Results 1 - 10 of 10
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Rowdy | 120340 | ||
Thank you, dear friend. I couldn't agree with you more. Amen, Amen, more power to you. Yes, that's exactly what I've been saying all along. Yes, indeed, Grace and ONLY Grace can possibly save us from our sins for we've all sinned and can't possibly do a thing about that. Now we can accept God's saving Grace, by following the plan of salvation as has been discussed before. Thus we clothe ourselves with Christ, covering ourselves with our sinful ways and approach God in prayer. And after receiving that gift of the Holy Spirit, the saving of our souls, we should feel so endebted to our Lord that we should shout His Name from the mountain tops. But He settles for our being kind to the poor, the widows, the orphans, forgiving our neighbors, our enemies and other acts of kindness as we see demonstrated by His Son and the Apostles throughout our Bible. Yes, these acts of kindness (and our attempts to kick sin out of our lives) proves we are His children thus we receive the seal of approval and enter into our Father's eternal rest in Heaven. I'm so glad you agree. God bless you. --Rowdy |
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2 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Morant61 | 120349 | ||
Greetings Rowdy! I agree that grace results in our desire to obey. But, I do want to make clear that we are not saved by our obedience, nor is our salvation conditioned upon it. We are saved by grace, through faith. It is an accomplished reality. Because we are saved, we then will have evidence to that fact manifested in our lives. Well, I have to run now! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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3 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Emmaus | 120354 | ||
Tim, It is interesting to note that in Matthew 25, those would did the works of mercy did not try to justify themselves by them, but Jesus rewarded them for them. On the other hand, those without any works of mercy were not saved and Jesus points out to them that they did not do the works of mercy, despite them calling him Lord. So while we can not justify ourselves by our works it woould seem we are not likely to be saved without any either. Paul's whole point about works in Romans is that we cannot put God in a position of obligation to save us because of our works. And those who are saved in Matt 25 avoid that pitfall, but still have works. Neither do the unsaved try to justify themselves, but they have not works anyway, although they called Jesus "Lord." For "not everone who says to me Lord! Lord! will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one that does the will of my Father in heaven. For many on that day will say to me "Lord! Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?" but I will say to them: depart from me you evil doers." Matt 7:21-23. This completes the Sermon on the Mount, the New Law, which became in chapter 5 with the Beatitudes. Jesus saves. We do not save ourselves by our works or put Him in a position of obligation to us, but He does seem to have some criteria for whom He chooses to save. Emmaus |
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4 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Morant61 | 120363 | ||
Greetings Emmaus! The equation though is very important. Is it Grace plus works equals salvation? Or is it, Grace equals salvation resulting in works? I believe the latter. Especially since Paul doesn't say in Eph. 2:8-9 that we cannot justify ourselves by our works. He simply says that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. So, I conclude that works play no role in obtaining salvation whatsoever, but serve only as evidence of what God has already done. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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5 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Rowdy | 120367 | ||
Tim and Emmanus, I thought of a few more scriptures that seem to emphasize my and Tim's point, from Jesus Himself: John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. If you remember this illustration, God's depicting us, His children as His vineyard is a very constant, recurring theme throughout the prophets in the OT. Here our Lord makes it very clear, if we're not a part of an active, living and productive portion of God's vineyard producing fruit of Godliness in our lives, we'll be rejected. I don't see how anyone or the Bible could be any clearer on this subject. I'm going to copy this message to Hank and BradK and get their response. And yes, I think Tim is right on target about the equation as he puts it. However, I also think it's very important that we accept God's offer of salvation on His terms, but I guess that's another subject we can tackle at a later date. God bless. --Rowdy |
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6 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Morant61 | 120371 | ||
Greetings Rowdy! I'm not sure if we're in as much agreement as you think! :-) Let's just be clear here that we can produce fruit because we do abide in Him. Abiding in Him is not conditioned upon producing fruit. The production of fruit comes as a result of us abiding in Him. In other words, my salvation is not based upon, nor dependent upon what I do in any way. It is entirely based upon His grace. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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7 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Rowdy | 120376 | ||
I'm all for active listening and confirmation of understanding whenever possible. Let's reverse the scenario for a moment. Say, I or anyone else does a self-inspection (soul searching) and concludes he/she isn't doing quite enough in response to our God's love which really should happen almost every day above ground. If we determine that our talents are not being utilized to the fullest potential, we should do some shopping and try something else. Read God's Word with special emphasis in this area, i.e. fruits of the spirit, James or Matt 25 and other key areas of the Bible for "inspiration" or ideas. Basically we should be compelled to do everything we can to fulfill our part of that vineyard. We should make certain our heart and mind are completely humble and submissive to God's Will. We could always ask the senior members in our congregation, like the elders and deacons what areas of the Lord's church in their opinion could use another warm body and see if our talents and interests lie in that particular branch of the vine. As long as we ARE in fact doing everything we can to be productive and fruitful for the Lord, then His Grace will cover the rest. One of the most neglected areas I like to try to tackle is that ministry of Barnabas, referred to as encouraging christians in their trials and tribulations. Yes, again, I say Amen! Our salvation is NOT based on ANY thing we can do. Our Lord does it all BUT like I said, IF we look back on our lives and don't see some fruit of His Godliness in our lives, how can we expect Him to see it on Judgment Day? I'm thinking maybe this whole controversy with Hank, BradK and everyone else dealing with this subject is based on the word "works." Maybe it's a translation thing, I'm not sure. But I'm convinced like you that we can't possibly earn our way to Heaven but I'm also convinced we can't go to Heaven unless we've done everything in our power and truly gave it our best effort to be fruitful and productive in the Lord's vineyard, His church here on earth. So again, I guess it boils down to our attitude. Does this clear up the questions you had? I hope so. God bless. --Rowdy |
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8 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | BradK | 120384 | ||
Rowdy, You're almost getting it my friend:-) If you would, re-read what Tim wrote you. It is succinct. You said "But I'm convinced like you that we can't possibly earn our way to Heaven but I'm also convinced we can't go to Heaven unless we've done everything in our power and truly gave it our best effort to be fruitful and productive in the Lord's vineyard." This still sounds like you're stradling the fence- maybe we need to substitute "should" for "can't" when you speak of going to heaven. It's a done deal if I'm IN CHRIST! I am motivated to good works BECAUSE of His grace (Eph. 2:10,Titus 2:11-12). Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |
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9 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | Rowdy | 120387 | ||
It's only a done deal if we're actually drawing nearer to God as He draws us nearer to Him. Remember the guidance from 1 John; we must maintain that fellowship in God's light AND our fellow brethren in God's family. Also, we must die or meet the Lord's return with a completely guilt free conscience. If we're in prayer constantly or as much as humanly possible and repent of our shortcomings as much as possible, then of course God's Grace will cover us. I hope this helps and God bless. --Rowdy PS: Do you have a response to the other points in my recent posts? Nos 120368 and 120278 |
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10 | Grace AND? | Matt 6:20 | BradK | 120395 | ||
Rowdy, I'm afraid you're completely miising the point. you are back to saved by grace, kept by works:-( You're mixing the completed work of salvation with the PROCESS of santification. We need to revisit the definition of salvation. We'll dialog a bit more later. I've got to go, my friend. BradK |
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