Acts 22:16 Paul's salvation

[Doug Brents]

So the moment you believe you had a dead faith?

No, the moment you really believe is the moment when your thought and action align in obedient surrender to God's commands. If there is no obedience, then you don't really believe (so yes, that is dead faith). You have living faith when your thought is completed through action.

 

[Doug Brents]

You still don't understand what it means to "believe" the gospel. Those who believe the gospel trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of their salvation (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and not in moral self-reformation, lip service confession and water baptism for salvation.

What does it mean to "trust"? Can you trust that a chair will hold you up while you stand in front of it? No. You do not trust it to hold you until you put your butt in it and take the weight off of your feet. That is trusting the chair. You do not trust God until you submit your life to Him, trusting that He will forgive your sins when you obey Him. He said that if you repent you will receive forgiveness (Acts 3:19). He said that you will receive salvation if you confess Him as Lord (Rom 10:9-10). And He said that those who believe and are baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16), that you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God without being reborn of water and the Spirit (John 3:5), that we die to sin during baptism (Rom 6:1-7). If we trust Him, then we will put our full weight on Him, and take it off of our own support. If we are still holding on for ourselves, then we don't really trust in Him.

Those who believe the gospel have already repented in the process of changing their mind and choosing to believe the gospel. (Acts 20:21)

Repentance is only one of the things that Scripture says lead to receiving salvation. If salvation is received when only one of those things is done, then it makes the rest of them to be false. Repentance is part of believing/trusting in God, but it is not the only thing Scripture says about salvation.

Those who believe the gospel have the word of faith in their mouth and in their heart TOGETHER. (Romans 10:8)

The word of faith is the Gospel that Paul was preaching.

So, this confession is an expression of faith by the Holy Spirit and is not a work for salvation. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

The confession does not flow from having already been saved. It RESULTS in receiving salvation. Get your theology straight with what Scripture says.

Water baptism "follows" believing the gospel and salvation. (Acts 10:43-47; 15:7-9)

Water baptism is part of believing/trusting/faith. It does not come before salvation because it is during baptism that we die to sin (Rom 6:2), that we have sin cut from us (Col 2:11), that we are clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27), that we are saved (1 Pet 3:21).

Until you get this right and refuse to trust in your works based false gospel for salvation (which is the result of bad semantics and flawed hermeneutics) you don't believe the gospel. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

I trust in God to keep His word and do what He said He would do. I also trust Him to not do what He said He would not do. I do not trust my works to save me. My best and greatest work is not worth your life, let alone the life of God's only Son. How could I trust in my worthless, dirty rags, when He is already clothed in shining, glorious, white robes of surpassing brilliance and majesty. I have nothing to give Him. But He has said that if we trust in (submit to and obey) Him, He will give us His glory to replace our rags.

 

[Doug Brents]

Nope

Works reveal the condition of the faith; they do not establish it

Keep believing that, but it is not what Scripture says.

 

[Doug Brents]

It's one thing to receive a blessing based on obedience/works and it's another thing to receive the free gift of eternal life through faith, not works.

No, there is no difference between the two. God is omnipotent. It is no greater blessing to give us eternal life than it is to make more oil from a jar, or to knock down a wall, or to make flour and oil continue to be there as long as a famine lasts, or to cleanse leprosy. Even creating everything that was created did not weary God. He was not exhausted by creating all of existence. He still demands our active demonstration of faith before He gives His blessings when He gives conditions for their reception.

It's obviously actions/obedience/works that you are trusting in for salvation instead of TRUSTING IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE FOR SALVATION. You trust in what you DO in order to help Jesus Christ save you instead of trusting exclusively in what Jesus Christ has DONE to save you.

Not at all. I trust in Jesus 100%. It is what He commands that I believe we must do, because He said that doing those things will result in receiving His blessing of eternal life. If I did not trust Him 100%, then I would resist doing what He says leads to receiving His blessing.

I was once in a discussion several years ago on a Christian forum with someone who attends the church of Christ, and I will never forget what he said to me. Here is his statement below:

"It is works of obedience and not works of the law or works of merit that help save us."

Notice the key word there "help" save us. Also, the saved by "these" works and just not "those" works flawed argument is popular with Roman Catholics and other works-salvationists as well.

He was wrong. Our works do not "help" save us. Nothing we do is worthy of the life of the Son of God.
But he was also right, in that if we do not obey Jesus, He will not give us the blessing of eternal life, just as He did not give any other blessing without the obedience of the person offered the blessing.

 

[dwight92070]

Yep. Which explains why Doug teaches salvation by faith AND WORKS instead of salvation through faith, NOT WORKS. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Prior to my conversion several years ago while still attending the Roman Catholic church, I believed just as Doug does now and I even defined faith "as" obedience/works. It was not until I came to realize that faith in Jesus Christ (apart from works) saves, and that God imputes righteousness (apart from works - Romans 4:5-6) that I finally had my turning point and received Jesus Christ through faith and knew that I was saved. Praise God!

Man is saved through faith and not by works (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9); yet genuine faith is (evidenced) by works. (James 2:14-26).

*Christ saves us through faith based on the merits of His finished work of redemption "alone" and not based on the merits of our works.* (Romans 3:24-28)

It is through faith "in Christ alone" (and not based on the merits of our works) that we are justified on account of Christ (Romans 4:5-6; 5:1; 5:9); yet the faith that justifies does not remain alone (unfruitful, barren) if it is genuine. (James 2:14-26) *Perfect Harmony*

So the "baptism regeneration" false teaching actually hindered you from getting saved? Once you got rid of that lie, you were free to be saved.

 

[TomL]

Keep believing that, but it is not what Scripture says.

sorry but that is indeed what scripture shows

 

[TomL]

No, the moment you really believe is the moment when your thought and action align in obedient surrender to God's commands. If there is no obedience, then you don't really believe (so yes, that is dead faith). You have living faith when your thought is completed through action.

Your comments are contradictory

Answering first no, then yes

 

[Doug Brents]

sorry but that is indeed what scripture shows

What it "shows" to your mind. But not what it SAYS! There is a big difference between what you are hearing and what it is saying.

 

[Doug Brents]

Your comments are contradictory

Answering first no, then yes

Read what I said again. The thing some call "faith" that is not obedient is dead "faith". But real faith is not present until belief is united to and completed by action. There is no contradiction.

 

[dwight92070]

Imagine if you were extremely angry against a certain group of people whose leader was Dan. You strongly disliked Dan and them because they considered Dan to be their leader. You even wished they could be eliminated. You did everything in your power to make life miserable for them. One day you come up with a plan to totally disrupt their lives, but this requires that you and some of your friends take a long trip to a distant city. You are almost there, when suddenly this intense light shines out of the sky right on you, like a giant spotlight. It is so bright you can't even see, so you fall to the ground. Shockingly, a loud voice comes from the direction where the light is shining - a man says, "Dwight! Dwight! Why are you being so brutal and vicious to me?"
Trembling with fear, you quietly say, "Who are you, sir?"
"I am Dan whom you are being so vicious toward - but get up and go into town and you will be told what to do."
So you get up and immediately realize that you are blind!
In a flash, several things become clear. First, this whole thing is supernatural. You don't just hear a voice speaking out of the sky, nor does an intensely bright light shine directly on you, so bright that you are now blind. Dan Himself has to be more than just a human or he could not be talking to you from the sky. Second, He is angry, obviously because you are troubling His followers. You have heard about Dan quite a lot lately. Many of His followers say He is a man sent from God - some even say that He is the Messiah, the Son of God. You now realize that this is true and that you have made an awful mistake by going after His people, so you feel awful and you repent. Dan tells you that He is appointing you to be a minister and a witness to the things that just happened and to the things that he would appear to you in the future. Dan tells you that He is sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, and that they might receive forgiveness of their sins by faith in Dan. You believe Him, even though you are blind, so you immediately obey him and have your friends lead you into town. While you're praying in that town, Dan gives you a vision of a man named Ananias, who will come to you and lay hands on you, so that you will get your sight back.

I hope that this story will help all of us to see just how ridiculous it is to think that Paul (Saul) was not instantly convicted of his sins and decided to obey Jesus; he repented on the spot, realized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, was powerfully saved and forgiven of his sins, and commissioned as an apostle to reach the Gentiles with the truth of the gospel of Jesus. To think that all these things did not happen is just a few seconds of time, is to deny reality and the word of God. Acts 9:1-12 and Acts 26:12-18

 

[mailmandan]

So the "baptism regeneration" false teaching actually hindered you from getting saved? Once you got rid of that lie, you were free to be saved.

That lie along with other lies that resulted in salvation by works.

 

[mailmandan]

No, there is no difference between the two.

There is a big difference between receiving a blessing based on an act of obedience and receiving the free gift of eternal life based on faith in Christ.

God is omnipotent. It is no greater blessing to give us eternal life than it is to make more oil from a jar, or to knock down a wall, or to make flour and oil continue to be there as long as a famine lasts, or to cleanse leprosy. Even creating everything that was created did not weary God. He was not exhausted by creating all of existence. He still demands our active demonstration of faith before He gives His blessings when He gives conditions for their reception.

Your logic which supports salvation by works remains flawed.

Not at all. I trust in Jesus 100%. It is what He commands that I believe we must do, because He said that doing those things will result in receiving His blessing of eternal life. If I did not trust Him 100%, then I would resist doing what He says leads to receiving His blessing.

No, you trust in what YOU believe Jesus said we must do in order to receive salvation. Jesus said believe or condemned (John 3:18) but Jesus never said baptized or condemned. If you trusted 100% in Jesus for salvation then you would be trusting in His death, burial and resurrection as the ALL-sufficient means of your salvation. (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Instead you are trusting in a 4-step erroneous formula that culminates in salvation by water baptism.

He was wrong.

Of course he was, but your logic is no better.

Our works do not "help" save us. Nothing we do is worthy of the life of the Son of God.

Yet you still say there are additional requirements that we must accomplish before we receive eternal life. Oxymoron.

But he was also right, in that if we do not obey Jesus, He will not give us the blessing of eternal life, just as He did not give any other blessing without the obedience of the person offered the blessing.

The problem is you "add" multiple acts of obedience/works to salvation through faith.

 

[TomL]

Read what I said again. The thing some call "faith" that is not obedient is dead "faith". But real faith is not present until belief is united to and completed by action. There is no contradiction.

It's still contradictory

No, the moment you really believe is the moment when your thought and action align in obedient surrender to God's commands. If there is no obedience, then you don't really believe (so yes, that is dead faith). You have living faith when your thought is completed through action.

I noted

Works reveal the condition of the faith; they do not establish it

 

[TomL]

What it "shows" to your mind. But not what it SAYS! There is a big difference between what you are hearing and what it is saying.

You do not understand what James is saying

 

[Doug Brents]

Imagine if you were extremely angry against a certain group of people whose leader was Dan. You strongly disliked Dan and them because they considered Dan to be their leader. You even wished they could be eliminated. You did everything in your power to make life miserable for them. One day you come up with a plan to totally disrupt their lives, but this requires that you and some of your friends take a long trip to a distant city. You are almost there, when suddenly this intense light shines out of the sky right on you, like a giant spotlight. It is so bright you can't even see, so you fall to the ground. Shockingly, a loud voice comes from the direction where the light is shining - a man says, "Dwight! Dwight! Why are you being so brutal and vicious to me?"
Trembling with fear, you quietly say, "Who are you, sir?"
"I am Dan whom you are being so vicious toward - but get up and go into town and you will be told what to do."
So you get up and immediately realize that you are blind!
In a flash, several things become clear. First, this whole thing is supernatural. You don't just hear a voice speaking out of the sky, nor does an intensely bright light shine directly on you, so bright that you are now blind. Dan Himself has to be more than just a human or he could not be talking to you from the sky. Second, He is angry, obviously because you are troubling His followers. You have heard about Dan quite a lot lately. Many of His followers say He is a man sent from God - some even say that He is the Messiah, the Son of God. You now realize that this is true and that you have made an awful mistake by going after His people, so you feel awful and you repent. Dan tells you that He is appointing you to be a minister and a witness to the things that just happened and to the things that he would appear to you in the future. Dan tells you that He is sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, and that they might receive forgiveness of their sins by faith in Dan. You believe Him, even though you are blind, so you immediately obey him and have your friends lead you into town. While you're praying in that town, Dan gives you a vision of a man named Ananias, who will come to you and lay hands on you, so that you will get your sight back.

I hope that this story will help all of us to see just how ridiculous it is to think that Paul (Saul) was not instantly convicted of his sins and decided to obey Jesus; he repented on the spot, realized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, was powerfully saved and forgiven of his sins, and commissioned as an apostle to reach the Gentiles with the truth of the gospel of Jesus. To think that all these things did not happen is just a few seconds of time, is to deny reality and the word of God. Acts 9:1-12 and Acts 26:12-18

"Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened." Acts 9:1-9

"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.
12 “Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’" Acts 22:6-16

"While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’" Acts 26:12-18

Look at the three tellings of these events above. In the first two, he says that all Jesus told him on the Road was to get up and go into Damascus, and there he would be told what to do. In the third telling, he skips some steps because King Agrippa didn't need to know all the details, and so he doesn't tell that he went into town before Jesus commissioned him, and told him more details about what he would be doing. So all Saul knew while he was on the Road was that Jesus was more than he thought He was before seeing the vision, and that he would be given more information when he got into town. Then, three days later, Ananias arrives and tells him what to do. That is when he was commissioned, that is when he was sent, and that is when he was forgiven of his sins. We don't know when he repented of his animosity toward the Church. It could have been there on the Road, but it could have been some time during the three days, or it could have been when the scales fell from his eyes. But we do know that he was still sitting there stained with sin three days after the vision on the Road.

 

[Doug Brents]

There is a big difference between receiving a blessing based on an act of obedience and receiving the free gift of eternal life based on faith in Christ.

No, there is not. Because faith requires that there be actions of obedience. If there is no action of obedience then there is no faith.

No, you trust in what YOU believe Jesus said we must do in order to receive salvation. Jesus said believe or condemned (John 3:18) but Jesus never said baptized or condemned. If you trusted 100% in Jesus for salvation then you would be trusting in His death, burial and resurrection as the ALL-sufficient means of your salvation. (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Instead you are trusting in a 4-step erroneous formula that culminates in salvation by water baptism.

I trust in what is written in Scripture. "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away"
"for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
"The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved"
"unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you"
"How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"
"For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

Yet you still say there are additional requirements that we must accomplish before we receive eternal life.

The problem is you "add" multiple acts of obedience/works to salvation through faith.

No, I do not "add" anything! God set the conditions upon which we receive His gift. Just having an intellectual assent type of belief does not meet His conditions. As quoted above, the requirements of God to receive His salvation are very clear: repentance, confession, and baptism. If all of Scripture is inspired by God, then all of Scripture is perfect and inerrant. That means that each and every verse must agree with every other verse, and each and every verse must be true all at the same time. One verse (Acts 3:19) only says repentance leads to forgiveness. Yet another verse only says that confession of Jesus results in salvation. Both of these verses must be true at the same time. That means you cannot take one and ignore the other. You must accept them both together. Then a third verse says that it is during baptism that we die to sin and receive forgiveness of it. That verse must also be true at the same time as the other two. So all three are required to receive salvation from sin.

 

[Doug Brents]

It's still contradictory

No, the moment you really believe is the moment when your thought and action align in obedient surrender to God's commands. If there is no obedience, then you don't really believe (so yes, that is dead faith). You have living faith when your thought is completed through action.

I noted

Works reveal the condition of the faith; they do not establish it

Works reveal whether the faith is living or dead. If the faith has works, then the faith is living and is capable of bringing God's salvation to us. If faith has no works, then it is dead and is incapable of doing anything; it is worthless. There is no contradiction.

 

[Doug Brents]

You do not understand what James is saying

Yes, I understand perfectly what James is saying.
"What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Is the "faith" that says, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet does nothing a living faith? Does that "faith" do any good to the person professing to have it, or the person in need?
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
It is impossible to show your faith without works, because such a faith is dead and worthless. But I will show you my living faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
The demons either will not, or cannot, act on their belief. They have no faith, it is as dead as they are.
20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?
Faith without works is useless. It is no good for anything.
21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
He was justified before that as well, but his faith was continually demonstrated to be living and useful by what he did.
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
His faith was made complete, perfected, alive by what he did. And so the Scripture written about him before was shown to be both actual and prophetic.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Everyone is justified, made righteous by God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, by what he does, and not by "faith only".
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Rahab was not righteous. She was a prostitute, but she was justified by what she did, because she believed the spies and acted accordingly.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
A body from which the spirit has left is dead. So too, a faith which does not produce works is dead. If it has works for a while but then they cease, it dies. But if there are no works in the beginning, then it was never alive to begin with.

 

[TomL]

Yes, I understand perfectly what James is saying.
"What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Is the "faith" that says, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet does nothing a living faith? Does that "faith" do any good to the person professing to have it, or the person in need?
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
It is impossible to show your faith without works, because such a faith is dead and worthless. But I will show you my living faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
The demons either will not, or cannot, act on their belief. They have no faith, it is as dead as they are.
20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?
Faith without works is useless. It is no good for anything.
21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
He was justified before that as well, but his faith was continually demonstrated to be living and useful by what he did.
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
His faith was made complete, perfected, alive by what he did. And so the Scripture written about him before was shown to be both actual and prophetic.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Everyone is justified, made righteous by God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, by what he does, and not by "faith only".
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Rahab was not righteous. She was a prostitute, but she was justified by what she did, because she believed the spies and acted accordingly.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
A body from which the spirit has left is dead. So too, a faith which does not produce works is dead. If it has works for a while but then they cease, it dies. But if there are no works in the beginning, then it was never alive to begin with.

Um reproducing the passage does not show you understand it

James does not say faith is made alive by works

Works however show that the faith that exists was alive

That living faith justifies

 

[mailmandan]

No, there is not. Because faith requires that there be actions of obedience. If there is no action of obedience then there is no faith.

If there is no genuine faith in the first place, then so-called action of obedience which follows is in vain. Just going through the motions of a "nominal" Christian. Religious, but not right with God. Without faith it's impossible to please God. There are a lot of false religions and cults that teach salvation by works in "professing" Christendom.

I trust in what is written in Scripture. "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away"

I trust in what is written in Acts 3:19. Repent is a change of mind and the new direction of that change of mind is faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Two sides to the same coin. You error by placing repentance "after" saving belief/faith in Christ and redefine repentance as moral self-reformation. You reverse the Scriptural order of repentance and faith in Scripture. *Notice the order of repent and believe/believe the gospel/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in the following verses. (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21)

"for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (TOGETHER) that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (notice the reverse order from verse 9-10) - that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God 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. Confess/believe; believe/confess. So, confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are not two separate steps to salvation but are chronologically together. Confession here is an expression of faith by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3) and is not a work for salvation that happens days after one believes unto righteousness. (Romans 4:5-6)

"The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved"

Mark 16:16 - He who believes and is baptized will be saved (general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized) but he who does not believe will be condemned. The omission of baptized with "does not believe" shows that Jesus does not make baptism absolutely necessary for salvation. Condemnation rests on unbelief and not on a lack of baptism. *NOWHERE does the Bible say, "baptized or condemned."

If water baptism is absolutely required for salvation, then we would expect Jesus to mention it in the following verses. (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) Yet what is the 1 requirement that Jesus mentions 9 different times in each of these complete statements *BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism? *Hermeneutics. John 3:18 - He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO) does not believe is condemned already, because he has not (been water baptized? - NO) because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

"unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

In John 3:5, Jesus said born of water and the Spirit. He did not say born of baptism and the Spirit and He also did not say unless one is water baptized, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In the very next chapter, Jesus mentions "living water" in John 4:10, 14 and and He connects living water with eternal life in John 4:14. Also, in John 7:38-39, we read - "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of living water (which reaches the heart) and spiritual cleansing.

If "water" is arbitrarily defined as baptism, then we could just as justifiably say, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living baptism" in John 7:38. If this sounds ridiculous, it is no more so than the idea that water baptism is the source or the means of becoming born again. Jesus still did not mention baptism in (John 3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) and believing is not baptism and believing "precedes" baptism and we are saved through believing/placing faith in Christ alone for salvation. It's just that simple.

Also "water" is used in the Bible as an emblem of the word of God, and in such uses it is associated with cleansing or washing. (John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26) When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begets new life, so that we are said to become "partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4) The new birth is brought to pass through "incorruptible seed, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever" (I Peter 1:23) and the Holy Spirit accomplishes the miracle of regeneration. (Titus 3:5) So, to automatically read "baptism" into John 3:5 simply because it mentions "water" is unwarranted. Your eisegesis is unwarranted.

"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you"

In Peter 3:21, Peter tells us that baptism now saves you, yet when Peter uses this phrase he continues in the same sentence to explain exactly what he means by it. He said that baptism now saves you-not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you), "but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism).

*Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved THROUGH water" as they were IN THE ARK. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point (..built an ARK for the SAVING of his household). *The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, only the wicked in Noah's day came in contract with the water and they all perished.

"How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"
"For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

You error by assuming that baptized into Christ means water baptized into the body of Christ. We are Spirit baptized (not water baptized) "into the body of Christ" - For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.. (1 Corinthians 12:13). In what sense are we water baptized into Christ? In the same sense that the Israelites were "baptized into Moses" (1 Corinthians 10:2). We are not literally water baptized into the body of Christ, just as the Israelites were not literally water baptized into the body of Moses, which is in regard to identification.

Galatians 3:26 - For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Period.) Not through faith and water baptism. Also read John 1:12 - But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. *Received Him, given the right to become children of God, through believing in His name, not through water baptism.

Galatians 3:27 - For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on/clothed yourself with Christ. The Greek word for "put on" is "enduo" and means to enclose oneself in, as when one "puts on" clothes or armor or some other item. Involved in this is the idea of "imitation" and "identification." Just as 1 Corinthians 10:2 says that all (the Israelites) were "baptized into Moses" in the cloud and in the sea, but this does not mean that the Israelites were literally water baptized into the body of Moses.

So how does one "put on" Christ in baptism? Is it because one becomes a "child of God" through water baptism? NO. Is Paul saying that we become children of God by water baptism as much as children of God by faith in Christ? NO.

"Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light...put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." (Romans 13:12,14) This exhortation is written to Christians (those already saved). Evidently then, baptism is not the only way to "put on" Christ. To "put on" Christ is to conform to Him, imitate Him. So it is in baptism; we "put on" Christ, conforming to Him in the ordinance that declares Him to be our Savior. So if "put on" Christ means saved through water baptism, apparently we are not saved yet. We must also "put on" Christ by making no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts in order to be saved as well. (Romans 13:14) Right? NO. This exhortation is to those ALREADY SAVED.

"Put off," wrote Paul, "the old man," and "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:22,24); And "put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11) The allusion is to put off old clothes and putting on new ones, to enclosing oneself in armor. When a soldier puts on armor, he is imitating his superiors and trainers, is revealing himself to be a soldier. One does not put on a uniform in order to become a soldier. Simply putting on a soldier's uniform does not make one become a soldier. Once one is made a soldier one is then able to put on and wear the uniform that distinguishes or marks them as a soldier. It's the same with putting on a judge's robe. Simply putting on a robe in of itself, does not make anyone become a judge, but one who has been made a judge is qualified to put on judicial robes and thus declare their qualifications.

So too with being water baptized, the Christian puts on robes for which they has previously been qualified to wear. The putting on of Christ is not what makes one become a Christian, but one which becomes a token of it, as in Romans 13:14. If one sets out to put on the clothes of a Christian, in water baptism, without first becoming a Christian (child of God through faith), then one becomes an imposter, and is declaring, in baptism, to be what they are not.

No, I do not "add" anything!

Your eisegesis says otherwise. You interpret Scripture in such a way as to introduce one's own presuppositions, agendas or biases.

God set the conditions upon which we receive His gift. Just having an intellectual assent type of belief does not meet His conditions.

Trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, believing in our heart (and not just in our head) is not mere intellectual assent type of belief. Works-salvationists cannot seem to figure that out. Jesus Christ is the object of our belief/faith and His finished work of redemption is sufficient and complete to save believers. (Romans 3:24-28) No supplements needed. Salvation by works does not meet His conditions. (Romans 4:2-6; Ephesians 2:8,9: Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9)

As quoted above, the requirements of God to receive His salvation are very clear: repentance, confession, and baptism.

False. Mental assent belief + moral self-reformation + lip service confession + baptism does not = salvation. It's clear to believers that repentance (change of mind) precedes belief/faith in Christ unto righteousness and the word of faith is in our mouth and heart TOGETHER so confessing with our mouth belief and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are not two separate steps to salvation but are chronologically together and baptism "follows" saving belief/faith in Christ. Genuine believers trust in Jesus Christ ALONE for salvation. Make believers trust in their works/performance/accomplishments for salvation.

If all of Scripture is inspired by God, then all of Scripture is perfect and inerrant. That means that each and every verse must agree with every other verse, and each and every verse must be true all at the same time. One verse (Acts 3:19) only says repentance leads to forgiveness. Yet another verse only says that confession of Jesus results in salvation. Both of these verses must be true at the same time. That means you cannot take one and ignore the other. You must accept them both together. Then a third verse says that it is during baptism that we die to sin and receive forgiveness of it. That verse must also be true at the same time as the other two. So all three are required to receive salvation from sin.

We need to interpret Scripture in context, and we also must properly harmonize Scripture with Scripture before reaching our conclusion on doctrine. You instead, distort and pervert passages of Scripture in an effort to "patch together" your so-called gospel plan.