How do you get saved?

[GingerBeer]

How does one "get saved"?

God sent His only-begotten Son.
Who died and rose from the dead.
God in His kindness applies the work of His Son to us by the power of the Holy Spirit creating faith in us. God does this using the means He said He would use--which is why Christ commissioned His Church to preach the Gospel, making disciples, baptizing them.

It is by grace alone, through faith, on Christ's account alone.

-CryptoLutheran

If your conclusion said " For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" that it would be right but those inserted "alone" bits look suspiciously like forcing theology into the scriptures rather than discovering theology in the scriptures.

 

[justbyfaith]

Little children brought by their parents sought eagerly to be with Jesus and were welcomed by Jesus.
They were not "convicted" of sin, were they ?

Jesus says unless we come to Him as little children , we will never see the Kingdom of God.

Who says children don't ever get convicted of sin? They may have felt convicted simply by being in the presence of Jesus.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Who says children don't ever get convicted of sin? They may have felt convicted simply by being in the presence of Jesus.

No. Read the account in the Gospels.

Other times, of course, children with a living conscience not seered yet
may certainly be convicted.

 

[justbyfaith]

No. Read the account in the Gospels.

Other times, of course, children with a living conscience not seered yet
may certainly be convicted.

The fact that it wasn't mentioned doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Conviction of sin/drawing of the Holy Spirit is something that must happen before anyone can be saved.

Are you saying that these children whose parents brought them to Jesus had seared consciences?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The fact that it wasn't mentioned doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Conviction of sin/ drawing of the Holy Spirit is something that must happen before anyone can be saved.

Are you saying that these children whose parents brought them to Jesus had seared consciences?

You didn't read the account.

 

[justbyfaith]

You didn't read the account.

I've read it many, many times.

 

[ViaCrucis]

If your conclusion said " For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" that it would be right but those inserted "alone" bits look suspiciously like forcing theology into the scriptures rather than discovering theology in the scriptures.

The idea of "alone" is rooted in acknowledging that our efforts are excluded as per: "this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so no one may boast". If we exclude our efforts, that leaves God's activity alone. Hence the alone.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[GingerBeer]

The passage about the children is in Matthew 19:13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

 

[GingerBeer]

The idea of "alone" is rooted in acknowledging that our efforts are excluded as per: "this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so no one may boast". If we exclude our efforts, that leaves God's activity alone. Hence the alone.

-CryptoLutheran

The idea is a theological construct that is not present in Ephesians 2:8-10. The combination of "grace" and "alone" is not in the scriptures is it? Nor is the combination "on Christ's account alone". The theology may be okay, that idea is not precluded but at the same time it is not clear that it is supported by scripture. That is why it is better to form theology from scripture rather than inserting theology into scripture. Slogans like "grace alone" and "Christ alone" as well as "faith alone" and "scripture alone" all came from a theological fight between Luther, Calvin, Zwingly, Cranmer, and Catholic teachers. It has historical roots that mix politics, economics, and religion but the slogans are not present in scripture. A patient careful Calvinist may be able to justify one or two of them by judicious use of scripture but a careful Catholic may be able to counter the Calvinist's arguments. That's the nature of theological fights.

 

[Melissa Suzanne]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

Great topic. When I think of this it points me to what Jesus claimed was the greatest commandment. To love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength and to love our neighbors. So after we become saved the first commandment is to love God. And the scriptures explain love for God is obedience to his commands. This requires our effort. So being saved involves walking with the spirit, to walk as Jesus walked, and that takes commitment. But we know our works are not of ourselves because the Holy Spirit works through us, so God always gets the credit. But being saved means an active chose to "choose life" because we have free will. It definitely is a decision that should be backed up by a lifestyle change.

 

[Melissa Suzanne]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

I believe that it's the Holy Spirit that does the good works through us, but it is us that decide if we will choose to abide in the spirit or go about our own ways. That being said, being saved involves a willful choice to obey as a result of our love for God but the Spirit is our helper to accomplish obedience and good deeds as our strength is insufficient. The cool thing is, when we seek out the spirit (in our effort) he comes to us and strengthens us. It's a relationship. I know I'm going on and on haha, but my point is we do have free will and choose salvation, but the Spirit helps us work out our salvation because we live godly lives without him.

 

[Bible2+]

GingerBeer said in post #1:

How do you get saved?

The Gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13) is that we can be initially saved from hell by believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and rose physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

And the Gospel is that we can be ultimately saved from hell if we continue to believe this to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), and continue to perform good works of faith to the end (Romans 2:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), and repent from every sin that we commit (Hebrews 10:26-29), and get water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-11), and partake of Jesus' divine flesh and blood in the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30), and forgive everyone for everything (Matthew 6:14-15), and do all that we can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to, and peace with, everyone whom we have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26), and help Christians in need (Matthew 25:34-46), and provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and do not blaspheme God's Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29), and do not remove words from the book of Revelation (Revelation 22:19), and do not worship the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), or worship his image, or willingly receive his mark (Revelation 14:9-12), but continue in God's goodness to the end (Romans 11:22), and overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26).

GingerBeer said in post #1:

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing.

Initial salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ without any works at all on our part (Romans 4:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9). But other passages show that Christians must have both faith and continued works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law), if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 25:26,30, Philippians 2:12b, Philippians 3:11-14; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 6:10-12; 2 Peter 1:10-11, John 15:2a; 1 John 2:17b). For Christians must continue to do righteous deeds if they are to continue to be righteous (1 John 3:7, James 2:24,26). And there is no assurance that Christians will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a).

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

The Gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13) is that we can be initially saved from hell by believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and rose physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

And the Gospel is that we can be ultimately saved from hell if we continue to believe this to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), and continue to perform good works of faith to the end (Romans 2:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), and repent from every sin that we commit (Hebrews 10:26-29), and get water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-11), and partake of Jesus' divine flesh and blood in the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30), and forgive everyone for everything (Matthew 6:14-15), and do all that we can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to, and peace with, everyone whom we have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26), and help Christians in need (Matthew 25:34-46), and provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and do not blaspheme God's Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29), and do not remove words from the book of Revelation (Revelation 22:19), and do not worship the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), or worship his image, or willingly receive his mark (Revelation 14:9-12), but continue in God's goodness to the end (Romans 11:22), and overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26).



Initial salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ without any works at all on our part (Romans 4:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9). But other passages show that Christians must have both faith and continued works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law), if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 25:26,30, Philippians 2:12b, Philippians 3:11-14; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 6:10-12; 2 Peter 1:10-11, John 15:2a; 1 John 2:17b). For Christians must continue to do righteous deeds if they are to continue to be righteous (1 John 3:7, James 2:24,26). And there is no assurance that Christians will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a).

Wow........talk about “ adding to the Gospel!” Sounds like Moses Jr to me.....Paul said to believe his Gospel given to him by Christ , you will be saved.....1 cor15:1-4.If you add to that Gospel you have perverted it and Christ is of NO BENEFIT to you.....you are “ accursed”, damned by God....The Bible is a very dangerous thing to play with.....you seriously lack any understanding and I hope nobody listens to you.....get help—- soon! Please google this site so you can at least get the basics of Christianity. “ get Gods gift”

 

[Call me Nic]

The Gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13) is that we can be initially saved from hell by believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and rose physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

And the Gospel is that we can be ultimately saved from hell if we continue to believe this to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), and continue to perform good works of faith to the end (Romans 2:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), and repent from every sin that we commit (Hebrews 10:26-29), and get water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-11), and partake of Jesus' divine flesh and blood in the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30), and forgive everyone for everything (Matthew 6:14-15), and do all that we can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to, and peace with, everyone whom we have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26), and help Christians in need (Matthew 25:34-46), and provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and do not blaspheme God's Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29), and do not remove words from the book of Revelation (Revelation 22:19), and do not worship the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), or worship his image, or willingly receive his mark (Revelation 14:9-12), but continue in God's goodness to the end (Romans 11:22), and overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26).



Initial salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ without any works at all on our part (Romans 4:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9). But other passages show that Christians must have both faith and continued works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law), if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 25:26,30, Philippians 2:12b, Philippians 3:11-14; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 6:10-12; 2 Peter 1:10-11, John 15:2a; 1 John 2:17b). For Christians must continue to do righteous deeds if they are to continue to be righteous (1 John 3:7, James 2:24,26). And there is no assurance that Christians will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a).

Many verses you quote show that one cannot lose their salvation - how is it that Christ died on the cross for us as the atonement for all (1 John 2:2) and those that receive everlasting life are those that believe on him (John 1:12, Romans 10:9-13), yet you claim that we're the ones that must secure our own salvation through good deeds? If we could never earn it in the first place, how do you think we could work to keep it? You twist many scriptures trying to back-channel works into Christian salvation, when the Bible makes no distinction whatsoever between "initial salvation" and "ultimate salvation." Those simply are not terms found in the Bible, and I implore you to prove to me they are.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Great topic. When I think of this it points me to what Jesus claimed was the greatest commandment. To love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength and to love our neighbors. So after we become saved the first commandment is to love God. And the scriptures explain love for God is obedience to his commands. This requires our effort. So being saved involves walking with the spirit, to walk as Jesus walked, and that takes commitment. But we know our works are not of ourselves because the Holy Spirit works through us, so God always gets the credit. But being saved means an active chose to "choose life" because we have free will. It definitely is a decision that should be backed up by a lifestyle change.

There's the question of "saved by what", but there is also the question of "saved for what". Good works, obedience, etc are not part of the "by what" question, but rather the "for what" question. St. Paul in Ephesians 2 says we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of our own efforts--but he goes on to say that we have been saved for good works prepared for us in Jesus that we might walk in them. We are saved entirely by the kindness and generosity of God in Jesus, and in this salvation we have received from Him we have been called into a life of obedience and good works.

In Lutheranism we speak of a Coram Deus/Coram hominibus distinction; that is, "us before God" and "us before humans". It is part of the larger distinction between Law and Gospel: the Law tells us what we ought to do, and shows us that we do not do it, as such the Law reveals our sin and our powerlessness to be righteous through our efforts; while the Gospel tells us the promises of what God has done for us. To quote Luther, "The Law says 'do this' and it is never done. Grace says 'trust this' and it is done already." Coram Deus, before God, we act as though the Gospel is the only thing, the gracious God who condescends to meet us in our helplessness to rescue us by His own loving kindness apart from our works/efforts accomplished solely by Jesus Christ on our behalf; Coram hominibus, before our fellow man, we act as though the Law is the only thing, telling us how we ought to live. God doesn't need our good works, they don't merit anything for us from Him; but our neighbor does need our good works, because our neighbor needs food to eat, clothes to wear, water to drink, a roof over their head, medicine, a kind word of comfort, etc.

This distinction is important because it keeps our head on straight, neither falling into despair as we behold our sinful failure to abide by God's righteous commands, nor becoming puffed up in arrogance thinking we have achieved anything noteworthy by our bare and miserable attempts to keep God's commands. Both can lead to shipwrecking our faith, as both direct us away from Christ toward ourselves. Instead we have the comfort of the Gospel that we belong to God, and on this truth we can be absolutely confident because in Jesus God has declared that He is for us; and we are reminded of our own inability, sending us to our knees in repentance and sorrow over sin. And in this we can learn that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[justbyfaith]

Galatians 3:21, Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

There is no law ever given that can impart life to the one who keeps it. And included in this is the first and greatest two commandments, to love the Lord your God with all your hear, soul, mind and strength; and your neighbor as yourself.

Be sure to remember that life is imparted to us when we place our trust in Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the Cross.

Most assuredly, He then imparts (life and) love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), which is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10, Romans 8:4).

 

[Bible2+]

Nicolaus Mourer said in post #94:

Many verses you quote show that one cannot lose their salvation . . .

Note that no verse says or requires that one cannot lose their salvation.

That is, the Bible does not teach once-saved-always-saved, but shows that initially saved people, that is, Christians, will obtain ultimate salvation only "if" they continue in the faith to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to depart from the faith, to no longer believe, to commit apostasy (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Hebrews 3:12, Matthew 13:21), to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12b, Mark 8:35-38, Hebrews 10:38-39, Matthew 24:9-13).

Also, even if Christians do continue in the faith, they will obtain ultimate salvation only if they also patiently continue to the end in obedience to God, and do good works (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21, Philippians 2:12b; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 5:9; 2 Peter 1:10-11, Hebrews 6:10-12, Philippians 3:11-14; 1 John 2:17b), as in works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a).

Also, even if Christians do continue in faith and good works of faith, they will obtain ultimate salvation only if they also continue to the end to repent from every sin that they commit (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Matthew 7:22-23, Galatians 5:19-21). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to commit unrepentant sin, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Luke 12:45-46; 2 Peter 2:20-22, Romans 8:13; 1 John 5:16, James 5:19-20).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they get water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus Christ's death for our sins (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21, Romans 6:3-11, Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27, Acts 2:38). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (cf. Acts 22:16a).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they partake of the divine flesh and blood of the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53, Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (cf. John 6:60,66).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they forgive everyone for every wrong (Matthew 6:14-15). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (Matthew 18:21-35).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they do all that they can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to and peace with everyone whom they have ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26, cf. Acts 24:16). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that.

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they help other Christians in need (Matthew 25:34-46). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (3 John 1:10b).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they provide for their families (1 Timothy 5:8). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that.

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they do not commit the unforgivable sin, which is blaspheming God's Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). An example of blaspheming the Holy Spirit is saying that an act performed by the power of the Holy Spirit (e.g. Matthew 12:28) was performed by Satan (Mark 3:22-30). There is no assurance that Christians will never choose to say that (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:39b; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they do not remove words from the book of Revelation, and then publish the altered text as if it were the original, without repentance (Revelation 22:19). And there is no assurance that they will never choose to do that (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:2).

Also, Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they do not worship the future Antichrist, and his image, and do not willingly receive his mark on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 14:9-12, Revelation 13:16-18). And there is no assurance that they will not choose to do these things (1 Timothy 4:1).

Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they continue in God's goodness to the end (Romans 11:20-22). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (Luke 12:45-46).

Christians will obtain ultimate salvation only if they overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:26). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (Revelation 21:7-8).

All of this is said not to engender any unhealthy fear in Christians, but the healthy fear which all Christians are supposed to have (e.g. Romans 11:20-22).

And all of this is said not to engender any despair in Christians, but the healthy, close-clinging to the person of Jesus Christ Himself, which all Christians must continue in (John 15:4-6). For while God makes it possible for Christians to do the right things (Philippians 2:13) toward their ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, Philippians 2:12b, Matthew 7:21), this is possible only so long as they continue to abide in Jesus. For on their own, apart from Jesus, they cannot do anything good (John 15:4-5).

Also, Jesus Christ is not a hard taskmaster. He will never give Christians more work to do for Him than they can easily bear (Matthew 11:28-30). So if Christians ever get stressed out that Jesus is asking them to do too much, it is not Jesus asking them to do whatever is stressing them out (Luke 10:40-42). They need to take a step back, and ask Jesus what particular spiritual work He is actually asking them as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8).

 

[Bible2+]

Nicolaus Mourer said in post #94:

. . . the Bible makes no distinction whatsoever between "initial salvation" and "ultimate salvation."

Note that the ideas of initial salvation and ultimate salvation do not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "initial salvation" and "ultimate salvation" for them to be true and supported by the Bible, just as, for example, the ideas of the unity of God and the Trinity do not have to be explicitly referred to in the Bible as "the unity" and "the Trinity" for them to be true and supported by the Bible (John 10:30, John 1:1,14, Isaiah 45:5, Matthew 28:19, Acts 5:3-4).

For in the Bible, the difference between initial salvation and ultimate salvation is that initial salvation is without works (Romans 4:1-5) while ultimate salvation requires works (Romans 2:6-8).

Also, in the Bible, the difference between initial salvation and ultimate salvation is that initial salvation is the salvation which Christians have now (Ephesians 2:5), in their mortal bodies, while ultimate salvation is the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5), and which is always drawing nearer (Romans 13:11), that salvation which Christians are still hoping for (1 Thessalonians 5:8, Romans 8:23-25, Mark 10:30), and which Jesus Christ will bring to obedient Christians at His future, Second Coming (Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 5:9), when He will resurrect (if dead) or change (if alive) their mortal physical bodies into immortal physical bodies just like the immortal physical body which Jesus obtained at His resurrection on the third day after His death (Luke 24:39,46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Romans 8:23-25, Philippians 3:11-14).

Initial salvation, being born again (John 3:3,7; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 1 Peter 2:2), is both present salvation and a contract for ultimate salvation, just as the birth of an infant is both present life and a contract for life as an adult. Just as children can know that they are actually alive, so initially saved people (that is, Christians) can know that they are actually saved (1 John 5:13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). And just as an infant cannot "give back" his being born, or become unborn, so a born-again person cannot become un-born-again, or "give back" his being born again, his being initially saved. But just as there is no assurance that children will reach adulthood, so there is no assurance that initially saved people will obtain ultimate salvation. For just as there are conditions placed on children, like not running into traffic, and not drinking the Drano under the sink, if they are to reach adulthood, so there are conditions placed on the born-again, the initially saved, if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, Hebrews 3:6,14; 1 Corinthians 9:27).

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

I never knew Christianity was so complicated.....this is what happens when one does not “ properly divide” scripture....you are confusing obedience with salvation.....obedience is great, God will bless you for it once you are saved.....however if you think obedience saves or keeps you saved you have entirely missed the lesson of the Bible....one can never be perfectly obedient and that is what God demands if you want to be a legalist.....The Blood Of Jesus is what saves and keeps you saved....obedience will follow your faith in Christ and Him only, but putting the cart before the horse will get you in a lot of trouble

 

[justbyfaith]

Works has nothing to do with either initial or ultimate salvation.

Salvation is completely by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Where do works come in?

If I am truly saved then I have received the gift of salvation through what Christ did for me on the Cross. This was such an amazing act of love that if I become the recipient of its work in my life, I also become eternally grateful to the Lord who gave up His life for me. I begin to love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19). (This is the psychological aspect).

Also, when Jesus died on the Cross He said to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my Spirit." The Father received Jesus' Spirit and then 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, on the day of Pentecost, he poured it out on the early church. Now the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of every true born again believer since the first day God poured out His Spirit (Romans 5:5). This love is not in word or in tongue only, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:17-18); and it is the fulfilling of the law within us (Romans 13:8-10, Romans 8:4), being the result of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the born again believer. (This is the spiritual aspect).

These works of love are the outflow of real salvation; but they don't save us in the slightest, neither initially nor ultimately.

They are simply the evidence that we have really been saved.

If I plant a plant in the ground; it can never bear fruit unless the roots are firmly planted into the ground: but I can have the roots entrenched into the ground without the resulting fruit. The health of the plant is not dependent on the fruit that it bears, but it is dependent on whether its roots are firmly planted. The fruit is the evidence that the plant is firmly planted; it is the sign to us all that the plant is receiving nourishment from the ground. The health of the plant is dependent on the root not the fruit.

Now the root has to do with the message of the gospel, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The root has to do with our faith in these facts; and how we are forgiven of every sin through these facts and our faith in them.

The fruit of the Spirit is primarily love; which manifests itself in the good works that we do, provided we are not doing them for the wrong reason, such as an attempt to earn "ultimate salvation" or some other such thing as that.

The works that we do must be based solely and completely on our love for Christ which comes as our thankfulness overflows over what He did for us so freely.