Hi again,
I have seen people turn faith into works. This may not be what you doing, but it looks like it.
I have seen people who thinks all we need to do is 'believe' in Jesus, but not live how He asks. While we are not saved by our works, the concept is actually silly, like we can save ourselves, we all need a SAVIOR, good works is a consequence of salvation Rev 22:14 not a means to it.
Which is why we are called to be doers of God's Word, not just hearers.
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty (James 2:10-12)
and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Your phaseology, "obeying God the way He asks is living by faith", could have a benign meaning in that it could be another way of saying, "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh". This, of course would point us to walking in lock step with the Spirit of God as He leads, gudes, directs, corrects, and comforts us from the intimacy of our own hearts... in sharp contrast to ordering our steps by the dictates of His laws...
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Ga 5:16–18)
The fruits of the spirit violates no laws. There is no condemnation of the law if one is keeping it, this is what Paul is teaching, not that there is no law, and we can no go murder, worship other gods, break God's Sabbath etc. and sin Rom 7:7 1 John 3:4 James 2:10-12
He is teaching what Jesus taught...
Jesus puts it this way........ He starts by teaching we are not to break or teach others to break the
least of these commandments quoting from the Ten Commandments and used two as examples to be applied to the others, to show how we are to keep them.
Mat 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you,
that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. A good read on Mat 15:1-14 will show what the Pharisees were doing, similar to what many teach today, that we can keep our own rules in lieu of God's commandments, which Jesus condemned and our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees or we will be no means see heaven.
And Jesus quotes right from the Ten as an example of the commandments we are not to break the least of....as one would be in fear of sin and Judgement
Mat 5:21
“You have heard that it was said to those [d]of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother [e]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’[
f] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, [
g]‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of [
h]hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
Is Jesus teaching that we can literally murder as long as we don't have anger in our hearts. Quite the opposite- He is magnifying His law that not only should we not literally murder, we should not even have those thoughts in our hearts that lead to murder. If Jesus changes us from the inside out, thoughts of anger towards our neighbor will be changed to thoughts of compassion and thou shalt not murder would automatically be kept. If we are literally breaking the commandments, than we are not walking in the spirit because the spirit of the law is
greater, not lessor....as sadly most teach.
Why Jesus said not to break or teach others to break the least of these- because we would be in fear of sin and Judgement -as Paul says if we are hostile to God's law- it really is not a good sign Rom 8:7-8
The same is true of your statements that "we are justified by faith" and "only the blood of Jesus saves through faith". They could be benign if they indicate that you think God has chosen to save people who believe the gospel (1 Cor 1:21).
Jesus wants everyone to be saved, but not everyone accepts this free gift.
I think John makes this point very clear..,,
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Most people stop here but John doesn't...
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
John makes the clear distinction that believing in Jesus is related to our obedience to Him. Those who choose to do evil (sin) does not come to the light because their deeds are evil, but we are called to come to the truth (light) so our deeds can be exposed. This is what the Ten Commandments does- it shows us our sin just like a mirror. When we bury our sins (stay in darkness) we don't confess or forsake them and therefore God can't give us His mercy and grace and give us the power to help overcome.
Proverbs 28:13 Those who seek God want to come to the Truth Psa 119:151 so Jesus can help us overcome our sins. Our salvation is from sin
Mat 1:21 not in sin.
Jesus in His own Words tells us that it's more than just believing...
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord [believer],’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Believing is a great first step but as our love for Jesus grows, we should want to obey Him through faith and love.
Rom 3:31 1 John 5:3 John 14:15 Exo 20:6
But when you define "faith" to mean "believe and trust [God's law] because He knows what's best for us" it calls into question what your faith is in.
Believing and trusting God is a large part of faith, which would of course include obeying what He asks, including His law. I find it odd anyone would object to this. John 14:15 Exo 20:6
You seem to want to question what God asks, as if we know better than He.
How would of that worked out for all the heroes in scriptures- if you read Hebrews 11- you will see they all obeyed God. Disobedience is rebellion and leads to separation Isa 59:2, faith and obedience leads to reconciliation Rev 22:14. People think sin is just "murder" "adultery" but its actually breaking any of the Ten Commandments including telling/living a lie. When we break any of the commandments, there is no truth in us 1 John 2:4 and according to scripture that can separate us Rev 22:15 if we don't seek Jesus for His forgiveness and help in overcoming.
And your many posts that point to obeying God's commandments instead of the forgiveness that Christ earned for us, plus your disdain for those who rejoice in God's forgiveness, give strong evidence that your brand of "salvation by faith" is nothing more than "salvation by faithful obedience to God's laws". I hope this is not the case because the stakes are high.
Jesus desires our obedience over sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22Yes, we have a merciful and forgiving Father, but when He heals He says Go and sin no more. Why do you think Jesus wants us to be a slave to sin? We are either a servant to Christ or a slave to sin, one path leads to eternal life, the other down the wrong way Rom 6:16
Yes, the Stakes are High, eternal life with Jesus. I would not want to hear these Words when Jesus comes Mat 7:21-23
But instead these Words...
Rev 22:14 Blessed
are those
who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Which is why we are taught....
1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing,
but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
