Romans 4
By Faith alone - "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed are those whose sin the Lord will never count against them" (4:7,8).
Paul continues to stress that it is not by works, by obligation, by our deeds, our own effort that we are saved. It is by believing. It is by faith. It is by believing faith in the person of Jesus Christ that we are saved. It is because of Christ's great love and by His works/His obedience to the point of death on the cross, that we are saved.
Paul stresses that there is not a sin that is too great for God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ to cover. And remember, when we receive forgiveness, it is because of God's kindness (evidenced ultimately by the Cross) and that leads us to repentance...God looks at our hearts. God knows our sincerity. God knows the difference between attitudes of "well God will forgive me, so I can ________" as opposed to "oh God, again this struggle/giving into this temptation has happened, have mercy on me Lord, forgive me, help me...what is it that keeps me repeating this over and over again?!"
God knows our struggle. God knows our temptations. God is merciful, kind, forgiving, is able to bring healing and wholeness...God wants our hearts. The difference in our hearts can be seen in that prior to receiving Jesus' forgiveness and being filled with the Holy Spirit, our attitude toward sin, toward destructive behaviors (which we may not have even seen as such) was often one of 'not caring' or not thinking we wanted to walk any differently, usually not remorse before the Lord. After Jesus comes into our lives, our hearts and consciences become more and more sensitive to God's ways vs. our own way - and while we may struggle, our hearts and minds and spirits long to follow God and not dishonor God.
And God knows the difference. And we know the difference.
"Lord please help us to see ourselves as You do - people whom You Love, people for whom You gave Your Son's Life, people for whom You long to shower mercy and grace upon and bring more and more into the fullness of who You created us to be. Thank You for Your Love. Thank You for Your power in our lives. Bless You Lord!"
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Dear Robin,
ReplyDeleteSola Fides... Saved by faith alone.
The fundamentalist believes he is assured of salvation.
All he has to do is to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and savior and salvation is automatic and irrevocable no matter what he does for the rest of his life.
Oh Yeah? What happened to the ten commandments?
A. Many verses in Scripture attest to salvation by faith alone. Joel 2:32, "...that every one that shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Acts 2:21 says the same almost word for word, and likewise for Romans 10:13. "...I live in the faith of the Son of GOD...", is from Galatians 2:20. Again, these are beautiful words that should be heeded by all.
B. However, elsewhere in Scripture there is quite a different side of the story. Start with Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven shall enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Very clear that you have to do the will of the Father to gain salvation.
I like 1 Corinthians 10:12, "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." That one says you cannot be guaranteed of salvation.
Then James 2:14-26 says over and over, "...Faith too without works is dead...Faith without works is useless...so Faith also without works is dead." Again, words to be heeded by all.
C. So what is the answer to this dilemma? Is this one of those Bible 'conflicts' you keep hearing about? No, not at all.
The answer is very simple. There are two types of salvation, 'objective salvation', and 'subjective salvation'.
The verses in 'A' are examples of objective salvation. Jesus Christ did atone for all of our sins, past, present and future.
He did His part and did it well, but He left the burden upon each one of us to complete the second side of the story by atoning for our own sins, by doing the will of the Father.
We have to keep the commandments. We have to practice 'subjective salvation'. There is no salvation by accepting only part of Scripture as shown in 'A', and by rejecting, or trying to explain away the verses in 'B'.
Yet this what Protestants are doing. Again, we have to combine 'A', and 'B', to have the full truth. A+B=C = TRUTH.
Micheal,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful comments. I am familiar with your understanding of faith and Scripture. Certainly it is no salvation that evidences no change of heart as revealed in a person's walk....'cheap' grace as Bonhoeffer decribes in the Cost of Discipleship, is not salvation grace at all. However, this does not mean that work and act of salvation is not 100% of Christ's work on the Cross, nor does it mean that we can not know....God is the Judge - He knows that heart that has been transformed by Jesus - The Spirit testifies within us that we are children of God,not born of flesh and will of man, but of the Spirit of God...