Faith + Works of Faith = Salvation.

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Some among the many verses speaking of performance being an indicator rather than the cause of a person's salvation. Salvation by Works Christians typically confuse the condition for salvation with the condition of the saved: 2Cor 5:17;

2 Corinthians 5:17 says,
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17 is true in the fact that they who abide in Christ are a new creature, and old things have passed away. But some Belief Alone Proponents have expressed to me that they can justify lots of sin and be saved, and or others expressed to me that they can justify occasional sinning with the thinking they are saved. So this verse would not be consistent with their thinking. Things have not really become new for them if they are still holding on to some level of sin in this life.

Also, when you read 2 Corinthians 5:17, you also have to read commands like:

1. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14).
   
2. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7:1‬).
3. Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates? (2 Corinthians 13:5).
4. You should do that which is honest (2 Corinthians 13:7).

Again, why does God's Word gives us commands like the above if doing good in a particular way was just an automatic condition of being saved?

Again, it makes no sense.

 

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Some among the many verses speaking of performance being an indicator rather than the cause of a person's salvation. Salvation by Works Christians typically confuse the condition for salvation with the condition of the saved: Jer 31:33,34;

Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,

33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

The context is either the Millennium or the Final Eternal New Earth. For verse 34 says,

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:..." (Jeremiah 31:34).

For the Millennium or the Eternal New Earth makes the most sense as to the timing of when "They shall all know me [the Lord]." Hence, why there shall be no more teacher of every man, saying, "Know the Lord." They shall ALL know the Lord. This clearly is not talking about our time when sinful men do not know the Lord. So I do not believe you are properly applying this passage by what it says.

 

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Some among the many verses speaking of performance being an indicator rather than the cause of a person's salvation. Salvation by Works Christians typically confuse the condition for salvation with the condition of the saved: Rom 8:9;

Romans 8:9 says,
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

Romans 8:9 is not a generic reference to anyone who has been saved in the past. No actual verse or passage you quote will ever say such a thing. Romans 8:9 is merely an expression of a truth that if you are abiding in the Spirit, you are not going to live in sin or the flesh. Romans 8:13 makes it clear that we do have a choice between living after the flesh (sin) which is death, vs. putting to death the deeds of the body (sin) via the Holy Spirit, which is life (eternal life). There is a choice given to us here in verse 13. So no. Romans 8:9 is not saying that those who are saved at one point in time will always at some point in their lives later live holy and do good works. It simply does not say that. It is merely saying that if you are abiding in the Spirit, you are not going to sin while abiding in the Spirit. For Galatians 5:16 says if you walk after the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. But in Galatians 5:16, it uses the word "if" in there (Which suggests a possibility). Paul is writing to believers of the Galatian church. He is saying to them, if you walk in the Spirit. If. If. They have to choose to do so. It is not something that is forced upon them in their walk with God.

 

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Some among the many verses speaking of performance being an indicator rather than the cause of a person's salvation. Salvation by Works Christians typically confuse the condition for salvation with the condition of the saved: 1John 5:3-5;

1 John 5:3-5 says,
3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

I will admit, that at first glance, if a person were to read this passage above quickly, a person can think that this is teaching that a believer who keeps God's commandments and who overcomes this world is referring to ALL believers who are born again, and who believes in Jesus. But if you were to read the passage again, the word "ALL" is not in there. It does not say that ALL who are born again, and ALL who believe in Jesus will keep His commandments and overcome this world.

The passage is merely saying that those who are born again (and who believe in Jesus) are the ones who will be able to keep God's commandments and overcome this world. How so?

Because Jude 1:12 says,

"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; " (Jude 1:12).

This means that there are believers who were secretly among the faithful brethren who were twice dead and plucked out by the roots. The only way they can be TWICE DEAD (as speaking in the present tense) is if they were dead for a first time before they became born again spiritually, and then they died again a second time via by sin after their born again state (i.e. they are twice dead). This is also confirmed by the fact that they are plucked up by the roots. This means that they had roots and they were growing as a plant that has life in the Kingdom, but they were plucked up by the roots (Because of their sin) (See also the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:18-23, Luke 8:11-15).

At the Judgment: The angels of Christ will one day remove all who offend (sin) or who do iniquity (intense sin) out of His Kingdom, and they will be cast into the furnace of fire (i.e. the Lake of Fire) (See: Matthew 13:41-42). They will be plucked up by the roots because of their sin.

Also, as said before, the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), and James 5:19-20 also proves that one can have spiritual life, and then fall away into spiritual death for a time and then come back to the saving of their souls. Sin is what separated them temporarily from God, and they needed to repent (Seek forgiveness with the Lord Jesus in order to be restored). But some never come back. Some may seek to justify sin (on some level) once they go down that road of sin.

Furthermore, you believe that a believer keeps God's commands. But yet, you said that a believer will always sin on occasion (not as a lifestyle) over the rest of their lives. Sinning on occasion does not = Keeping God's commands. Sinning on occasion for the rest of one's life = Disobedience to God's commands. There has to be some upright walk with God at some point within a believer's life (without some future declaration that we will sin again on occasion). It's why we are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). There is no true fear of God if believers have a safety net to sin on occasion. We know perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18); And yet our love is perfected if we keep God's Word (See: 1 John 2:5).

 

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Some among the many verses speaking of performance being an indicator rather than the cause of a person's salvation. Salvation by Works Christians typically confuse the condition for salvation with the condition of the saved: Jer 32:38-41

Jeremiah 32:38-42 says,

38 "And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul." (Jeremiah 32:38-41).​

This suggests that you believe in a form of reversed Calvinism. That God forces somehow His people to fear Him, and to do good (after they made a one time decision of believing in the Lord for salvation).

But this should be read in light of the whole counsel of God's Word. If not, you are simply focusing a laser beam on a particular text out of the Bible out of it's context, my friend. Lets do a quick summary of the verses:

In Verse 38, God says, "They shall be my people, and I will be their God."
Verse 39 says that God will give them one heart, one way, and they shall fear me forever.
Verse 40 says God will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, and I will put my fear in them, and they shall not depart from me.
Verse 41 says that God rejoices over them to do good, and God plants them in the land with His whole heart, and whole soul.​

Verse 39 and Verse 40 mention the fear of the Lord.
This doesn't sound like OSAS to me because you do not have to fear in OSAS.
There is no reason to fear God because you are once saved, always saved.
No sin can separate you from God. You got your guaranteed ticket.

Anyways, it does sound like God is kind of enforcing Himself upon the believer a bit in Jeremiah 32:38-41. It can be read that way. But this would be taking the Bible out of it's context as a whole (if you were to do that).

The Bible also says:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
(2 Chronicles 7:14).​

So it is a cooperation. God does not really force Himself to make His people to be a certain way. They have to cooperate with God in doing good. They are not mind altered against their will to do good. In fact, you yourself admit that the believer will always sin occasionally, so they really are not fearing the Lord and prevented from departing from God as verse 40 says.

Also, if we were to look at the reverse chapter number of Jeremiah 32 (i.e. Jeremiah 23), we learn about those Pastors who justify sin are in a heap of trouble with God.

Jeremiah 23:1-4:

1 "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord."​

Jeremiah 23:9-15:

9 "Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land."​

I see these above passages in Jeremiah 23 as referring to a Pastor or teacher justifying even a little bit of sin. For why wouldn't this be the case? Adam and Eve fell away due to just their breaking of only one command by God. The devil tricked Eve into buying into the lie that she could break God's law and not die. This same lie is being pushed today in Christendom.

In any event, may God's goodness be upon you (even if we may disagree strongly on what the Bible says).