No. You're just altering the scripture to make it mean what you want in to mean in this regard.
Not at all. I showed you the context and you are refusing to simply see it because of a preconceived belief that you would prefer to see because it is more comforting.
In Matthew 7:23, Jesus mentions "iniquity" as being the cause of the problem for those believers who did wonderful works in His name.
According to the Bible:
- Iniquity is sin.
- Iniquity is breaking God's commands.
"And if a soul
sin, and
commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist
it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his
iniquity." (Leviticus 5:17).
"Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and
hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his
iniquity shall be upon him." (Numbers 15:31).
Iniquity is never described as not trusting in the finished work of Christ alone while one ignores their sin or does not worry about them so much. That would be an invention that exists only in the mind of Belief Alone Proponents.
Because not everyone who says such things actually belong to Him. Paul tells us that the Father has laid out good works for us to walk in once we are born again, James gives another perspective to let us know if we are walking in these good works, we know our faith is genuine. True believers have works, but the works are not what created a true believer. You are completely backwards. This doesn't help your position at all. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit. Therefore, it would never be in a position to be cast into the fire. Your position would have good trees begin to bear evil fruit. Once again, you are completely backwards.
Again, your not getting it. The whole point Jesus was making was not Belief Alone-ism. Jesus said a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Jesus talked about wolves in sheep clothing as false prophets. A false prophet who is a wolf in sheep's clothing means they are in disguise. They are hiding something. Meaning, those who did works in Christ's name and were told to depart from Jesus appeared to be followers of Christ, but they really were not followers of Christ because they worked iniquity, lawlessness, or sin.
"
Secure in their Sin Salvationists" don't believe in truly doing good works always because they believe 1 John 1:8 makes room for the believer will always bring forth evil fruit or sin, too. This is the problem Jesus had with those believers in Matthew 7:23. They did good works, but they also worked iniquity or sin.
You said:
Like I've been saying, they weren't believers.
They were pretenders in retrospect of the truth or the real Jesus. But they deceived themselves that they were genuine followers of Christ. I doubt most who teach another Jesus believe they are following a false Jesus. They convinced themselves of the lie of another Jesus as being true.
Long story short, I truly hope you who are relying on yourselves to be saved will see the truth before it's too late for you.
While we are to have faith in Christ's blood for salvation (Romans 3:25), we also need to "
walk in the light" in order for the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin. "
Walking in the light" = Loving your brother according to 1 John 2:9-11. For he that does not love his brother is not of God (1 John 3:10).
You said:
It's really a sad and perplexing thing to see so many who confess the name of Christ fight against the sufficiency of His sacrifice. This group will be those stating 'Lord, we did all this stuff for you', because that's where their faith lies. Those who are His have good works naturally. Those who are not His, imitate good works.
First, just yesterday, I attended a church where the Pastor preached a sermon that implied good works and obedience and yet there was no mention of any grace or calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Surely this is wrong. We cannot be saved by Sanctification first. Neither can Sanctification be the foundation of our faith, either. We are initially and ultimately saved by God's grace. No doubt about it. If a believer stumbles on rare occasion they do not do a good deed to offset that sin. They go to God's grace by confessing of their sin to Jesus to be forgiven of it. For 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (cf. with 1 John 2:1).
God's grace is what makes a person to love and do good. We see this with the woman who could not stop kissing Jesus's feet. She was forgiven of her many past sins and as a result, she was naturally thankful (Which reflected in her behavior). She did not attempt to justify sin but she simply loved the Lord.
Second, the good work that a believer does is ultimately the Lord working in a person and it is not their own work alone. So no believer can actually boast in their own works because there is no such thing. All good comes from God. Jesus says we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure." Paul says we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Did Christ ever justify sin or in being unfruitful? Never. Jesus is our example.
"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:" (1 Peter 2:21-22).
But make no mistake. Grace and Sanctification is God's plan of salvation. Salvation begins with God's grace, and then we enter into the Sanctification Process. There are three verses in the Bible that essentially say we need both God's grace, and Sanctification as a part of salvation (See: 2 Thessalonians 2:13, James 2:24, and John 5:24). It's not all one or the other. We need both. Yet, most churches today focus on the wrong extreme of God's grace. Some (like the church I encountered yesterday) focus solely just on the Sanctification Process. That is not correct, either. We need a healthy balance of both God's grace and Sanctification.
