I'm teaching Justification by faith.
PLUS WORKS.
Since you don't understand the principle of faith and how faith operates, it's all very foreign to you.
I understand just fine. It's you who does not understand that faith is the root of salvation and works are the fruit. You continue to try and "shoe horn" works "into" salvation through faith.
Faith operates by obedience.
Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6) and produces obedience/works.
Without obedience faith is lifeless and incomplete.
If someone
claims to have faith with
no resulting evidential works (obedience) then such a person has an
empty profession of faith/dead faith and not authentic faith (James 2:14).
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
James 2:21-22
The "work" here that Abraham did was to obey God, and offer his son Isaac on the altar.
The act of obedience is what completes faith, so that it functions to produce the intended divine result.
For the umpteenth time. In James 2:21, notice closely that James
does not say that "Abraham's work of offering up Isaac resulted in God's accounting Abraham as righteous." The
accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6,
many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to account him as righteous, but it
proved or manifested the genuineness of his faith. This is the sense in which Abraham was justified by works. He was
"shown to be righteous." In James 2:22, faith made
perfect or
complete by works means
bring to maturity, carry to the end, to complete like love in 1 John 4:18. It
does not mean that Abraham was finally saved based on merits of his works after he offered up Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. When Abraham performed the good work in Genesis 22; he
fulfilled the expectations created by the pronouncement of his faith in Genesis 15:6.
In James 2:24, James is not using the word "justified" here to mean "accounted as righteous" but is
"shown to be righteous." James is discussing the
proof/evidence of faith (
says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18),
not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God (Romans 4:2-3). *Works bear out the justification that already came by faith.
In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the Greek word for justified "dikaioo" #1344 is:
1. to render righteous or such he ought to be
2. to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3. to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
In Matthew 12:37, we read - "For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This is because our words (and our works) reveal the condition of our hearts. Words/works will appear to be evidences for, or against a man's being in a state of righteousness.
God is said to have been
justified by those who were baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 7:29). This act pronounced or declared God to be righteous. It did not make him righteous. The basis or ground for the pronouncement was the fact that God IS righteous. Notice that the NIV reads,
"acknowledged that God's way was right.." The ESV reads,
"they declared God just.." This is the sense in which God was justified, "
shown to be righteous".
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is
justified/vindicated/shown to be right by her deeds."
Example:
So it is through faith "in Christ alone" (and not by the merits of our works) that we are justified on account of Christ (Romans 3:24; 5:1; 5:9); yet the faith that justifies is never alone (solitary, unfruitful, barren) if it is genuine (James 2:14-26). *Perfect Harmony*
And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. Matthew 9:20-22 This woman had faith in her heart.
Of course she had faith (which made her well) and it was evidenced by touching the garment of Jesus.
For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”
However it wasn't until she acted and moved forward to touch His garment that her faith produced the intended divine result: Healing.
This woman had worked for no telling how long to save up enough money to pay doctors, and all she received for all her work, was she grew worse.
We read in Matthew 9 that this woman was healed of her bleeding because of her faith. What we don't read is she was saved by grace through touching His garment. You turn everything into works salvation.
How easy it was to simple obey God, and walk forward to receive her healing by the obedience of faith.
Yet man is saved through faith and not by obedience/works which follow.
Likewise, how much "work is it to obey the Gospel, and confess Jesus as Lord.
We
obey the gospel by
choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16; 10:16). For such a person the
word of faith is
in their mouth and in their heart TOGETHER. *That is where the confession comes in and 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. *Yet you continue to miss that.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10
- with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Does it say believe unto salvation or confess unto salvation?
I already thoroughly explained this to you in post #1168, but unfortunately the truth just continues to go right over your head.
But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:26
You read everything through the lens of works salvation. In regards to Romans 16:26, although Paul can speak of people’s initial response of choosing to believe the gospel as an act of obedience, in which he describes it as "obeying the gospel" (Romans 10:16; 1:16), the purpose of Paul’s apostleship was not merely to bring people to conversion but also to bring about transformed lives that were obedient to God. *Notice in Romans 1:5 that Paul said they
HAVE (already) received grace and apostleship FOR/UNTO obedience to the faith.
Just as in Ephesians 2:10, Paul said that we are created in Christ Jesus
FOR/UNTO good works. We are clearly
saved FOR good works, NOT BY good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Paul did not say that they did not receive grace and apostleship until they produced obedience afterwards. We have access by faith into grace.. Romans 5:2 not faith "and obedience/works." We are saved through faith in Christ first, then "unto" obedience/works. In Romans 16:26, the AMP version says -
leading them to obedience to the faith and the NIV says -
obedience that comes from faith. So there is nothing here about salvation by faith + obedience/works. You need a new pair of bi-focals.