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Struggles by Non-Christians
Why are we saved by faith?
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<blockquote data-quote="tdidymas" data-source="post: 75931698" data-attributes="member: 357572"><p>Although your definitions (1 & 2) sound reasonable, I don't agree with them. I believe what the Bible says about salvation which is:</p><p>1. Release from the penalty of sin, which is ultimately lake of fire judgment. Since God is holy, and His holiness is the ultimate holiness, then sinning against Him incurs the ultimate justice, eternal death. And we all did it. So Christ has released us (redemption) so that we can live in a vital relationship with God in this world, and moreso after the resurrection.</p><p>2. Release from the power of sin, which is an ongoing experience while we live in this life. It doesn't mean we can become "sinlessly perfect" because we always make mistakes, and we are forgetful. But this release is mainly a conversion from being haters of God to being lovers of God.</p><p>3. Eventually, the resurrection will take us out of the experience of sin (that is, the sinful nature), so that we will no longer have the presence of sin to bear on us. In some sense, we will be sinless at that time, since Jesus said we'll be "like the angels of heaven."</p><p></p><p>So to answer the question, why are we saved by faith rather than our works: we have to start with the apostle Paul's doctrinal statement "by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight." If the reason we do right is to gain (or earn) salvation from eternal death, then that right thing we do is a self-righteous act, and that makes it not acceptable to God. This is testified also in Hebrews 11:4, which compares Cain and Abel. It says that Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God because of his faith, which Cain lacked.</p><p></p><p>Another way to look at is: if I think that my righteousness will gain me a place in paradise, then my trust is really in myself and my ability to produce righteousness that I think God ought to accept. My faith would really be in myself, and not in God.</p><p></p><p>But if my faith is in God, then I accept Jesus' statement that "<em>there is none good, except God alone</em>." And then I trust that God will work His good works in me and through me. This is the kind of faith that the apostles are talking about in the New Testament epistles.</p><p></p><p>And my faith must also be in Jesus Christ, because the word of God says I must obey that faith. Jesus said, "<em>you believe in God, believe also in Me</em>." So if God says I must believe in Jesus (and His ultimate substitutionary sacrifice for my sins), then I will do so, if I really believe in the God who wrote the Bible through His apostles and prophets. Just as the apostle John warns in 1 John 5:10 "<em>The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son</em>."</p><p></p><p>So the faith we have in Christ becomes the means by which God heals us spiritually, as Jesus states in John 3:14-15 "<em>As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life</em>." If you recall the story in the book of Numbers Jesus is referring to, it's about people getting bitten by snakes, and God had Moses to build a brass snake on a pole, so that if someone was bitten, they would go look at the snake and be healed. In effect, they believed what God said about the brass snake, which prompted them to obey the message.</p><p></p><p>Likewise, Peter writes in 1 Pet. 2:24 "<em>and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed</em>." This alludes to Jesus' statement above, in the sense that if I look to Jesus who sacrificed Himself, then God will heal me spiritually, which will change my way of life in favor of the gospel message.</p><p></p><p>All this begs the question, am I willing to accept what God says about Himself and His Son in the Bible, and am I willing to obey Him in regard to this belief system?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tdidymas, post: 75931698, member: 357572"] Although your definitions (1 & 2) sound reasonable, I don't agree with them. I believe what the Bible says about salvation which is: 1. Release from the penalty of sin, which is ultimately lake of fire judgment. Since God is holy, and His holiness is the ultimate holiness, then sinning against Him incurs the ultimate justice, eternal death. And we all did it. So Christ has released us (redemption) so that we can live in a vital relationship with God in this world, and moreso after the resurrection. 2. Release from the power of sin, which is an ongoing experience while we live in this life. It doesn't mean we can become "sinlessly perfect" because we always make mistakes, and we are forgetful. But this release is mainly a conversion from being haters of God to being lovers of God. 3. Eventually, the resurrection will take us out of the experience of sin (that is, the sinful nature), so that we will no longer have the presence of sin to bear on us. In some sense, we will be sinless at that time, since Jesus said we'll be "like the angels of heaven." So to answer the question, why are we saved by faith rather than our works: we have to start with the apostle Paul's doctrinal statement "by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight." If the reason we do right is to gain (or earn) salvation from eternal death, then that right thing we do is a self-righteous act, and that makes it not acceptable to God. This is testified also in Hebrews 11:4, which compares Cain and Abel. It says that Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God because of his faith, which Cain lacked. Another way to look at is: if I think that my righteousness will gain me a place in paradise, then my trust is really in myself and my ability to produce righteousness that I think God ought to accept. My faith would really be in myself, and not in God. But if my faith is in God, then I accept Jesus' statement that "[I]there is none good, except God alone[/I]." And then I trust that God will work His good works in me and through me. This is the kind of faith that the apostles are talking about in the New Testament epistles. And my faith must also be in Jesus Christ, because the word of God says I must obey that faith. Jesus said, "[I]you believe in God, believe also in Me[/I]." So if God says I must believe in Jesus (and His ultimate substitutionary sacrifice for my sins), then I will do so, if I really believe in the God who wrote the Bible through His apostles and prophets. Just as the apostle John warns in 1 John 5:10 "[I]The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son[/I]." So the faith we have in Christ becomes the means by which God heals us spiritually, as Jesus states in John 3:14-15 "[I]As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life[/I]." If you recall the story in the book of Numbers Jesus is referring to, it's about people getting bitten by snakes, and God had Moses to build a brass snake on a pole, so that if someone was bitten, they would go look at the snake and be healed. In effect, they believed what God said about the brass snake, which prompted them to obey the message. Likewise, Peter writes in 1 Pet. 2:24 "[I]and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed[/I]." This alludes to Jesus' statement above, in the sense that if I look to Jesus who sacrificed Himself, then God will heal me spiritually, which will change my way of life in favor of the gospel message. All this begs the question, am I willing to accept what God says about Himself and His Son in the Bible, and am I willing to obey Him in regard to this belief system? [/QUOTE]
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Why are we saved by faith?
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