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Salvation by Faith

Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by Heavenly Pilgrim, May 18, 2007.

  1. Heavenly Pilgrim

    Heavenly Pilgrim New Member

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    HP: No. God does not lie. When it tells us that the devils believe and tremble, yet are not saved, that is truth as well. He did not lie there either.
     
  2. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    Matt 7 shows that it is easy to deceive yourself into thinking you are saved when you are not.

    2Cor 13:5 says we are to test ourselves to "see IF we are in the faith".

    1Cor 9 (last vs) "I buffet my body and make it my slave lest after preaching the Gospel to others I myself should be disqualified".

    Rom 8:16 "The Spirit bears witness with out spirit that WE ARE the children of God".

    IF By the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh then are you the children of God

    12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh
    13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if
    by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live[/
    b].
    14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
    15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again[/b], but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "" Abba! Father!''
    16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God[/b],


    The Bible points to an interactive living relationship with God as the "source of assurance" rather than "telling yourself that you are saved".

    Eph 2:8-10 points to the mechanism and reason why God would even engage in this "new Birth", forgiveness and salvation-assurance process with us but telling us WHY God does it is not the same as HAVING the assurance for "yourself". Knowing THAT a lottery ticket exists and knowing WHY and HOW it is offerred is not the same thing as getting one.

    In Christ,

    Bob
     
    #22 BobRyan, May 19, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2007
  3. Gerhard Ebersoehn

    Gerhard Ebersoehn Active Member
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    Sorry to interrupt, my first party-breaking on this thread, but I've just noticed, "Salvation by faith". Scripture?
     
  4. steaver

    steaver Well-Known Member
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    Not to be picky. But according to the scriptures, the state the saved are presently in is "saint" as seen by God because of our regeneration in Christ. Yes, saints still fall short (sin) but "the state we are now in" is "saint".

    God Bless! :thumbs:
     
  5. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    True. The saints are said to be those living and reading the letters the Apostles are writing.
     
  6. Heavenly Pilgrim

    Heavenly Pilgrim New Member

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    HP: That is a fair question GE. We all should know that faith, in and of itself, has no power to save from sin. Nothing but the grace of God as witnessed by the shed blood of Jesus is able to wash away sins. Just the same, the mere fact that an atonement was made did not atone for one sin in actuality, yet it made it possible for EVERY sin to receive forgiveness UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. The atonement of Christ made a satisfaction for the debt of sin that was made which satisfied the demands of the law, making it possible for God to be Just and uphold the law and its penalty while offering by grace through repentance and faith the salvation we have received. There is no doubt, that in a sense, God did atone for our sins on the cross, for it was upon the cross that the bridge was built and FINISHED without which not a single sin could ever be forgiven.

    It would be an interesting study for us as a list to produce a list of all the conditions, things, or individuals Scripture represents as being responsible for ones salvation. We need to understand CLEARLY, that nothing but the blood of Christ can suffice for an atonement for our sins, and none of the other things that are mentioned in Scripture are able in and of themselves to cleanse the heart from sin. These other individuals and conditions cannot be seen in the sense of ‘that for the sake of,’ or that we are saved for the sake of them, but rather can only be thought of as being saved by them ‘in a sense’ or in the sense of ‘not without which.’

    I might start the list off with the following individual, thought of the means by which we are saved, ‘in a sense.’ Scripture states that no one can hear and respond to the gospel unless a ‘preacher’ brings and expounds the message to the individual.
    Ro 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

    How about the rest on the list? Can you think of more conditions, things, or individuals that our salvation is accredited to ‘in a sense’ or ‘not without which?’
     
  7. D28guy

    D28guy New Member

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    Steaver,

    I SAID...



    And you said...

    I guess I wasnt clear enough in my post. The 1st part...about our being a sinner and the penalty is death...was referring to the "state we are now in" before salvation. Christ died for all of our sins and (after we embrace Him through faith) gives us the gift of eternal life.

    Then, as you said, we have become a "saint" who still sometimes sins.

    Grace and peace,

    Mike

     
    #27 D28guy, May 20, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: May 20, 2007
  8. J. Jump

    J. Jump New Member

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    Where does Scripture tell us that all eternally saved folks are saints?
     
  9. steaver

    steaver Well-Known Member
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    Sorry brother! :thumbs:

    I took the op question as asking about the state we are now in as a Christian. Maybe I misunderstood.

    God Bless!
     
  10. steaver

    steaver Well-Known Member
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    If the saved are not saints then a whole bunch of the instructions in the bible are for who? I never heard a Christian argue that all Christians are not saints. I would ask you why you think that they are not and just who then is and what makes them one?

    God Bless!
     
  11. D28guy

    D28guy New Member

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    J. Jump,

    "Saint" is nothing more than a synonym for "christian".

    When one is born again they become a "saint" at that instant.

    The Catholic Church has this weirdness of getting a "commitee" together and...after hundreds of years...deciding, after exaustive study, to name some supposedly "super holy" person back then a "saint".

    But thats all just part of the strangeness known as the Catholic church. Christianity knows nothing of that.

    "Saint" = christian. Nothing more, nothing less.

    Peace,

    Mike
     
  12. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

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    Ohhh, and all this time I thought I was a saint because I was soooo good! :laugh: Yeah, right. Good for nothin' maybe. :laugh:

    You're right, Mike. :thumbs:
     
  13. Heavenly Pilgrim

    Heavenly Pilgrim New Member

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    HP: First, in light of the obvious and completely differing ways that you view ‘eternal’ or eternally, tell us if you are speaking of saved for a thousand year period only, or forever or everlasting. Have you done an etymological study on the word ‘saint?’ How can anyone be sure of what it means without doing such a study? How can I know that the GK did not have something completely different in mind that what the translators in their ignorance might have overlooked?

    While we wait for clarification from JJ, I will go ahead and stick my neck out and agree with Mike.:thumbs:
    Php 4:21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.
     
  14. Hope of Glory

    Hope of Glory New Member

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    Instead of listening to HP's rants, let's look at Scriptures and the way the word is used. Instead of taking what we've been taught by men our entire lives (I was taught that "saint" was synonymous with "saved" my entire life, but that's wrong.)

    The Greek word that is translated as “saint” is the adjective “hagios”. It means “separated ones” or “holy ones”. As an adjective, it describes or identifies a quality or characteristic of the noun that it modifies.

    [Mark 6:20] (For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy man [hagios = a SAINT; John was not only a just man, but a saint], and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.) So, Herod knew that John was a just man and a saint. Herod knew that he was a just man and a holy man by the way John conducted his life; by the way he lived. John was not given this title simply because he was a child of God.

    It was given because Herod observed him. Herod observed him and knew that he was living a different kind of life than the normal life of the normal person would live according to lust and the power of sin that dominates the life of a normal human being.

    John separated himself and was different and lived a lifestyle that was different. John had a holy lifestyle. You might be sitting there today and thinking, “I fall short of a holy lifestyle.”

    Let me explain what a holy lifestyle is. A holy lifestyle means that I am separated unto purity. It does not mean that we live a lifestyle that is sinless. John was not deity; he was not God. He was a man, just like you and me. He was not practicing a lifestyle of lawlessness. He was very careful how he lived. He separated himself unto purity. He separated himself from that which was impure unto that which was clean.

    So, when we talk about walking after a holy lifestyle, we’re talking about walking after the commandments. [2 John 6] This verse says that we can walk after the commandments. It tells us that we should be walking after them.

    When we fall short, we have the precious, powerful blood of Jesus Christ, which will provide for us a washing and a cleansing. As Christians, when we find ourselves giving in to temptation, we have a high priest who is able to wash us and cleanse us in our walk, and this is part of our walk.

    [Ephesians 1:7] “In whom we have redemption”. What does that mean? It goes on to say, “forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace”. So, it’s the riches of his grace that allows Christians to have a continual redemption. What does redemption mean? Redemption is a family matter, and I am in the family of God. Any time that I sin as a Christian, I sell myself over to another master. And I need to be bought back or purchased back to serving God. I cannot serve two masters. [Matthew 6.24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve (be slaves) God and mammon. (Mammon is a Chaldee, Syriac and Punic money-god.] You can try to serve both, but failure awaits you. So, he provided a way that we can be redeemed from a lifestyle of sin, and that is through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 5:15: Christ died for all; Mark 14:24: Blood is shed for many.]

    [1 John 1:9] He restores us to fellowship. We’re not talking about people who are sinlessly perfect. We’re talking about people desiring the commandments of God; desiring to please God.

    [FONT=&quot][Mark 1.24: this is actually a demon speaking out of a man] ([/FONT][FONT=&quot]Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I (we) know thee who thou art, the Holy [hagios - saintly]One of God.) The holy one of God; the saintly one of God. Jesus Christ was a saint. [/FONT]

    So, John and Jesus lived their lives as saints. Now, there’s a teaching today in Christianity that just because you’re a Christian or you’re saved or you’re in the family of God, you’re given a title as a saint. No matter how wicked you might be, no matter how backslidden you are, no matter how you live, no matter how unrepentant you are; you’re considered a saint because you’re saved. This just simply is not true. There’s no such thing as positional saint. This is taught because of Calvinism, which is trying to prove the eternal security of the believer. Now, I believe in the eternal security of the salvation of the saved individual based upon the Scriptures; you cannot go to the lake of fire forever because you were purchased by Jesus Christ at the cross; He died for your sins on the cross.

    Once you believe, you are saved. [Acts 16:31] If your position is just, you have no need to lie to prove your point; the truth speaks for itself. Calvinism tries to defend eternal security to the point that they take away the practical value and the plain reading of the scriptures, and they eliminate all the warning passages to Christians, because they believe that it endangers the security of the believer.

    [1 Peter 1] Now, this position taken by Calvinism is not so. (That doesn’t mean Arminianism is correct either, just that this position is incorrect.) Peter was not a Calvinist. Peter was not one that believed in some sort of positional sainthood.


    [1 Peter 1:14-16] (As obedient children (not some mystical position), not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance (what’s Peter talking about? Life before you started living your life the way you should, not before you were saved; as a baby, you only need to know that Jesus died for your sins, and He’s the only one who did so; if you can believe that truth; you’re saved, you’re a part of God’s family.)


    When you start reading the Bible, 2 Timothy 3.16 tells us (All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness); The Bible instructs us in right living. How God wants us to live; after you’re in the family; you’ll read and you’ll find some things of which you’re ignorant; some things that you need to know as a Christian;


    [Back in 1 Peter] “don’t conform yourselves to the former lusts”. Now that you’re reading Scripture, now that you’re learning the Bible and the holy knowledge of God, you’ve got to make some changes. 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. (These are imperatives, not indicatives.)


    God is holy! You see in the Bible, you see God in heaven and what are they saying? You don’t see them saying, mercy, mercy, mercy, love, love, love, grace, grace, grace. They’re saying, holy, holy, holy! God is holy! And all the angels; all the celestial beings are bowing down and saying this one thing about God; he’s a holy god; He’s a HOLY GOD!

    15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy [be ye a saint] in all manner of (position… no!) conversation [life style, conduct, behavior, or practical walk, conduct]; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy [be ye a saint]; for I am holy.

    So, Peter is saying to Christians here, you can be holy. You have no excuse. God has empowered you with the power of grace. [2 Corinthians 12:9] (My grace is sufficient for thee), and if you take advantage of that grace, you are allowed to obey his commandments and to live holy and then when you do succumb to temptation (while we are in the process of becoming more and more sanctified and being more and more a saint), in that process when you get your feet dirty and you do sin, when you look where you’re not supposed to look, when you touch what you’re not supposed to touch, when you say what you shouldn’t say, you’re allowed to go to Jesus Christ and receive that washing as a Christian and the restoration back to fellowship.

    There are two “Be ye holy’s” here in verses 15 and 16. They’re in the imperative. He’s commanding us to be ye holy. It's not a given. We're not automatically saints. This is not a perfect holiness. This is a relevant, practical holiness. So, he’s saying here, that the measure that I obey the commandments of Jesus Christ will be the measure that Jesus Christ sets me apart as holy.

    And in the measure that I confess my sins will be the measure that I am called a saint. So, we’re not talking here about holy perfection (being without sin). And some do teach that today that we don’t sin, but that’s silly and unscriptural. Does that correspond to the real world? No. Christians do have problems with lust and other vices that would trap us just like the unsaved are trapped. We have to be careful, that’s why we’re warned. There really is a devil, and there really is the flesh, and there really is a world that wants to see our failure as Christians.

    [Romans 5:9] What I love about the blood is it justifies us. It justifies us “much more”; beyond salvation, much more now does the blood allow you to stand in the presence of God, justified, now on the earth and also in the future at the Judgment Seat when we have to give an account. The blood allows us to stand blameless, as Job did. Job was blameless. Job sinned; he had times where he failed. But, he was called perfect, because he knew what to do with his sin when he did sin: sacrifice. Now we have a sacrifice for all time, and that was through Jesus Christ shedding his blood and taking it to the mercy seat in heaven, and providing for us an offering where we can receive the forgiveness of our sins.
     
  15. Heavenly Pilgrim

    Heavenly Pilgrim New Member

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    HP: While we have this brief moment all to ourselves,:)laugh: ) with no one now listening,:)laugh: ) I might say that I find your post overall to be very good, although I have some questions.

    I desire to be a saint. How holy is holy? How much sin can I get by with and still make the grade of saint? When Scripture speaks of the fellowship of the saints, am I to believe that that is some exclusive club of a few spiritual elite, or could that possibly involve all the blood washed thong?
     
  16. Hope of Glory

    Hope of Glory New Member

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    Let me give you a rhetorical... Wait, let me tell you a joke... Well, maybe this can be called a "rhetorical joke" to use as an example.

    There was a rich woman who was hiring a chauffeur. On the driving test, she gave the applicants one test: "I want to see who can get the closest to the edge of the cliff on this curve as safely as possible."

    The first applicant got within a yard of the edge, which was pretty close.

    So, the second applicant said to himself, "Well, I have to do better than that!" He got within a foot of the edge.

    The third applicant knew that it was going to be tough, but he got so close that the edges of the tires were over the edge, jostling the car around a bit.

    The fourth applicant got to the inside edge of the other lane and slowly drove around the curve. Why asked why he did that, he replied, "That was as close as I could drive as safely as possible."

    He got the job.

    Why would you want to figure out how much sin you can get away with? That's called lawlessness. Lawlessness is simply doing what is right in your own eyes. It's intentionally doing what is wrong.

    Instead, why not figure out how to best avoid sin, and when you fail, you have an advocate with the Father.
     
  17. Heavenly Pilgrim

    Heavenly Pilgrim New Member

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    HP: Your desires are honorable, but I have grave concerns about your theology.

    HOG: We're not automatically saints. This is not a perfect holiness. This is a relevant, practical holiness.

    HP: So my question remains, how much sin can I have and be relevant to practical holiness?



    HP: So my question still remains, how much disobedience can I have and still be within the guidelines that Christ will set me apart as being holy?

    Let me clue the list in on a fact. HOG is obviously a Calvinist that believes in positional righteousness, yet his heart tells him to deny it. He is in a pickle. If he says that one can live above sin, he knows they are going to stone him for sinless perfection. He is forced to say that believers have sin, yet tries to tell us that we can be holy. Now if holiness is not “being made free from sin,” am I to suppose that the word holy has changed meanings much like eternal? Either you are holy or you are not. Either you are righteous or you are not. Either you are holy and without sin or you are not holy………….unless you are a Calvinist and HONESTLY do believe in positional righteousness, and a positional holiness on the account of Christ imparting His righteousness to us apart from any works we do or do not do.

    You cannot have your cake and eat it to HOG. Are we righteous, or are we just considered righteous via or ‘position’ in Christ? Are we holy, or is our holiness a ‘positional holiness’ imputed to us by God, a position you say you oppose, is that not right?
     
  18. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

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    May I take a stab? We are righteous in that the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us because of our faith in Him. We are justified. Holy means to be set apart for God. I doesn't mean we are perfect. We have been set apart for God because of our righteousness through Christ. As we grow and mature in our spiritual walk, we will sin less and less and become more and more like Christ. We are holy, as in separated for God's purposes (to be conformed to the image of Christ), not holy in the sense of perfection.
     
  19. Hope of Glory

    Hope of Glory New Member

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    I guess that would be why I show the Calivinists their errors from Scriptures, eh?

    When I was in Bible college, a professor asked me if were Calvinist or Arminian. I replied, "Neither". To which he replied, "You have to be one or the other". My reply was one word: "Why?"

    I prefer the example of Paul and the other apostles who were neither.

    Both Calvinism and Arminianism have some of it right and some of it wrong.

    But, both are simply manmade traditions, both of which have to ignore large chunks of Scripture to hold to their positions. Or, create new, non-biblical terms such as "really and truly saved", or other stuff.
     
  20. D28guy

    D28guy New Member

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    Heavenly Pilgrim,

    I have good news.

    I JUST SAVED A BUNCH OF MONEY BY SWITCHING MY CAR INSURANCE TO...!!!!

    Just kidding :laugh:

    The good news is...You ARE one! You are indeed a "saint" of the most high God.

    You were made "Holy"...set apart...the moment you were born again. The sinlessness of Christ was imputed to you.

    Of course I know you dont mean that literally, you are making a point. But the answer is that when you sin it has no effect whatsoever on you being a "saint".

    The latter...all who are blood washed...are saints. Even with their imperfections and problems.

    In~His~Grace,

    Mike
     
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