Okay so I had a thought. Throughout the Bible the Bible says that we're saved by faith. Yet in some parts of the Bible it says that we are not saved by faith alone. Matthew 6:15 seems to add the additional requirement of forgiving others to salvation. Making Jesus's words in John 6:39-40 basically a lie because Jesus said that all believers would be saved and would be eternally secure. In John 6:39-6:40 Jesus says:
"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
In the KJV it says in John 6:39, “I should lose nothing” instead of “I shall lose nothing” which is is from a Modern Translation (Which has come upon the scene hundreds of years after the KJV has been around). The word “should” is a major difference here. I can say, “I should be over your house tomorrow, but I am very busy.” You would not take that as a guantee that I am coming over. The word “should” suggests a possibility here.
In John 6:27, Jesus says, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto unto everlasting life.
In John 6:66, many disciples stopped following Jesus. Were these disciples who walked away from Jesus saved? After the many disciples left, Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “Will ye also go away?” Peter replied, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (See John 6:67-68).
In addition, in John 6:53, Jesus says, “Except you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
What is eating of the flesh of the Son of man mean? Well, if you were to skip back to John 4:34, Jesus says his meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work.
This means that to eat Christ’s flesh is symbolic of us doing the will of the Father in order to have life. What is the will of the Father or God? Jesus said his meat is to finish the Father’s work (i.e. to obey the Father). We also learn in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 that God’s will is to be holy (i.e. our sanctification), as well.
You said:
And also in John 10:28-29:
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
Yet, you are not quoting the context (Which is usually left out) for this particular passage. Verse 27 says,
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27).
So we learn that the context of John 10:28-29 are not lazy and or sinful sheep. The context of John 10:28-29 is that they are the kind of sheep that hear Christ’s voice and they follow Him (according to John 10:27).
You said:
And also in John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
When you read John 3:16, you also have to look at the following context that says,
19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, unless his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21).
Verse 20 essentially says, everyone who does evil hates the light, and neither comes to the light unless their deeds are reproved. This means that doing evil (sin) is not included in the type of belief in the Son mentioned in John 3:16. The context does not allow it. Also, verse 19 says the “Condemnation (is)…. men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. So there is no room for interpreting John 3:16 as a belief alone with an ignoring of evil or sin. John 3:19-20 does not allow for such an interpretation. So the belief in the Son in John 3:16 is in context to behaving righteously and not evil.
You said:
Ephesians 2:8-9:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 is talking about “Initial Salvation.” For in Ephesians 2:1, Paul says,
And you has he “quickened”, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
This is talking about a one time event. Jesus “quickened” us one time.
In addition, Ephesians 3:17, Paul says,
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…”
In other words, this is not talking about the person who has already accepted Christ as their Savior. For Paul is saying, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
So Ephesians 2:8-9 is not dealing with “Continued Salvation” (or a Believer’s Walk with God) but it is talking about “Initial Salvation.”
Verse 10 briefly mentions “Continued Salvation” (or a Believer’s Walk with God). But if you were to read Ephesians 2-3 as a whole, and be open to what it is saying, you will get the impression that Paul is talking about "Initial Salvation" here and not "Continued Salvation."
You said:
These verses prove that we are saved by faith and that those who believe in Jesus WILL be saved.
No the above verses you quoted do not prove that salvation is in having a belief alone in Jesus so as to be saved. I have shown that this is not the case by pointing out the context, my friend.
Faith is described not only as a belief but also as having works, too.
For James says,
“Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18).
You said:
But, there are also other verses in the Bible that Jesus said that trouble me and seem to disprove that we are saved by faith like:
Matthew 7:21:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Well, Matthew 7:21 does not disprove faith. Faith is both a belief and an action. In fact, one’s actions are tied to faith.
Do you remember what Jesus said to Peter when he failed to walk on water?
O’ ye have little faith. Why did you doubt? In other words, Peter failed to take the proper action by walking on the water because his faith was not correct in that particular instance.
Let me give an example:
Suppose God told you to sit in a porch chair you knew was old and would not carry your weight and break apart as soon as you sat in it. Let’s say you said to God, “Lord I trust you that the chair can hold my weight as you say and I believe you, but I am just not going to sit in that chair.” Is that trust in God if you were to do that?
No. See, that is why action always follows belief. When we take action in what God’s Word says, we are trusting in God in what He says. We are putting our faith into action (Thereby proving it is a genuine faith).
Anyways, Matthew 7:21 is a great verse that disproves Easy Believism. Jesus says we are to do the will of the Father in heaven if we are to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus confirms that obedience is necessary for salvation even further in this chapter by saying in Matthew 7:26-27 that he (i.e. anyone) who does not do what He (i.e. Christ) says is like a fool who built his house upon the sand and when a storm came, great was the fall of that house.
In addition, if that is not convincing enough, in Matthew 7:23, Jesus says to certain believers who thought they did many wonderful works to depart from Him because they worked iniquity (sin). Meaning, it was not their good works that condemned them, but it was their iniquity (sin) that condemned them (Whereby Jesus told them to depart from Him). Furthermore, Matthew 7:23 is in context to false prophets, too. Jesus said we will know false prophets by their fruit. Fruit is talking about deeds. So if a believer’s deeds are evil, they are a false prophet according to Jesus in Matthew 7.
You said:
Matthew 7:21 seems to say that only those who do the will of the Father will be saved. Which confuses many people until the will of the Father is explained in John 6:39-40. The will of the father is that everyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life and never be lost. Jesus will not lose a single one of these people so the "Many" people who are not saved in Matthew 7:21 are those who don't believe in Jesus right?
No. While we have to believe in Jesus as our Savior to be saved, this is not the only thing that is a part of God’s will. We learn in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 that God’s will is to be holy (i.e. our Sanctification). Also, John 6:39-40 uses the words “shall lose nothing” which suggests a possibility and not a guarantee. In addition to that, John 6 is packed full of other Conditional statements that lets us know that Jesus is not talking about the imaginary teaching of Eternal Security here.
You said:
Matthew 25:31-46 (Too long to put in here)
The warning of Matthew 25:31-46 is that if we believers do not help the poor in this life, we will be cast into everlasting fire. Jesus says that helping the poor is a part of loving your neighbor (See the Parable of the Good Samaritan); And loving others is showing that you love God (See John’s epistle and Matthew 25:31-46). Too many times many (and not all) in the churches today think God saves them in our sins, but this is not the case. We have to be new creations in Christ. We have to show that we have been born again spiritually or that we are changed. For what value does God’s kingdom hold for the person who does not love God and who does not love others and they only love themselves and their sin? God’s Kingdom is about love and they would find no comfort in a world like that unless they ask God for forgiveness and make a major change in their life now.
You said:
Matthew 25:31-46 seems to say that works are required for salvation.
Yes, why would God allow a people into His Kingdom who are unloving towards others (Which is a reflection or parallel of loving Jesus)?
You said:
Yet this is contrary to Pauls words in Ephesians 2:9 when he says "Not by works lest any man should boast".
No. Matthew 25:31-46 does not run contrary to Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:9 that says we are not saved by works unless any man should boast because Ephesians 2:8-9 is talking about “Initial Salvation.” Again see the word “quickened” in Ephesians 2:1 and Ephesians 3:17 that says Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
You said:
Matthew 19:17 seems to say that we must keep the commandments to be saved and then he lists what commandments he's talking about in the next two verses.
Matthew 19:17:
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."
Matthew 19:17 does not “seem” (or appear) to say that we must keep God’s commandments to be saved; It does say that! If you were to read all the way until the end of the chapter, it leaves no room for doubt about this.
For Matthew 19:29 says,
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”
Matthew 19:29 does not conclude with Him saying, I was just kidding about keeping the commandments part, everyone who just believes in me and does nothing will inherit eternal life. However, Jesus does not say anything like that. On the contrary, Scripture says if you put your hand to the plow and look back, you are unfit for the Kingdom of God.
You said:
Matthew 6:15 seems to add the additional requirement of forgiving others to salvation.
Matthew 6:15:
"But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:15 does not “seem” (or appear) to be adding an additional requirement of forgiving others for salvation. Forgiving others (walking in the light) in Matthew 6:15 was always a part of the cleansing blood of Christ and His forgiveness. For 1 John 1:7 says if we walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. God wants more than a mere belief from us. God wants us to be changed and a new creation. We have to forgive others; If not, then we would be hypocrites for asking God for forgiveness. In other words, you cannot ask for something that you yourself are not doing. It makes no sense. God is good and He upholds a standard of morality or goodness (that is offensive to many).
You said:
Also in James 2:20 James says "Faith without works is dead" which seems to back up Jesus's words in Matthew 25:31-46. That a true faith would have works and therefore those who are not saved in those verses did not have a true faith. So that could be the answer to my problem on these verses
Yes, Paul’s words are true. Faith without works is dead. For how can a dead faith access the saving grace of God (Which is a gift)? This indeed does confirm Matthew 25:31-46 and many other verses in the Holy Scriptures.
You said:
but, what about the others?
Hopefully I have provided a proper explanation on these other verses for you to pray over and to meditate on deeply, my friend.
Anyways, may God bless you;
And may you please be well in the Lord.
