"Well I agree that we are saved by grace but we must also abide in Christ and bear fruit to receive salvation."
to abide in Christ is to have your faith in Him and to have experienced a new birth 2 corinthians 5:17 (therefore if any one is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away behold the new has come.) john 10:28-29 (i give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand my Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand.) so abiding in Christ is trusting in His grace. so abiding in Him "also to receive salvation" is a confusing statement your saying the same thing twice. as for we need to "bear fruit" to also "receive salvation" i find an odd statement seeing how fruit is only produced when you abide in him by faith. so we are saved by grace then abiding in Him through faith and fruit is being produced in our lives not by works but by His living through us.
i will address john 15 the true vine at the end of this letter you will really be set free by it.
matthew 25:31-46
verse 46 (then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.) how can one be righteous but by Christ definitely not by works. see ephesians chapter 2:6-10 especially verse 8 and 9 where it says (8 for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 31-45 is dealing with the judgement of those who have put their faith in Christ and those who never did.
james 2:14-26
lets start out in verse 8 (if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself you are doing right. 9 but if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as law breakers. 10 for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.) this is an important piece of information directly above verses 14-26. lets just go straight to verse 24 for i feel thats the point your trying to drive home. how are we made righteous philippians 3:9 (and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.) so a person can not be made righteous by anything other than faith in Christ alone. verse 24 is talking about the fact that true faith is accompanied by works. if one truly is in Christ he will produce the works of Christ which is love towards his fellow man. if you say you have faith but i have deeds this is not true faith because faith without works is dead. these are two different scenarios being gone over here.
now john chapter 15 the true vine
verse 2 every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit , he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. the words taketh away in greek translate to the word airo which means to raise, to lift up. so the way Jesus said it is every branch in me that beareth not fruit he raises up. He lifts up so that they may at some point bear fruit. wow what a grace filled loving Father God. Jesus takes those who are not bearing fruit currently probably because they are focused on trying to gain fruit by there works and He loves them and lifts them up off the ground so that they may bear fruit.verse 6 is referring to unbelievers. verse 10 is answered in verse 12 His commandment is to love one another as i have loved you.
bless you brother.
Bless you friend. I would kindly like to point out a few things to consider. First I would like to say that we are absolutely not saved by our works we are saved grace thru having faith in Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We absolutely cannot earn our salvation. However as James stated in James 2:14 a faith that does not produce works is not a saving faith. It’s not the works that earn salvation it’s the type of faith that Jesus commands us to have. I was not referring to James 2:21-24. James is not saying we are made right with God but our works. The Greek word translated to “justified” not only mean to be rendered or made right with God but also means to be shown or evinced to be right with God. If James were saying we are made right with God by our works then he would be directly contradicting Paul in Romans 4:1-5. James is talking about showing our faith by our works as evidence of our faith. His point is that a lack of works shows evidence of a lack of faith or a faith that is not genuine.
Now concerning Matthew 25:31-46 please notice that Jesus gives the reason why the goats were condemned in verse 42 & 43.
“"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'”
MATTHEW 25:41-43 NASB
Now looking at these I would like to go back and compare these examples of works with the examples given by James in chapter 2 when he was referring to a faith that did not produce works which is not a saving faith. Notice the similarities.
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
JAMES 2:14-17 NASB
Notice in both of these examples of works these are dealing with works of love and compassion for others. They show a lack of love for others. Now notice in John 15:10-13 the message Jesus gives to His 11 faithful disciples concerning bearing fruit and abiding in His love.
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
JOHN 15:10-13 NASB
These are all in connection to loving others and a lack of fruit or works as given in the examples show a lack of love. Are we saved by faith without love for others? If we say we have faith but have not love for others is that a saving faith? I believe this is the root of all three of these messages.
Now I’d like to go into John 15 in a little more detail because I believe you have the incorrect definition of the word translated to “taketh away”. Allow me to present the full definition.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away:
and every branch that
beareth fruit, he
purgeth it,
that it may bring
forth more fruit.
away
G142
G142
Lemma:
αἴρω
Transliteration:
aírō
Pronounce:
ah'-ee-ro
Part of Speech:
Verb
Language:
greek
Description:
1) to raise up, elevate, lift up a) to raise from the ground, take up: stones b) to raise upwards, elevate, lift up: the hand c) to draw up: a fish
2) to take upon one's self and carry what has been raised up, to bear
3) to bear away what has been raised, carry off a) to move from its place b)
to take off or away what is attached to anything c) to remove d) to carry off, carry away with one e) to appropriate what is taken f) to take away from another what is his or what is committed to him, to take by force g) to take and apply to any use h) to take from among the living, either by a natural death, or by violence i) cause to cease
The branch is attached to the vine because it is “in Christ” as stated in verse 2. So the correct definition concerning something that is attached to something is removed or cut off. Jesus also says “he who abides in Me will bear much fruit”. The branches that do not bear fruit are not abiding in Him and are cut off from the vine. Now notice in verse 6
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
JOHN 15:6 NASB
Notice the definition of the Greek word translated to “thrown or cast”.
If a
man abide not in me, he is
cast forth as a
branch,
and is
withered;
and men
gather them,
and cast them
into the
fire,
and they are
burned.
cast
G906+G906
G906
Lemma:
βάλλω
Transliteration:
bállō
Pronounce:
bal'-lo
Part of Speech:
Verb
Language:
greek
Description:
1)
to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls a) to scatter, to throw, cast into b) to give over to one's care uncertain about the result c) of fluids
1) to pour, pour into of rivers
2) to pour out
2) to put into, insert
So when you put this together anyone who does not bear fruit is not abiding in Christ and is cut off or removed from the vine (Christ) carelessly and without regard thrown away to wither (dry up and waste away) then carelessly and without regard thrown into the fire to be burned.
Keep in mind Jesus is speaking only to His 11 faithful apostles who undoubtedly believed and had faith. Yet He feels it is necessary to warn them of the consequences of not bearing fruit and not abiding in Him which results in loss of salvation. This is what the church has always taught from the beginning and there are many early church writings to support this interpretation going all the way back to 180AD by St Iranaeus in his writing Adversus Haereses. He does not address this passage directly but does address that salvation is conditional and can be revoked as well as many others.