Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness....
Abraham's faith was credited to him as being right with God.
Romans 4:3
3For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
4Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
Hmmm. For your interpretation to be correct, wouldn't the verse have to say "righteousness was accounted to Abraham for his faith"? I think what was imputed to him was Christ's faith. Righteousness can only be accounted to someone from/by the faith of Jesus Christ -- there is no other true righteousness. Your point was that Abraham gave faith to himself, and from that faith, God gave him righteousness... but, as we see in 3:22, the righteousness of God must be by Christ. Outside of Christ's faith, there is no righteousness.
[Rom 3:22 KJV]
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:
[Phl 3:9 KJV]
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
[Gal 2:16 KJV] 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.
[Jhn 6:29 KJV]
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, T
his is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
If Abraham's faith (which, according to you, he gave himself) equals righteousness , then the only righteousness he could have acquired was from the law ( there is a law of faith). True righteousness is attained solely "through the faith of Christ". It either has to be from Christ, or from the law - one or the other - there is no third option,
It does not say that Jesus' faith is responsible for our righteousness.
Please see Phl 3:9
WHERE does it mention anything about Jesus' faith??
By faith Abraham left Ur...and Haran...he obeyed God.
By HIS faith Abraham left Ur...
Wait - so you're saying Abraham made himself righteous? Our conclusions must always be tested against the scrutiny of the Bible.
Remember the rule :
[2Pe 1:20 KJV] 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
John 6:38-40
38“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
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.”
Where does it state above that we are saved by Jesus' faith?
It only states that:
1. Jesus has come here to do the Father's will.
2. The will of God is that all who go to Jesus will not become lost...but will be raised up on the last day.
3. The will of God is that EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES INT HE SON will have eternal life.
We are saved by OUR BELIEF.
By OUR FAITH.
Think I already answered the "where does it state" question (above).
Your point 1: agreed
Your point 2: possibly agree, depending upon what you mean by "go to Jesus".
If you look closely at 6:39, you can see it says "all that the He has GIVEN me I lose nothing". Notice that Christ included no pre-conditions in His statement as to whom the Father had given Him, for example, they had first to believe - only that the Father would unconditionally give some to Him. If those given were dependent upon their own actions, then Christ could not have said what He said, because it would have been their efforts, not God's that caused them to be given - God would not have had a part in it. Also, please notice that they were ALREADY given to Christ. No actions on their part could have affected the result. All people who have/will ever receive salvation have ALREADY been chosen by God.
6:40 states that those who are of the "He has given" group, are those who will have eternal life.
It seems to me that whenever you read a verse that has the word belief or faith in it, you automatically impose your interpretation that the faith in view is self-generated, but please, before you do so, recall Rom 3:22, Phl 3:9, and Gal 2:16. It could be Christ's faith, or the faith Christ has given them, depending.
On your point 3, I don't at all dispute what you've said -- that those who TRULY believe already have eternal life - no
doubt about that. Where we disagree is in how that belief is/was instituted within them? You say it's their responsibility. I say it's a gift from God.
Jesus did His part for you.
He certainly did.
Did Jesus leave YOU any instructions in the N.T.?
Is this an instruction? Is the following something we must DO?
Mark 7:9-13
9He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
10“For Moses said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH’;
11but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’
12you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother;
13thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
The above teaches that Jesus was upset with those that did not honor their mother and father.
Is that not something we do?
And, yes, we were saved while we were still in sin..and it is God's grace that saves us.
For those who are truly saved, are no longer are they under law (if I understand your point correctly). For them, law no longer holds power -- they have been freed from it since they already have eternal life.
If God's grace saves us, then what else could possibly be left for us to do to acquire salvation ?
What things must we do?
Could we start with the 10 commandments?
Would you say that Jesus' Two Great Commandments leave us with much to do?
Please answer this as I've posted many such verses....
The blind man wanted his sight.
Jesus told him to go his way...
"YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL".
Jesus told Bartimaeus that his faith made him well...
NOT Jesus' faith.
Mark 10:52
52And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.”
Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Wait - do you believe we are saved by following law?
Following a standard of behavior in this world is one thing, leveraging it to justify ourselves before God quite another. From God's perspective, at the highest level, there are but two laws:
[Rom 8:1-3 KJV]
1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the l
aw of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the l
aw of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
God's mercy and grace alone place us under the first, our works for salvation under the second