Mike - I love your style and have always appreciated your willingness to discuss things. May God bless our discussions here!
All men throughout all history have always been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But before Christ came there was no knowledge of His work. Thus the means for men to express their faith in Christ was in the hope of His coming. And the means God presented for expression of that faith was in the law. For the law was a tutor and a preconfiguration of Christ. The law taught that men must obey the law and be righteous to be saved. And when men failed they had to sacrifice for their sins. Jesus' sacrifice then paid the price that all man's sacrificing could not. And because man's sacrifices were never able to satisfy the righteous demands of the law, men had to be saved by grace.
Mike. Do you agree that all men throughout all history could only ever be saved by the grace of God?
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All men throughout all history have always been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteYes. Even during the time of the Law as you state. Though I struggled to understand how faith worked with the requirement to obey the law. This is my thoughts on how it works.
And I am working my way thru Kevin Lea's earthquake series.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thanks for the input, bethyada (if that is even your real name :)
ReplyDeleteI read your post and agree with it. Good stuff.
The law was a tutor. It's job was to teach men that they could not keep the law and that a relationship with God is meant to be a free a relationship. God started the earth with just one law (this law failed to save us). We then spent the first few thousand years of history with little in the way of additional laws (the absence of law destroyed us). Then He gave the law to Israel (this law guided us), but the secret to a perfect relationship is that it must be free from the law.
And though we do not comprehend how we might one day live without failure and with God in such a relationship, we can have faith in Him that Jesus had completely paid the price.
And we must be very careful that we understand this and that we understand that even one rule associated with salvation denies the gospel of grace.
Jesus saves, completely. Nothing we do aids in our salvation.
Thanks again for your input. I've enjoyed greatly your work.
Yes. Man can only be saved by Grace. If man can be saved in any other way or by works of men, then it is not necessary for Jesus to sacrifice and die for us. Yes, man can only be saved by Grace. As in Eph 2:8
ReplyDelete1) Do you remember that the 1st time you received Christ? what did you do? You confess your sins and acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
This is in accordance to the scripture: "Repent and believe" meaning Repent(turn away) from your sins and Believe in Lord Jesus(inclu His forgiveness, His work of atonement for you....)
NOW, do you EQUATE therefore that because you had to 1) repent from sins 2) believe in the Lord Jesus and also you confess that with your mouth, Rom 10:9 to SAVE BY WORKS?
Do you equate that to being save by works? Of course not, you know you were saved by Grace. For your repentance would mean nothing if Jesus did not die for you. It is by grace even though you had to repent from sins. Repentance which is your part or your work doesn't save without Jesus's part on the cross. But do you still need to repent(your work/your part)? Yes, of course, why? because God says so(in His Word.
2) Thus you realise that even the 1st time you received Christ, you repented and acknowledged the Lord Jesus.
NOW, GRACE thus comes with a condition. It is bestowed upon man when man meets the condition i.e "Repent(from sins) and Believe(the Lord Jesus)).
GRACE is not bestowed upon man when the divine condition not met. It is not in the Bible that Grace saves someone who sins and does not repent.
Once again, just because you had to repent(truthful and sincere decision to turn from sins and live righteously) and believe(Lord Jesus and His atoning work on the cross).............does it mean you are saved by works? NO right? You didn't consider that to be saved by works right?
3) Thus, even though you are now saved!!! The condition for Grace to be bestowed never changes........Repent and believe.............
The day someone decide to turn away from Righteousness to SIN again like "Dog return to its vomit" prov 26:11 and continue in it without repenting and asking for forgiveness and unfortunately met with an accident(for example) and died. Will he be in Heaven? Nope he died in sin; not in Christ! Even though he was once saved when he prayed the sinner's prayer.
4) You are not saved by a sinner's prayer on your part (if you are, then that is works on your part, isn't it?)
You are saved because you made a decision before the Living God and "Repent from sins and Believe in the Lord jesus and His atoning work). And thus God saved you(by His Grace). You pray the sinner's prayer or confession as an expression of the inward decision of your heart to follow God and turn away from sin and evil.
THIS must reflect your life and for the rest of your life.
5) Lord Jesus Himself in John 3:7-8 told Religious Leaders(Pastors of their day) to "bear Fruits worthy of repentance" which means a genuine turning away from sin and evil in their lives. They are not saved by their Pastor's title, nor by their religious/christian work(evangelism, usher, worship, prayer...) nor by their sinner's prayer but by "genuine repentance and faith in the Messiah". Else they will be rejected by Lord Jesus as above.
ReplyDeleteA christian pastor who is saved but turn to sin again without repenting will not be in Heaven when he dies. That's why the bible tells us to be careful of besetting sin (Heb 12:1); sin that we fall into easily.
GRACE is God's Riches at Christ's expense. It is Free but not cheap. It cost the saviour's life. GRACE was never bestowed upon man and continues to be bestowed upon man without meeting the divine condition.
Meeting the Divine Condition of "REPENTANCE from sins(Living Holy and Righteous) AND FAITH(In Jesus)" does not tantamount to Salvation by works.
a) Salvation by Works means you are saved by your own effort and works without Jesus
b) Salvation by Grace means you are saved by Jesus' Atoning work on the cross when you meet the Condition of "Repentance and Faith" for the 1st time you prayed to receive the Lord and for the REST of your life......Follow Jesus!!!
The Holy God says "Be Holy as I am Holy" and He has given us the Holy Spirit within us to enable us to live a holy life and He declared sin shall have no dominion over us - Romans 6:14
Mike. If you log in with the email address you gave me you can make your own post. No word limit. :)
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