MARANATA !!!

MARANATA !!!
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts

Friday, October 5, 2012

GOT QUESTION.ORG-QUESTION OF THE WEEK- “Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?”



Question: “Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?“

Answer: This is perhaps the most important question in all of Christian theology. This question is the cause of the Reformation, the split between the Protestant churches and Catholic Church. This question is a key difference between biblical Christianity and most of the “Christian” cults. Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works? Am I saved just by believing in Jesus, or do I have to believe in Jesus and do certain things? The question of faith alone or faith plus works is made difficult by some hard-to-reconcile Bible passages. Compare Romans 3:28, 5:1 and Galatians 3:24 with James 2:24. Some see a difference between Paul (salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). Paul dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), while James appears to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent problem is answered by examining what exactly James is talking about. James is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works (James 2:17-18). James is emphasizing the point that genuine faith in Christ will produce a changed life and good works (James 2:20-26). James is not saying that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person who is truly justified by faith will have good works in his/her life. If a person claims to be a believer, but has no good works in his/her life, then he/she likely does not have genuine faith in Christ (James 2:14, 17, 20, 26).
Paul says the same thing in his writings. The good fruit believers should have in their lives is listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Immediately after telling us that we are saved by faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9), Paul informs us that we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). Paul expects just as much of a changed life as James does: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). James and Paul do not disagree in their teaching regarding salvation. They approach the same subject from different perspectives. Paul simply emphasized that justification is by faith alone while James put emphasis on the fact that genuine faith in Christ produces good works.
Recommended Resource: Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification by R.C. Sproul.

What’s new on GotQuestions.org? Does the Bible really say that parents should have their rebellious children stoned?
What is the outer darkness in Matthew 22:13?
What does the Bible say about thankfulness/gratitude?
What was the significance of the horns of the altar (Amos 3:14)?
What is the Pride of Jacob (Amos 8:7)?
What is the meaning of the symbolism in Amos?
Why does Amos keep repeating “for three sins . . . even for four” in chapters 1–2?
What does the Bible say about work ethic? What is a Christian work ethic?
Didn’t the Old Testament punish blasphemy with death? How is that different from radical Islam?
What is the key to applying the Bible to my life?
What does Jonah 4:11 mean by people who cannot tell their right hand from their left?

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

A MOMENT TO MOMENT SELF-EVALUATION

 

A MOMENT TO MOMENT SELF-EVALUATION 

Born again believers exist in one of two states:  they are either “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), or they are, as Paul described it, ”carnal,” or “walking in the flesh” (1 Cor. 3:1; Gal. 5:16).  He said you can tell which of the two states you are in at any given time, by the “fruit” you are producing.  He wrote:  “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other. . . .  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these:  adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. . . .  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:16-23).

Paul described his personal struggle with his two natures in Romans 7:1-25.  He concluded by saying, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (v. 24-25).  John described the state of the believer as being one of righteousness, or being one of sin (unrighteousness – 1 Jn. 1:8-10).  Notice his epistle was written to those who are said to be in a state of fellowship with other believers, and with God, Himself (1 Jn. 1:3).

James explained how a believer can guard himself against living according to his fleshly desires, and living according to the will of God.  He wrote, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (Jam. 1:22-25).

Believes are controlled by someone:  the Holy Spirit, or themselves! 

http://skipslighthouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-moment-to-moment-self-evaluation.html

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