".
Other contributors to this thread have said that if a person who claims to be a Christian habitually willfully sins, then they were never a true Christian - I need to read up on that.
Here is what I say in answer to that question:
WE are fully saved when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. We do not lose our salvation by not doing works. Salvation is given because of faith and as long as we have faith we are totally saved.
E
EleventhHour
Guest
Were are saved through faith (faith is the instrument of salvation) and kept by Jesus...and He remains faithful to His promises.
E
EleventhHour
Guest
So you deny the Gospel, are you Catholic by chance?
Faith + Works is their dogma
I wonder if you will be honest?
Do you realise that in post #708, you've replied to yourself, such is your appetite for argument...
Absolutely! Jesus keeps all those who believe in Him! He is always faithful to His promises!
I'm not going round in circles with you anymore.
Go back to arguing with yourself as you did in post #708 above.
Wow! That is refreshing! Someone on CC admits they don't know something about something and they need to read up on it!
I wonder if DBurrage is more humble than the rest of us??!!
It doesn’t matter what anyone says about anyone else; it only matters what God says about us. I believe you know that. For the record, I’m a habitual sinner; I drink, cuss, have sex with my girlfriend, etc.
Be that as it may, as a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for God. I have a contrite heart and profound passion to share the Gospel, and will gladly lay down my life in defense of the Gospel if ever need be.
Am I saved? Absolutely, because it’s not what I do, it’s what Jesus has done by placing all my sins upon Himself. We are fully saved by grace through faith.
LOL! Whoops! Maybe not! Now it sounds like his patience is being tested! (see post #713)
(I am just being humerus - a big long funny bone you know!)
E
EleventhHour
Guest
Wow... use scripture then to refute what I wrote.
"Exegete" for me where works "save" in scripture I have made it a deep study to refute works salvation and losable salvation from all angles having seen the damage the doctrine does first hand.
In light of you comment, perhaps @eternally-gratefull could shed some light on whether you're a true Christian, given what @eternally-gratefull said in the quote above...
Sorry, I'm not going to grant your wish to continue this merry-go-round.
I'd rather put everything aside and tell you that I love you Biblically.
Are you able to put everything aside and tell me: Do you love me Biblically too?
And since you brought it up, I am going to tell you something!
It is sin to have sex outside of marriage! It does damage to the other person, and to yourself! Sexual sins are some of the biggest tricks of the Devil! And it is not OK for you go bragging about your sin!
Cussing - if you mean taking the name of the Lord in vain, How dare you? That is the one who saved me from sin, loves me, and gave His life for me - and you are using His name in vain?! That is sin!
Drinking - nothing unbiblical about alcohol - but getting drunk is clearly against NT teaching! You didn't say you get drunk, so I won't preach it anymore!
If you come to my children and want to share the gospel with them and in the process you tell them you cuss and have sex with your girlfriend, I will chase you off my property!
Are you a believer? You said you are and that your soul longs for God - you said you have a contrite heart. I take what you say at face value. If so, you should not be offended by what I say.
You are right that we are fully saved by faith and not because of what we do - with that I agree.
But I am not OK with a Christian being OK with being a "habitual sinner" - I won't stand for it! And neither does God!
E
EleventhHour
Guest
Funny... you pulled out a few verses out of context ..... that is all.
The merry go round is of your own making because all you do respond in a very troll like manner.