You're right in saying you're not Mcoop. I apologize . My bad . I was addressing the question to Mcoop. Anyway I do strongly believe obedience will play a major role in salvation, which is entirely the discretion of God Almighty and His Lamb.
In spite of the many verses that clearly state that salvation and eternal life are by faith in Christ, without any mention of works, deeds, obedience?
How about Eph 2;8,9?
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
And, there are no verses that say one is saved by faith plus works.
So, what verses seem to support your view?
John MacArthur realized (IMO) folly of many Churches who are preaching saved by faith alone doctrine and in his sermon he points that out .
Yes, his "Lordship salvation" theology does lead to that conclusion. But it's still simply wrong.
I'll give 2 examples from Scripture that shows his error.
Matt 7:21-23. Jesus is speaking about the final judgment (GWT) and the crowd is appealing to Him on entrance into the kingdom on the basis of their works. They even call Him Lord. And they did their works in His name. Yet, He tells them He never knew (in the intimate sense) them. iow, they never had relationship with Him. Why not? They were trusting in their own works to impress Him.
I would imagine that John MacArthur would have been impressed with them, though.
1 Pet 3:15 - But in your hearts
sanctify (set apart) Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Who was this addressed to? Believers. So, believers are commanded to set apart Christ AS LORD.
Yet JM believes that unless one has already made Christ Lord of their lives, they aren't saved. So he puts the cart before the horse, so to speak.
Only a saved person can make Christ Lord of their lives.
He clearly states many Christians might be heading towards hell.
Yet Jesus stated even more clearly that those He gives eternal life shall NEVER PERISH. I have no idea if JM is even aware of John 10:28.
Which is a strong statement.
And quite wrong.
I leave it to you to interprete it as you would like .
There is nothing to interpret in either what you claim JM has said and what Jesus did say.
My conviction is each deed we have performed will be scrutinized and judged and accordingly we will be rewarded or punished.
I don't disagree. But, none of this is even remotely related to getting or staying saved. All believers will be judged at the Bema, per 2 Cor 5:10. The purpose is for reward, or loss of same. There will be no punishment.
According to saved by faith alone doctrine many Christians will get heaven , where they will be punished
I'm unaware of ANYONE who believes in eternal security who believes that believers will be punished in heaven. That is sheer nonsense.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things
done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad.( 2Cor 5:10)
And again in
Revelation 20:12
►
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Both of these verses are directly about being rewarded for faithful obedient service to our Lord.
I'm also surprised when I hear pastors /teachers issue guarantee of salvation to those who responded to their Altar call and others as well.
Altar calls are unbiblical. The Bible calls on people to put their faith in Christ, not walk an aisle, raise their hand, etc. Or even repeat some prayer spoken by someone else.
How can anyone know whose name is in Lamb's book of life and whose name is not ?
Easy. Believe what the Bible says about it.
John 3:15-16 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
1 Tim 1:16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
Gal 3:22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
1 John 5:13 - These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
This only God and the Lamb knows. Why then is salvation guarantee being handed out to everyone who claimed they believed.
You're mistaken. It's not handed out "to everyone who CLAIMED they believe. Salvation is NOT about what people CLAIM.
Salvation and eternal life are given to those WHO BELIEVE. I care not what people CLAIM. The only issue is what people have believed.
Isnt this faulty doctrine and requires immediate correction?
Through out your post and comments I have corrected the errors.
I believe it does and I'm now taking up this issue with several churches. Some of them accepted that the "salvation" CAN Be lost, if we fail to abide in the Lord, despite accepting Christ as Savior
Jesus made 3 very important points about one's salvation.
POINT 1: those who believe in Him POSSESS eternal life. John 3:15,16,36, 5:24, 6:40,47, 11;25-27, 20:31, 1 John 5:13
POINT 2: Jesus is the Giver of eternal life. John 10:28a
POINT 3: Recipients of eternal life shall never perish. John 10:28b
This is the biblical docrine of eternal security. And many reject it because their own efforts/works/deeds are left out. And it seems they want to be able to contribute to their salvation in some way.