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  • The Gospel of Jesus Christ

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    There is salvation in no other, for there is not another name under heaven having been given among men, by which it behooves us to be saved."

Is Salvation really a "free Gift" of God?

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There are tons of verses where Jesus talks about absolute importance of obedience to salvation including the Great commission ( Matthew 28:18-20) . He wants us to teach and obey ALL things He taught


Amen. Those who do not continue in the teachings of Jesus Christ our Lord, do not have God.


Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 9




JLB
 
Amen. Those who do not continue in the teachings of Jesus Christ our Lord, do not have God.


Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 9




JLB
The Doctrine of Christ is the Gospel of Christ, who He is, what He has accomplished, and for whom He accomplished it.
 
The Doctrine of Christ is the Gospel of Christ, who He is, what He has accomplished, and for whom He accomplished it.

The doctrine of Christ is His teachings.

Then there are His Commandments.

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:4


His Gospel is the the Gospel of the Kingdom. Those who do not obey His Gospel will suffer His wrath.


in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:8



These three elements are the Truth:


His Gospel
His Commandments
His Doctrine: Teachings


Every word that proceeds out of His mouth is the truth. He is the truth.




eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath. Romans 2:7-8





JLB
 
You explained well the central message. I've also learned that its very hard for those indoctrinated by easy believism doctrine to think beyond that.
Faith+Works Salvation or Partial Grace + Works Salvation
Easy Believism = Salvation by Faith+Works where Works don't include obedience
Hard Believism = Salvation by Faith+Works where Works includes obedience. Now, what is the definition of obedience as a prerequisite for salvation. You are obligated to keep the whole law. Not a part, but the whole.
  • Galatians 5:2 Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation]. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. AMP
  • James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
  • Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?
What is the outcome of salvation of which is by Faith+Works. You are cursed.
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Premise 1: Faith is required for salvation (John 3:16)
Premise 2: I must leave a sinless life to be saved by works (Gal. 5:2; James 2:10)
Conclusion: I have eternal life by Faith + Works
Now, I am a poor Christian as I have not lived a sinless life per premise #2. So I am hoping the FAITH+WORKS salvation solution is a false doctrine. (Aside: I do believe Faith+Works is true if you can live a sinless life. I tip my hat to those people, congrats.)

Faith Alone Salvation
Are there any Scripture verses indicating we are saved by FAITH ALONE (that is, not be WORKS)?
—justification by faith alone in Christ’s work alone (Romans 3:27, Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Romans 10:4; Galatians 2:16a, Galatians 2:16b; Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:11, Galatians 3:26; Philippians 3:8a, Philippians 3:8b), (2) that any other “gospel” is not the gospel, (3) that those who teach any other “gospel” stand under the anathema of God (Galatians 1:8, Galatians 1:9), and (4) that those who rely to any degree on their own works for their salvation nullify the grace of God (Romans 11:5–6), make void the cross work of Christ (Galatians 2:21; Galatians 5:2), become debtors to keep the entire law (Galatians 5:3), and in becoming such “fall from grace” (Galatians 5:4), that is, place themselves again under the curse of the law. As for the four church fathers named above—and many others like them—it is neither my nor their defenders’ place to assure the Christian world that surely God justified them by faith alone even though they themselves did not hold to a sola fide view of justification. To judge an individual’s salvation is God’s province and His alone. Therefore, I will not speculate one way or the other about their salvation. But I will say that our attitude should, with Paul, ever be: “Let God’s truth be inviolate, though every man becomes thereby a liar” (Romans 3:4). What I mean by this in the present context is that the clear teaching of the Word of God should be upheld and we should not look for reasons to avoid it, even if the alternative would force us to conclude that these fathers—and all others like them—were not saved. Robert Reymond A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

Premise 1: God does not contradict himself (Titus 1:2; Romans 3:4)
Premise 2: God says we are saved by Faith and NOT WORKS (see above)
Conclusion: We are saved by FAITH ALONE (note: we are saved by FAITH ALONE, but not by FAITH that is alone meaning FAITH (trust) will cause us to do Works, though not Works that save. Works are an effect of salvation, not a cause.

Warning regarding to Salvation by FAITH + WORKS
R.C. Sproul: “If you trust upon anything else than Jesus Christ in addition to Jesus Christ you lose Christ, all or nothing at all. Christ does not become of less effect; he becomes of no effect if you try to
add something to Him.” Sproul goes on to say that he thought Arminians are saved, but barely by which he meant “as long as they don’t take their theology to its logic conclusion. They would not be Christians if they put their trust in their own righteousness”. When Sproul came to faith he thought it was his choice; he didn’t know of scripture that described the process.

Gill - his view of works for salvation rendered Christ unprofitable, made his death to be in vain, his sacrifice of no effect, and his righteousness useless: besides, Christ is a whole Savior, or none at all; to join anything with him and his righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation, is interpreted by him as a contempt and neglect of him, as laying him aside, and to such persons he is of no profit; and if he is not, what they have, and whatsoever they do, will be of no advantage; wealth and riches, yea, the whole world could it be gained, their works and righteousness, whatever show they make before men, God has declared shall not profit them; and trusting to these renders Christ unprofitable to them.

Matthew-Henry: Christ will not be the Savior of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Savior. Let us take heed to the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to steadfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works.

Grace and legal righteousness cannot co-exist (Romans 4:4, Romans 5:11 ). Christ, by circumcision (Luke 2:21), undertook to obey all the law, and fulfil all righteousness for us: any, therefore, that now seeks to fulfil the law for himself in any degree for justifying righteousness, severs himself from the grace which flows from Christ's fulfilment of it, and becomes "a debtor to do the whole law" (Galatians 5:3). The decree of the Jerusalem council had said nothing so strong as this; it had merely decided that Gentile Christians were not bound to legal observances. But the Galatians, while not pretending to be so bound, imagined there was an efficacy in them to merit a higher degree of perfection (Galatians 3:3). … John 6:29 Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
 
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Faith+Works Salvation or Partial Grace + Works Salvation
Easy Believism = Salvation by Faith+Works where Works don't include obedience
Hard Believism = Salvation by Faith+Works where Works includes obedience. Now, what is the definition of obedience as a prerequisite for salvation. You are obligated to keep the whole law. Not a part, but the whole.
  • Galatians 5:2 Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation]. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. AMP
  • James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
  • Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?
What is the outcome of salvation of which is by Faith+Works. You are cursed.
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Premise 1: Faith is required for salvation (John 3:16)
Premise 2: I must leave a sinless life to be saved by works (Gal. 5:2; James 2:10)
Conclusion: I have eternal life by Faith + Works
Now, I am a poor Christian as I have not lived a sinless life per premise #2. So I am hoping the FAITH+WORKS salvation solution is a false doctrine. (Aside: I do believe Faith+Works is true if you can live a sinless life. I tip my hat to those people, congrats.)

Faith Alone Salvation
Are there any Scripture verses indicating we are saved by FAITH ALONE (that is, not be WORKS)?
—justification by faith alone in Christ’s work alone (Romans 3:27, Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Romans 10:4; Galatians 2:16a, Galatians 2:16b; Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:11, Galatians 3:26; Philippians 3:8a, Philippians 3:8b), (2) that any other “gospel” is not the gospel, (3) that those who teach any other “gospel” stand under the anathema of God (Galatians 1:8, Galatians 1:9), and (4) that those who rely to any degree on their own works for their salvation nullify the grace of God (Romans 11:5–6), make void the cross work of Christ (Galatians 2:21; Galatians 5:2), become debtors to keep the entire law (Galatians 5:3), and in becoming such “fall from grace” (Galatians 5:4), that is, place themselves again under the curse of the law. As for the four church fathers named above—and many others like them—it is neither my nor their defenders’ place to assure the Christian world that surely God justified them by faith alone even though they themselves did not hold to a sola fide view of justification. To judge an individual’s salvation is God’s province and His alone. Therefore, I will not speculate one way or the other about their salvation. But I will say that our attitude should, with Paul, ever be: “Let God’s truth be inviolate, though every man becomes thereby a liar” (Romans 3:4). What I mean by this in the present context is that the clear teaching of the Word of God should be upheld and we should not look for reasons to avoid it, even if the alternative would force us to conclude that these fathers—and all others like them—were not saved. Robert Reymond A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

Premise 1: God does not contradict himself (Titus 1:2; Romans 3:4)
Premise 2: God says we are saved by Faith and NOT WORKS (see above)
Conclusion: We are saved by FAITH ALONE (note: we are saved by FAITH ALONE, but not by FAITH that is alone meaning FAITH (trust) will cause us to do Works, though not Works that save. Works are an effect of salvation, not a cause.

Warning regarding to Salvation by FAITH + WORKS
R.C. Sproul: “If you trust upon anything else than Jesus Christ in addition to Jesus Christ you lose Christ, all or nothing at all. Christ does not become of less effect; he becomes of no effect if you try to
add something to Him.” Sproul goes on to say that he thought Arminians are saved, but barely by which he meant “as long as they don’t take their theology to its logic conclusion. They would not be Christians if they put their trust in their own righteousness”. When Sproul came to faith he thought it was his choice; he didn’t know of scripture that described the process.

Gill - his view of works for salvation rendered Christ unprofitable, made his death to be in vain, his sacrifice of no effect, and his righteousness useless: besides, Christ is a whole Savior, or none at all; to join anything with him and his righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation, is interpreted by him as a contempt and neglect of him, as laying him aside, and to such persons he is of no profit; and if he is not, what they have, and whatsoever they do, will be of no advantage; wealth and riches, yea, the whole world could it be gained, their works and righteousness, whatever show they make before men, God has declared shall not profit them; and trusting to these renders Christ unprofitable to them.

Matthew-Henry: Christ will not be the Savior of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Savior. Let us take heed to the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to steadfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works.

Grace and legal righteousness cannot co-exist (Romans 4:4, Romans 5:11 ). Christ, by circumcision (Luke 2:21), undertook to obey all the law, and fulfil all righteousness for us: any, therefore, that now seeks to fulfil the law for himself in any degree for justifying righteousness, severs himself from the grace which flows from Christ's fulfilment of it, and becomes "a debtor to do the whole law" (Galatians 5:3). The decree of the Jerusalem council had said nothing so strong as this; it had merely decided that Gentile Christians were not bound to legal observances. But the Galatians, while not pretending to be so bound, imagined there was an efficacy in them to merit a higher degree of perfection (Galatians 3:3). … John 6:29 Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”

Aside from this post being way too long...

Works are not a requirement for salvation. They are the natural result of receiving the Holy Spirit and being motivated by the love one has for their neighbor.
 
Aside from this post being way too long...

Works are not a requirement for salvation. They are the natural result of receiving the Holy Spirit and being motivated by the love one has for their neighbor.
Agreed.
But you do know that there are those that claim to be saved and believe they are not required to do anything...
including changing their unpleasant behavior.

So, I don't know, is it the result?
Or is it something we're supposed to know, agree with, and live??

Just thinking.
 
Amen /\ Hallelujah
You said exactly as Jesus taught which gained him both, friends and enemies.
John the Baptist says ( warning really) in John 3:36 ( NASB)
"The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Jesus cautions us in John 14:15: If you love me you shall obey my commandments
( notice how Jesus is placing a condition here-- why? because it's a COVENANT --with bilateral responsibilities and obligations. Jesus did His part, now He is asking us to do ours)

This is interesting regarding the New Covenant.
I had studied them out of necessity a few years ago and I remember that some theologians believe that the New Covenant is unilateral and some believe it is bilateral.

Unilateral because all you had to do was be a part of the Covenant and God had already done everything and we just had to remain in the Kingdom of God.

Bilateral because, as you've stated, it had blessings and responsibilities on our side.

At the time I believed it was unilateral.
Now I'm not so sure anymore.
Bilateral also makes a lot of sense because it's up to us if we wish to remain in the Kingdom or not.
There are conditions to be met....that would make it bilateral.


Notice what He says in Mark 3: 33-35 ( similar to Matthew 7:21)
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

To me its clear that Jesus is telling us " you won't make it to my sanctuary UNLESS you are prepared to DO the Will of God"
( which typically conflicts with my will , which is fleshly and sinful)
Again Jesus says abundantly clearly in Matthew 19 :17
"If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."
Again in Luke 6:46 Jesus rebukes us saying
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what i say "

Luke 6:46 is a verse that stands out to me.
WHY do we call Jesus Lord, and not do as He says?
A Lord has command over the subject...He is the master.
If we don't obey the master...do we love him? Do we respect him?
I think not.

There are tons of verses where Jesus talks about absolute importance of obedience to salvation including the Great commission ( Matthew 28:18-20) . He wants us to teach and obey ALL things He taught
Wonder how those who are not obeying Him find the courage to share the great commission of the Lord which asks / orders us to obey ALL things. I think those who believe in the doctrine of Saved by Faith Alone, should NOT obey the Great commission of the Lord for that reason, since they themselves are not obeying ( they believe they are saved by Faith alone)

I believe they are a bad example for Christianity.

Finally I would like to share something the Lord gave me last night while reading the last parts of John. Its John 21: 18-19
( Jesus talking to Peter after resurrection)
"Very truly I tell you ( Peter), when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.

When I read this it occurred to me Jesus was telling Peter, you will have to die a painful death while sharing my Word and message. Jesus was giving Peter a heads up about a dreadful end...
Peter knew he would have to die a horrendous death if he continued Sharing the Word.
As i was reading this I put my Bible down and thought what must have gone in Peter's mind after hearing the death verdict from Christ ? Panic, fear, thoughts of sacrificing His life for His beloved Lord? Thoughts of fleeing? ( as I would have thought about doing had i been in Peter's shoes... honest confession)
I bet he thought all these. I'm also sure Peter went down on his knees to pray ( especially since he had seen it happen before!) praying to the Lord "Can the cup not pass Lord...."
Im sure his whole body may have trembled with fear of a dreadful death.
BUT what did he DO?
He OBEYED and laid down his life for the one he loved most.... Jesus.
And fulfilled what Jesus taught us:
John 15: 13
" Greater love has no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends."
It does not work one way... That Jesus only die for us. We have to do likewise if needed says Christ in Mark 8:35
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it."
Peter chose to implement what Jesus taught....And laid down his life for the one he loved and called Lord...
I believe that when we only choose to believe but not obey, we yet reject our Lord
Amen.

I've always felt like this about all the Apostles who met with terrible deaths.
And this is one of the reasons we can believe in our Christian faith....
because of the Apostles and how they lived and died.
 
Amen. Those who do not continue in the teachings of Jesus Christ our Lord, do not have God.


Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 9




JLB
Amen Amen Amen ?
 
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I would go so far as to say that Jesus did not teach only love.
He actually taught HOW we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to behave in order
to gain heaven.

It's not even to gain heaven as much as it is to be with God. It's obvious that those that are not
Godly-like will not be friends of God. Jesus made this plain.

I don't think we could or should respect those that believe that faith alone will save them.
This is a dangerous doctrine and should not be taught by any church.

Nowhere in scripture does Jesus state that if we only believe in Him we will be saved.
And every time He used the word BELIEVE, He meant it as it was used in that time...
not that we should believe in our mind...but that we need to believe with the heart.

I don't know why Calvinists espouse the idea of sola fide...
they certainly do not live as such.
Thank you for sharing these following words of yours. I'll put em down since I do not know how to select and answer them [ poor tech:) ]
Your words :
I don't think we could or should respect those that believe that faith alone will save them.
This is a dangerous doctrine and should not be taught by any church."


These words have brought about a huge change in my attitude towards" just believe and saved Christians " . Time is close ( very , very close ) when the Lord will be here to judge each one of us and give us according to what we have done .
I would go so far as to say that Jesus did not teach only love.
He actually taught HOW we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to behave in order
to gain heaven.

It's not even to gain heaven as much as it is to be with God. It's obvious that those that are not
Godly-like will not be friends of God. Jesus made this plain.

I don't think we could or should respect those that believe that faith alone will save them.
This is a dangerous doctrine and should not be taught by any church.

Nowhere in scripture does Jesus state that if we only believe in Him we will be saved.
And every time He used the word BELIEVE, He meant it as it was used in that time...
not that we should believe in our mind...but that we need to believe with the heart.

I don't know why Calvinists espouse the idea of sola fide...
they certainly do not live as such.
“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. ( revelation 22:12)
Time to convince others ( about what we infer) is now finished. To each their own own.... all of us must be judged. We must take responsibility for the choices we made .
Anyway I heartily thank you for those words of wisdom . Much appreciated :) ? . Took a huge burden off me . Each of us must get what we have done says the Lord . Beautiful and impartial judgment :)
 
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