Ben johnson said:
First, verses 9-20 are not in the oldest manuscripts. Secpmd. He does not actually SAY "dipped or condemned", nor does He say "baptized TO BE saved". The "and is baptized" fits very well with an anecdotal inclusion. What does Jesus say CONDEMNS us, Therese? UNBELIEF. Not "unabelief-and-unbaptism", but just unbelief.
Hi Ben . . well, I have to disagree with your interpretation of this verse . .
First, you bring up the point that when it tells us that those who believe and are baptized will be save, it does not include Baptism as a condition of no salvation, just unbelief . . and your conclusion is that since it is only included in the first half but not in the 2nd part . .. so it really has nothing to do with our salvation . .
Well, I have to say to this . .. it IS included in the first half of this verse as a condition of salvation . .
That it is
NOT included in the 2nd half
does not affect its necessity for salvation, and for a very obvious reason once the verse is looked at logically . . .
It would be
redundant and
unnecessary to include it with belief in the 2nd part
as a condition of not receiving salvation
AS if you don't have belief, then
you are not going to be baptized . . so it is
unnecessary to mention baptism again . .
There is NO good reason to even have to mention it again in that verse!
No, and yes. The parable in Matt20 speaks of those who were JUST SAVED at the LAST (and therefore had no time to do works). Then there is Rom4:5...
?? OK I am going to look up this parable to make sure it is the one I am thinking of . . OK, I looked it up and it was the one I was thinking of and I don't see how it supports what you are saying, "No, and yes" . . and (and therefore had not time to do works) . .
The last group was hired at the 11th hour . . there was still an hour to do works . . so I don't know how you are using it to support a "no works" stand point . . but I don't think you are trying to do that necessarily . .
And again, in Romans Paul is referring to Works of the Law . . not Good works of Grace, of Charity such as James is referring to . .
As ABIC said:
Intrinsic within belief is the obedience to the things that God has said. So not only is believing something that must be done, but it will also produce or elicit a response in the individual that does believe.
Very good. Works consequent FROM the heart that
truly believes.
I agree . . works that do not come from a heart that truly believes do not benefit anyone regarding eternity . .
You have to have faith
AND good works . . Not mere mental assent (which I believe some here are indeed promoting) and not mere works, no matter how good they might be if there is no faith, no belief . .
Faith and Good Works are two sides of the same coing .. I have posted this elsewhere here at CF but it bears repeating ..
Just like breathing consists of insipration and expiriation, so the hearts response to God's Grace, freely given, is Faith and Good works . .
Just like in respiration, if you have only insipration or expiriation without its corresponding counterpart, you will die . . to live you must have both . .
So in the case of the hearts response to God's Grace . . you must have both faith and works . . if you have faith only, or works only, you will spiritually die . .you must have both to spiritually live . .
There is an explanation to verses like Rom2:6 & Rev20:13 ("each judged according to his deeds"). And it harmonizes Eph2:10 ("For we are His workmanship, createed to walk in good works, which He has prepared beforehand that we might walk in them".) When you read verses like Gal2:20, it becomes clear that salvation is JESUS-IN-YOU. Truly being "indewlt", Him living THROUGH you.
Yep! mainifested in the combination of faith and good works. . . again, the verse you quoted above is significant . . "For we are His workmanship,
created to walk in good works . . "
Look at Philip2:13: "For it is GOD who is at work IN you, both to will and to work according to His good purpose."
Amen, Good works apart from faith, apart from Grace will mean nothing . .
The answer, is that Jesus IN OUR HEARTS, does our good deeds THROUGH us! Thus they are not our deeds at ALL, Jesus DOES them!
yes and no . .

(now its my turn

)
We are not mere robots with no control over our actions . . we do not merely observe what our body is doing and Christ being in control as though we are possessed.
We have to
cooperate with Him! We cannot do so out of our own power . . it is by
God's Divine Grace that we are
EMPOWERED to cooperate with Him! And it is by God's Divine Grace that we are able to
choose to cooperate with Him!
God's Grace infuses our soul with His very life . . as we respond in faith and good works to this infusion of His Divine Grace, we receive more Grace, and thus we particpate in what I best vizualize as an upwards spiral to God . . receiving and responding to God's Grace . .
So salvation CANNOT be "by faith + works + sacraments + anything else. Salvation is FAITH/BELIEF; but not the mere acknowledging that James condemned in 2:19, it is the INDWELT belief that allows Jesus do DO our works THROUGH us. Jesus owns our works. He whi IS saved, HAS good fruit (Matt7:18). And at the Judgment, our DEEDS will reveal our HEARTS --- good deeds will expose a SAVED heart, evil deeds will expose a CORRUPT heart (1Jn3:7-10)...
OW!!!
Sorry, Ben just bit his tongue...

Ben, I hope your tongue is feelilng better! ouch!!
I know you don't see it the way I do, but I hope you can better understand why I believe you can't remove good works from the equation . .because if you do, and you do not have them, your faith is dead and it ain't going to save you no matter how much you believe . .
Buit I understand you to say that real faith is going to produce good works, so even though we do not appear to be saying the same thing, I think we really are . . we are just coming from 2 different perspectives . .
To say that you don't need good works to be saved, but then good works are going to be evident of true faith, true belief is basically not saying anything different in the end than what I am saying .. I just put good works in their place along side of faith . .
But for both of us, it seems to me at least, the proof is in the pudding so to sepak. . .
Peace in Him!