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NASB | Acts 8:13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:13 Even Simon believed [Philip's message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
Subject: How do I make sense of the context? |
Bible Note: "We have freeedom of choice. If we CHOOSE not to follow God and repent from our sins we will not recieve any redemption" Okay. Now what about the verses I have cited? You have failed to respond to those. We have to take into account the whole counsel of God. I can emphatically state that only those who repent are redeemed. Now please tell me what "redemption" means. "God will not force us to recieve redemption if we choose not to." Never said that He did. "Yes, our salvation IS a co-effort between us and God. God did His part. We must do ours. James chapter 2" James 2 says nothing of the sort. James says that a true faith is one that produces works: "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" --James 2:14 The implied answer is "no." But notice that he refers to someone who SAYS he has faith, not someone that genuinely has it. True biblical faith involves repentance and results in God-honoring works. But it is the faith by which we are declared righteous before God (Romans 5:1) and the very faith itself is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9) as are the repentance (Acts 5:31, Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25) and the works (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:13). All of these are the RESULT of God's grace and mercy, not the CAUSE of it (Titus 3:3-7). If salvation is a co-effort, then my Savior is not Jesus, but rather my Saviors are Jesus and Joe. Does that sound biblical to you? "Our part" is "God's part" too... --Joe! |