Some Who Call Themselves 'Christian' Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God?

[BornAgain490]

22 minutes ago, FreeGrace said:

God never "shows" anyone false information.

Apparently God has not shown you the truth. 

[BornAgain490]

11 minutes ago, FreeGrace said:

but warn them as you would a fellow believer."

Yet they are not faithful believers. That is clear, though maybe nor to you. 

[BornAgain490]

25 minutes ago, FreeGrace said:

None of us have the right to "self-interpret" Scripture.  

Yes. So please stop your self-interpreting. 

[BornAgain490]

1 hour ago, FreeGrace said:

How can you, when you believe that faith is a gift and regeneration/salvation precedes faith, when the Bible plainly says the opposite?

In the Greek, words are connected by the gender.

v.8 - For it is by grace you have been saved (masculine), through faith (feminine) —and this is not from yourselves, it is (masculine) the gift (neuter) of God—

These are the FACTS.  The words "saved" and "it is" which references back to "saved" are both masculine, while "faith" is feminine.  Therefore, faith is NOT a "gift from God".

Genders don't lie.

The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Ephesians 2.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (2:8–9)

Our response in salvation is faith, but even that is not of ourselves [but is] the gift of God. Faith is nothing that we do in our own power or by our own resources. In the first place we do not have adequate power or resources. More than that, God would not want us to rely on them even if we had them. Otherwise salvation would be in part by our own works, and we would have some ground to boast in ourselves. Paul intends to emphasize that even faith is not from us apart from God’s giving it.

Some have objected to this interpretation, saying that faith (pistis) is feminine, while that (touto) is neuter. That poses no problem, however, as long as it is understood that that does not refer precisely to the noun faith but to the act of believing. Further, this interpretation makes the best sense of the text, since if that refers to by grace you have been saved through faith (that is, to the whole statement), the adding of and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God would be redundant, because grace is defined as an unearned act of God. If salvation is of grace, it has to be an undeserved gift of God. Faith is presented as a gift from God in 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, and Acts 3:16.

The story is told of a man who came eagerly but very late to a revival meeting and found the workmen tearing down the tent in which the meetings had been held. Frantic at missing the evangelist, he decided to ask one of the workers what he could do to be saved. The workman, who was a Christian, replied, “You can’t do anything. It’s too late.” Horrified, the man said, “What do you mean? How can it be too late?” “The work has already been accomplished,” he was told. “There is nothing you need to do but believe it.”

Every person lives by faith. When we open a can of food or drink a glass of water we trust that it is not contaminated. When we go across a bridge we trust it to support us. When we put our money in the bank we trust it will be safe. Life is a constant series of acts of faith. No human being, no matter how skeptical and self–reliant, could live a day without exercising faith.

Church membership, baptism, confirmation, giving to charity, and being a good neighbor have no power to bring salvation. Nor does taking Communion, keeping the Ten Commandments, or living by the Sermon on the Mount. The only thing a person can do that will have any part in salvation is to exercise faith in what Jesus Christ has done for him.

When we accept the finished work of Christ on our behalf, we act by the faith supplied by God’s grace. That is the supreme act of human faith, the act which, though it is ours, is primarily God’s—His gift to us out of His grace. When a person chokes or drowns and stops breathing, there is nothing he can do. If he ever breathes again it will be because someone else starts him breathing. A person who is spiritually dead cannot even make a decision of faith unless God first breathes into him the breath of spiritual life. Faith is simply breathing the breath that God’s grace supplies. Yet, the paradox is that we must exercise it and bear the responsibility if we do not (cf. John 5:40).

Obviously, if it is true that salvation is all by God’s grace, it is therefore not as a result of works. Human effort has nothing to do with it (cf. Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). And thus, no one should boast, as if he had any part. All boasting is eliminated in salvation (cf. Rom. 3:27; 4:5; 1 Cor. 1:31). Nevertheless, good works have an important place, as Paul is quick to affirm."

[BornAgain490]

1 hour ago, FreeGrace said:

How can you, when you believe that faith is a gift and regeneration/salvation precedes faith, when the Bible plainly says the opposite?

In the Greek, words are connected by the gender.

v.8 - For it is by grace you have been saved (masculine), through faith (feminine) —and this is not from yourselves, it is (masculine) the gift (neuter) of God—

These are the FACTS.  The words "saved" and "it is" which references back to "saved" are both masculine, while "faith" is feminine.  Therefore, faith is NOT a "gift from God".

Genders don't lie.

"God Has Allotted to Each a Measure of Faith

Article by 

John Piper

Founder & Teacher, Desiring God

"In my message on Romans 12:3-8 , I argued from verse 3 that God gives varying measures of faith to his people. Paul says that we ought "to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." In the context this is not a limited reference to the unique spiritual gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9). For Paul says, "I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." "To each" refers back to "everyone among you." God has given all Christians varying measures of faith. This is the faith with which we receive and use our varying gifts. It is the ordinary daily faith by which we live and minister.

In the context, Paul is concerned that people were "thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think." His final remedy for this pride is to say that not only are spiritual gifts a work of God's free grace in our lives, but so also is the very faith with which we use those gifts. This means that every possible ground of boasting is taken away. How can we boast if even the qualification for receiving gifts is also a gift?

That's how important humility is in God's eyes. This is exactly the same aim of God mentioned in Ephesians 2:8-9 where Paul stresses that saving faith is a gift: "By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast." Faith is a gift from God, so that no one may boast. Or, as Romans 12:3 says, So that we will not think too highly of ourselves. The last bastion of pride is the belief that we are the originators of our faith.

Paul knew that the abundant grace of God was the source of his own faith. He said in 1 Timothy 1:13-14, "I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; but the grace of our Lord overflowed [for me] with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." He was an unbeliever. But then grace overflowed to him with faith.

So he knew this was the case with every other believer too. He said to the Philippians, "To you it has been given for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29). This is why he thanked God and not human resourcefulness for the faith he saw in his churches: "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). We thank God for the enlargement of faith because "God has allotted to each [his own] measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).

This truth has a profound impact on how we pray. Jesus gives us the example in Luke 22:31-32. Before Peter denies him three times Jesus says to him, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Jesus prays for Peter's faith to be sustained even through sin, because he knows that God is the one who sustains faith.

So we should pray for ourselves and for others this way. Thus the man with the epileptic boy cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). This is a good prayer. It acknowledges that without God we cannot believe as we ought to believe. Similarly the apostles pray to Jesus, "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5). They pray this way because Jesus is the one who can do that.

This teaching about faith being a gift of God raises many questions. God has answers for them all. Even if we don't, let us seek to put the teaching to its practical Biblical use: namely, the humbling of our pride, and the stimulation of our prayers. In other words, let us pray daily: "O Lord, thank you for my faith. Sustain it. Strengthen it. Deepen it. Don't let it fail. Make it the power of my life, so that in everything I do you get the glory as the great Giver. Amen"

Pastor John

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

So your answer to my question is ...?

Real simple.  If the murderer has believed in Jesus Christ, like King David, he is STILL a child of God, an heir of God, per Rom 8:17a, but won't have earned an inheritance IN the kingdom.  Real simple.

Sin is not an issue for salvation.  Faith is the issue.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

"Quia isto articulo stante stat Ecclesia, ruente ruit Ecclesia.

Saving faith is distinct from every works-righteous system because it isn’t the result of human effort.

Then why is a lifestyle of sin such an issue with you?  Once a person believes, they POSSESS eternal life.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Our response in salvation is faith, but even that is “not of [ourselves], it is the gift of God.”

I have proven by the genders that faith is NOT the gift.  Salvation is the gift.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Faith is nothing that we do in our own power or by our own resources.

Correct.  Faith is trusting.  There is no work in trusting.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Spiritually dead, we were helpless until God intervened to quicken us: “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:5). Faith is an integral part of the gift His grace bestowed on us.

We are dead in sins until we believe, then we are quickened.  Eph 2:5 and 8 says so.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Scripture consistently teaches that faith is not conjured up by the human will but is a sovereignly granted gift of God.

No Scripture says that.  Only reformed theology claims that.  In fact, the Bible teaches that "man believes from the heart".  Man does not believe from God, or regeneration or however reforme theology may phrase it.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44).

The very next verse tells us specifically who will come to Jesus:  everyone has been taught by God.  Those who have listened and learned will come to Me.  Period.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

How do we know that faith is God’s gift? Left to ourselves, no one would ever believe: “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God” (Romans 3:11).

The quote in v.11 comes from Psa 14:1-3 which is about atheists who don't believe there is a God.  That is what v.11 is referring to:  atheists.  The verse isn't about everyone.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). God draws the sinner to Christ and gives the ability to believe.

Way ahead of you.  Everyone has the ability to believe because God has given the entire human race a conscience with which to determine right from wrong.

Rom 2:14,15 shows that.  

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Without that divinely generated faith, one cannot understand and approach the Savior.

Just another talking point.  Not found in the Bible.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

“A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Read the whole chapter.  The context is about advanced doctrines, not the gospel.  Everyone can understand the gospel and yet not believe it to be true.  v.6 and 10 show this.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

As a divine gift, faith is neither transient nor impotent. It has an abiding quality that guarantees that it will endure to the end.

Another reformed fallacy.  

Acts 11:23 - When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

Acts 14:22 - strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

Seems you are quite unfamiliar with Scripture.  IF faith is a divine gift that "guarantees it will endure to the end", why in the world would the apostles be encouraging the believers "all to remain TRUE to the Lord with ALL their hearts.

And WHY they encouraged disciples to "remain TRUE rto the faith".

Your claims do not line up with what Scripture says.  

So, according to the Berean verification method of Acts 17:11, it is clear that what you say is NOT what the Bible says.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

For those reasons, saving faith is nothing like the fickleness of wavering human belief. It is as enduring and unchanging as the God who grants it."

Saving faith is trusting WHO Jesus is (the Son of God) and WHAT He did for you (died on the cross for your sins and gives eternal life to those who believe.  Period.

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

I'll go with this of the Master's Seminary as opposed to the on-line easy-believist. 

Ah, yes. You can believe MacArthur.  I will continue to believe the Bible.

So far, you haven't supported any of your talking points from Scripture.  Unlike me.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

Apparently God has not shown you the truth. 

That shows how confused you are.  I've given you verses that SAY what I believe, and you have not given any verses that SAY what you SAY.

The Berean verification method of Acts 17:11 reveals that your claims do not line up with Scripture.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

  FreeGrace said:

but warn them as you would a fellow believer."

Yet they are not faithful believers. That is clear, though maybe nor to you. 

Correct.  Which is why we are to avoid them.  It's very clear to me.  It is your vision that seems not so clear.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, BornAgain490 said:

FreeGrace said:

None of us have the right to "self-interpret" Scripture.  

Yes. So please stop your self-interpreting. 

I invite you to prove that I've "self-interpreted" any verse.  The verses I use don't need to be interpreted.  Just read.  The verses are plainly words and straightforward.

Since you have a different idea, please prove me wrong.

I don't want to be wrong any more than you do.