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Ronald_E
Guest
Good Fella,
I am once again in awe of the beauty of your faith. Thank you so much for this gift this morning. God Bless you and everyone who reads your post.
Ron
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I am once again in awe of the beauty of your faith. Thank you so much for this gift this morning. God Bless you and everyone who reads your post.
Ron
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DLClark
Guest
The Bible tells us that we are saved by faith and not by works eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5; Notice that the Bible says that faith alone saves but that faith saves is not alone. Works come after salvation. 2 Tim 1:9
**who has saved **us and called us with a holy calling, **not according to our works, **but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
NASU
Titus 3:8
A This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so **that those who have believed **God will **be careful to engage in good deeds. **NASU
Titus 2:14
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
NASU
Eph 2:7-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
NA
In the above verses the Bible tells us that works do not save but that we are saved for the purpose of doing good works.
Our sin prevents us from doing anything to rememdy our sinful condition. God is the one who does it all for us. Notice what the Bible says in Eph 2:1-5
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, **made us alive **together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),
NASU
How can a dead person do anything to rememdy his deadness? He can’t. Notice that God did it all for us. He made us alive and that is why we are saved by grace. Grace is unmerited favore. We saved by grace and then works should follow.
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Ronald_E
Guest
I have seen this so many times on other threads. Please use another thread for this. This thread is about the heart of the faith. It is about Mary pondering these things of her Son in her heart.
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Good_Fella
Guest
Paul is telling the Ephesians and Titus that faith is the root of our justification, not works of the law done outside the system of divine grace as opposed to a legal system in which God becomes indebted to us. In other words, faith initially justifies us, but our good works done in grace complete and perfect our justification by which our new creation in the Christian life becomes possible. Timothy was given to understand that our redemption from sin and the call to holiness are not won by our own deeds but are gifts from God to humankind in and through Jesus Christ according to God’s eternal plan. But true holiness is not merely a demonstration of what it takes to be saved now that our Lord has opened the gates of heaven by his redemptive sacrifice on the cross and has** exhorted** us to “be perfect as [our] heavenly Father is perfect”.
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.
Romans 12, 9
Our justification before God is perfected and completed by a genuine transformation of the inner person through human cooperation with the infusion of divine grace. We aren’t automatically declared just or righteous by the imputation of God’s grace or favor. Luther’s portrayal of man as dung covered by snow is unbiblical for it disregards the part human merit has to play with our response to divine grace in God’s plan of salvation.
Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure;
wash me, make me whiter than snow.
A clean heart create for me, God;
renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Psalm 50, 9,12 [NAB]
God does not merely cover up our sins externally by imputing the righteousness of Christ to us. God is so powerful that he will bring about a genuine ontological transformation in ourselves by the infusion of his grace if that is what we sincerely desire in our will to be sanctified and be made perfect and righteous, by collaborating with the work of divine grace, just as the Son of Man had exemplified perfection in his obedience to the will of God in his substantial grace of union with the Father.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.* Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.***
1 John 3, 2-3
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
*Hebrews 5, 8-9 *
See how a person is justified by works and not faith alone.
James 2, 24
For good works done in grace benefit us by perfecting and completing our justification.
Our moral improvement with its demand that we conform ourselves to the image of Christ with the help of God’s grace obviously has no value apart from the divine order of redemption initiated by the Father in and through Christ’s victory on the cross for our salvation.
Again, good works done in grace are a cause of our salvation - not an effect, or else our heavenly reward would make no sense and our failure to do good works could not be a sin (Jas 4:17). This salvific scheme is something God has preordained from all eternity and has intended in his eternal vision which includes the fall of Adam and Eve - an event he did not predetermine.
I have to question the sincerity of your love for God and charity towards your neighbor.
Only if we fail to follow David’s example of showing a true spirit of repentance and a firm desire of amendment.
We recite the Rosary for the purpose of obtaining through Mary’s intercession the graces necessary to help us live a true Christian life in accordance with the gospels and in conformity with the image of Christ.
PAX :harp:
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DLClark
Guest
That is exactly what I am talking about, the heart of faith. Faith works, but before it works one must true saving faith to begin with. Faith is reliance or trust in a person or thing. Faith that saves then is a trust or reliance upon Christ as ones personal Savior. To say that you love God is good but loving God does not mean that you are Saved. Q. How much love for God does one have to have before it is salvic enough to save. Faith is not the issue for faith does not save anyone. The object of ones faith does the saving if that object is able to save.
Eph. 2:8-9 tells that we savd by grace through and not of works less we boast. Then verse 10 says we were saved to do good works. works come salvation never before.
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Ronald_E
Guest
As I have said before, I am not worried about being saved. I want to do God’s Will in my life only because He has given me the unwanted and unknown blessing of knowing His Love.
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Good_Fella
Guest
No person can be saved without knowing God.
Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the one true God, and the one whom you’ve sent, Jesus Christ.
John 17, 3
If a person fails to love God, then he cannot know God, for God is love.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4, 8
Therefore, if a person doesn’t love God, then he isn’t saved.
If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.
1 Corinthians 16, 22
I believe our Lord does answer your question.
He said to him,* " You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment."*
*Matthew 22, 37 *
Bear in mind that we are commanded to love God with our whole being. One is saved by keeping God’s commandments. And the person who is saved is the one who observes them out of love for God.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation.”
John 5, 24
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14, 15
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
John 14, 21
How do we know that we love God enough in order to be saved? Our conscience informs us.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
1 John 3, 21-22
*We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. *
1 John 4, 16-17
We know that our love is perfected when we have no fear of condemnation and are confident in faith of having been reconciled with God by a true spirit of conversion.
*There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. *
1 John 4, 18
If we are moved by the Spirit to fear being punished for our lack of love and indifference towards God and our neighbor, then obviously love is absolutely necessary for our salvation and eternal reward.
Faith does not save if it isn’t completed by good works done in grace out of genuine love.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
James 2, 14
We are not saved by the works we do outside the system of divine grace strictly by our own merits in a system that would presumptuously make God indebted to us: works of the law. But our works done in grace by our faith in God do justify us without which we are not saved. These good works must first proceed from our faith before we can be ultimately saved now that Christ has redeemed the world.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.
*James 2, 21-22 *
Our salvation is something offered, not given, before our justification is completed by our good works done in grace through faith.
Paul means to tell the Ephesians that without these good works we are not saved.
If we deny him, he also will deny us.
2 Timothy 2, 12
“Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with your heart being sacrificed at every instant on the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of his kingdom.”
Our Lady of Akita (1973)
PAX :harp:
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DLClark
Guest
Why are not worried about being? How do you know that you are saved? How does one come to know God’s love?
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Ronald_E
Guest
It was and is a gift.
C
chiibug
Guest
Your view of God sounds like some trickster that can’t wait to damn people. How sad and limited.
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DLClark
Guest
How do you know that you are saved? How does one come to know God’s love?
G
Good_Fella
Guest
One way is by reciting the Rosary daily and deeply meditating on the divine mysteries.
Before we recite one of the twenty mysteries, we invoke our Blessed Mother to obtain for us a special grace which is necessary for us to achieve our salvation; for instance, the grace of final perseverance, love of God, charity towards our neighbour, or purity of heart. As we contemplate on the lives modelled by Jesus and Mary, we have the opportunity to examine our conscience to see how we have permitted the grace of God to affect and transfom our lives. By faith in the promises of our Lord we may acquire a moral certitude of our salvation by judging how well we have freely responded to the grace of God granted to us in our Christian life. Of course, we can never absolutely know for certain that we will be ultimately saved until we enter the next life. For now we can only hope that we will persevere in faith until the end and strive for greater perfection that will satisfy God’s justice and mercy in light of our Lord’s promises.
The Rosary is a powerful weapon against Satan and the forces of evil. I personally believe that Christians who recite the Rosary daily have a better chance of winning the race, as St. Paul puts it, and receiving the imperishable crown. The faithful who entrust their souls to the custody of their spiritual mother, who was given to us by our Lord on the cross, have no cause to waver in the hope of their salvation if they offer their trust to Mary by observing what she has asked of them: to pray the Rosary daily for her protection against the serpent and for the graces we need to be saved. Christians who honor and obey their heavenly Mother have cause to be more confident in achieving their salvation because of her promises that will be honored by her divine Son.
Our Blessed Mother promised all of us the graces we need to be saved when she said to St. Dominic:
“Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.”
Here are the first ten of the fifteen promises of Mary to those who faithfully recite the Rosary:
*"Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
"I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
"The Rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
"The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
"The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
"Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly…if he be just shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
"Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
"Those who are faithful to the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of his graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
"I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
"The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven".*
We who faithfully recite the Rosary daily have every reason to be more confident in our hope. I know from my own experience in these past few years of my Christian life that Mary is true to her word. :yup:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7, 7
PAX :harp:
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Ronald_E
Guest
Like I said earlier, when God showed me His Love that is all that matters. I practiced mindful meditation for 30 years in an effort not to harm others and then He awakened me to His Love that had always been guiding when I did not know it.
Humility is the gift of the Holy Spirit and it was through the Sacraments I received when I was a child that this gift was given to me. The Holy Spirit was always guiding me and giving me a conscience that always brought to an awareness of the harm I did when I sinned and gave me the strength to make amends to those I harmed.
When God showed me His Love I was not asking for it.
So, that is all there is.
Would you please explain why you keep asking about being saved when you know I don’t even think about that for myself?
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DLClark
Guest
Thank you for your reply. I asked you this “Why are not worried about being? How do you know that you are saved? How does one come to know God’s love?” You mentioned this in reply*One way is by reciting the Rosary daily and deeply meditating on the divine mysteries. *
Q. How well do you have to recite the Rosary and meditate before you know you are saved and have found the love of God?
Q. How well do you have to recite the Rosary and meditate before you know you are saved and have found the love of God?
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DLClark
Guest
So then thewhole world must be saved because showed His love to the world through Christ, Jn 3:16. How mindful does one have to meditate before he is saved? How humble does one have to be before he is saved? How do you kow that the Holy spirit was guiding you? I keep asking you these things to show that if works are part of ones salvation how well do you have perform them before you merit God justifying you?
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Ronald_E
Guest
You seem to be the one concerned with works and salvation. They do not concern me. I do what I love doing. That’s all there is to it.
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Dchsknight
Guest
The Rosary, means absoultly nothing. again it is just a String with some beads and a crucifix.Thank you for your reply. I asked you this “Why are not worried about being? How do you know that you are saved? How does one come to know God’s love?” You mentioned this in reply*One way is by reciting the Rosary daily and deeply meditating on the divine mysteries. *
Q. How well do you have to recite the Rosary and meditate before you know you are saved and have found the love of God?
iT is a matter of the Heart. God knows our Intentions and knows why we are saying the Roasry. OF course you want to say it right, the way Mother Mary handed it down to the Children at Fatima, but if you mess up your not gonna go to Hell.
It is the same concept as if you dont read your bible everyday, your not gonna go to Hell. It is your heart. God knows it, and if your heart means to please God everyday, then that pleases God.
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DLClark
Guest
Then are we saved by faith alone in Christ and not by works or are works needed for salvation?
C
chiibug
Guest
If I’m saved by faith alone, I’m going straight to heaven. What harm is there in striving every day to be the best person I can be for the Lord?
Sitting back and letting my “faith” do all the work seems lazy. Not my style.
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DLClark
Guest
What part does man have in salvation? Do you believe in faith + works = salvation? Do you have to work for your salvation? What is your defenition of Faith?
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