A few will enter, so why bother trying at all?

[Don19]

9 hours ago, Walter Goraj jr said:

I can simply say that when you are chosen to salvation God is the one who opens your eyes and your spirit agrees with His Spirit.

The truth of  knowing that God does all the work to save His people is what sets us free. Those who feel that they must do something like "accept Christ" are still in bondage... they will never ever feel like they've done enough. They will always be questioning if they "did it right", and quite frankly most of them are on their way to hell.

I don't consider my statements cold and heartless. What's worse? A few harsh words or someone making himself to be like God and decide if they want to save themselves?

 

Well said. God does not save us because of our faith, but because of His love, manifested in His sovereign grace for His elect. Faith is how we lay hold of the promise, with the witness of the Spirit.

Romans 5:1-5:

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

² By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

[Don19]

1 hour ago, Walter Goraj jr said:

And I thank you for sharing those verses it's always good to see scripture especially when I'm so busy now.

Did you ever consider how the word faith as a metaphor for the Lord Jesus Christ in some applications? We are justified by faith certainly not our faith but by the faith of Jesus Christ so in another sense we are justified by Christ.

We have "access by faith" and once again our faith being a work it must be access by Christ.....and so on.

I've heard that said. It's written in Genesis that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. I believe that this is not to be understood as the forensic, justifying righteousness of Christ, which was imputed to Abraham on account of his election of God rather than his faith. The righteousness in question is character righteousness. Abraham had faith already in Genesis 12 (see Heb 11:8), before it was written in Genesis 15 that he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. But all the persons mentioned in Hebrews 11, though they had faith (and works - see James 2), and through faith "obtained a good report," they "received not the promise" (Heb 11:39). But look at verse 40: "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."

God justified Abraham also by works, for his offering of Isaac, which James refers to in his epistle. But what's the manner in which he was justified, other than that he obtained the witness of God by his works?

Genesis 22:15-18:

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

But the best wine is saved for last. *We* - NT believers - have been given something even better, as Paul makes plain in Heb 11:39-40. The OT saints were not given the promise of the Spirit. The disciples had to wait until Jesus was glorified for that (John 7:37-39). So, whereas the OT saints obtained a good testimony through faith, we obtained an even better one through faith: the earnest of the Spirit (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22, 5:5). But if we were to think of "faith" in a way distinct from the righteousness of Christ revealed to us "from faith to faith" (Rom 1:17), such that our standing in His grace is made known to us by the Spirit's witness to our own spirit (Rom 8:15-17), then the promises of the NT are gutted. We know that Christ died for His elect, but what do we have to know that we are His elect? Some say we must prove ourselves elect by lifelong obedience. But that rather destroys the plain promises of the NT concerning the Spirit (Luke 11:5-13), and that we have "some better thing" even than the assurances given to Abraham by God. Indeed, as Paul says, the gift of the Spirit is "because ye are sons" (Gal 4:6).

Edited May 22, 2020 by Don19

[Dennis1209]

On 1/31/2020 at 3:15 PM, Blood Bought 1953 said:

You do not understand Christianity......you are describing Religion.....Religion is the polar opposite of Christianity.....All religions are based on what you do for God......Christianity is based on what God did for us ....He did not HAVE to do it ......we did not DESERVE to have it done for us..... It was due to His Love and Mercy that he saved anyone......if you want to be saved, all you have to do is ask.....the simplicity of Salvation is the great Stumbling Block That keeps people from being saved..... “ Anybody that asks to be saved, will be saved”. That is a Promise Of God. Faith is Believing a Promise Of God. God saves those with Faith. It’s that simple. The Key to becoming saved  is to see that you are a Lost Sinner who needs a Savior.Repent- Turn to Jesus— for that Salvation. Here is  a prayer that I can guarantee will get you Justified before God and will get you into Heaven if prayed with sincerity from a Contrite Heart— it Saved an evil Tax- Collector 2000 years ago and it will save YOU today. Don’t waste you time with it if you don’t mean it because God won’t hear it. Just cry out, “ Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner”

Here is all you need to know about the Faith of Christianity in a Nutshell— You are Dirty....You can’t get to Heaven if you are Dirty.....Only Jesus can clean you up and-make you fit for Heaven.....Ask Him to “ clean you up”and make your life pleasing to Him.....He will do it.....all you have to do now is Believe it.... “ Anybody that asks to be saved WILL be saved”.....please notice it does  NOT  say “ will be put on Probation.” That’s where many, including so-called Christians , have got it wrong. Many, even some at Worthy , have turned Christianity into just another Religion......Judaism with a sprinkling of Jesus in it.....don’t fall into that Legalistic Trap.....FOR SALVATION it’s Faith in Jesus and what He accomplished FOR us- PLUS NOTHING ! Add to that at your own risk.......

Just to add to B.B.'s well explained explanation, it's as simple as ABC and here's just two examples. 

Romans 4:3 (KJV) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Abraham simply believed and had faith and he was saved. 

The criminal on his own cross next to Jesus had no time or opportunity to repent. What did this criminal say and do in his final moments in this world?

Luke 23:42 (KJV) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43.  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

A - Admit you have sinned.

B - Believe Jesus died for you.

C - Choose to accept His gift of forgiveness.

As Blood Bought correctly stated; Christianity is not a religion, it is the belief and faith in One Person, whom He says He is, what He did for us and why. It's what sets us apart and separate from 'religion', works and what WE need to do to be saved. The Lord did it all and we need only to humble ourselves, believe in faith and trust.

[Behold]

On 5/22/2020 at 12:14 PM, Don19 said:

 

God justified Abraham also by works, for his offering of Isaac,

No, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

----

God justified Abraham by his "faith"...>"faith is counted as Righteousness"....not "works are counted."

Its "Justification by FAITH"......not justification by works.

Abraham is the "father of Faith"......not the father of Works.

Faith, produces works, as James explains, but Works are not faith.

Discipleship is the product of Salvation.....Its not the salvation.

WE "confess Christ" because we ARE SAVED..... We don't confess him to become Saved.

Works follow , Justification BY FAITH.....however works are not the Justification.

The only WORK that God accepts to save you or keep you saved..."Is the Finished WORK < of Jesus on the Cross".

"the Work of God, is that you BELIEVE on Jesus whom God sent".

Jesus did not say...>"you must be WORKED again"...He said "you must be BORN again".

Born again, is PROOF God has you, owns you, and has Justified you = "Justification by FAITH" "without Works"...is Eternal Life, that Jesus said "He gives".

Understand...... = "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to GRACE, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the FAITH of Abraham, who is the father of us all""

Salvation is never started or kept by WORKS....... its offered as GRACE and Justification is= by FAITH, alone.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Behold

[Alive]

So simple---Abraham believed and that faith is what led to his actions.

Abraham is the father of the faithful, as he is God's choice for us to see a logical progression and more importantly, the object of his lesson.

The progression is faith and then work and it is not just any work--it is the 'work' that involves a son. That son of promise, who is a type of Him who is to come.

[Don19]

3 hours ago, Behold said:

No, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

----

God justified Abraham by his "faith"...>"faith is counted as Righteousness"....not "works are counted."

Its "Justification by FAITH"......not justification by works.

Abraham is the "father of Faith"......not the father of Works.

Faith, produces works, as James explains, but Works are not faith.

Faith produces good works, to some extent - but it varies. In any event, I don't think that's what James is talking about. The standard Protestant interpretation of James 2 goes something like,  "We are justified by faith alone, but not by faith that is alone."

So because James states that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (Jas 2:24), the typical Protestant must interpret James to be teaching works for assurance. This does not, however, agree with the rest of the New Testament regarding assurance, which is freely given to God's children, and NOT worked for. If we must be working to know we are children of God, then we are still under bondage, we haven't entered rest, and our reason for serving God is mercenary. The New Testament teaches that God does not hire His children but freely bestows all spiritual blessings upon them because they are His children.

Alternatively, some may interpret James to be talking about justification before men. But Abraham was justified by God's testimony for offering Isaac, not before men. And can we really treat of "justification before men" as a type of salvation (Jas 2:14)?

So what kind of justification is James talking about? I believe James means to say that we are justified by works in much the same way as all the examples in Hebrews 11 were. James does not treat of faith and works as distinct, but working together in harmony. But the common "justification" of Heb 11 is this: they all OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT through faith, but not the PROMISE.

We need to understand that "faith in Christ" is not the only type of faith contemplated in the New Testament. Obviously, the Old Testament saints did not have faith in Christ. Paul taught repentance and faith towards God - see Heb 6:1 - "faith toward God" and "repentance from dead works."

See also Acts 20:21: "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Are these quite the same thing? No.

I want to be very plain: salvation is all of grace, with no works involved whatsoever. Even a "decision" for Christ is a work - but it is one God works in you to lay hold of His promises - specifically the promise of the Holy Spirit. God also does the good works in you when He sovereignly works to draw His elect to Christ (John 6:44, 6:65). This is NOT so that we can keep working all our lives to know we are accepted by Him. This is to lay hold of the promise, or to be justified by faith, to receive the Spirit by faith (Gal 3:2). All the ones in Hebrews 11 had faith and works, but they did not receive the promise; but when we're born of the Spirit, we receive the promise (Eph 1:13, Heb 11:39-40). Thus we are no longer servants but sons (Gal 4:5-7). There is no more work to be done either to be "finally" saved, OR to be assured that we are saved. We are eternally secure, and we're able to know that we're eternally secure.

So faith towards God must be distinguished from faith in Christ. It is through faith in God that we can be reconciled by Christ, after we are convicted of sin (John 16:8-9) and shown that we cannot obey our way into heaven. Look at James's other example - Rahab. Her faith resulted in works, which resulted in her being saved. Again, her salvation happened at a moment in time. Just like we believe and are sealed with the Spirit of promise at a moment in time.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Don19

[Behold]

8 minutes ago, Don19 said:

 

Alternatively, some may interpret James to be talking about justification before men. But Abraham was justified before God for offering Isaac,

No he was not.  Abraham was justified by faith, without the deeds of the law.  This is why he is the father of our faith.

He was justified by FAITH.....THEN, he offered.

Where people get lost is....> they read it like this......"He offered to THEN  be justified by faith"", when its actually.... He was justified by faith, then was going to offer....

""""Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by GRACE and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring""""

"Grace THROUGH Faith".

Edited May 24, 2020 by Behold

[Don19]

4 hours ago, Behold said:

No he was not.  Abraham was justified by faith, without the deeds of the law.  This is why he is the father of our faith.

He was justified by FAITH.....THEN, he offered.

Where people get lost is....> they read it like this......"He offered to THEN  be justified by faith"", when its actually.... He was justified by faith, then was going to offer....

""""Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by GRACE and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring""""

"Grace THROUGH Faith".

I edited the statement you quoted to "Abraham was justified by God's testimony," to phrase it better. Abraham had faith before Genesis 15 (Heb 11:8). Abraham was not justified *because of* works or because of faith - he received a good report through these things.

[Don19]

22 minutes ago, Walter Goraj jr said:

I have read your reply several times and what stands out to me is the concept of  " character righteousness ".

I submit to the righteousness of Christ, for He is my righteousness.  I read in Galatians 3:22 that the promise ( of eternal life) is by the faith of Jesus Christ. 

We are justified by  the  righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ  ( Rom. 3 :22).

  Whether you were born before or after the Cross,  God's righteousness remains the determining factor in justification.  Abraham is in heaven not because of his faith but because of the faith of Christ. Just like any other person chosen the salvation God had to save Abraham first before he could believe in Him. 

In Galatians 3:8 the gospel was preached unto Abraham and he spiritually heard the words of eternal life. But for most of Israel the gospel did not profit them ( Hebrews 4:2)  and they ended up dying in the wilderness, falling short of the land of promise.

 

What I mean is, when God told him his seed shall be as the number of stars, God counted Abraham's faith in Him as a righteous thing. It was not the condition for Abraham's being given the promise - that is always an unconditional gift of God. The order of events is that God gave Abraham the promise, and Abraham believed it. The promise was not made conditional on Abraham believing it. And then when God told him he would inherit the land, Abraham asked how he may know he would receive the inheritance, so God gave him a sign. We might well ask, were God's words not enough? As I see it, our belief is mixed with unbelief (Mark 9:24). Which, again, rather contradicts the notion of faith being a condition for salvation, for who could perform it acceptably?

So God promises His elect eternal life in Christ. We believe God's promise--not as a condition to receive the promise, but so that we may lay hold of it--and God counts our faith for righteousness. It is a good work to believe God, but our unbelief won't make the promises of God of none effect (Rom 3:3-4). Indeed, God is faithful even if we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13). God responds well to weak faith that cries out for more. And God has given us of His Spirit that we may know we are His (1 John 4:13).

[Guest]

The matter is actually very simple. If you believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, is your saviour who died for you, then your soul belongs to Him. Your sins are forgiven. Your part then is to do His Will as best you can, read and digest the Bible and obey. You will make mistakes but you ask forgiveness in prayer and ask for guidance. 

Yes as followers of Christ we go the narrow way. It is not easy to turn our backs to sin. Many will not. But that narrow way is our glorious path to heaven. What a prize!