Faith Alone

[Judges13:18]

6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

There’s nothing there that says a person is absolved of sin guilt by faith and works. Faith is the only thing that counts towards justification. Love is the expression of the faith that justifies. Obeying God’s command to love is not how you get justified. The forgiveness of God received by believing in it is how a person is justified (absolved of all sin guilt). Being faithfully obedient does not absolve a person of sin guilt. The forgiveness of God does that.

 

[cjab]

I was made perfect by the one time for all time sacrifice of Jesus that does not need to be repeated (Hebrews 10:14).

That is the theology. The practicality is that those who sit on their laurels can find themselves in the position of the man given one talent.

You seem to be a rabid proponent of OSAS. Sadly, for so many it isn't true.

Apparently, you were not because you keep striving for a declaration of righteousness that the Bible says believers get when they believe in the sacrifice of Jesus.

So striving is to be deprecated?

Luk 13:24 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."


1Ti 4:8 "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

1Ti 4:9 "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance."

1Ti 4:10 "For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach [or strive], because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe."

So for the apostles, striving is a sign of faith, whereas for you, it's all about "knowing" your theological doctrines.

 

[Mesenja]

There’s nothing there that says a person is absolved of sin guilt by faith and works.Being faithfully obedient does not absolve a person of sin guilt. The forgiveness of God does. ​

To receive the enabling power of grace, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 26:4-5
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.​

 

[MMDAN]

Abraham became a saved person the moment he was justified by his faith when God gave him the promise of having a son. His offering up of Isaac on the altar many years later did not MAKE him a justified saved person. It SHOWED him to have the faith by which he was already a saved/justified person:

Genesis 22:12
12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.b”

Amen! In James 2:21, notice closely that James does not say that Abraham's work of offering up Isaac resulted in God accounting Abraham as righteous. The accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6, many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to account him as righteous, but it showed or manifested the genuineness of his faith. (James 2:18) That is the "sense" in which Abraham was "justified by works." He was shown to be righteous.

 

[MMDAN]

James 2:14,17
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.​

In James 2:14, we read of one who says/claims (key word) he has faith but has no works (to evidence his claim). That is not genuine faith, but a bare profession of faith. So, when James asks, "Can that faith save him?" he is saying nothing against genuine faith, but only against an empty profession of faith/dead faith. So, James does not teach that we are saved "by" works. His concern is to show the reality of the faith professed by the individual (James 2:18) and demonstrate that the faith claimed (James 2:14) by the individual is genuine. Simple!

James 2:26
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

In James 2:26, the comparison of the human spirit and faith converge around their modes of operation. The spirit (Greek pneuma) may also be translated "breath." As a breathless body exhibits no indication of life, so fruitless faith exhibits no indication of life. The source of the life in faith is not works; rather, life in faith is the source of works. (Ephesians 2:5-10)

 

[Judges13:18]

To receive the enabling power of grace, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 26:4-5
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.​

But you do not receive his righteousness by keeping the commandments of God. That happens by believing in his promise of a Son.

 

[cjab]

But you do not receive his righteousness by keeping the commandments of God. That happens by believing in his promise of a Son.

You cannot believe unless you repent.

 

[cjab]

Amen! In James 2:21, notice closely that James does not say that Abraham's work of offering up Isaac resulted in God accounting Abraham as righteous. The accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6, many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to account him as righteous, but it showed or manifested the genuineness of his faith. (James 2:18) That is the "sense" in which Abraham was "justified by works." He was shown to be righteous.

His faith was only made possible because he was deemed righteous in obeying God's calling to come out of Ur. Therefore the forgiveness of sins was attributed to him in addition to his human righteousness. If he hadn't repented and had remained in Ur, this wouldn't have happened.

 

[Judges13:18]

You cannot believe unless you repent.

If you could repent without believing you wouldn't need to believe.

 

[Judges13:18]

...he was deemed righteous in obeying God's calling to come out of Ur.

If that were true Paul would have said righteousness is by works.

 

[cjab]

If you could repent without believing you wouldn't need to believe.

I am talking about the faith that leads to salvation, not the "faith of the moment" that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the sower. You'll notice only one kind of faith was fruitful. The other "faiths" - they were not fruitful.

 

[cjab]

If that were true Paul would have said righteousness is by works.

No he wouldn't because Paul was specifically talking about Abraham's justification due to his faith, rather than Abraham's righteous life that allowed his faith to grow up into maturity.