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NASB | Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace [God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; |
Subject: Saved without faith? |
Bible Note: Sorry to butt in but it seems that WTB and Angel are much closer to presenting a well balanced view than your statement above. You seem to overlook the clear guidance from 1 John. Yes, indeed, we should be thankful for God's Grace to cover us when we sin IF we maintain that fellowship of light in God's Will and His Word. This means we must see ourselves as we really are to our God and that means we're weak and sinful, we're inclined to sin for at the very least we can't hope to fill our lives with all the good we should be doing. It's so easy to be tempted to be lazy and rest on our accomplishments in the past and think we can retire; we've earned it. No, "may it never be," but instead we must prove over and over again that we truly are part of the Lord's vineyard by producing fruit of His Grace and our faith in our lives. I agree with you in that there's nothing we can do to be more saved but we can most certainly lose our salvation as clearly depicted in the 7 letters in the first few chapters of Revelation. We must see ourselves in constant need of repentance. The only really big difference between christians and unbelievers on Judgment Day is our relationship with Christ as our advocate. But this relationship is fragile as it has to be maintained like the wineskin in Matt 9. I hope this clarifies the matter and God bless. --Rowdy |