Tuesday, June 29, 2010
One quick note
I would like to point out that in my previous post I left out the fact that the wrath of God is not always passive (abandoning us to our sin) but sometimes it is indeed active (Sodom and Gamorrah, and Aaron's sons dying after touching the Ark). In the New Testament it can even be seen when believers take Communion without reconciling themselves to their brothers... in so doing, they drink God's judgement upon themselves, according to Paul. So God doesn't always leave us alone. But when He does, that's in a way scarier than fire and destruction because we're left alone to sin and become more and more blind.
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I know this to be true only too well. thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteSola Fides... Saved by faith alone.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.