Thanks for the detailed explanation.
You dont believe the new testament gospel has works that are required by God for salvation.
You refer to these as obedience,
Sir, I suggest we define words with the same words the Holy Spirit chose in the new testament.
Obedience to the gospel is literally works of faith.
Hearing, believing, confessing and being baptized are all conditions for being saved, i.e., being justified, regenerated and initially sanctified. These are works but not works of law as in the sense of a code of conduct for living. Faithful living is a work in the sense of a code of conduct, and I put it in the category of the law of Christ. But be careful. It is not a condition for being saved, nor is a condition for staying saved. We are saved by grace through faith and we stay saved by grace through faith. Making faithful living a condition for salvation is a problem that arose in the churches of Galatia and is often referred to as Galatianism. It is a problem that Paul addressed in his letter to them. Specifically in chapter three:
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? : Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
The problem is rampant in Christendom today. I witnessed it with my own dear mother on her death bed. Our young preacher was with us, and he asked, "Are you afraid?" and she answered "Yes". It bothered me then, but I didn't know why, exactly. But it was clear that she was afraid that she might not have been "good enough". I only wish that I had known then what I know now and I could have reassured her. Assurance of salvation is, I believe, an important aspect of our belief system that is not well addressed today.
If the final judgment were held at this very moment, would you be saved?” Assurance of salvation is the ability to answer “Yes!” to this question, rather than to respond with an ambiguous “Maybe”; “I hope so, but I’m not really sure”; “I don’t know.” How we answer this question obviously makes a world of difference concerning our happiness and peace of mind during this life. Our greatest conscious need is for a feeling of confidence regarding our present acceptance with God and our future participation in heaven. We need “blessed assurance,” assurance of salvation. The good news is that such assurance is here for us. Indeed, it is the natural result of a proper understanding of grace, especially of the key concept of justification by faith. Every Christian should have this assurance.
But that is perhaps for another thread.
Faith which is essential to salvation is called a WORK by Jesus Himself,
John 6:28-29,
- ....this is the work of God that YOU believe on the one whom He sent
James teaches we are justified by works James 2:24, - justified by works and not by faith only
Yes, but we have to be careful with the words here. James is not saying that faith plus works as necessary for salvation. If you read his letter carefully, what he is advocating is for a faith that works.
This understanding helps us to understand how a Christian can be both justified by faith and judged by works. That we will be judged by works is a truth taught throughout Scripture. For example, Jer 17:10 says, “
I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” Jesus says in Matt 16:27, “
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father and with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” He declares in Rev 22:12, “
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” That this includes the saved and the unsaved alike is clear from 2 Cor 5:10, “
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Surely one reason why Christians will be judged according to their works, both good and bad, is to determine the degree of reward to be received by each. But another reason for exposing all our works on the day of judgment will be to demonstrate the presence or absence of the faith which justifies. Such an examination is not necessary for God’s own sake, but it will be done in order to demonstrate that God’s judgment is impartial or without favoritism, that he is no “respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34-35; Rom 2:6,11; Eph 6:8-9; Col 3:25; 1 Pet 1:17).
The believing, repenting, confessing, and living faithful are works of faith that we do.
Yes they are under faith but faith has many uses in the new testament.
Faith can mean personal belief.
It can also mean the system of faith known as Christs new testament gospel.
This faith that all are under today is Christ's law!!!
Galatians 6:2,
- bear ye one another' burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ
I agree. However, I do so with the caveat concerning the Galatianism I posted above.
Galatians 5:1,
- standfast therefore in the liberty(Christs new testament law) wherewith Christ has made us FREE and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage(old law, old covenant of Moses)
James 1:25,
- but whose looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein he being not a forgetful hearer but a DOER of the word this man shall be blessed in his work
Again I agree but stay clear of professing any hint of Galatianism.
