Yes, but you stopped before the final verse was ended.
Rom 6 isn’t telling us that* faith* is sufficient-it’s telling us that *sinlessness * is necessary to be saved from death, which Jesus empowers us to accomplish-if we’re willing.
once we are reconciled through Christ we are no longer under the old man but have become a new creation.
Jesus empowers us by believing that He came from the father and He paid for our sin so we may be reconciled to the Father.
Jim Dandy,
Thank you very much!
There are quite a few scriptures that make is clear that we are justified by faith in Christ alone, some written by Paul such as in Galatians:
**7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.**Gal 6:7
Once justified a man is not to become supernaturally inactive. For either he will produce supernaturally good works or he will in time cease to be just. But because concupiscence remains in the just, some have imagined that the just man cannot help but sin especially when he acts from a motive of the reward of heaven; hence they cling to a blind trust in God and deny the need of good works. But no doctrine is more opposed to common sense and the word of God. In His preview of the last judgment Christ says the just are saved for having done works of charity and the damned are lost for having neglected them. Good works, then, are necessary that we may increase in justice and persevere to the end.
No one can deceive our Father in heaven. If you think you can sin without reprocussion and say, “I repent” and think you are justified and going to heaven. You are fooling yourself. God knows your heart.
You’re right, saying “I repent” without a contrite heart is worthless, just like saying “I believe” doesn’t mean much either unless it’s backed up by action.
This is all well and good. However, you still haven’t answerd my questions. Did the apostle Paul teach justification by faith alone? Just a reminder if you haven’t re-read the question I posed to you; Why didn’t Paul use the specific phrase “faith alone” anywhere in his New Testament writings?There are quite a few scriptures that make is clear that we are justified by faith in Christ alone, some written by Paul such as in Galatians:
Romans 3:28-30 says - “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.”
Romans 4:5 - But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,"
Romans 5:1 - “therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Romans 10:4 - “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Romans 11:6 - But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
Galatians 2:16 -“nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”
Galatans 2:21 - I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Galatians 3:5-6 - I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Galatians 3:24 - “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 -"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9Not by works, lest any man
Phillipians 3:9 - “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
Notice that he says in Gal 3:24 that the law came to lead us to Christ, not to bring us salvation. Our works do not justify us in any way. Having faith in someone is not just believing in them, it’s trusting in them. All the prayers in the world won’t save you. It takes an act of putting your faith in and trusting Christ and the promise that God gives you.
Works are important, don’t get me wrong. But our works are not what save us (as noted above in the scriptures). They are an expression of the new creation we become when God dwells in our hearts. If you claim to be a Christian and there’s no fruit or good works it’s likely you’re not saved (been made new).
When you get saved, your body is the same and so is your soul but your spirit is made new. That is the part of you that is saved. Your soul however, still needs to be transformed and it’s a process. That’s where obedience comes in. The great thing is that you have the Holy Spirit guiding you every step of the way. It’s not about striving to be loved and forgiven anymore, it’s about being loved and striving to grow in the knowledge and grace of that love (2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.)
I was believing what you believe for the first 30 years of my life until I got the revelation of God’s love, mercy and grace in Christ Jesus and I only want others to enjoy it as well. This is where true freedom in Christ comes. As long as you are striving in your own power to be saved, you are in bondage to the law of sin and death. Jesus came to set you free from sin and death so that you would no longer be condemned. I put my faith in His work, not mine. Instead of trying to change from the outside in, He’s changing me from the inside out
Can the just avoid serious sin and thus persevere to the end? Some people consider this a false problem. They said that the just are incapable of sinning, that the sin of a man is proof that he has not yet been justified; and hence the truly just need not bother about observance of the commandments. This heresy contradicts St. Paul: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) No one, therefore is to think himself confirmed in grace unless God reveals this to him.
14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17**So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. **18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. **24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. **How does the just man come by the grace of perseverance? Can he merit it by his good conduct? He can merit a sufficient grace, which of itself is potent enough for the victory over temptation, but which, through his lack of co-operation, may be void of result. What he needs is an efficacious grace, one that ensures victory. This kind of grace he cannot merit; otherwise, once justified, he could never fall. The key to perseverance is the prediliction of God giving grace which He foresees will have its salutary effect. Such grace is a gift from God who alone is able to make him who stands, stand perseveringly. While one’s good actions cannot merit this grace, he will infallibly get it who prays for it properly.
“Yes, and still if you truly believe and still sin, we are not lost.”
“Yes, and still if you truly believe and still sin, we are not lost.”
And on the night of His Resurrection Christ said to His Apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain they are retained.” (John 20:22)
Christ gave us this spiritual medicine for the cure and prevention of sin. This medicine consists in restoring to supernatural life those who are in serious sin and in providing all penitents with a remedy against future sin. We are restored to grace. :extrahappy:
Amen. This is how Jesus sets us free from sin if we fall again, which we almost inevitably will.2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Notice that many sincere Reformers disagree on the meaning of scripture.
Yes, we are all subject to our fleshly desire to sin because our soul is still being saved but our spirit has been redeemed by the blood.However, our spirit is not subject to sin because it is justified (our sins have been taken care by Jesus). Just as the blood sacrifice covered sins before Jesus came, so does the blood of Jesus cover ours only it’s not temporary, it is the final sacrifice. This means He paid the price for our sins once and for all. To think otherwise cheapens His sacrifice.