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Justified by the faith of Jesus Christ.

Repentance from dead works !

Heb 6:1

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Repentance from dead works is something a man does, however the moving cause is the efficacious blood of Christ Heb 9:14

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Blood of Christ by the Power of the Holy Spirit purges ones conscience FROM dead works, TO serve the Living God !

Credit must go the Blood of Christ for turning His People from idols and dead man made religion and tradition to serve the Living God !
 
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Faith and Repentance are a one package deal !

Matt 21:32

32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

If "Faith" and "Repentance" are a "Package Deal" then devils must have "Repentance" because even devils "Believe" :
James 2:19 (KJV)
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.


When God or Christ gives Repentance, He also accompanies that with Faith, for Repentance is but the signal of Faith or believing or it is given in order to believe, as Per The Text Acts 20:21

21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But Repentance does not and cannot precede faith, for without faith there is no need to repent, the inspired writer does connect the two, but does not in no way put repentance before faith! as the previous scripture shows it is possible to have faith without repentance, but it is not possible to have repentance without faith!

The Elect are given Repentance [a change of mind] about lies and false religions or dead works, and given Faith to believe the Truth. An Illustration of how Repentance works when applied by the New Birth is here in 1 Thess 1:9

9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols[Repentance] to serve the living and true God[Faith];

BTW that word turned is the greek word epistrephō and means:


transitively

a) to turn to

1) to the worship of the true God

b) to cause to return, to bring back

1) to the love and obedience of God

2) to the love for the children

3) to love wisdom and righteousness

2) intransitively

a) to turn to one's self

b) to turn one's self about, turn back

c) to return, turn back, come back

It is used in 1 Pet 2:25 here

25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Here it is in the passive voice, in 1 Thess 1:9 it has no voice but is an aorist indicative, meaning it is making a statement of fact, that is the turning occurred or will occur, but the 1 Peter reference gives us to understand that the ones turning are being turned and that by the Gift of Repentance being applied to them, and yes, they do become active in this. Its like the Prophet said of old Jer 31:18

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

God given Repentance turns us from Idols or false religions , be they whatever, and turns us to serving [by faith] the True and Living God, for there is no serving God acceptably without God given Faith Heb 11:6.

So basically, whom God gives Repentance, He is giving them full conversion, in which the elect are active, but they are active because of having been born again, as being a New Creature. The Elect are active in their conversion only as they have been born of incorruptible seed 1 Pet 1:23

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

or as they have been begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 1 Pet 1:3

begotten again means:

to produce again, be born again, born anew

and what does it take to be born again? :

John 3:3-5 (KJV)
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Baptized in water to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:4 (KJV)
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.


That is exactly what 1 Thess 1:9 is describing ! So where there is Repentance given, so it is Faith given Acts 5:31

31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance [and faith] to Israel, and[Knowledge of] forgiveness of sins.

But Faith MUST precede Repentance, else there is nothing to repent of!
 
Truth be told, one must be in Christ already in order to believe in Christ for Salvation ! Jesus said here Jn 15:4-5

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Now Faith in Christ is a Fruit of His Spirit in us, and we in Him, so we must be in Christ and He in us before we can believe in Him !

You see, Faith or believing in Christ is but making evident ones non condemned status before God,because they had been chosen in Christ before the foundation as per Eph 1:4

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

And since there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus Rom 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Then it is imperative for them ones to be given Faith to Believe in Christ since they were never under God's condemnation ! Why ? Because they were always in Christ Jesus, since before the world began, and even then, Grace had been given them in Him 2 Tim 1:9

9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

And they were since that time Justified by His Grace Titus 3:7

That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
 
Truth be told, one must be in Christ already in order to believe in Christ for Salvation ! Jesus said here Jn 15:4-5

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Now Faith in Christ is a Fruit of His Spirit in us, and we in Him, so we must be in Christ and He in us before we can believe in Him !

My friend, you put the cart before the horse, you must first believe in him, for he is the vine, without the vine the branch is withered, you stopped one verse short :
John 15:6 (KJV)
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

you must believe in Christ (there must first be a vine) before you can have life (else no vine the branch wither and gathered and cast into fire).


But if we believe in him (do his will and love him), like a branch springing forth from a strong vine, we will together bring forth fruit...
 
God in giving commands to Repent or to Believe does not suppose that men dead in sin or that men in and of themselves can Repent unto Life, but instead the command is given that it might impel those who have been given Repentance when they were given a New Heart, so then are they as New Creatures made manifest, and that becomes a Joy to the ones God used as instruments to Preach Christ to them.

For how can any by Nature, obey a command of God, such as repentance is Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Now, God already knows that any in the flesh cannot be subject to the Law or command of God Per Rom 8:7

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Carnal means merely man by Nature !

The word Law means:

anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command

a) of any law whatsoever

1) a law or rule producing a state approved of God

a) by the observance of which is approved of God

2) a precept or injunction

3) the rule of action prescribed by reason

The Natural Man of the Flesh is not subject to any precept or command of God. The word subject means:

to arrange under, to subordinate

2) to subject, put in subjection

3) to subject one's self, obey

4) to submit to one's control

5) to yield to one's admonition or advice

6) to obey, be subject

The Natural man is not subject to obedience to anything God commands or prescribes and cannot be , does not have the ability to obey God !

But it is more feasible that one would obey a Law of God or a command of God in their mind after God puts His law into their minds as Per Heb 8:10

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Now if God is commanding those who God has put His laws into their Mind and has written them in their Hearts By New Birth, then these will do what God commands as Per Ezk 36:26-27

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

So it is these, that God has Given a New Heart, has put His laws into their Minds, and written them in their Hearts, that God gives the command to Repent as Per Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Yes, God's Covenant people after the Death of Christ and the coming of the Spirit are located every where, not just as it had been in the past, just among the jews !

So Repentance now must be preached among all Nations for that Purpose Lk 24:46-47

46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Thats the reason for the everywhere in Acts 17:30 !
 
God in giving commands to Repent or to Believe does not suppose that men dead in sin or that men in and of themselves can Repent unto Life, but instead the command is given that it might impel those who have been given Repentance when they were given a New Heart, so then are they as New Creatures made manifest, and that becomes a Joy to the ones God used as instruments to Preach Christ to them.

For how can any by Nature, obey a command of God, such as repentance is Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Now, God already knows that any in the flesh cannot be subject to the Law or command of God Per Rom 8:7

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Paul simply said the law of God and the evil tendency of the flesh are two apposing things and one must turn away from the rule of flesh BEFORE they can be brought into harmony with God.

Again you put the cart before the horse...

The Natural man is not subject to obedience to anything God commands or prescribes and cannot be , does not have the ability to obey God !
In its "ruled by the flesh" condition it cannot be subject to Gods law, it does not say it is impossible to turn away from the "rule of flesh", to turn away is to "repent", one must repent BEFORE on can become obedient to God!

But it is more feasible that one would obey a Law of God or a command of God in their mind after God puts His law into their minds as Per Heb 8:10
And how does he put his law in their mind? Peter tells us here :
Acts 2:38 (KJV)
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Notice the order here, "repent" then "be baptized" and "in the name of Jesus Christ" means "by his authority" meaning the way he instructed (or commanded) this brings us to "remission of sins" so he tells us first to repent, be baptized the way he commanded, for the remission of sins and then what does Peter say happens here? "and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost", this is how God puts his law into the minds and the hearts of those who love him.
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Paul simply said the law of God and the evil tendency of the flesh are two
apposing things

Thats all man is by birth is flesh ! That which is born ofthe flesh is flesh ! So man by nature is always opposed to God and the things of God !

To tell a person to repent or believe who has never been born anew, is like talking to a dead man in his coffin.
 
Thats all man is by birth is flesh ! That which is born ofthe flesh is flesh ! So man by nature is always opposed to God and the things of God !

To tell a person to repent or believe who has never been born anew, is like talking to a dead man in his coffin.

Again, you put the cart before the horse, you cannot be as you say "born anew" until you hear what you have to believe, until you believe you cannot know what you have to repent of, until you repent, you cannot "turn away" from the fleshly ways, until you confess the Christ with your mouth before men you cannot do as he commands, he commands you to be baptized for the remission of sins, until you are baptized... you cannot be born again :

John 3:3-5 (KJV)
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

You put the cart before the horse...
 
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Those who deny God His Power and Sovereignty, and take pride in their performance in the flesh, do believe that Repentance unto life as Per Acts 11:18

18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

They believe that this is something they do or perform out of their idol freewill, but do fail to acknowledge that God is the Author of Repentance, for it can be attributed to the Father Acts 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25, or the Exalted Saviour Acts 5:31 also the Holy Spirit Jn 16:8 and Acts 5:32

And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Repentance is an act of obedience produced in one by the Holy Ghost given !

So Paul says Phil 2:13

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
 
Those who deny God His Power and Sovereignty, and take pride in their performance in the flesh, do believe that Repentance unto life as Per Acts 11:18

18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

They believe that this is something they do or perform out of their idol freewill, but do fail to acknowledge that God is the Author of Repentance, for it can be attributed to the Father Acts 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25, or the Exalted Saviour Acts 5:31 also the Holy Spirit Jn 16:8 and Acts 5:32

And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Repentance is an act of obedience produced in one by the Holy Ghost given !

So Paul says Phil 2:13

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

But is Eternally CONDITIONAL as was the Tree Testing in the Garden! Acts 5:32

[32] And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

No surrender to the PLAN of God, finds NO BORN AGAIN OR SAVED PERSON! Acts 9 is another 'documentation' of this! verse 6 finds most of your 'postings' doing as did Paul before He was Born Again.:sad (don't waite to long!)
--Elijah
 
Hearing of Faith !


Gal 3:2

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Gal 3:5

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The Hearing of Faith is when the Gospel is heard by the Power of the Holy Spirit, after New Birth ! New Birth gives one the Spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit says to the Church, or its members ! Nor the local church , but the Body of Christ !
 
Jn 11:26

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Now notice here that life precedes activity, in that living goes before believing. Now ask yourself, what kind of living does Jesus mean here as it precedes believing ? It is spiritual life which precedes believing, being born of God. We know this is true because hearing also precedes believing, and life must precede hearing, for Jesus says Himself this Jn 8:47

He that is of God[Born of God] heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

And He tells some in the same vein "ye therefore hear[Spiritually of course] them not, because ye are not of God." or Born of God ! So Jesus must be consistent with Himself, so Living must be spiritual living as in being born of God or born of the Spirit Jn 3:6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Spirit hears spiritual things which the Gospel is. Paul calls the Gospel, those Spiritual Things 1 Cor 9:11

If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

Spiritual things here Paul means the Gospel, the ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor 3:6-8

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
 
I've noticed there seems to be some confusion about whether we're justified before God by our faith or the faith of Christ. The translators of many Bibles took the liberty of changing the words "faith of Jesus Christ" to "faith in Jesus Christ" sometime in the early 19th Century. Even though the Greek confirms this, as I will show later, and was used correctly in other instances, such as the "hand of God" and the "faith of Abraham", the references to the faith of Christ was changed in many translations to faith in Christ. Tyndales, the Great Bible, Young's, and the KJV, all kept it in it's correct form, but most of the new translations adopted this practice of changing the "of" to "in". I submit it greatly affects the truth of what the Word says about how we're justified. I'll post on the Greek translations in a bit, but I'd be interested in hearing your views on this very important point of doctrine.

So, let's look first at some verses that aren't affected by a difference in translations.

We see that Jesus is the author and finisher (or perfecter) of our faith.


Some may wonder why Jesus needs faith to begin with, or if He even has faith of His own, since being justified by the faith of Christ would require that He did.


The just shall live by faith...and notice, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
What does that mean, exactly? From what faith? From whose faith? Keep this in mind because it's critical to how the righteousness of God is revealed. If the righteousness of God is not "revealed" to us, how can we have faith in God?

Jesus is called the Just One.

Think about this one...I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Christ lives in us, do we live by His faith, or the faith we have in Him? Here are the two translations side by side and you decide. If we no longer live to ourselves, but Christ lives in us, how do we live by our faith. :confused


Without going into all you've written here, how do you reconcile the above. Paul said,

KJV Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1 KJV)

What exactly does Jesus have to hope for? Or, what are the things that Jesus hasn't seen?

Let me suggest another understanding to "the faith of Jesus Christ." It is a reference to the body of Christian doctrine that was delievered by Christ. The faith of Jesus Christ is His teaching. Compare that with the Hindu faith or the Muslim faith, or in this case the Jewish faith.
 
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Faith when connected to Salvation and Conversion is that spiritual grace given to all for whom Christ died and redeemed by His Blood, it is given as a means to which the redeemed one comes to know of their personal interest in Christ's redeeming or saving death; hence all who have hijacked faith from its Holy Purpose, and have made it a condition to perform to get saved, shall not be innocent in the day of Judgment !
 
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That Faith or Belief is the fruit of God's enablement is seen here if we understand Paul aright in his writing on how God deals with ethnic Israel and that nation being set aside, Paul says it was because of or due to their unbelief Rom 11:20

20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Notice Paul said that you [gentile believers] standest by Faith !

Now how does one stand by Faith ? Rom 14:4

4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

That word make stand is the greek word histēmi:


to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set

to make firm, fix establish

1) to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place

2) to stand, be kept intact (of family, a kingdom), to escape in safety

3) to establish a thing, cause it to stand

to be of a steadfast mind

3) of quality, one who does not hesitate, does not waiver

One's standing by Faith Paul tells the gentiles is God's doing,m so you have no reason to boast or to be highminded you gentile believers, and its true to jewish believers also, their faith in God and Christ was not by their freewill ability.

So the natural jews were broken off because of unbelief, broken off of the Covenant Standing in Covenant Israel, Pictured as the Olive Tree Rom 11:17

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Now notice what Paul says in vs 23 to let us know where Faith or belief comes from Rom 11:23

23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

Even some of the natural branches, ethnic jews can be grafted[an operation of God], if they abide not in unbelief, which God is able or has the power to graft them in again, that is, if God so enables them, they shall be delivered from their state of unbelief, by which Paul spoke by experience, for he himself once did abide in jewish pride and unbelief as Per 1 Tim 1:16

13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

So He Praises God for His Grace 1 Tim 1:14

14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

So God by His abundant operation of Grace grafted Paul into the believing Olive Tree Israel, and so it is with all natural jews and gentiles which are of the Election of Grace, they have hope of being grafted in the same way, by the Grace and Power of God, by the Holy Spirit ! BTW this is how all Israel shall be Saved, by the grafting in of the gentile branches of the wild olive tree, and the grafting in of the natural branches that were broken off the good Olive Tree !

For thou standest by Faith, which is by the Power and Operation of God, and by your freewill !
 
The Faith of Jesus Christ !

Rom 3:22

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Gal 2:16

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The Faith of Jesus Christ, meaning Faith from Jesus Christ, as in how the Spirit gives Faith to the His Body the Church.

The word Faith is in the genitive case in both of the above scriptures, which describes the kind of Faith it is or the class of the Faith. Its used to denote possession. This simply means that is not of ourselves but is from or out of Jesus Christ, for He is both the Author of it and the finisher of it through His Spirit.

Its given to each member of His Body to profit 1 Cor 12:4-9

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

Each Member of Christ's Mystical Body, the Church that He gave Himself for Eph 5:25 are given by the Spirit a measure of Faith Rom 12:3

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The Triune God has dealt to every man of the Body of Christ a measure of faith. The word dealt is the greek word merizō and means:


to divide

a) to separate into parts, cut into pieces

1) to divide into parties, i.e. be split into factions

b) to distribute

1) a thing among people

2) bestow, impart

And the word measure means the determined extent !

This wording is very similar to Peters writings as to where Faith is from and how it is received 2 Pet 1:1

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

The word obtained is the greek word lagchanō and means:


to obtain by lot

a) to receive by divine allotment, obtain

2) to cast lots, determine by lot

Allotment means to portion something, just as in Rom 12:3 to measure or to deal out !

Precious Faith is dealt out measure out to each member of the Body of Christ, those He died for. So its called many times in scripture, the Faith of Jesus Christ !

False Teachers have corrupted Faith and teach that its a product of the flesh and something man conjures up out of the flesh and by doing so, God rewards them with Salvation, folks that is Antichrist teaching at its best !
 
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