Being : Reconciled

[Chaleb]

The Scriptures say "The heart is deceitful above all else, and desperately sick, who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

No, faith is not found in the heart,

God looks on the Heart.
Faith is found there and confession of faith is made with the mouth, afterwards.
Theology is in your head, not your heart, ViaCrucis

1 Samuel 16:1-13 The Lord does not SEE as you see; YOU look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the HEART".

 

[Chaleb]

But sanctification does involve our cooperation with God to live out our faith through obedience to God.

The way a person is sanctified is to become this..

"In Christ".

There is no "work" you can do, to cause that sanctification .

All your works are "filthy rags" as compared to the Cross of Christ and the Blood of Jesus.
They are nothing more tho PRIDE would disagree.

So, you can "present your body a living sacrifice" and 'Carry your Cross" till you stop breathing and all those works are just works.
Righteousness, comes from God, as "the Gift of righteousness".
Proof you have it?

A) Born again as a 'new Creation" In Christ.


Paul tells you this...

"I have finished my course, i have kept the Faith".

Never did he say that his work was anything.
What Paul said is that "Christ in ME", was the Power, was the Sanctification, was the Walk of Faith, was the real ministry.

Wnen you are trying to do works to be sanctified , or to try to stay saved...

You are this....

Jesus said...>"apart from me, you can do NOTHING".

I'll tell you a truth.
EVery person who is trying to stay saved, or believes they can lose their salvation......is confessing sin.
Why?
Because they are trying to do by LAW what can only be doen as..>>"by my Spirit sayeth the Lord"... and "the Law is the power of sin... The power of sin is The Law".

 

[ViaCrucis]

God looks on the Heart.
Faith is found there and confession of faith is made with the mouth, afterwards.
Theology is in your head, not your heart, ViaCrucis

1 Samuel 16:1-13 The Lord does not SEE as you see; YOU look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the HEART".

God doesn't care about outward appearances, that's true. But that's not what is being discussed. What I'm talking about is faith, how does one go from not having faith to having faith: The answer is that God does that.

Apart from faith, I am dead in my trespasses. Nothing I do is going to make me any less dead--only God can give life and speak into existence that which does not exist as though it does, Romans 4:17.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

The way a person is sanctified is to become this..

"In Christ".

There is no "work" you can do, to cause that sanctification .

All your works are "filthy rags" as compared to the Cross of Christ and the Blood of Jesus.
They are nothing more tho PRIDE would disagree.

So, you can "present your body a living sacrifice" and 'Carry your Cross" till you stop breathing and all those works are just works.
Righteousness, comes from God, as "the Gift of righteousness".
Proof you have it?

A) Born again as a 'new Creation" In Christ.


Paul tells you this...

"I have finished my course, i have kept the Faith".

Never did he say that his work was anything.
What Paul said is that "Christ in ME", was the Power, was the Sanctification, was the Walk of Faith, was the real ministry.

Wnen you are trying to do works to be sanctified , or to try to stay saved...

You are this....

Jesus said...>"apart from me, you can do NOTHING".

I'll tell you a truth.
EVery person who is trying to stay saved, or believes they can lose their salvation......is confessing sin.
Why?
Because they are trying to do by LAW what can only be doen as..>>"by my Spirit sayeth the Lord"... and "the Law is the power of sin... The power of sin is The Law".

Question: Are you supposed to love your neighbor? Yes or no? If you answer yes, then that's work, that's work you are supposed to do. And that is part of God making you more like Jesus.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Chaleb]

God doesn't care about outward appearances, that's true. But that's not what is being discussed. What I'm talking about is faith, how does one go from not having faith to having faith:

Actually, that is repenting from Unbelief, to Belief in Jesus.

That is "Faith is counted as righteousness".

Real Repentance, that God sees as Faith, is when you hear the Gospel, and you BELIEVE IT and receive Christ as your Savior.

You have turned from unbelief, by FAITH in Christ. = Repentance.

God does not force you, he only requires it of you.

When you give God your faith in Christ, God gives you The Salvation that Christ announced from the Cross......"IT is finished".

 

[Chaleb]

Question: Are you supposed to love your neighbor? Yes or no?

Are you supposed to "flee fornication?
Are you supposes to "give to the poor"?
Are you supposed to "go into all the world and make disciples"?
Are you supposed to "study to show yourself approved unto God?
Are you supposed to "come boldly to the Throne of Grace in time of need"?
Are you supposed to keep Jesus's commandments?

So, the answer is : of course.

But none of that is "righteousness".......

Its just works... Its just Discipleship.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Actually, that is repenting from Unbelief, to Belief in Jesus.

That is "Faith is counted as righteousness".

Real Repentance, that God sees as Faith, is when you hear the Gospel, and you BELIEVE IT and receive Christ as your Savior.

You have turned from unbelief, by FAITH in Christ. = Repentance.

God does not force you, he only requires it of you.

When you give God your faith in Christ, God gives you The Salvation that Christ announced from the Cross......"IT is finished".

I don't have any faith in Christ except what God, out of the riches of His mercy, gives me, works in me, and sustains in me by His grace.

Without faith repentance isn't possible. For repentance comes when I, mired and filled with myriad sin, behold myself naked and exposed in the mirror of God's Law: For the Law says "Do this" and I don't do it. God has said, "Love your neighbor", and yet I don't love my neighbor; God has said, "Love the Lord your God" and I have not. I am truly, and really, and fully without any righteousness.

The Law shows this to me, and I despair. But despair on its own is only death, hence the Law is called a curse on account of sin. But repentance comes at the meeting place of despair and grace, where I confess I am a sinner, where I acknowledge and despair over my sin and God, rich in mercy, also says, "You are forgiven".

It is forgiveness that transforms despair into hope. And thus true repentance cannot exist apart from faith, for without faith I have despair but no hope.

But God meets me in my unworthiness, in my sin, in my possessing nothing and says, "I forgive you". Christ suffered and died, and there at Mt. Calvary God declares me righteous on Christ's account (Romans 5:18), so that when I hear this Good News God says, "See what I have done for you, believe, it is done already" And thus faith lifts me up, and makes me a new person. I was dead, but now I am alive. I had nothing, but now I have everything.

Without faith I would only despair.

But with faith I have hope, and now behold God clearly, no longer hidden behind the dark storm cloud of His righteous glory and majesty in the Law; but revealed and shown to me in the Person of His Son who became flesh and suffered and died for me. For "no one has ever seen God, but the only-begotten Son who is at the Father's side, has made Him known" (John 1:18), so the Lord can say, "If you have known Me you have known My Father as well", and "No one comes to the Father but by Me". I can only know God through Christ, and that means faith.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

Are you supposed to "flee fornication?
Are you supposes to "give to the poor"?
Are you supposed to "go into all the world and make disciples"?
Are you supposed to "study to show yourself approved unto God?
Are you supposed to "come boldly to the Throne of Grace in time of need"?
Are you supposed to keep Jesus's commandments?

So, the answer is : of course.

But none of that is "righteousness".......

Its just works... Its just Discipleship.

It's not righteousness before God, i.e. that which renders me just before God.

But it is righteousness for my neighbor. My neighbor is hungry, my neighbor is thirsty, my neighbor is naked, my neighbor is a stranger, my neighbor is sick and in prison.

God doesn't need my good works, but my neighbor does.

Galatians 5:14 says that the entirety of God's Law is summed up in this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. When I feed the hungry, that is justice for the hungry. It doesn't render me just before God, but it is concrete, actual justice in this world for those who need justice. I am not made a righteous person by my works, but food for the hungry is righteousness for my neighbor.

The justice we have before God is Christ's justice alone.
But there remains a justice that is necessary for our neighbor, that is where good works come in.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Chaleb]

I don't have any faith in Christ except what God, out of the riches of His mercy, gives me, works in me, and sustains in me by His grace.

No one has any faith in Christ, until this happens.:

1.) A person preaches the Gospel to you or shares it "one on one".
2.) And then.... "faith comes by hearing"......= that is your heart, being opened to the Truth by the Holy Spirit, and then you BELIEVE.

See that "believing"?
That is Faith.
You did that and your "faith is counted as righteousness" by God.

See, God would not require you to BELIEVE, if He causes you to believe.
God could not do this...... John 3:36.......If God caused you to believe, or would not allow you to believe as Calvin's false theology teaches.

 

[John Mullally]

The part you are missing is Ephesians 2:8, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God".

Faith is not found in my heart, faith does not come from me. Faith comes from God, and God puts faith there, works faith there, creates faith there by the Holy Spirit--that is the power of the Gospel, "For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). Faith is not something I do, faith is something God gives.

It is not by my works, my power, my strength, not even my will to choose--it is by God's grace alone.

-CryptoLutheran

Salvation, not faith, is the gift of God. The gift in Ephesians 2:8 is not faith, but salvation which is freely received by faith rather than being obtained through one’s performance under the Mosaic Law (Ephesians 2:9). Romans 6:23 indicates the same: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The gift is clearly salvation, in terms of receiving eternal life through faith in Christ.

Faith (or trust) in God is an act of the will, describing an action between two agents. If the agency of man is absorbed under “Monergism,” then it is no longer faith or trust being displayed, but instead an action that God does to Himself through another agent. Faith and trust in God requires willing human consent, or else it’s no longer faith and trust that we are talking about. The reality is that faith is common to mankind. Everyone trusts in something.

Faith comes by hearing the word of God. This is stated in Romans 10:17 NKJV. We all choose what we listen to. We can either cooperate with or resist the Gospel message and conviction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). God is interested in the repentance of every single sinner (Luke 15:7) and desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

 

[Chaleb]

Galatians 5:14 says that the entirety of God's Law is summed up in this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.

The Law can't save you because the Law and Commandments can't provide the righteousness you have to have, so that God will accept you and keep you.

Its the Cross of Christ that provided the Righteousness that is our SALVATION.


Thousands of people who loved their neighbors and their friends also, died and went to hell today., even being water baptized also......

Why?

Because Jesus told you....."You must be born again", or you dont go to heaven.

To be born agian, means you have received "the Gift of Righteousness".

 

[ViaCrucis]

No one has any faith in Christ, until this happens.:

1.) A person preaches the Gospel to you or shares it "one on one".
2.) And then.... "faith comes by hearing"......= that is your heart, being opened to the Truth, and then you BELIEVE.

See that "believing"?
That is Faith.
You did that and your "faith is counted as righteousness" by God.

See, God would not require you to BELIEVE, if he causes you to believe.
God could not do this...... John 3:36.......If God caused you to believe.

Wherever the Gospel is God is working and creating faith. It's not just some "one on one" testimony. When St. Peter preached on Pentecost he preached to thousands and what happened?

This is also why we can trust in God's power and grace in our baptism, for what does the Scripture say? He "cleansed us with the washing of water with the word" (Ephesians 5:26). That's why we can trust that when we partake of the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper we are partaking of Christ's precious once and perfect sacrifice, for here is His body and blood that was broken and shed for us on Calvary (1 Corinthians 10:16-18).

God is gracious and loving, and He meets us in His word. Not just once, but all the time. That is why St. Paul gave this charge to St. Timothy, "preach the word, be prepared in and out of season" and "do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:2, 2 Timothy 4:5).

Wherever God is, graciously declaring us forgiven on Christ's count, He is working to create faith, strengthen faith, work faith in us. And so we are freely justified by His grace alone, through faith alone, on Christ's account alone. God does this, He alone does this. And that is Good News to sinners like you and me.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

The Law can't save you because the Law and Commandments can't provide the righteousness you have to have, so that God will accept you and keep you.

Its the Cross of Christ that provided the Righteousness that is our SALVATION.


Thousands of people who loved their neighbors and their friends also, died and went to hell today., even being water baptized also......

Why?

Because Jesus told you....."You must be born again", or you dont go to heaven.

To be born agian, means you have received "the Gift of Righteousness".

Correct. The Law can't save us.

But we are still supposed to take up our cross and be Jesus' disciple by being obedient to His commandments.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

Salvation, not faith, is the gift of God. The gift in Ephesians 2:8 is not faith, but salvation which is freely received by faith rather than being obtained through one’s performance under the Mosaic Law (Ephesians 2:9). Romans 6:23 indicates the same: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The gift is clearly salvation, in terms of receiving eternal life through faith in Christ.

Look at the text of Ephesians 2:8, it reads "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith". The gift is not "saved" since "saved" is a verb, not a noun. The gift of God is, therefore, this entire clause: "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith", that is the gift of God, the entire thing, that we are saved by grace through faith is God's gift.

Faith (or trust) in God is an act of the will, describing an action between two agents. If the agency of man is absorbed under “Monergism,” then it is no longer faith or trust being displayed, but instead an action that God does to Himself through another agent. Faith and trust in God requires willing human consent, or else it’s no longer faith and trust that we are talking about. The reality is that faith is common to mankind. Everyone trusts in something.

It is monergistic, God alone works. If we contribute our work (synergism), then Ephesians 2:9 is false, which reads "not by works, so that none may boast".

Let me ask: If faith is your work which you exercise to be saved, then you are attributing glory to yourself, right?

Did you, or did you not, do something?

Faith comes by hearing the word of God. This is stated in Romans 10:17 NKJV. We all choose what we listen to. We can either cooperate with or resist the Gospel message and conviction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). God is interested in the repentance of every single sinner (Luke 15:7) and desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

We can resist, of course, "Not all have received the Gospel" Paul says in Romans 10:16 (the technical word Paul uses here is ὑπήκουσαν (hupekousan), literally "to under-hear").

But no, it is not by our choice or will that we come to God. Rather God comes to us ("You did not choose Me, rather I chose you" John 15:16), by His grace alone. As the Scriptures declare, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

We are passive recipients, not active. We don't do anything to earn salvation, God freely gives everything to us, including the faith which passively receives all these things.

If left to my own will, I would be damned a thousand times over. But God, who is good and gracious beyond all measure, has taken what was dead and made it alive with Himself, entirely and solely out of His compassion toward me, a worthless sinner.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Chaleb]

Wherever the Gospel is God is working and creating faith. It's not just some "one on one" testimony. When St. Peter preached on Pentecost he preached to thousands and what happened?

You noticed that After Jesus was in Heaven, He called Paul to write most of the New Testament, other then the Gospels, and John's Revelation.

Peter, in 2nd Peter, had Paul's letters, and said they are "Scriprure"......equal to the Torah that Jesus read, and Peter adored, as religious Jews all do.

In Acts 10, God had to teach Peter, that Gentiles could be saved., as Peter didn't know this.

Paul who was called by Jesus to be the "apostle to the gentiles', was given what Paul refers to as "MY Gospel".
Peter didn't have it, until he read Paul letters, or it can be that in Acts 15 when all the Apostles gathered as one, that Paul then told them about "the Gospel of the Grace of God", as Peter didn't have this in Acts 2., as Jesus gave this to Paul, after He called Him to become an Apostle.
You noticed also that none in the upper room were water baptized.. before Peter preached, including Peter.

Paul's Gospel has nothing to do with water.
In fact Paul said..>"Christ sent me not to water baptize"..

Paul's Gospel is "justification by faith", without the deeds of the Law. "Justification by faith" without works.

Jesus gave to Paul the "Gospel of the Grace of God, after "Pentecost" , after Acts 2.

 

[ViaCrucis]

You noticed that After Jesus was in Heaven, He called Paul to write most of the New Testament, other then the Gospels, and John's Revelation.

Peter, in 2nd Peter, had Paul's letters, and said they are "Scriprure"......equal to the Torah that Jesus read, and Peter adored, as religious Jews all do.

In Acts 10, God had to teach Peter, that Gentiles could be saved., as Peter didn't know this.

Paul who was called by Jesus to be the "apostle to the gentiles', was given what Paul refers to as "MY Gospel".
Peter didn't have it, until he read Paul letters, or it can be that in Acts 15 when all the Apostles gathers as one, that Paul then told them about "the Gospel of the Grace of God, as Peter didn't have this in Acts 2., as Jesus gave this to Paul, after He called Him to become an Apostle.

Paul's Gospel has nothing to do with water.
In fact Paul said..>"Christ sent me not to water baptize"..

Paul's Gospel is "justification by faith", without the deeds of the Law. "Justification by faith" without works.

Jesus gave to Paul the "Gospel of the Grace of God, after "Pentecost" , after Acts 2.

There's only one Gospel, for Jew and Greek alike, circumcised and uncircumcised. I have been down this bunny rabbit trail with Hyper-Dispensationalists before, and have no interest in treading that trail in this thread.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Chaleb]

This is also why we can trust in God's power and grace in our baptism,

The washing of water by the word is not water baptism.
As its the word of God, that does the washing, not the city water supply.

Jesus explains this as...>"now you are CLEAN thought the WORD i have spoken to you".

That is not water, or water baptism.

Water can not wash away your sin.
If it could then Jesus was sent to the Cross to shed His blood for NOTHING.

I assure you that its the Blood and not the city water supply that is God's BLOOD ATONEMENT, that is the "new covenant" that is the redemption of your sin.

 

[Chaleb]

There's only one Gospel, for Jew and Greek alike, circumcised and uncircumcised. I have been down this bunny rabbit trail with Hyper-Dispensationalists before, and have no interest in treading that trail in this thread.

-CryptoLutheran

In the ""time of the Gentiles"""..with Paul being the ONLY "Apostle to the gentiles" is not going to change because you dont like that fact of Scripture, ViaCrucis.

Paul's Gospel....>He said.......3x in the NT, is "MY Gospel".

Jesus gave it to Paui personally, well after Acts 2.
How do you know?
Because that is what Paul told you.

 

[Chaleb]

But we are still supposed to take up our cross and be Jesus' disciple by being obedient to His commandments.

That is this...>"present your body a living sacrifice".

That is your discipleship, not your Salvation.

How do you know?
Its because Salvation is Jesus on the CROSS, 2000 yrs ago.

 

[Mark Quayle]

You dont follow Rules, commandments or works of self effort, to go to heaven, Mark.

The Cross is the only way there.

John 14:6

Did I, or @Clare73 say otherwise? Why do you keep on about this? We have not said it is by works. We say exactly the opposite. HELLO! I'm beginning to wonder if you are a bot.