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Revelation was written by John, the same Apostle that recorded the Gospel of John. It even reflect the same syllable metering.
Faith is the origins of works. Without faith, there are no works.
The quality of works that come from a believer in Christ differ from the quality of works from a believer in Buddah or Allah. The teachings are different, therefore the faith is different, therefore the motivation is different.
Christian maturity is not without works, but it must be rooted in faith. That is my point. Jesus Himself specified that faith must be directed towards the Son (John 3). So works without first having faith in Christ are dead.
Im not trying to tear down the idea of doing good deeds. Im just saying that those deeds must be done according to God's standards. Those are the same standard that were disclosed to us in the Gospels, and by the Apostles. Faith first. Then works. You dont harvest fruit without first sowing the seed.
SO what you're saying is when a Christian does a "good deed" God applauds... yet when an atheist does the same "deed" he is shunned
John 3... “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
Look, Jesus said that the only way to the Father is through the Son.
He directed faith to the Son. Its in John 3. Jesus obviously valued faith. A muslim does not have faith in the Son, neither do Buddhist or atheists. How can there be fruit with no seed??
According to Jesus, the works of a non-believer are unacceptable. First our sins must be paid for so that our nature can be redeemed. Then and only then can our works can be examined.
Buddah, Mohammad, Ghandi all taught good works, yet Jesus told us that He was the ONLY way to the Father. If the focus were on works, then Jesus would have said that any teacher of good works was a way to the Father...but that is not the case.
John 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
Only Jesus taught faith before works.
Not to be wierd, but the possibility of eternaty in hell should not be taken lightly.
originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: borntowatch
Faith does not guarantee salvation, serving God and (trying) being loyal to His laws does
What Im about to say, I say not for the sake of disagreement, but for the benefit of any who potentially misunderstand.
Faith and acknowledgment are two different things. Acknowledgment is an academic understanding of a concept, whereas faith is confidence in that concept.
Satan understands that Jesus is God, but he does not have confidence (faith) in Him, or else satan would never have revolted.
Salvation/Eternal Life comes ONLY by faith/confidence in Christ's payment for our sins. I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH. Read all of John 3; we are told to have faith in Christ for salvation, but never are we told to accompany that faith with work. Faith is a reciprocation of love to God. If you add your works to saving faith, you are telling God that His love is not sufficient. This is the issue between Cain and Abel. Abel gave a blood offering to reflect attonement for sins. Cain offered his works to God. God was pleased in the burnt offering, and disgusted with fruit of Cain's labor. Faith in Christ is in itself repentance: you turned away from your bondage in sin to meet God at the cross.
You can not work for your salvation. Once you have salvation, you cannot lose your salvation. You will never find one single instance of an authentic believer "losing" his/her salvation. You will find passages that demonstrate people who have acknowledged the gospel, but never believed in it. Those people never had salvation to begin with.
If you have mixed faith with works in hopes of recieving salvation, that is an acknowledgment of the gospel, but a blatant rejection of it's veracity.
Believe on the Son and you will have everlasting life.
Confession is a post-born-again function. In the process of growing up, there are works of righteousness involved. In order for those efforts to count, we must confess our sins so that the Holy Spirit can work through us. Works without confession are wood, hay, and stubble for the fire. Works through the Holy Spirit via confession are prescious stones that reflect God's glory.
The context was that Jesus basically disappeared, then reappears to the disciples in the upper room.
The disciples were charged with the mission to declare the gospel, so the "declaration part" was implied by context.
I thought you might look up "Mark Driscoll" under 'books' in Amazon to see what I was talking about.
I don't know what the "New Orthodoxy" is, but I draw my conclusions by context and cross referencing related verse.
originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: borntowatch
Im not a Calvinist. I interpret the bible for myself taking context and related passages together. Needless to say, I disagree with you.