Clearly in the parables of Christ Jesus are enough indications given that we can loose salvation or miss the entrance in the Kingdom of God when we assume the things are all right. In the Old and New Testament is referred many times what we do have to do to enter the Kingdom of God. With Christ those statutes or ordinances of God are not finished with. The Word of God demands from us repentance and change of mind. It would be far too easy to think to be reborn and to be baptised (= a work) and than to carry on as before, lying, fornicating, stealing or even murdering. Christian faith demands a change of attitude with demands many ‘works’.
*
To remember:
Bible doesn’t say: “We are saved by faith alone.” >>> Bible rejects it
“Justification by faith alone” = Protestant doctrine
not part of Christian belief for the first 1,500 years of Christianity
minority of Christians who do believe in it think it’s the most important, essential teaching of Christianity
Approximately 20% of Christians belong to churches that teach that faith alone saves
Approximately 32% of the world’s population identifies as Christian
+> approximately 6.4% of the world’s population belongs to churches that teach that faith alone saves
=> over 93% of the world’s population is going to hell
if we broaden definition and say that everyone who believes in Jesus can be saved = a success rate of only 32% at best => major fail on God’s part.
**
According to us it is not right to judge God and to measure Him according to the”best success rate God could possibly have in the population of the world today” It are the people themselves who have rejected God. We may be sure the majority of the world population shall receive a second death and will be forgotten for ever.
Only the righteous shall stay over.
And yes you may consider the refused ones as the “Rejected”. But that is not God His fault but their own fault.
We must be aware of the bible facts.
***
Question: How many times does “faith alone” appear in the Bible?
Answer: Once.
Here it is:
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)
Paul did say that we are saved by faith apart from the works of the Law (Romans 3:28) = one of the most misunderstood verses in the entire Bible.
Paul said:
God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favouritism. (Romans 2:6–11)
Paul, like every other writer in the Bible, taught that we must do good works in order to be saved, and that if we don’t, we will be condemned.
“Faith apart from the works of the Law”
= Law of Moses.
=/= Jewish ritual code or ritual laws of Judaism
= For by grace been saved through faith = not your own doing = gift of God = not result of works, so that no one may boast
doctrine of salvation by faith alone came from Martin Luther (1843–1546) = part of his doctrinal break from Rome
John Calvin (1509–1564) adopted the doctrine of salvation by faith alone from Luther.
+ Philipp Melanchthon, who systematized Lutheran theology, established salvation by faith alone as the fundamental doctrine of Protestantism
****
What do you spend more of your time at: believing things or doing things?
most of us, believing things takes up only a small part of our time and energy => reality: we’ve got work to do.
Most of us spend most of our days, and most of our lives going about our daily tasks
everything we do all day—all of our work, all of our struggle, all of our blood, sweat, and tears—does matter in eternity
God put us here on earth to act on our faith, and live by our beliefs
Bible tells us: if we wish to be saved, we must love our neighbour, care for our neighbour, and engage in active service to our neighbour. Jesus himself tells us that only those who tend to the needs of others will go to heaven (see Matthew 25:31–46).
Our daily labour, our daily job, our daily service to our fellow human beings is the crucible in which our eternal life is forged.
++
Additional reading:
- Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
- Salvation and Righteousness
- God’s wrath and sanctification
- The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong
- To Soar In The Spirit You Have To Be Hard Core
+++
Related articles
- 3 Things to Keep in Mind When Reading the Bible (holyspiritactivism.wordpress.com)
- Showing by the scriptures that … (christadelphians.wordpress.com)
- Christians as enemies of the human race (patheos.com)
- Loving yourself and loving your neighbor is wonderful as an abstract concept, but to apply it, that’s another story (giovanniandfranco.typepad.com)
- Listen: How Do We Know the Bible Is the Word of God? Pt. 2; The Methodology of Old Testament Theology, Pt. 4 (The Study of God #12 with Daniel Whyte III) (blackchristiannews.com)
- Jesus Went to Hell: The Christian History Churches Would Rather Not Acknowledge (gunnygbb2.wordpress.com)
- Puritan Nation: (brothersjuddblog.com)
- Who Are the Covenant People of God? (theologicallyspeaking.com)
- Judaism and Christianity – Blurring the Lines (blogs.timesofisrael.com)
- Realm of Life and Truth (bluewondersome.wordpress.com)
Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life
“We are saved by faith alone.”
The Bible doesn’t say it. In fact, the Bible rejects it.
It was not part of Christian belief for the first 1,500 years of Christianity.
Even today, only about one-fifth of Christians belong to churches that teach it.
And yet, the minority of Christians who do believe in it think it’s the most important, essential teaching of Christianity.
“Justification by faith alone” is the Protestant doctrine that the one and only thing that saves us is believing that Jesus Christ died for us on the cross. Our “works,” meaning what we do and how we live, do not contribute anything to our salvation. If we believe that Jesus died for us, we will go to heaven. If we do not believe that Jesus died for us, we will go to hell.
I have been told that I am going to hell because…
View original post 2,340 more words
Pingback: January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works | From guestwriters
Pingback: Our life depending on faith | From guestwriters
Pingback: Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans | From guestwriters
Pingback: Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works | From guestwriters
Pingback: Creation of the earth and man #23 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #7 Corporeal and spiritual change – Messiah For All
Pingback: Mental Enslavement and Sins Syndrome (MESS) | Stepping Toes
Pingback: Justification – salvation is by grace through faith – JI Packer | From guestwriters
Pingback: Faith itself not the cause of justification – Louis Berkhof | From guestwriters
Pingback: Leading people astray! | From guestwriters
Pingback: Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works? | From guestwriters
Pingback: Paul giving notice of the works we have to do | From guestwriters
Pingback: The works we have to do according to James | From guestwriters
Pingback: When having found faith through the study of the Bible we do need to do works of faith – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: 100-Day Identity Makeover: Day 56 | From guestwriters
Pingback: Looking for a spiritual new life – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: The 1st Adam in the Hebrew Scriptures #8 Looking for the 2nd Adam – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: Salvation, Baptism and Re-baptism – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: Thought for those who think it is not necessary to do any works any more – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: Kel Hammond on Faith, grace and works | From guestwriters
Pingback: Bible Reading: is it worthwhile? – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: From house to house #2: Continuing to bring the good news right to the world – Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
Pingback: Today’s Thought “By faith …” (June 04) – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: Today’s thought “Faith apart from works is useless” (December 8) – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven
Pingback: Law and justice very important concepts – Belgian Ecclesia Brussel – Leuven