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Let's break this down a bit.
We can do nothing on our own-that's the point of the gospel. And God distributes His gifts as He wills. We just need to pick up our cross and follow.
No. You left out the most critical part. Salvation and the righteousness it necessitates is impossible apart from God, apart from grace, apart form the Holy Spirit. That's why the heart of the new Covenant is reconciliation and communion with God first before all else.
You say I don’t understand them yet you’re the one saying that tares are in Christ?
Yet Paul made it clear that we can grieve the Holy Spirit and we cannot discern things that are spiritual if we focus our mind on the flesh. The Holy Spirit doesn’t automatically cause us to obey, obedience and discernment requires our cooperation.
I didn't see that part in the OP. But I do see performance based salvation in the OP and in your statement above that salvation necessitates righteousness. What I don't understand about performance based salvation is the idea that there exists commandments for which we do not need Christ's forgiveness for breaking.
Personally I think it’s not the works themselves that are taken into consideration but instead the motivation behind the works. In 1 Corinthians 13:
Exactly. And love, if it's the real thing, will work, will act for the good of others, by its nature.
Let's say for argument's sake that you're right, and salvation does necessitate righteousness. And let's use the OP's measuring stick: Salvation is "inseparable from becoming righteous and living accordingly: doing good, overcoming sin, obeying the commandments, etc."
Let's take the most important one to start with...
I don't understand the question. The ancient churches all teach the necessity of metanoia and repentance and confession for breaking a commandment, of turning away from sin all over again if we've turn back to those deeds of the flesh. So the acknowledgment of the necessity of and the existence of God's forgiveness is constantly acknowledged and experienced, as made necessary by our sin.
I would say that no one can fulfill them perfectly.
Because the very term “new creation” means that our old self has died and we have become a new person. If someone does not exhibit evidence that they are a new creation then they’re not. If someone says they’re born again but nothing has changed in them, then they’re not born again. Now we might see new Christians taking time to change. It certainly doesn’t happen overnight. It took me over a year to stop cursing when I came to Christ because it was something ingrained in me for several decades so it took time to rid myself of that habit. It really depends on what kind of offense or sin we’re talking about.
Then that means the ancient churches agree with me that obeying the commandments is not the mark of being a true Chriastian; it is having the forgiveness of Christ for breaking the commandments that is the mark of being a true Christian. They can't have it both ways. Either law-breakers are forgiven, or they are not forgiven. There are no law-abiding citizens, except One, of course.
The term is not superficial but has deep meaning. When Ephesians 4:24 says "put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:24), it points to the "new man" as being the "new creation". And it says the new man was created "according to God". And it says the new man was created "in true righteousness and holiness".
The caviat destroys the claim. If I observe you repeatedly cursing, do I say, "Let me give him a year to fix this before I determine he is not saved", or do I just go ahead and make the determination now? We might say, "If someone does not exhibit evidence that they are a new creation then they’re not."
Like I said it depends on the nature of their sin. If we observe the person trying to refrain from sin then that is an indication that they are in the process of becoming a new creation. If that person shows no signs of refraining then that is evidence that they’re not a new creation. Hence, “you may know them by their fruits”. I didn’t go from cursing to not cursing in one single day but I did show signs of trying to refrain from it.
The highlighted portion isn’t a mark because it’s not something that is noticeable.
