This is my understanding to why grace cannot be earned. I have given an illustration to explain my thoughts..

[Fran C]

19 minutes ago, BlindEyes said:

What is belief? "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Would it be safe to say that belief and faith are the same? As for baptism, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit according to John 14, Acts 2:38; 5:32 and 1 John 3:24..one needs to love and obey. 

 

Read Hebrews 11 and compare:

By faith I believe God exist and rewards those that diligently seek Him.


By faith, like Abel, instead of offering a animal as a living sacrifice unto God, I seek to offer myself, a temple, while wearing white garments, bright and clean, without spot or blemish. A holy priesthood. A peculiar people. For without holiness no one shall see the Lord.

By faith, like Enoch, I seek to be be raptured during these end times. For He pleased God and so I also seek to do the same while picking up my cross and denying myself daily.

By faith, like Noah, I know those who don't repent will perish. I am warned by God of things not seen yet and while moved with fear I prepare my temple to inherit the Holy Spirit. So I begin to build by tower. I begin to run the race. I begin to seek the face of God. I seek to be planted in good soil, my house built upon the rock. The storms may come but whose roots will be rooted deep enough on a good foundation by the living waters?

By faith, like Abraham, I seek a new home. I should not see myself as a citizen of earth, for my citizenship is in heaven, the new earth and new Jerusalem. By faith I go, not knowing where I go, or when this promise will be fulfilled. By faith, like Abraham, fiery trials will come to test my faith. By faith, like Job, I seek to be refined like gold and when under temptation I seek to endure, pass the test and receive the crown of life.

By faith, like Sarah, I seek to trust God as faithful in all the promises He has towards me for He is able. By faith I accept Christ, hopefully come to know Him and by faith be saved from the coming wrath. Faith is twofold, repent or perish. Believe or be condemned. Obey or disobey. There is no other way. Faith without works is dead.


Like Moses, by faith I refuse to be called Satan's son. I choose to be mistreated by the world as I share in the sufferings of Christ instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin. By faith I believe the reward of God is better than my love for this world and the things in this world. So I forsake the affairs of this life as one who desires to be a good soldier, a disciple of Christ. I desire to be born again. I hope this makes sense.

 

With faith comes action. To me, faith is this, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If you believe in Christ you believe in His testimony and that truth says to repent or perish. And yes, I know the biblical definition to faith. I'm just saying with faith comes action. Grace be with you.

Are you a new Christian?

What do you mean that you desire to be born again?  You either are or you aren't.

IF you desire to be born again, then you are.

I'm just hoping you don't expect too much from yourself.  We fall, but then we get back up and continue in our walk with God.....for if we sin we have an advocate with the Father.  1 John chapters 1 and 2.

[BlindEyes]

43 minutes ago, Fran C said:

This is an interesting verse....James 2:24, here's why:

Protestantism teaches the doctrine of justification and then sanctification.  So James 2:24 sounds like we need both faith AND works to be saved.  Initial salvation is accomplished by God only with no input from us...other than to believe and have faith in Jesus.

Catholicism teaches the doctrine of justification and on-going justification, which is sanctification in Protestant parlance.

So, very simply James is using the Catholic teaching, but remember that on-going justification and sanctification is the same.  James is just using a different term which Catholic teaching considers to be on-going justification.

So, basically, it's just saying that a man is saved by faith AND WORKS AFTER justification.

IOW....it's necessary for a Christian to have both faith and works/good deeds after salvation.

James states that faith without works is a dead faith and is of no use.   James 2:17, 20

I'd say that both Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox believe that good works/deeds are indeed a sign of salvation.

I personally believe faith without love is nothing and love is to do the will of God, the commandments. I believe we are saved by the three greatest things..faith, love and hope. I'm still in the process myself in getting rid of willful sin but I believe wilful sin hinders ones faith. For example, when scripture says no idolator will inherit the kingdom, I believe no idolator will inherit the kingdom. The same goes for sins like greed, sexual immorality, magic practice and so on. So maybe these are the dead works we must mortify in the flesh in order to have good works that God accepts?

[BlindEyes]

51 minutes ago, Fran C said:

Are you a new Christian?

What do you mean that you desire to be born again?  You either are or you aren't.

IF you desire to be born again, then you are.

I'm just hoping you don't expect too much from yourself.  We fall, but then we get back up and continue in our walk with God.....for if we sin we have an advocate with the Father.  1 John chapters 1 and 2.

I believe I need to mortify sins like lying in order to inherit eternal life. I'm still in the process of repenting. Scripture says all liars will inherit the lake of fire. I tend to lie when struggling with other sins as the root cause but it's rare, at least knowingly lying..

 

I believe in John 14:23-24; Acts 2:38, 5:32; 1 John 3:24 when it comes to being born again. The baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

Edited January 10 by BlindEyes

[BornAgain490]

3 hours ago, BlindEyes said:

Mercy begets mercy. 

Amen. God commands it. 

[enoob57]

2 hours ago, Fran C said:

After we are born again, we are told throughout the NT that we must obey God.

yes, but the motive of the heart has changed... we are not doing in order to get something from God, as that would be law... but we are doing it because of the newness of life placed within us by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and the motive is Love...
John 14:21 (KJV)

[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

What born again person would not want a closer more intimate relationship with God who has loved them so?

[BornAgain490]

Why is grace a free gift that cannot be earned?

God's standard is absolute perfection, and none but Jesus (God incarnate) meets that standard.

When God promised to send the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent, and by doing so destroy the power of sin and death, God sent His Son Jesus to impute His perfect righteousness to God's predestinated elect. 

[BlindEyes]

21 minutes ago, BornAgain490 said:

Why is grace a free gift that cannot be earned?

God's standard is absolute perfection, and none but Jesus (God incarnate) meets that standard.

When God promised to send the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent, and by doing so destroy the power of sin and death, God sent His Son Jesus to impute His perfect righteousness to God's predestinated elect. 

I personally believe some sins lead to death while others do not. To my understanding this could possibly be sins like murder, for scripture says no murderer/hater has eternal life dwelling inside of them.

 

Some think that scripture about death has to do with unbelief while others think it's about the couple who lied in the book of Acts yet I believe it could be about those sins that do not inherit the kingdom. I could be wrong though. 

 

We are commanded to mortify the deeds of the flesh and that is what I'm trying to do. I'm putting "resisting" into practice..

[BornAgain490]

1 hour ago, BlindEyes said:

I personally believe some sins lead to death while others do not. To my understanding this could possibly be sins like murder, for scripture says no murderer/hater has eternal life dwelling inside of them.

 

Some think that scripture about death has to do with unbelief while others think it's about the couple who lied in the book of Acts yet I believe it could be about those sins that do not inherit the kingdom. I could be wrong though. 

 

We are commanded to mortify the deeds of the flesh and that is what I'm trying to do. I'm putting "resisting" into practice..

Right. But, remember what Paul said about those in Corinth that were in Christ:  "And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor. 6:11.  So, we were once just like the "such" Paul is referring to, which are the unrighteous and ungodly that are not born again in Christ. 

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, BlindEyes said:

I personally believe some sins lead to death while others do not. To my understanding this could possibly be sins like murder, for scripture says no murderer/hater has eternal life dwelling inside of them.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." ...

[missmuffet]

23 hours ago, BlindEyes said:

This is my understanding. Let me know if you agree. Perhaps post a Bible verse that explains things here or there.

 

Okay, what is my understanding? Let's say a criminal commits a crime worthy of death. The authorities arrest them, judge them as guilty and place them in prison. They are now in prison awaiting the death penalty. Okay, the criminal can have a change of heart and begins to obey the law eventually becoming a law abiding citizen while locked up. Will obeying the law set them free? Will their works of obedience remove their guilt? No! They committed a crime worthy of death and their guilt remains! So, what can set them free? What can remove their guilt? Perhaps a pardon from the King? So the King pardons them, forgives them of their crimes, and remembers their guilt no more. The pardon was a gift that no one can earn. However, when it comes to Jesus, what are some rules to be considered worthy to even receive the free pardon? Of course there are rules! 

It represents God's undeserved favor. God gives it to us out of love,and mercy. It is a gift.