Sawdust,
Hence the Cross. This salvation is a free gift. No man participated in overcoming the problem of sin except the man Jesus Christ. The issue of sin and the condemnation it rightly deserves has been dealt with. "It is finished" (Jn.30:17). This salvation applies to all men which is why even one who never believes will be raised from the dead.
that is not what scripture says. There is a massive difference in propitiating or atoning for sin and overcoming sin. Christ did not overcome sin. If that were so, then there would be no sin in this world today. Christ did not eradicate sin, not even our fallen natures in this life, nor the working of Satan in this life. You have effectively negated Satan in this world today by the above statement as well as all of our sinful actions.
But what has yet to be dealt with (in it's finality) among men is the problem of evil. This will occur at the resurrection. First to those who believe in Christ (those who belong to Him) then to those who don't. What is the Lord looking for at either of these two judgments? Faith. What is faith? It is the "meeting" between the Word and our willingness to believe in the Word. Overcoming sin does not require our participation. Overcoming evil and having faith does.
A nice philosopy which must be stated to compensate for the error of the above statement you made first. Evil is the result of sin. Sin is the problem we all face today. It is the ONLY problem we have in this world. We need to overcome sin in our lives. It is the whole purpose of LIVING IN CHRIST. We need His help to overcome sin.
No it is not changeable. If one is "in Christ" they are "in Christ" forever.
You will not find any single text or even a hint that this is stated or implied in Scripture. If we are justified by faith, and we are saved through our faith, then when we lose faith, become unfaithful, we are no longer justified and no longer being saved, we cannot be IN Christ. The ONLY way you are saved is to be IN Christ. ALL those promises of God apply to God. They do not apply to man. It is a mutual relationship and BOTH SIDES need to make promises. God made His and they are quite evident and we need not fear that He will renege on His. But where are your promises. You stated, probably, at your baptism that you would be faithful to him. Have you been so? But can you promise that faithfulness for yourself 10 years from now? Can you make the same finite promises as God has done toward you?
You can't say that someone who believes in Christ, who is given to Christ, who will never be lost by Christ, who has eternal life, can now turn around and be more powerful than God and undo His promises.
First, you already stated in your first comment I posted above that all men were given eternal life. This is correct. This is the Work of Christ on the Cross. All mankind were given to Him. In fact the entire world was given to Him and for Him. Col 1:15-20, it aligns perfectly with John 6:39 and II Cor 5:18-19.
No man will lose life. But that is not our problem. Our problem is that we can lose our spiritual connection, our spiritual life living IN Christ. It is why we all face spiritual death, eternal spiritual death because of sin in this world and our proclivity to permit it to lead our life instead of Christ.
We, man,. believer or unbeliever cannot undo the promises of Christ to us. Immpossibility because man had nothing to do in making them. We made our own promises which is what we need to keep. It is WE, as believers, that must be reconciled to God. II Cor 5:20. Man is solely responsible for his own reconciliation to God. We do it by faith, (justification) we live it through our faith. Thus FAITH is the key to our personal, individual salvation of our souls.
The warnings you speak of are not that you might receive life, (the need of unbelievers). If you believe in the Gospel truth you already have it. It is so you might receive the reward of this life you have been given in both this life and the life to come.
All men have life. You cannot equate faith with physical life. You can equate it with spiritual life which is what faith is to begin with. Faith cannot restore or gain eternal life, a physical life. But it can gain you eternal life WITH Christ, as opposed with an eternal life WITHOUT Christ. Go back to the texts of John6:39, Rom 5:18-19, Rev 20:12 and several other texts that all explicitedly state that all the dead, all of mankind will be raised in the last day. That is the anwer to the text of I Cor 15:20-22, as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. The Resurrection is possible because of the Incarnated Christ. It made our spiritual relationship with God a possibility which was precluded by the fall. Man did not have a problem with union or communion with God. We were created specifically for that purpose. But death, the fall. prevented this from every occuring thus the need for Christ to intervene and correct the fall, not our relationship with God.
Yes it has. It all begins with Christ's death on the Cross. There can be no faith apart from His death and resurrection.
Because it eliminated the fall which prevented man from having any consequence for his faith.
The key word in what you quote is "revealed". The Lord's righteousness is revealed beginning when someone has faith. Do you think if no-one ever believes, the Lord is unrighteous? Of course you don't, but who would ever know He is righteous if not through faith?
Not when one has faith but solely because ONE is a human beings. Christ made all mankind righteous. The problem here in your view is that you do not separate the Work of Christ from the response of man to that work. The word righteous just means to be put into a correct relationship. It does not have a legal, forensic meaning here. The words, justify, redeem, reconcile all have the very same meaning. They all put one into a correct relationship. Christ did that for mankind to God. Man does it in relation of himself to Christ. The latter is by faith. We reconcile ourselves to God, that's why it is called justification by faith. Same thing, same meaning.
What does the scripture say Ben. Whosoever believes? or whosoever understands? One doesn't have to understand all the mechanics of salvation in order to be saved. Stone the crows, if that were the case none of us would be saved.
But then Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, even the Moslems are saved if they believe in God. The question is what kind of God, the one of your own making, or the ONE revealed to us. Believing is living IN Christ. Christianity is all about living. It is a way of life. But to live that life correctly one must know, have knowledge of the God who you are believing.
Ho ho ho. What's this? You turning all Calvinist on me Ben? You debate black and blue with the Calvinists on the role of volition in receiving life but now when it comes to reaching maturity in that life you want to negate the role of volition?. It is very possible not to grow up "in Christ". Those who refuse the ongoing truths of category 3 do not reach maturity. They will enter heaven as spiritual babies, children or teenagers.
It has everything to do with volition. We must remain, abide, and if we do, THEN we will be make holy, blameless, conformed to His Image, remain partakers of His Divine Nature. But if we permit sin to reign in our lives, lose faith, we are NO LONGER IN CHRIST. We shall not inherit the Kingdom promised in the last day. I Pet 1:3-5. We are KEPT through OUR FAITH. No faith, no salvation.
You can never be condemned for sin again and hence, cannot die (spiritually) and if you are alive at the time of the resurrection you will never even taste physical death. Even if one is unfaithful and clings to false doctrine beyond the faith of first importance (the Gospel), Christ remains faithful. He never abandons us.
You are condemned every day for your sin. That is why we need to seek constant repentance of those sins. Our sins do convict us. We cannot live IN Christ and sin. If we do, we must confess them, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins. It is an ever active journey, an active effort to make sure the spirit rules in our lifes and not the flesh. If one is unfaithful, denies God, the God will deny him also. That is what God is being faithful about, His promises. He promised to remain with you, SO LONG AS YOU remained IN HIM. But if you forsake Him, having no faith, He will also forsake, deny you before His Father in Heaven. You cannot look at only one promise and then ignore the other, the opposite side.
He knows who belongs to Him and He is not about to give eternal life to one who could not or would not appreciate it. He isn't that wasteful or that stupid.
You mean eternal life WITH Him. And you are right. He knows who is being faithful. He also knows when we are not and if we do not repent, do not return before death, He will also deny you before His Father. He does not throw pearls to swine. If you do not desire Him, He will freely permit you to go. Man is free, it is innate in man being in His Image. God created us to be free because He wanted a creature that would respond freely, not under compulsion or created in union. If this were so, Adam could never have fallen in the first place.