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Featured Eternal life vs. credited righteousness

Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by JamesL, Sep 6, 2017.

  1. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    You've already quoted the scriptures, so what good would it do for me to quote them again?

    It's not a matter of which scripture is to quote, because it's the same. It's a matter of how do you understand the one scripture you are quoting which you obviously understand differently then us who have a fake theology.

    Here are the 6 verses in question, all from Romans 4:

    Romans 4:3
    For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

    Romans 4:5
    But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

    Romans 4:6
    just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

    Romans 4:9
    Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”

    Romans 4:11
    and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

    Romans 4:22
    Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.


    Verse 9 clearly says that Faith was credited to him as righteousness. I contend that it could easily say righteousness was credited to him on account of his faith, because verse 6 clearly says that God credits righteousness

    Now, I'm not looking for this to turn ugly. But the onus is clearly upon you to show that so-called distinction has any merit
     
  2. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    the reason we would need to be made righteous it's because it's not the same thing as being credited as righteous

    credited righteousness is apart from a reality. It's put on to your account as though you were righteous, even when you aren't actually righteous. every Old Testament Saint enjoyed credited righteousness. They were merely viewed as righteous because they had their sin covered by the blood of an animal. That blood could never remove sin

    But through the washing of regeneration, we actually become righteous because our sin is all washed away with the blood of Christ.

    Now I know something or someone tells you that I won't give you a reasonable answer, but I just did. Now whatever power or principality or ruler you've been listening to, you need to stop
     
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  3. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    Again, why are we made righteous is having our faith credited to us as righteousness means we are credited as righteous? if you owe an infinite amount and $200 dollars is credited toward you, have you been made righteous or are you still hopelessly in debt.

    So you have no support for your view, but simply say having our faith credited as righteousness means being credited as totally righteous. Not how it reads.

    And I am not the one insulting you, because scripture is on my side.

    Bottom line, you have confused the door (credited faith) with the room (salvation by grace). Romans 5:1-2 says our faith provides our access to the grace in which we stand. A long winded way of saying we are saved through faith. When you enter a room through a door, you go through the door first. The door provides the access. Thus if our faith is credited as righteousness, it provides the access to salvation by grace. Access to the washing of regeneration, our rebirth as a new creation, created for good works. Access to the circumcision of Christ.
     
  4. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    you don't have scripture by your side, because you haven't addressed vs 6 & 11 which state exactly what I said

    God credits righteousness. now, if all you want to do is insult people and assert only the scriptures that you want to use and ignore all the other scriptures, please don't participate in my thread

    but if you want to address the scriptures properly, and admit that you've been reading into the scriptures something that no one else sees there, that's okay too

    or you might even take a swing at trying to explain how you see the two things as distinct from one another, when no one else does

    if my faith is credited as righteousness, how is it that righteous is is not credited to me?
     
    #24 JamesL, Sep 11, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2017
  5. percho

    percho Well-Known Member
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    Heb 5:8 καίπερ ὢν υἱὸς ἔμαθεν ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔπαθεν τὴν ὑπακοήν
    He learned, the obedience

    Phil 2:8 καί σχήματι εὑρεθείς ὥς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ
    Becoming obedient unto death

    Is the above the reason, "for," the righteousness of God?

    Had not Son, learned, the obedience, thus becoming obedient unto death, would there even be a need for the righteousness of God?

    Isn't that above what the seed of Abraham, did, which allowed all the nations of the earth to be blessed by the seed of Abraham?
    Isn't the above along with the resurrection from the dead of the seed of Abraham the means by which the Spirit of God could be shed upon all flesh?

    And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify <(make righteous) the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. Gal 3:8 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles <(Heathen) through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through the faith. Gal 3:14

    Is that possible without Son, learned the obedience, becoming obedient unto death?

    The blessing of Abraham = he counted it to him for righteousnes.

    Think about this. What do you think/believe is; Obedience of faith? Both nouns. Why can we be counted as righteous just as Abraham was? What is, the faith, above by which we receive the Holy Spirit and are declared righteous?

    Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

    Obedience of faith is what Son, did, and the response of the Father to the Son is the righteousness of God.

    Romans 3:22 YLT and the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing, -- for there is no difference,

    Those believing??? John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 10 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
     
  6. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    So Paul gave to us false and fake theology then?
     
  7. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    Verse 6 refers not to the New Covenant in His Blood, but to the Old Covenant. Note verse six says a person to whom God credits righteousness. Now put your thinking cap on and ask yourself what about the person was credited as righteousness? His or her entire being? Or his or her faith? The idea, for those willing to accept it, is faith that God accepts is credited as righteousness, but that did not make the OT saint righteous. They could not enter heaven but had to wait until after Christ died to be made perfect.

    And again, verse 11 is speaking of a person's faith in God being credited to the person as righteousness. This did not make them righteous, but did provide them entry into Abraham's bosom, were they had to wait until Christ died, so they could be made perfect.

    Bottom line no verse or passage supports the idea of a person's faith being credited as righteousness to the individual resulting in that person being considered righteous, blameless and perfect. It takes the blood of Christ.

    All scripture is on my side and not one verse is on your side.

    .
     
  8. percho

    percho Well-Known Member
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    BTW IMHO, without being made the righteousness of God, there will be no eternal life in the kingdom of God/Heaven.

    For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:20
    Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Cor 15:50
    And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Phil 3:9-11
    For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor 5:21
     
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  9. percho

    percho Well-Known Member
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    I believe Abraham was credited with righteousness because of this statement.

    but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

    Seed being singular which is Christ the faith of Abraham.

    Abraham died knowing, because God told him so, believing, because God called him, the Christ would come from him. The Christ, the seed of Abraham was the faith of Abraham.

    Abraham died in faith of the Christ being of his loins.

    So also of David; that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

    The same faith of Abraham, his father.

    And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: Heb 11:39

    The good report being, to be declared righteous, because of the gospel.
     
  10. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    You seem to be arguing against something *you think* I believe. Or you're simply copying and pasting stuff you've written to other people. I'm not real sure which.

    All I do know is for all the belly-aching you do against a so-called *'taint so* reply, I expected some real substance, real explanation - like I've given to you. But really all you've done is say 'taint so.

    You sure haven't answered my question about the distinction you've drawn
     
  11. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    Folks read post #27.
     
  12. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    Bottom line is that salvation from start to finish is of the Lord, for we do NOTHING to get saved, other than receiving Jesus thru saving faith, and even that is the gift of God to us!
     
  13. Darrell C

    Darrell C Well-Known Member
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    Absolutely.

    First, consider that Abraham was credited as being righteous through belief, yet Abraham died not having his sin atoned for. So we see the principle of credited righteousness outside of an eternal context.

    Secondly, we know that the "True Bread" came down from Heaven for the express purpose of bestowing Eternal Life to men, the implication being that it was not taking place before:


    John 6:32-33
    King James Version (KJV)

    32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

    33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.



    John 6:48-53
    King James Version (KJV)

    48 I am that bread of life.

    49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

    50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

    51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

    52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

    53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.


    We can pinpoint the time when the True Bread came from Heaven, that being the time of the Incarnation. Christ defines this "bread" as His flesh (v.51), which we understand to refer to the Cross, His death in the stead of the sinner. Those who received the physical sustenance of manna, which He contrasts His flesh (the True Bread) with are shown to be dead. In view is not physical life, but spiritual life.

    And Christ makes it clear that except one eat of His flesh and drink of His blood (believe on His death), they have no life in them. All hearing this teaching would have had physical life, but, they, nor the "fathers," and this was have included Moses, do not have the Life which Christ came to give, which is eternal.

    Righteousness, on the other hand, is the very reason why Christ had to die in the stead of the sinner. Abraham was credited as righteous, but that made him no less in need of salvation in Christ than any of us.


    We stand, positionally, as being credited as "righteous." It is imputed righteousness just as it was for Abraham.



    Romans 3:20-25
    King James Version (KJV)

    20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

    21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;


    The Law could have given life if one had been able to keep it. Here we see that the Righteousness of God is, apart from the Law, now manifested.

    The next verse shows imputation of that righteousness to the believer:


    22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:



    23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

    24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:


    Abraham was imputed righteousness through something he did: he believed.

    We are imputed righteousness through something Christ did: He died in our stead that the penalty for our sin might be eliminated, and that we might be brought into a position of justification, not because of something we did, but because of something Christ did.

    This applies to the Old Testament Saints as well:


    25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;


    Now, if you mean righteousness in a context of ourselves living righteously, that too is something we have the potential for (though not in a context of sinless), because the Word of God has always been a cleansing agent, and we can rid ourselves of the sins that so easily beset. The blood of bulls and goats, and calves for that matter, could not take away sins. But, I believe the Writer of Hebrews meant to imply that salvation in Christ can take away both the penalty for sins, as well as sins in our daily conversation.




    We actually have Eternal Life based on the Eternal Indwelling of the One Who is Himself...Eternal.

    Eternal Life is not a substance poured on the believer. It is not a positional standing of the believer. We are, when we are indwelt by God, resurrected spiritually from the death exampled in John 6 above. That is Regeneration, the New birth. We are new creatures because we are something that previously we were not, which are children of God who are in unity with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:



    John 14:20-23
    King James Version (KJV)

    20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

    21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

    22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

    23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.




    In a temporal context, that is an ongoing debate, lol. Sometimes we are righteous, sometimes we are not. We cannot expect a sinless existence until our physical bodies undergo the same event our spirits have: resurrection. We await the redemption of our bodies, which still lay under the curse, and are still in a fallen condition. That doesn't mean we have no power not to sin, it just means we have no power to be sinless. Only Christ is.


    God bless.
     
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  14. percho

    percho Well-Known Member
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    For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:19-21

    Was righteousness imputed to Abraham because of what he thought in his mind relative to what God told him or because the obedient one was promised to come from him, and through him the promise would come, which would manifest righteousness? See also.

    Galatians 3:18-21 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

    For Abraham to be declared righteous did the Christ have to be born, learn and become obedient unto death and be raised from the dead?

    And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 1 Cor 15:17,18

    Acts 17:2,3 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
     
  15. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    Here is the deal. Some shoddy bible study claims when and if God credits our faith as righteousness, that makes us (declares that we are) righteous. This is false theology with no support in scripture. Romans 4:4-5 and Romans 4:23-24 clearly indicate that God credits our faith (or not) as righteousness. It takes the blood of Christ to "make us" righteous. Romans 5:19.
     
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