You are preaching to the choir. As long as you don't mean that our action of believing is a gift from God. That is unbiblical.
Faith is a gift of God, the act of believing is a human choice-of accepting and expressing that gift.
OK, you left the choir here.
Actually I only left the modern choir, not the original.
John 5:24 is very clear. Those who believe HAVE eternal life, which is a gift. Both "believe" and "have" in that verse are present tense, meaning that the MOMENT one believes, being now a believer, they possess eternal life.
And yet we're told how to gain eternal life:
"If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Matt 19:17
"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." Rom 2:13
"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Rom 8:12-13
The reason is because the two are linked: faith and righteousness-but they are not the
same; faith is not the
equivalent of righteousnes for man nor is it the
replacement for obedience/ righteousness. The first, faith, simply opens the door to and enables the second, righteouness. We're
justifed by faith.
Maybe you aren't aware of what Paul followed this verse with:
Rom 3:20 - Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Of course, which is why the works spoken of in, for example, Rom 2:7, are definitely
not works of the law but rather works of grace for the believer in Christ, works prepared for him in advance (Eph 2:10), those things done "for the least of these": works that we'll be judged on as per Matt 25. These kinds of works, moved by the Spirit, are motivated by love, which is why the Church of Christ, quoting a 16th century believer in this case can wisely teach,
"At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love."
Humble love, agape, is the full-true definition of justice or righteousness for man which is why the greatest commandments are what they are, and why Paul identified love in 1 Cor 13 as the most important compared to the two other virtues of faith and hope. Again, faith is the doorway to that righteousness, by virtue of being the direct pathway to God. And again, only God can make man just. And this is why the law cannot justify us but only serve as a teacher, can only highlight the fact that we
cannot be just on our own-we fail miserably at the task; man needs God, 'apart from whom he can do nothing' but '
with whom all things are possible'.
So, 2:7 is how to have eternal life by your own works; be perfect in your life.
Um, no, it's how to have eternal life. Righteousness can never be separated from, well... righteousness- as if righteuosness were merely
imputed to man. That would mean nothing
changes as a result of Christ's work. But His work involves more than merely forgivness of sin, but of the actual
taking away of sin, making us into new creations. The New Covenant simply gives us the only authentic means of finally acheiving that righteousness, the right way, God's way. So after Rom 3:20 Paul continues:
"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Rom 3:21-22
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:7-8
Which, of course, is impossible for everyone.
God's asking for
something, some real
change in orientation now towards personal righteuosness. The alternative is that we could stay in total, wanton, grave sin, which Scripture warns us will keep us from entering heaven. But God never created man to be a sinner to begin with and the purpose, the perfection, that God has in mind for man for
will ultimately be obtained for each of us who open the door to Him, and remain in Him and He in us.
He'll never leave
us tho; but
we can boot
Him out if we so foolishly choose. Either way the journey is to begin here, in this life.
Paul is showing to believers a choice. "We have an obligation" he wrote. But he clarified that it isn't to the flesh, to live according to it, but by the Spirit. That's our obligation.
btw, please don't misunderstand "if you live according to the flesh, You will die". I'm sure you are aware that a believer who sins doesn't fall dead immediately. And since Jesus promised eternal life to believers WHEN they believe (Jn 5:24), they cannot die or perish.
So, what was Paul referring to? He was using "die" in the sense of loss of fellowship with the Lord.
Yes!!! And loss of fellowship with God
is man's death-just as it consituted Adam's death in the beginning.
The obligation is in NO PART a requirement for salvation.
You are simply conflating two different issues. Salvation and spiritual growth.
The obligation is
absolutely a requirement for salvation. Man simply wishes to
shirk his obligation but that obligation never went away with the New Covenant; it's fulfillment was finally made
possible by it, in fact. And that's the consistent teaching of historic Chrisitanity, along with Scripture, in both the east and west. The mature understanding of our faith is that man is oblagated to
love, because love of God would've precluded Adam's sin while love of neighbor would've prelduded most of the rest that followed. Adam hadn't yet obtained the wisdom to know and value the love of God as he should. Here's a relevant quote from another believer, a 4th century bishop in this case:
"If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children." Basil of Cesarea
And more related pasages for your perusal:
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. 2 Tim 2:11-13
"
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Gal 6:7-9
"If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” 2 Pet 2:20-22