Bible Study Requirements of Salvation

[GodsGrace]

We are ALL living “ lives of sin” to one extent or other.....is your “ thought life”as Pure as it should be? No lust? If you have had any lustful thoughts today, count yourself no better than an Adulterer. Any Hate for anybody? God declares that you are no better than a common murderer .How about those pesky “ Sins Of Omission”That nobody ever discusses.Have you helped out at the Soup Kitchen today? How many strangers have you invited into your home to feed and clothe? I thought so.
James says that if you break one Commandment , you have broken them all !
Isn’t it a little obvious that God has all of us Trapped? You either take His means of Salvation—- Faith in the Finished Work Of The Cross—- or you are Without hope.The Law-Keeping , Performance Route to Salvation ain’t gonna Work........The Standard for that means of trying to justify yourself before a Holy God is PERFECTION .....24/7....... you can’t do it. It’s Faith in the Shed Blood Of Jesus That Saves .....That Plus Nothing.

Well Blood Bought...
There's no need to make posts so personal.
You don't know me.
No need to speak about MY life, which I'm sure has sin in it.
However, living a life of sin is different than sinning.

And this idea of breaking one rule means you've broken them all is starting to taste sour.
Law keepiing and performance counts for everything once we are saved.
Jesus did NOT do it all for us...
we have a part in our salvation.
The fact that we might sin does not mean we are not to strive for perfection....
Jesus said to be perfect like our Father in heaven is perfect.
This is a goal...whether we achieve it or not is a different topic.

As to breaking one command means we've broken them all....
God is a pure and holy Being. We cannot be pure enough for Him.
If we break just one commandment, we've broken them all...this is for those that try to be saved by doing good works.

James 2:10 is the perfect example of why our good deeds count.
He's speaking to church people and telling them they should invite the poor person just as much as they invite the rich person to their church. Favoring the rich is a sin. Even if they've kept every other law, but failed in this one, it's the same as if they murdered someone or committed adultery by marrying a woman that already has a husband, etc.

In verse 12 James states that we will be judged as to whether or not we do what Christ wants of us. We must be merciful so that God will be merciful with us.

Verse 14....faith without showing it outwardly and being helpful is like no faith at all.

The shed blood of Jesus saves us....
Our obedience to God keeps us saved.

1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.


Luke 6:46
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

1 John 3:24
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.


James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

[stovebolts]

I have thought about it and prayed about it and then I came to realize I don't need to. It is not necessary for me to take it into my own hands and do it again because I trust God and what He has done and continues to do with me.

I understand. For me, I take a different view (surprise surprise lol). It's not that I need to, as in some sort of obligation or requirement, but it's more like I get to. We don't look or talk about Baptism the way the first century Church did and if you simply read the Bible as a story, and not a requirements list then you'll start to see that those who were Baptized did so as a response to the Gospel. The eunuch even says, "what's stopping me from being baptized", which is similar to to Peter's response to Cornelius.

When I look at Romans 6, Baptism becomes more than getting wet. It's participating in the death, burial and resurection of our Lord.

Nowhere is anyone commanded to be baptised, and I think that's by design. Taught properly, one is baptized as a response to the Gospel and we loose that when baptism becomes a requirement.

You don't need to be baptized, instead, you get to unite with Christ in His death, burial and resurection in the waters of baptism.

I hope you will continue to pray about this.

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Well Blood Bought...
There's no need to make posts so personal.
You don't know me.
No need to speak about MY life, which I'm sure has sin in it.
However, living a life of sin is different than sinning.

And this idea of breaking one rule means you've broken them all is starting to taste sour.
Law keepiing and performance counts for everything once we are saved.
Jesus did NOT do it all for us...
we have a part in our salvation.
The fact that we might sin does not mean we are not to strive for perfection....
Jesus said to be perfect like our Father in heaven is perfect.
This is a goal...whether we achieve it or not is a different topic.

As to breaking one command means we've broken them all....
God is a pure and holy Being. We cannot be pure enough for Him.
If we break just one commandment, we've broken them all...this is for those that try to be saved by doing good works.

James 2:10 is the perfect example of why our good deeds count.
He's speaking to church people and telling them they should invite the poor person just as much as they invite the rich person to their church. Favoring the rich is a sin. Even if they've kept every other law, but failed in this one, it's the same as if they murdered someone or committed adultery by marrying a woman that already has a husband, etc.

In verse 12 James states that we will be judged as to whether or not we do what Christ wants of us. We must be merciful so that God will be merciful with us.

Verse 14....faith without showing it outwardly and being helpful is like no faith at all.

The shed blood of Jesus saves us....
Our obedience to God keeps us saved.

1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.


Luke 6:46
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

1 John 3:24
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.


James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Apologies for not making it clear that I was NOT speaking OF you or TO you in my post....it was a generic message....When I say “ you” I am speaking to the entire audience.....

 

[WIP]

I understand. For me, I take a different view (surprise surprise lol). It's not that I need to, as in some sort of obligation or requirement, but it's more like I get to. We don't look or talk about Baptism the way the first century Church did and if you simply read the Bible as a story, and not a requirements list then you'll start to see that those who were Baptized did so as a response to the Gospel. The eunuch even says, "what's stopping me from being baptized", which is similar to to Peter's response to Cornelius.

Those mentioned in the Bible are some that came to Christ as an adult. They had never been baptized before and it makes sense then that they would welcome baptism at that point. For those of us who were baptized as infants, it's already done and accepting Christ is the frosting on the cake so-to-speak.

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

And this idea of breaking one rule means you've broken them all is starting to taste sour.
————————————————————————————




You will have to take that matter up with James...


James 2:10.........For whoever shall keep the entire Law and yet break one of them, you are guilty of breaking them all

Clearly, as far as Salvation is concerned, trying to keep the Law is a “ Fools Errand”......God has us all “ trapped like rats”.....One either accepts His Grace, or you got nowhere to turn....that’s the Bad News about trying to keep the Law.....it can’t be done perfectly by anyone but Jesus and if one chooses to take the Legal Road for Justification before a Holy God he will be hearing, “ depart from me”...
The Good News is that God has given Mankind a giant “ Loop Hole”.......Simply take God at His Word that If you Believe that His Son , Jesus, died for your sins and rose from the dead you will be Saved...THAT is your Salvation ......That Plus NOTHING!
Demonstrate what God is looking for — Faith—- and He will GIVE you all that stuff that the Spiritual Descendants Of Cain are working so hard for.God is not looking for you to be the “ Co-Savior” .....God demands that Jesus gets ALL the Glory and we get NONE.....the only thing we can contribute is our Faith in the Shed Blood Of Jesus, and the “ Faith “ To believe that is a gift of God...... “ Nothing of myself I bring, its only to the Cross I Cling”......Anybody that fails to understand this Contrite Frame Of Mind would be wise to pray for it and get their “ eyes opened”......God Bless....

 

[stovebolts]

Those mentioned in the Bible are some that came to Christ as an adult. They had never been baptized before and it makes sense then that they would welcome baptism at that point. For those of us who were baptized as infants, it's already done and accepting Christ is the frosting on the cake so-to-speak.

I understand. What I'm saying is baptism is way more than "being saved". It's part of the Christian experience. Jesus did not "need" to be baptized, yet he set an example for his followers. We see that Jesus was baptized prior to his ministry. If we are followers of Christ and He went into the baptismal waters as an Adult even though He already had a solid relationship with The Father, then why wouldn't an Adult who knew God from birth and was raised with the faith be denied the experience of being buried with Christ in His death (full immersion) and raised out of the water with new life?

 

[Doug Brents]

And this idea of breaking one rule means you've broken them all is starting to taste sour.
————————————————————————————




You will have to take that matter up with James...


James 2:10.........For whoever shall keep the entire Law and yet break one of them, you are guilty of breaking them all

Clearly, as far as Salvation is concerned, trying to keep the Law is a “ Fools Errand”......God has us all “ trapped like rats”.....One either accepts His Grace, or you got nowhere to turn....that’s the Bad News about trying to keep the Law.....it can’t be done perfectly by anyone but Jesus and if one chooses to take the Legal Road for Justification before a Holy God he will be hearing, “ depart from me”...
The Good News is that God has given Mankind a giant “ Loop Hole”.......Simply take God at His Word that If you Believe that His Son , Jesus, died for your sins and rose from the dead you will be Saved...THAT is your Salvation ......That Plus NOTHING!
Demonstrate what God is looking for — Faith—- and He will GIVE you all that stuff that the Spiritual Descendants Of Cain are working so hard for.God is not looking for you to be the “ Co-Savior” .....God demands that Jesus gets ALL the Glory and we get NONE.....the only thing we can contribute is our Faith in the Shed Blood Of Jesus, and the “ Faith “ To believe that is a gift of God...... “ Nothing of myself I bring, its only to the Cross I Cling”......Anybody that fails to understand this Contrite Frame Of Mind would be wise to pray for it and get their “ eyes opened”......God Bless....

You say "demonstrate your faith", yet you claim that we are saved when we "believe" (I am guessing you mean "mental assent" when you save believe).

You are correct that we must demonstrate our faith, or our faith is dead, and therefore worthless for anything (especially saving us).

Please follow along here if you will. Eph 2:8-9 says that we receive grace (salvation) through faith. So faith must precede our reception of grace. James 2 says that faith without action is dead. He goes on to say that it is the action that gives life to faith. The analogy he uses is the soul (could be read "breath") and the body. Just as the soul (breath) gives life to the body, and then the body continues to produce breath as evidence of life; actions give life to faith, and then faith continues to produce actions as evidence of faith.

So then, actions that give life to faith must precede our reception of salvation. Now we must ask, "What actions does Scripture say lead to our reception of salvation?" There are only a few. We must hear the Gospel to believe it (Rom 10:14). So hearing is one. When we believe we must repent of our sins (turn from sin to following God), and Confess our belief that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10), so repentance and confession are two and three. The only other thing that Scripture says leads to salvation is immersion (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and others).

 

[GodsGrace]

Apologies for not making it clear that I was NOT speaking OF you or TO you in my post....it was a generic message....When I say “ you” I am speaking to the entire audience.....

Sometimes YOU is generic and sometimes it's not.
It's easy to know the difference.

Anyway, you did not reply to my post.

 

[GodsGrace]

And this idea of breaking one rule means you've broken them all is starting to taste sour.
————————————————————————————




You will have to take that matter up with James...


James 2:10.........For whoever shall keep the entire Law and yet break one of them, you are guilty of breaking them all

Clearly, as far as Salvation is concerned, trying to keep the Law is a “ Fools Errand”......God has us all “ trapped like rats”.....One either accepts His Grace, or you got nowhere to turn....that’s the Bad News about trying to keep the Law.....it can’t be done perfectly by anyone but Jesus and if one chooses to take the Legal Road for Justification before a Holy God he will be hearing, “ depart from me”...
The Good News is that God has given Mankind a giant “ Loop Hole”.......Simply take God at His Word that If you Believe that His Son , Jesus, died for your sins and rose from the dead you will be Saved...THAT is your Salvation ......That Plus NOTHING!
Demonstrate what God is looking for — Faith—- and He will GIVE you all that stuff that the Spiritual Descendants Of Cain are working so hard for.God is not looking for you to be the “ Co-Savior” .....God demands that Jesus gets ALL the Glory and we get NONE.....the only thing we can contribute is our Faith in the Shed Blood Of Jesus, and the “ Faith “ To believe that is a gift of God...... “ Nothing of myself I bring, its only to the Cross I Cling”......Anybody that fails to understand this Contrite Frame Of Mind would be wise to pray for it and get their “ eyes opened”......God Bless....

I did explain about James' statement about breaking one commandment and what it means.

I also listed at least 3 or 4 verses showing that we are to obey commandments and this is our way of sharing in our salvation.

God gets all the glory no matter what.
I didn't mention anything about a person getting glory just because they obey God.
Jesus is the only Savior....we are not co-saviors.
We are only obedient children.

And the only thing we can contribute is our faith is a lie from the enemy.
Jesus didn't set up His Kingdom here on earth so we could sit idly by and do nothing but have faith.

As James said: Faith without works is a dead faith.
James 2:17
17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

and

James 2:22
22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;

Jesus intended to make a better world.
He intended for us to be His hands and feet.
If we don't do the good works...who will?

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Law keepiing and performance counts for everything once we are saved.

Paul says different.....How are we to live as Christians? The Just shall LIVE by Faith.....One finishes their Christian Walk the same way that they Started it——Faith!........Paul ask’s the Galations why do they want to return to LawKeeping when Keeping the Law never Saved them in the First Place.....I don’t concern myself with things that are “Weak and Useless”—- That was how Paul described the Law....
“ From Faith To Faith “ is how Paul described the Lifestyle of the Christian......The Bible is full of rules.....it’s also full of Promises.....Acting upon the Promises Of God is what Faith is....Believing and Acting upon the Promise Of God that saves a person ( 1Cor15:1-4 ) gets you the Holy Spirit.....That Spirit Alone Will Transform the “ Inside Of The Cup”......a person will “ Find Themselves” Living a life that pleases God if they quit “ Trying” and start “ Trusting”......

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Sometimes YOU is generic and sometimes it's not.
It's easy to know the difference.

Anyway, you did not reply to my post.

What specifically do you want me to reply to?

 

[JLB]

James 2 makes it clear that our actions give life to our faith

Amen. So true.

And if I may add...

The corresponding action of obedience activates faith, making it complete and able to produce the intended divine result.


Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
James 2:21-22

Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

God spoke to Abraham to offer his son on the altar.
Abraham has now received faith from God through hearing Him.
Abraham was justified when he obeyed the word from God, through which he received faith, by offering his son Isaac on the altar.


He was not justified when he received faith, but when he acted in obedience to God’s word to offer his son.


That’s why Paul calls it the obedience of faith.


But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:26



Faith without the corresponding action of obedience is dead, being incomplete and unable to function to produce the intended divine result, just as a body without a spirit is dead, being incomplete and unable to function.




JLB

 

[JLB]

Law keepiing and performance counts for everything once we are saved.

Paul says different....

Do you believe we as Christians are to obey Jesus Christ as our Lord?

He dwells in us, and leads us in the way of life.

Why is this such a hard concept to understand?


His commandments define love.


Keeping His commandments are how we love God and love our neighbor.


For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3


His commandments are not burdensome.

The reason His commandments are not hard to keep is because we have His Spirit within us, to empower us to practice righteousness; to walk according to the Spirit.


If you believe you can live a lawless life of sin, stealing and lying, committing sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, rebellion and stubbornness, drunkenness and still inherit the kingdom of a God, you are sadly mistaken.


He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:7-8





JLB

 

[humble soul]

Do you believe we as Christians are to obey Jesus Christ as our Lord?

He dwells in us, and leads us in the way of life.

Why is this such a hard concept to understand?


His commandments define love.


Keeping His commandments are how we love God and love our neighbor.


For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3


His commandments are not burdensome.

The reason His commandments are not hard to keep is because we have His Spirit within us, to empower us to practice righteousness; to walk according to the Spirit.


If you believe you can live a lawless life of sin, stealing and lying, committing sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, rebellion and stubbornness, drunkenness and still inherit the kingdom of a God, you are sadly mistaken.


He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:7-8





JLB

To support what you are saying JLB, I am reminded of what one priest told us.
" Human beings need training wheels before they graduate to a proper bike. The commandments are like training wheels until we mature and are ready to navigate life on a broader paradigm such as loving God and neighbour."
Also I think some of us respond better to explicit guidance. Which is what the commandments are.
For me , the commandments are a good reminder of the laws of respect and love. Though I probably prefer NT new covenant. Have I betrayed my lack of Biblical scholarship yet? ?

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Our obedience to God keeps us saved


The Power Of Christ’s Blood keeps us Saved—— NOTHING But The Blood.....

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

You say "demonstrate your faith", yet you claim that we are saved when we "believe" (I am guessing you mean "mental assent" when you save believe).

You are correct that we must demonstrate our faith, or our faith is dead, and therefore worthless for anything (especially saving us).

Please follow along here if you will. Eph 2:8-9 says that we receive grace (salvation) through faith. So faith must precede our reception of grace. James 2 says that faith without action is dead. He goes on to say that it is the action that gives life to faith. The analogy he uses is the soul (could be read "breath") and the body. Just as the soul (breath) gives life to the body, and then the body continues to produce breath as evidence of life; actions give life to faith, and then faith continues to produce actions as evidence of faith.

So then, actions that give life to faith must precede our reception of salvation. Now we must ask, "What actions does Scripture say lead to our reception of salvation?" There are only a few. We must hear the Gospel to believe it (Rom 10:14). So hearing is one. When we believe we must repent of our sins (turn from sin to following God), and Confess our belief that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10), so repentance and confession are two and three. The only other thing that Scripture says leads to salvation is immersion (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and others).

When we believe we must repent of our sins (turn from sin to following God), and Confess our belief that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10), so repentance and confession are two and three. The only other thing that Scripture says leads to salvation is immersion (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and others).

The only “ Repentance” required for Salvation is to “ change your mind”
about Jesus and His Gospel Of Grace Plus Nothing ......Believe That Jesus died for your Sins and rose from the grave and NEVER add to it with ANYTHING— no matter how good it sounds ! Going from being an Unbeliever in the Gospel Of 1Cor15:1-& to a Believer in that Gospel is what saves—- If you add to that with anything that “ you” do,you are preaching a False Gospel and you will find yourself “ Accursed”. If you simply Believe a false Gospel, you will not be damned for it.....you will just be “ Fallen From Grace”...... Their is disagreement to as to what that “ Fallen” state entails- it can’t be anything good for a person.....Simply do what God Commands us to do in Heb. 3.......REST in the Gospel Plus Nothing in order to be Saved or God will charge you with UNbelief.....

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Love is the “ Engine” that drives Obedience.
The Holy Spirit convicts blessed men and women of Sin......Hopefully That Conviction That shows you your True Wretchedness Before God and you helplessness and hopelessness in regard to doing anything about it will cause a person to Turn To God ( Repentance ) and put their Faith in Jesus Christ to save them......If one makes it that far , they will be given the Holy Spirit which will change them from the inside out. God gives us a New Heart That changes our “Wants” to fall into line with God's Will..God’s Will is that we REST in the Gospel Of 1Cor15:-4. Why is that “ Rest” so vital? God knows that the Gratitude and the Relief That comes as we get the Burden Of trying to be “ Good Enough “ off of our shoulders and Trusting in the Finished Work Of The Cross To Save us Eternally will Spur the Love That God wants above everything , and He knows that the Love we have for Him is , like I said previously, the Engine that will drive Obedience.....not fear.....not obligation ........Love.
The Religionists, The Tares That we unknowingly sit beside in our Church Pews—- they are quite skilled in “ Aping” the Behavior Of the Truly Born Again, But they Lack the Holy Spirit That drives the Behavior Of The Saved......That type of Spiritual IMITATION is worthless......God is looking for Spiritual FRUITION.......Do as God has Commanded and Rest in His Gospel ......ALL good things flow from that.....God Bless....

 

[GodsGrace]

What specifically do you want me to reply to?

Post no. 61

but no problem if you don't wish to.

 

[Doug Brents]

When we believe we must repent of our sins (turn from sin to following God), and Confess our belief that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10), so repentance and confession are two and three. The only other thing that Scripture says leads to salvation is immersion (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and others).

The only “ Repentance” required for Salvation is to “ change your mind”
about Jesus and His Gospel Of Grace Plus Nothing ......Believe That Jesus died for your Sins and rose from the grave and NEVER add to it with ANYTHING— no matter how good it sounds ! Going from being an Unbeliever in the Gospel Of 1Cor15:1-& to a Believer in that Gospel is what saves—- If you add to that with anything that “ you” do,you are preaching a False Gospel and you will find yourself “ Accursed”. If you simply Believe a false Gospel, you will not be damned for it.....you will just be “ Fallen From Grace”...... Their is disagreement to as to what that “ Fallen” state entails- it can’t be anything good for a person.....Simply do what God Commands us to do in Heb. 3.......REST in the Gospel Plus Nothing in order to be Saved or God will charge you with UNbelief.....

I would love to see where any of what you just wrote is written in Scripture. Because I have read the Scriptures many times, and have not seen anywhere what you are teaching.

Look at the word "believe" from the original language. The word is pisteuōn which comes from pistis; to have faith, i.e. Credit; by implication, to entrust.
The word believe is not a mental exercise. It is not just mental assent to the facts of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection that brings about our salvation. It is the action that this belief engenders.

We in our day and time don't really understand what "LORD" means. To make someone your lord is to give them total control over your actions, your property, and even your life. If a person was LORD over you in Jesus' day, he had the power to take your property, order you to do whatever he wanted, and even to kill you if he chose to do so. You had no control where he was concerned; none, zilch, zero. This is what God DEMANDS of us if we are to call Him LORD. Total submission of our heart, soul, body, and mind. He doesn't want casual "believers". Someone who just agrees that He died. He demands complete submission to His Will. Can you honestly say that is what a person does if they refuse to obey His commands?

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is immersed will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Anyone who believes the Gospel and is immersed will be saved. But if they don't believe, they are already condemned, because sin separates us from God and thus condemns us to life without God.

 

[stovebolts]

Promises.....Acting upon the Promises Of God is what Faith is....Believing and Acting upon the Promise Of God that saves a person ( 1Cor15:1-4 ) gets you the Holy Spirit.....That Spirit Alone Will Transform the “ Inside Of The Cup”......a person will “ Find Themselves” Living a life that pleases God if they quit “ Trying” and start “ Trusting”......

That's about the best I've ever heard it explained.
Sometimes it takes faith in Gods ways, and not our ways to believe and trust even the smallest promises of God when the big promises seem so simple.

Nahum comes to mind.