Salvation is a process of co-operation between man and God

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redleghunter

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We were talking about BACs.
C'mon.
Yes of course. However, those who are saved through Christ Jesus, who are in Christ Jesus and will be co-inheritors with Christ Jesus, proclaim Him not only as their Savior but Lord. The Lord part I think is what you are getting at. He cannot just be Savior because the Apostle Paul says those who proclaim Christ as Lord are saved. Christ being Lord is the significant part of those verses you quoted. Christ as Lord means we are subjects. The word I think Paul uses is doulos or slave when he refers to himself. It means we do what He says. We do so gladly because of the 'through Him, in Him and with Him.

I think I may have posted this on one of your other threads on this topic. The below is Pastor John MacAruthur's revisit of the "Lordship" debate 15 years later:

Grace

The doctrine of grace, for example, is profoundly affected by no-lordship teaching. Defenders of the no-lordship gospel often refer to their unique teachings as "Grace Theology" and their movement as "the Grace Movement." They are convinced that only their system preserves the gospel's message of grace. That is precisely why they insist every opposing opinion is a kind of works-salvation.

But they are working with an unbiblical notion of "grace." Grace is not a liberal clemency or a passive indulgence that simply tolerates and coexists with sin. Divine grace doesn't guarantee heaven in the afterlife while merely overlooking the evils of this life. Authentic grace is the undeserved favor of God toward sinners, delivering them from the power as well as the penalty of sin (Romans 6:14). Grace is dynamic, "teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:12).

Furthermore, grace is not merely God's response to the sinner's initiative. Quite the opposite. Because He is gracious, God takes the initiative, drawing the sinner (John 6:44, 65), granting repentance (Acts 3:26; 5:31; 11:18), and awakening the heart to faith (Acts 13:48; 16:14). Every aspect of the believer's response—conviction, repentance, and faith—is the result of God's gracious work in the heart. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

God's grace is rooted in Christ's atonement for sin, which was infinitely costly. In fact, Christ's death on behalf of sinners is the supreme expression of divine grace. It is unthinkable that God would sacrifice His Son to purchase heaven for sinners but leave them to fend for themselves against the power of sin in this life (cf. Romans 8:32).

Sanctification

That's why sanctification is another major doctrine whose biblical foundations are undermined by no-lordship doctrine. The whole gist of the no-lordship message is that while justification is a free gift of God's grace, sanctification is primarily the believer's own work—and therefore more or less optional.

But Scripture teaches that sanctification begins at conversion. The process of practical sanctification is launched by God's regenerating work, when He graciously gives the sinner a new heart and a new spirit of obedience (Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:26-27; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as regeneration marks the beginning of sanctification, glorification marks its end. Sanctification culminates in that moment when we see Christ and are instantly conformed perfectly to His image (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12). Meanwhile, all genuine believers are being sanctified—conformed gradually to the image of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29). Those who remain unchanged and in unbroken bondage to sin have no true knowledge of Christ (1 John 3:6).

Sanctification is as much a work of divine grace as justification. By portraying sanctification as an optional human work, advocates of no-lordship doctrine actually fall into the very error of works-salvation they profess to deplore. They have made at least this aspect of salvation into a human work.

Justification by Faith

The pivotal doctrine in the lordship debate is justification by grace through faith alone (sola fide). No-lordship doctrine is a corruption of sola fide. The leading proponents of the no-lordship view err because they tend to make justification practically the only work God does in salvation, and they omit or downplay the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification.

Justification is a forensic decree—God's legal verdict that the sinner has been fully forgiven and credited with the full merit of a perfect righteousness. Justification must be distinguished from regeneration and sanctification, but it can never be divorced from them. There is no such thing as a justified sinner who is still unregenerate or utterly unsanctified.

That is not to suggest that we are justified because of our sanctification. We are not even justified "because" of our faith. Faith is the instrument of our justification, not the ground of it.

The righteousness of Christ—not any work done by the believer or wrought by God in the sinner—is the true ground of our justification. In other words, God gives us a righteous standing only because of the perfect righteousness He imputes to us. We're not justified because of any righteousness we attain in our sanctification. We're not justified because of the quality of our faith or the depth of our repentance. God accepts us only for Christ's sake. Because of our union with Christ, he receives us as righteous in Christ. Thus we are justified because of what Christ has done on our behalf; not because of anything we do, period.

And it is by faith alone that we lay hold of the promise of justification. That's what Scripture means when it speaks of being "justified by faith" (Romans 3:8; 5:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:24).

But, as the Reformers said, while faith alone justifies, the faith that justifies is never alone. Genuine faith inevitably produces good works. The works are the fruit, not the root, of faith. And justification is therefore complete at the very inception of faith, before faith ever produces a single work. It is not a process like sanctification.

Most who have defended the lordship of Christ for the past decade and a half have labored diligently to make these things clear and to defend the principle of sola fide. This will become more and more important if the debate is rekindled, because there are a number of theological trends on the horizon that tend to undermine the principle of sola fide. These include the so-called "New Perspective on Paul," several recent attacks on the doctrine of imputation, ECT-style ecumenism, and a revival of Anabaptist opposition to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Some who have helped popularize these trends claim that they too are simply battling the shallow "faith" and cheap "grace" of modern evangelicalism, but they actually overthrow the heart of the gospel when they abandon the doctrine of justification by faith.

The errors of no-lordship theology do not find their origin in the principle of sola fide; they stem from an incomplete, man-centered soteriology that refuses to see anything beyond justification. In defending the gospel from no-lordship doctrine, we must take care not to commit the opposite error by downplaying or abandoning the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

The Sovereignty of God

Another doctrine under attack in the lordship debate is the doctrine of God's sovereignty. No-lordship theology cannot coexist with biblical views of election, predestination, and divine foreknowledge. Simply put, you won't find a Calvinist who believes in no-lordship doctrine.

If salvation is really all God's work, how could it be utterly lacking the grace of sanctification? Is surrender to Christ really a human work, or is regeneration with all its effects a sovereign work of God? How can a believer whose heart has been renewed by divine grace fail to bow to Christ's lordship? As I wrote in chapter 1 of The Gospel According to Jesus:

We must remember above all that salvation is a sovereign work of God. Biblically it is defined by what it produces, not by what one does to get it. Works are not necessary to earn salvation. But true salvation wrought by God will not fail to produce the good works that are its fruit (cf. Matthew 7:17). No aspect of salvation is merited by human works, but it is all the work of God (Titus 3:5-7). Thus salvation cannot be defective in any dimension. "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). As a part of His saving work, God will produce repentance, faith, sanctification, yieldedness, obedience, and ultimately glorification. Since He is not dependent on human effort in producing those elements, an experience that lacks any of them cannot be the saving work of God.

I once listened to a message by S. Lewis Johnson critiquing a book by Zane Hodges in which Dr. Johnson concluded that the central error underlying no-lordship doctrine is nothing but the ancient heresy of semi-pelagianism—the belief that saving grace cannot be efficacious without the prior cooperation of human free will.

Dr. Johnson's analysis was accurate. Scripture teaches that God's saving grace is inherently efficacious. All whom the Father has chosen shall come to Christ (John 6:37). Each one of them will be effectually called, justified, glorified, and perfectly conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30). No aspect of salvation can fail, because none of it hinges on the fickle human will. All of it is the efficacious work of a sovereign God. Accept those truths and you cannot embrace no-lordship doctrine.

Other Important Points of Doctrine

Where you land on the lordship question will also have far-reaching implications for your views on assurance, faith, repentance, eternal rewards, human depravity, the role of the moral law, and a host of other crucial doctrines. Almost no aspect of soteriology is left untainted by the errors of no-lordship doctrine.


A 15-Year Retrospective on the Lordship Controversy
 
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Guojing

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Believers are accountable to the Lord God who saved them!
Dozens of NT verses teach that their salvation is conditional.
After the Holy Spirit indwells them, they are sanctified (set apart)
for further sanctification unto holiness. During this process, believers
are required to co-operate with the Holy Spirit’s efforts to sanctify them,
and to overcome sin, Satan, persecution, etc. (see Revelation 3:21).

There is only space below for some of the topics and “proof text” verses …

Believers are in a saved condition IF they are obedient
This is about obedience to Jesus’ teachings and commands. Continuing obedience is
what “being faithful” means. True believers love Jesus, and want to follow and obey Him!

● “If you love Me, obey My commandments …
Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me …
If anyone loves Me, he will obey My word” (John 14:15-23)

Truly, does anyone get into heaven who does not love Jesus?

Believers are obedient IF they are NOT habitual sinners
● “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey,
you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether (slaves) of sin leading to death,
or (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness?
… so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6:16-19)
● “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like;
of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past,
that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)


Believers are righteous IF they practice righteousnesss
● “… let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous.
He who sins is of the devil … Whoever has been born of God does NOT sin (habitually) …
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does
NOT practice righteousness is NOT of God, NOR is he who does NOT love his brother.” (1 John 3:7-10)

Believers who are “faithful” will be obedient to Jesus’ commandments, and will practice righteousness!
● “… you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:29)
● “… who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him”
(Acts 10:35)

Believers are in a saved condition IF they are repenting
“Repent (metanoeo) and believe (pisteou) may be understood as being opposite sides of the same coin.
… John used believe since this term included all of these ideas.” (The Holman Christian Standard Bible)

When they were first saved, believers were ONLY forgiven of their PAST sins …
● “… forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9)
“former sins”
(NASB, ESV) --- “past sins” (NIV, HCSB) --- “old sins” (NKJV, NLT, RSV)
● “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Confession needs to be followed by repentance!
“This is an extremely important verse … all men need to be repeatedly purified from all unrighteousness,
from all their sins … We must confess our sins and turn from them” (The Applied New Testament Commentary)


Believers were chosen and called to live holy lives
● “God’s will is for you to be holy … live in holiness and honor … God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives … anyone who refuses to live by these rules is rejecting God.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)
● “God has given us everything we need to live a godly life … Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen … It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it, and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life”
(2 Peter 1:3, 1:10, 2:21)
● “God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.
… work at living a holy life, for those who are NOT holy will NOT see the Lord.
… Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.” (Hebrews 12:10-25)


Believers faith must endure until the end of their lives
In the NT, the Greek indicates that “believe” is a present tense imperative verb!
Yes, a continuing belief-faith is necessary for continuing salvation-eternal life!

● “… whoever believes [present tense: continues to believe] in Him
may have
[present tense: may continue to have] eternal life. For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes
[present tense: continues to believe] in Him
should not perish but have
[present tense: continue to have] eternal life.” (John 3:16)
● “… to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight — IF indeed you
continue in the faith … and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:22-23)
● “It is this Good News (the gospel) that saves you,
IF you continue to believe the message I told you” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

In the end God wants to get all the glory of your salvation. Surely in heaven you don’t want to keep hearing fellow believers saying “Guess what I have also done to secure my place here?”

This just reminded me of how the protagonist in the drama “the good place” must have felt in season 1, when she had to keep hearing about the good deeds done by others hah.

When we are in heaven we will throw all our crowns down at the feet of Jesus and telling him it’s all you.

I don’t want to be secretly thinking to myself “well I have x% role in this too”

to put it in another way, if God wants to get all the glory, let him do all the work
 
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BCsenior

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In the end God wants to get all the glory of your salvation. Surely in heaven you don’t want to keep hearing fellow believers saying “Guess what I have done to secure my place here?”
When we are in heaven we will throw all our crowns down at the feet of Jesus and telling him it’s all you.
I don’t want to be secretly thinking to myself “well I have x% role in this too”
to put it in another way, if God wants to get all the glory, let him do all the work
Brother, this is all very nice and pretty and popular ...
BUT, what are going to do with the many NT verses
which stand against it? ... HUH?
 
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BBAS 64

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Good Day,

The Triune nature of Salvation has nothing to do with man's co-operation Augstine , Knox, Whitefield, Gill, Spurgeon, Bunyun, Owen, Cotton, Edwards all dealt with such fallacies.

But the Co-operation happens in the God-head:

Tit 3 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Salvation is of the Lord.

The Work of the Trinity in Salvation

In Him,

Bill
 
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Basil the Great

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My very devout great grandfather died when I was age 10, so I did not know him real well, but I do remember asking him if God would forgive us if we keep sinning the same sin, aka habitual sin. His reply was "no". Now mom says that her grandfather was the only man that she ever knew who never spoke ill of anyone. His grandparents were raised Anglican on his dad's side and Mennonites on his mother's side. His parents were married in the Methodist Church. I am just guessing that he was raised Methodist, but then switched to Baptist when he married. For some unknown reason, great grama's father was Anglican in England, but became Baptist in America. Anyway, it would seem that great grampa would probably have answered "yes" to the question in this thread, though I suspect that his daughter, my great aunt, whom I knew quite well and who was also a devout Baptist, may well have said "no".

Personally, I am undecided, but I tend to lean to what I think great grampa's view probably was and so I will give a qualified "yes" to the question posed in this thread. Now, as to Albion's statement, it is true that most Protestants today would respond with "no". However, I do not believe that this was the case back in the 1700's and 1800's. At that time, I believe that there was a pretty big emphasis upon living a holy life that we do not hear much about anymore.
 
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BCsenior

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Tit 3 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
IMO, as with Ephesians 2:7-8, this refers to our initial receiving of the Holy Spirit
when we were born-again from above! ... I.E. This refers to God's initial grace.
We were initially saved re: the blue ... NOT by any works we have done!
But, then our co-operation needs to begin (ref: dozens of NT verses).

BTW, if you read the OP, did you happen to notice the verse that says:
we were ONLY cleansed (forgiven) of our sins which were PRIOR to salvation.
Salvation is a process ... and it can be lost (ref: many NT verses).
 
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redleghunter

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IMO, as with Ephesians 2:7-8, this refers to our initial receiving of the Holy Spirit
when we were born-again from above! ... I.E. This refers to God's initial grace.
We were initially saved re: the blue ... NOT by any works we have done!
But, then our co-operation needs to begin (ref: dozens of NT verses).

BTW, if you read the OP, did you notice the verse
that says we were ONLY forgiven of our sins PRIOR to salvation.
Salvation is a process ... and it can be lost.
I think his point was by mentioning The Trinity in Salvation is the entire verse addresses our salvation. All of what was quoted needs to be in 'blue.'

Don't glaze over "but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

That's important. It means we are not left as orphans to figure out this sanctification on our own. It also evokes the act of God in conforming us to the image of His Son.
 
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BCsenior

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It means we are not left as orphans to figure out this sanctification on our own.
It also evokes the act of God in conforming us to the image of His Son.
Yes, but you had better stress that this is required for salvation!
Justification + Sanctification = Salvation
 
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redleghunter

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At that time, I believe that there was a pretty big emphasis upon living a holy life that we do not hear much about anymore.
Frankly the words of the NT have not changed since then. What I think has happened is there are some churches in the West which abandoned the NT for their own teachings.

There is a difference in saying "no works of man save him" and "we can do whatever we want because works don't save us." See the difference. The latter is what you were really responding to. The former confirms being saved by Grace.

I don't know of any official doctrines in Protestant churches which deny we are to live holy lives. Holy living are the fruits of salvation, a new creation. Which is why the apostles warned us to not live according to the flesh but the Spirit. Because we belong to Christ.
 
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redleghunter

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Yes, but you had better stress that this is required for salvation!
Justification + Sanctification = Salvation
And Christ is Faithful and True to keep His promises. We should be shaking in awe over this.
 
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BCsenior

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I don't know of any official doctrines in Protestant churches which deny we are to live holy lives.
Holy living are the fruits of salvation, a new creation. Which is why the apostles warned us
to not live according to the flesh but the Spirit. Because we belong to Christ.
You're still not indicating whether this is necessary for salvation (or not).

FYI, it is necessary because of all the NT verses that say so!

The churches don't teach this because it's NOT popular.
Not all pastors are spiritual idiots, they just have other agendas.
Some have agendas that don't include going to heaven.
 
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redleghunter

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You're still not indicating whether this is necessary for salvation (or not).
It's the fruit of salvation. Any Buddhist monk can pick up a Bible pull out its morals and live it better than any Christian. Would that make the monk partially saved because he was doing it?
 
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theoneandonlypencil

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Food for thought; if any of us can achieve a sinless state in this lifetime, why did it take a sinless being to die for our sins? There is no conceivable way you can not sin, as 1 John 1:8 says...

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

Even the Apostles sinned, Paul even remarking in 2 Corinthians 12 that he had been given a 'thorn in his flesh', a messenger sent by satan to torment him. And after he prayed three times for God to remove it...

2 Corinthians 12: 19
" But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Keep your eyes and souls on God; let him guide you. None of our works are good enough to atone for any sin, nor should they be the focus.
 
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Keep your eyes and souls on God; let him guide you.
None of our works are good enough to atone for any sin, nor should they be the focus.
Dost thou thinkst that repenting of your (present) sins is doing works?
How about being obedient to Jesus because you love Him?

BTW, nice to see that you can sketch nicely with your pencil (I can't).
 
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IMO, as with Ephesians 2:7-8, this refers to our initial receiving of the Holy Spirit
when we were born-again from above! ... I.E. This refers to God's initial grace.
We were initially saved re: the blue ... NOT by any works we have done!
But, then our co-operation needs to begin (ref: dozens of NT verses).

BTW, if you read the OP, did you happen to notice the verse that says:
we were ONLY cleansed (forgiven) of our sins which were PRIOR to salvation.
Salvation is a process ... and it can be lost (ref: many NT verses).

Good day, BC

I agree it is a process:

We have been saved (Romans 8:24).

We are being saved (Philippians 2:12).

We will be saved (Romans 13:11).

Lost sorry nope I will stand in my Justification by the Faith granted to me for Christ's sake for all of eternity. My life is now eternal which means it never ends, due to the work of the Triune God.. See John 17- Christ has manafested God's name to me as because I was given to him out of the world by the Father for the sake of being risen on the last day... They did not nor ever will need my assistance.

In Him,

Bill
 
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theoneandonlypencil

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Dost thou thinkst that repenting of your (present) sins is doing works?

BTW, nice to see that you can sketch nicely with your pencil (I can't).

We should repent of our sins, but some people tend to 'add' their own sins, or stress certain sins over others. I still use the ten commandments as a baseline for the major sins we should be consciously trying to repent of. Point is, we shouldn't treat 'holiness' as a means of 'you have to be perfect to be accepted by God'. Nobody can be without sin. There's many sins a lot of us will commit every single day and never even be aware of, even in our thoughts and dreams; that is why God's grace is necessary.

And thanks but I did my pfp digitally lol. It was with a plastic tablet pen, so kind of similar to a pencil?
 
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Yes, but you had better stress that this is required for salvation!
Justification + Sanctification = Salvation

Good Day,

Justification is something said about you.....
Sanctification is something done to you...

God does both and is unable to fail Jesus asked the Father: in his pray, did the father not grant his request?

Jn 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

"It is the will of God to have the Spirit of God use the Word of God to make the children of God look like the Son of God." – HB Charles Jr.


Eph 5:27 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

It was all part of the Cross work of Christ he died to sanctify people.

Heb 13:12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

"Definitive Sanctification" by John Murray

In Him,.

Bill
 
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BCsenior

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Nobody can be without sin. There's many sins a lot of us will commit every single day and
never even be aware of, even in our thoughts and dreams; that is why God's grace is necessary.
IMO, it all about the attitude of your heart.
BTW, Jesus does call us to be perfect.
Maybe that's what He's referring to ... having a perfect heart attitude!

Keep on scratchin' wit da plastic, hear!

Hey, got a question for you ...
Why were both the Word (John 1) and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1, Luke 1)
necessary in the forming (please, not creating) of the little Baby Jesus?
 
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aiki

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Believers are accountable to the Lord God who saved them!

Yes, they are.

Dozens of NT verses teach that their salvation is conditional.

Nope. You just think verses do. In reality, upon proper scrutiny and without your saved-and-lost/works salvation doctrinal lenses on, Scripture says no such thing.

After the Holy Spirit indwells them, they are sanctified (set apart)
for further sanctification unto holiness.

All born-again believers are perfectly sanctified positionally in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 10:10, etc). As they walk with God, they increasingly manifest their positional sanctification in their daily living.

Believers are in a saved condition IF they are obedient
This is about obedience to Jesus’ teachings and commands. Continuing obedience is
what “being faithful” means. True believers love Jesus, and want to follow and obey Him!

● “If you love Me, obey My commandments …
Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me …
If anyone loves Me, he will obey My word” (John 14:15-23)

Truly, does anyone get into heaven who does not love Jesus?

Here John indicates that obedience is contingent upon, or arising out of, love (not fear of lost salvation). He is NOT saying that obedience is itself the love one has for God, however, only that a person's obedience to God gives evidence of their love of Him. None of what you've cited above, though, indicates that a genuinely born-again believer can lose their salvation.

Believers are obedient IF they are NOT habitual sinners
● “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey,
you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether (slaves) of sin leading to death,
or (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness?
… so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6:16-19)

Paul wrote that the Roman believers were to be careful to continually present themselves to God as His "slaves of righteousness" - especially in light of the fact that as born-again believers they were positionally, in Christ, already slaves of righteousness:

Romans 6:17-18
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.


All of Romans 6 is taken up, really, with Paul telling the Roman believers to live out who they were positionally in Christ. It seems they had either forgotten or never knew their identity and spiritual inheritance in Jesus. Paul, though, never threatens the Roman believer with lost salvation in Romans 6. You're forcing such a notion into his words.

● “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like;
of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past,
that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

And the key phrase here is "practice these things"; that is, make a habit of wicked behaviour. Those whose general character of living is shaped by the sin Paul lists here will not inherit the kingdom of God because such people, clearly, have not yet become members of God's kingdom. I don't see, then, that the quotation from Galatians 5 you've offered here is grounds at all for a SAL/Works Salvation doctrine.

Believers are righteous IF they practice righteousnesss
● “… let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous.
He who sins is of the devil … Whoever has been born of God does NOT sin (habitually) …
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does
NOT practice righteousness is NOT of God, NOR is he who does NOT love his brother.” (1 John 3:7-10)

So, where is the saved-and-lost/works salvation doctrine? Jesus said, "By their fruit you shall know them." No matter what a man may claim or believe about himself, if he does not practice righteousness, if there is no holy fruit produced in his life, it is very likely he has not yet been saved.

I would, though, point out that the Corinthian church confounds the idea that sin cannot be present in a genuine believer's life. Paul's first letter to the Corinthian believers both constantly confirms their membership in the faith (1 Corinthians 1:2, 8-9, 30; 3:1, 9, 16, 23; 4:14,-15; 6:2, 11, 20, etc.) and household of God and frequently condemns their grossly sinful conduct. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; 5; 6; 11, etc.)

One other thing: a believer's righteousness is imputed to them by God from Christ (Romans 3:22; 5:17, 21; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21, etc). Every born-again believer is clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness and on this basis ALONE are they accepted by God. And because Christ's righteousness is always perfect those who have "put on Christ" are always accepted by God. It is entirely false, then, to assert that a believer's righteous acts make any contribution to their salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5)

Believers are in a saved condition IF they are repenting
“Repent (metanoeo) and believe (pisteou) may be understood as being opposite sides of the same coin.
… John used believe since this term included all of these ideas.” (The Holman Christian Standard Bible)

When they were first saved, believers were ONLY forgiven of their PAST sins …
● “… forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9)
“former sins”
(NASB, ESV) --- “past sins” (NIV, HCSB) --- “old sins” (NKJV, NLT, RSV)
● “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Confession needs to be followed by repentance!
“This is an extremely important verse … all men need to be repeatedly purified from all unrighteousness,
from all their sins … We must confess our sins and turn from them” (The Applied New Testament Commentary)

I don't see anything in what you've offered here that indicates from Scripture that a believer's salvation depends upon their continued repentance from sin. Also, you have the confession and repentance order completely backwards. Repentance always comes before confession. One's mind must change (repentance) about one's wicked behaviour before one can agree with God (confession) that it is sin.

When a genuine believer neglects to confess their sin, it hinders and even may halt the believer's fellowship with God. But no amount of sin can undo God's adoption of the believer into His family. This is pictured very well in the story of the Prodigal Son who leaves his father, ending their fellowship with each other for a time, but who never at any point is no longer his father's son.

And so your OP goes. All of it plays fast-and-loose with Scripture, forcing your false doctrines into Scripture rather than drawing them out.
 
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