Are You Saved By Grace or Faith Alone

[WaterRock]

You mean like in Gen 7:1
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. Prov 3:32

Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Mal 3:18

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Luke 1:5-6

 

[Wired 4 Fishen]

Must one grow in "theology"? What is one to do if one doesn't really know what theology is, but is "in Jesus"? Perhaps just give God the glory!

Theology and tradition can make one blind. Walking in the Spirit and gaining revelation knowledge and understanding in His written word, well That's Liven !!

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

The holy spirit Must conform to the word and Not the other way around... you know if the spirit is true by Scripture... the Holy Spirit will lead us in Gods truth which is Scripture....

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

You show yourself approved because you understand what truth/lies and God are thru study

 

[Bendito]

Hi, RJ.

It seems to me the grammar Paul uses in the passage is ambiguous. It might mean this:

For by grace...and this is not of yourselves... .

Or it might mean this:

...you have been saved...and this is not of yourselves... .

Or it might mean this:

...through faith...and this is not of yourselves... .

So the word this might refer to grace, or being saved, or faith. The grammar alone is not suuficient to discern Paul's meaning. How then does one know with any certainty what Paul meant to convey?

Or it might mean: "For it is by grace(The empowering PRESENCE of God...) you have been saved, through faith (Your simple trust in Him)—and this is not from yourselves (from nothing you did or could do), it is the gift (something that was freely and lovingly given) of God—not by works (You could not earn it), so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork (Gods creation) , created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Ephesians 2:8-10

 

[Bendito]

I'm sorry for not confusing you. Maybe this will help: If I said, "RJ, Dovegiven just gave me $100.00!" would you say the money I got from Dovegiven was a gift or a payment?

Mr Spockrates. Why would one need such labyrinthine logic? Because God is LOVE He gave and gave and gave. Freely. All you had to do was to accept it. Receive (Reach out and take) it. He even supplied His grace (His empowering PRESENSE, which empowers you to do it),and gave you the faith (the ability to trust Him) if only you would choose to do so. Its all free for your taking. What logic? Its all LOVE

 

[Br. Bear]

The entrance of Thy words giveth light;
it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Psalm 119:130

 

[amadeus2]

Theology and tradition can make one blind. Walking in the Spirit and gaining revelation knowledge and understanding in His written word, well That's Liven !!

And does not the understanding of His written word come by and through the Holy Ghost rather than the application of a sizable brain alone to the problem? Those who are to come closest to God are not those who have the brain power closest to that of an Einstein, but rather those who have really admitted that without Him I can do nothing.

Men have accomplished what we might call technological wonders through the application of their brain power, but consider Solomon. What was it that Jesus said?

"...she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Matt 12:42

 

[amadeus2]

The holy spirit Must conform to the word and Not the other way around... you know if the spirit is true by Scripture... the Holy Spirit will lead us in Gods truth which is Scripture....

Without the Holy Spirit, the written Bible is no more than ink and paper similar to a set of encyclopedias to someone who is unable to read. Yes, the scriptures contain the truth, God's Truth, but without being led by the Holy Spirit, NO ONE can discern God's Word from those pages. This is why we must both eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. A person can live for a short period on food without water. He can live for a longer period with water but no food, but eventually if he does not have both the result will be death. Will the result for the "new man" without both His flesh and His blood be the same?

 

[amadeus2]

You show yourself approved because you understand what truth/lies and God are thru study

Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, will not all our studies be wasted? Without the leading of the Holy Spirit who can find himself approved by God? Without the leading of the Holy Spirit what part of God's truth can be understood?

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

Amadeus... how do you know if a spirit is true but through the word.... if the holy spirit teaches you truth what truth is it that he teaches?

The word..... you dont know anything about any spirit UNTIL you read the word....

 

[amadeus2]

The entrance of Thy words giveth light;
it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Psalm 119:130

Indeed! When the words of God are consumed (eating the flesh of Jesus), are they not then within us to be brought to Life by the Holy Spirit in us?

Amadeus... how do you know if a spirit is true but through the word.... if the holy spirit teaches you truth what truth is it that he teaches?

The word..... you dont know anything about any spirit UNTIL you read the word....

The Word of God, my friend is alive. The words written on the page of any Bible are dead until (if ever) they are brought Life in a person by the Holy Spirit:

"Who [God] also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." II Cor 3:6

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

Where did we learn of a holy spirit?
The word
Where do we know if a spirit is true?
The word
How do we know there are spirits?
The word
How do we know a spirits true without the word?

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

You cannot know who the holy spirit even is or what he does until you read the word.... tell me of the spirit outside of what the word tells us?.

If a spirit comes to you how do you know its true?
The word confirms this... the HS leads you in Gods word

Who knows its the HS unless they know the word? If a spirit goes up to an unbeliever how would he know what spirit it was? The word would tell him... the HS helps you with Gods word so that you dont go into error

 

[amadeus2]

Amadeus... how do you know if a spirit is true but through the word.... if the holy spirit teaches you truth what truth is it that he teaches?

The word..... you dont know anything about any spirit UNTIL you read the word....

Both are necessary. Early on God will cut us more slack (milk before meat), but as we move along reading/studying the scripture, we cannot ignore our communication/meditation with God or our immersion in the Holy Spirit: Not too dry, but also not too wet. A baby drinks liquid which is gradually increased to a thicker, but still semi-liquid food, until he has teeth which are able to sink themselves into a piece of meat.

We need to come to recognize the Lord's voice as His sheep. There are lots of spirits as well the Holy Spirit with different voices. With God's help we can and must come to know the difference. This is not just for reading scripture with understanding, but in order to live in this corrupted and corrupting world in a manner pleasing to God.

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

1. How do we even know there is a holy spirit?
2. How do we know what truth is?
3. How do we know there are demon spirits?
4. How do we know what the Holy Spirit does?
5. How do we test a spirit?
6. If the spirit leads in truth how did we know this?

We know all these things because the Word tells us

Ok theres nothing more I can say so.....peace

 

[TRUTH BE TOLD]

Remember the spirit conforms to Gods word
Gods word does not conform to the spirit

 

[RJ]

1. How do we even know there is a holy spirit?
2. How do we know what truth is?
3. How do we know there are demon spirits?
4. How do we know what the Holy Spirit does?
5. How do we test a spirit?
6. If the spirit leads in truth how did we know this?

We know all these things because the Word tells us

Ok theres nothing more I can say so.....peace

If that is all you have and exclude a personal relationship with Jesus, then I feel sorry for you. No matter if they destroy all the Bibles in the world, I still have Jesus in me.....is he in you?

 

[B-A-C]

The Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses say they have Jesus in them.
It isn't the Jesus of the Bible. But you wouldn't know that if you didn't have a Bible.

The Bible will never go away. Isa 40:8; 1 Pet 1:25;

 

[RJ]

The Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses say they have Jesus in them

Now, do they really have Jesus inside them?

But you wouldn't know that if you didn't have a Bible.

I beg to differ. Thank God I have and read the Bible and would never give it up, but the Bible was not responsible for getting God into me...God did!