Thank you for not misrepresenting what I believe the Bible plainly teaches (Which is Salvation by
Faith in Jesus, His mercy, His death / resurrection
+ Works of Faith). I used to believe Works of Faith as you did at one time based on what Pastors said and or what popular fantasy candy land Christianity taught. But after examining what the Bible actually said vs. what they said, I began to see things did not add up (as they taught).
Not true. Justification is a process. For our faith in the gospel is not a one time act or event that happens in the past only, but it is something that continues through out our whole life.
"If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;" (Colossians 1:23).
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" (Hebrews 3:14).
"Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." (Hebrews 10:38).
"Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts of the Apostles 14:22).
"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;" (John 8:31).
"Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck" (1 Timothy 1:19).
No. Your idea of you are saved by God's grace through faith alone and yet a true faith will always be evidenced by works of faith (but those works of faith do not play a part in salvation) is a contradiction and it does not work in perfect harmony. You are espousing a contradiction and you do not realize it, friend. Again, if you are saved by Faith alone then no works or any amount of holiness should be necessary as a part of showing a true salvation. There are Faith Alone only types who believe you can sin as much as you like and still be saved. But at least they are consistent in saying that no works whatsoever saves. Yet, this is what you are saying (i.e. you are not saved by works), and yet you deny it (Which is a contradiction). I know why. For if you believe in Mid Range OSAS (like many do today), then you adhere to the idea that a person can sin and still be saved on occasion as long as they generally live a holy life. It is a justification of a little bit of sin, vs. a lot of sin. But again, Jesus rejected this kind of faith in Matthew 7:23. Doing good works and doing iniquity (or sin) is not a mixture of the kind of faith Jesus was looking for. For He told certain believers who did good works to depart from Him because they also worked iniquity. So a "Belief Alone" is not what saves a believer in Matthew 7:23.
Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, 2 Timothy 1:9 is referring to "Justification" (Which is how we are initially and ultimately saved). We are first saved without works that we have done, and we are not saved solely on the basis of our works alone without God's grace through faith in Christ. For a good work cannot clean our past sins. We need to seek the forgiveness of Jesus, and believe in His death and resurrection and seek Him as our Savior to be forgiven of our past sins. If a believer happens to stumble into a sin on rare occasion (and not because they are expecting to stumble into sin as per some twisted interpretation that a believer will always sin as per 1 John 1:8), we can confess our sins to be forgiven of our sin (1 John 1:9). But if you are Belief Alone or OSAS, and all future sin is forgiven you by having a belief on Jesus, then confessing sin to Jesus to be forgiven of sin is nonsensical. Yet, seeking forgiveness with the Lord to be forgiven of sin is what 1 John 1:9, and 1 John 2:1 is saying. A person cannot have unforgiveness with the Lord and yet also still be saved.
Again, you fail to look at the context of Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, and 2 Timothy 1:9.
Ephesians 2:8-9 must also be read with Ephesians 5:3-7 that says,
3 "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them."
(Ephesians 5:3-7).
Paul does not say that they who do such things on occasion are saved if they merely have a belief alone on Jesus.
Titus 3:5 also has to be read in context to Titus 2:11-12. It says the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and that we should live righteously and godly in this present world. Paul even says that a person can deny God by a lack of works (Titus 1:16).
When you 2 Timothy 1:9, you should read 1 Timothy 1:9-11 that says that the Law is not made for a righteous man but for the ungodly, for sinners, the unholy, disobedient, and the lawless.
9 "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust."
(1 Timothy 1:9-11).
Note: This is context to using the Old Law in a lawful way (1 Timothy 1:8). Meaning, the Moral Law has been repeated into the New Covenant Law. But as a whole (contractually speaking) the Law has changed (See: Hebrews 7:12). So while there are similarities between the two laws of both respective covenants (i.e. between the Old vs. the New), believers today are technically under the whole of the New Covenant Law (i.e. those commands given to us by Jesus and His followers and they are not under the whole of the 613 laws within the Law of Moses given to Israel).
Many in your camp say that you righteous solely on the merits of Christ alone. Yet, 1 John 3:7 tells us not to be deceived on the matter that a person who does righteousness is righteous. This plays into 1 Timothy 1:9-11 that the Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless, disobedient, sinners, etc.
James 2:14-24 is proof that you saved or justified by works of faith and not by faith alone. James 2:24 cannot be split in half. Yet, this is what you must do in order to make your belief work. It says we are justified by faith in James 2:24. We can only be justified by faith in God, so this means that when James talks about how we are justified by works, and not by faith alone, he is referring to how we are justified (saved) by works of faith towards God. James gives us examples of those who were justified by works. Abraham is one example he uses. Abraham was justified by works in his offering of Isaac. Yet, no person was present to watch Abraham offer Isaac up as a sacrifice. In fact, if you were to read the chapter in Genesis about the aftermath on Abraham's obedience on this matter, you would see that his obedience played an important part of his being blessed as a part of the Promise, and it was not solely on the basis of his having a belief alone. Yes, in the beginning, he was justified by having a belief alone, but his belief alone needed to be tested and proven true by his works or obedience. These works or obedience needed to be there (Otherwise he would not be blessed).
Faith without works is dead (James 2:17).
James says he will show you his faith by his works (James 2:18).
Jesus says if you will enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17-19).
Jesus agreed with the lawyer on the truth that we must love God and love our neighbor as a part of inheriting eternal life (Luke 10:25-28).
Yet, your words contradict the very words of Jesus and His followers.
Jesus taught that certain sins can separate us from God (See Matthew 5:28-20, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 12:37, Matthew 25:31-46, etc.). Paul taught that certain sins can separate us from God (Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11), and John taught that certain sins can separate us from God (1 John 3:15, Revelation 21:8).
So again, you revert back to falsely saying that I am saved on the basis of works when that is not what I believe? I believe we are saved by God's grace through faith + works of faith. There is a huge difference. I do not believe we are saved by "Works Alone" (without God's grace) which is what Paul was arguing against in Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, and 1 Timothy 1:9, etc.
