SHINY4UJESUS
Member
FIRST OFF: Obedience principles are just that; they are not Salvation principles. Only one place in scripture does it list the SPECIFIC precluding factors for Salvation:
Romans 10:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Anyone who would speak otherwise is basically calling Christ a liar and making the claim that His sacrifice was not good enough. WE are justified by FAITH alone; not works.
SECOND: We cannot afford to misappropriate scripture in matters of salvation folks. Let us not make things like obedience principles, sacraments, institutions and such; out to be factors that will preclude or negate salvation.
Romans 3:27-28 Living Bible (TLB)
27 Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him. 28 So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.
Romans 6:14-17 Living Bible (TLB)
14 Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy.
15 Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law but on receiving God’s grace!) Of course not!
16 Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself—he will take you and be your master, and you will be his slave. 17 Thank God that though you once chose to be slaves of sin, now you have obeyed with all your heart the teaching to which God has committed you.
FINALLY: While obedience to the Law is not required to receive or keep salvation, we have a duty as Christians to reflect Christ. What did Christ do? He was obedient to the point of death. Our desire should be to daily obey the things we are commanded for several reasons. 1). To promote spiritual growth/health. 2). To invoke greater providence/blessing of God, (favor.) 3). To reflect a proper image of what a believer should aspire to in character, action, speech and behavior. 5). Because we are told to; obedience has it's own merit in and of itself. 6) Responsibility/accountability. 7). So that we do not place occasion to stumble in the path of others.
WE must realize that the entire purpose of Christ was to deliver mankind from the impossible task of attaining righteousness by way of perfect adherence to the Law. WE are now under the law of grace, by way of faith in Christ; so we cannot regress into the Pharisaic ideology and approach that burdened believers under a soul crushing weight of legalism they could not bear up under. Let us strive toward perfection, but expect only a grace given redemption. Let us yearn to obey, and to redirect others the same way; but in the end let us always err on the side of love, mercy, peace and grace. Otherwise we will have a very dicey conversation with Our Lord when we get up to the throne-room; explaining why we happily accepted His sacrifice and grace..yet imposed upon others legalism and condemnation. Personally I think I will simply avoid this possibility entirely if I can manage it! LOL
Romans 10:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Anyone who would speak otherwise is basically calling Christ a liar and making the claim that His sacrifice was not good enough. WE are justified by FAITH alone; not works.
SECOND: We cannot afford to misappropriate scripture in matters of salvation folks. Let us not make things like obedience principles, sacraments, institutions and such; out to be factors that will preclude or negate salvation.
Romans 3:27-28 Living Bible (TLB)
27 Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him. 28 So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.
Romans 6:14-17 Living Bible (TLB)
14 Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy.
15 Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law but on receiving God’s grace!) Of course not!
16 Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself—he will take you and be your master, and you will be his slave. 17 Thank God that though you once chose to be slaves of sin, now you have obeyed with all your heart the teaching to which God has committed you.
FINALLY: While obedience to the Law is not required to receive or keep salvation, we have a duty as Christians to reflect Christ. What did Christ do? He was obedient to the point of death. Our desire should be to daily obey the things we are commanded for several reasons. 1). To promote spiritual growth/health. 2). To invoke greater providence/blessing of God, (favor.) 3). To reflect a proper image of what a believer should aspire to in character, action, speech and behavior. 5). Because we are told to; obedience has it's own merit in and of itself. 6) Responsibility/accountability. 7). So that we do not place occasion to stumble in the path of others.
WE must realize that the entire purpose of Christ was to deliver mankind from the impossible task of attaining righteousness by way of perfect adherence to the Law. WE are now under the law of grace, by way of faith in Christ; so we cannot regress into the Pharisaic ideology and approach that burdened believers under a soul crushing weight of legalism they could not bear up under. Let us strive toward perfection, but expect only a grace given redemption. Let us yearn to obey, and to redirect others the same way; but in the end let us always err on the side of love, mercy, peace and grace. Otherwise we will have a very dicey conversation with Our Lord when we get up to the throne-room; explaining why we happily accepted His sacrifice and grace..yet imposed upon others legalism and condemnation. Personally I think I will simply avoid this possibility entirely if I can manage it! LOL