Featured The Bible Way of Salvation

Here is exactly what I said:

It is you, sbg, who stated:
"The sinner must, before they are saved, repent of their sins."

When you use the word "must" you make salvation conditional. You declare that God cannot save by grace until a human first repents. You say that the human must...before God can...

Is this just a blind spot for you? Can you not see what you are stating? Can you not see that you remove unmerited favor and replace it with merited favor?

What might I possibly do for you to see what you are claiming and thus realize that you are removing grace from salvation? I am honestly at a loss for making it more clear to you.

 

Now you see why I rarely answer his post. He denies the simple truth and does his best to confuse you It's all part of there induction technique
MB

 

The New Testament is the inspired work product of the Holy Spirit "helper" providing God's revelation through the New Testament authors.

4) The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict humanity of sin, righteousness, and judgement. Thus the gospel of Christ convicts the lost of the sin of unbelief, such as John 3:18, convicts humanity of God's righteousness, even though Christ has returned to the Father, his birth, sinless life, death and resurrection because of testimony of the New Testament.​

Romans 10:14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

 

Hmmm... you think this passage defines salvation. sbg, I honestly don't know what to tell you, except that this passage is not supporting your contention.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
~ Luke 13:1-5

 

Jesus is the Word made flesh, my friend, and God the Son.
How is it that you think I am not treating His words with the care that they are due?

Let's look at those passages together:

" Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." ( Mark 1:14-15 ). <---- Commands repentance and belief from Israel.

" Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, <--- God has to open someone's understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures?
46 and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Where do you see that repentance leads to salvation in these passages?
SBG, my question to you is, are you seeing here that God requires repentance before God saves someone, or does the passage actually spell it out in no uncertain terms?

In other words, is it declared, or is it only implied in the above?
Here's the last one you listed:

" Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call. " ( Acts of the Apostles 2:38-39 ).

It appears that you and I have a very different understanding of this passage...
I understand that baptism in the above is understood to signify the fact that the believer has already received remissions of sins...they did not repent and were baptized in order to gain it.

I also think you missed the next verse in the passage above, my friend.
God has placed a selective limit, or definition, upon who it is that repents, is baptized and who receives remission ( forgiveness ) of sins, and who receives the gift of the Holy Ghost.

As many as the Lord our God shall call.

Please see Romans 8:28-30 for who it is that the Lord describes as "the called".

 

@SavedByGrace :
In addition, gifts are not earned, and this seems to be something that, frankly, escapes you.
Why, I am not sure, but to me you genuinely believe that if you perform all the correct acts ( like repenting and believing ), God will reward you with His gifts.

Is this not meriting them?
Merit:

• theology
  (merits)
  "good deeds regarded as entitling someone to a future reward from God."

3) "spiritual credit held to be earned by performance of righteous acts and to ensure future benefits." Definition of MERIT

Trading one thing for something else?
Meeting God's requirements in order to gain His favor and an escape from His wrath?

I'm sorry, but this is not Biblical salvation, this is works... and to us as men, it really does make sense to us that God should reward us with something if we meet His requirements...doesn't it?
Only that is not how God's grace functions.

See Romans 4:4, Romans 11:5-6, Titus 3:4-7.

It cannot be bought, earned, merited or otherwise "gotten" because it is a gift, yet it seems to me that you are insisting that it can.
How do our works as rebellious sinners, merit us His gift of eternal life in the face of this below?

" But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." ( Titus 3:4-7 ).

How you cannot see the difference between a gift and a reward, merited favor and unmerited favor with God I do not know.
To me, it really is a very basic and Biblical teaching...
One that I learned as a young believer back in 1978:

" For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:" ( Ephesians 2:8 ).

I was saved by His grace...without merit or works of any kind.

 

So what about John 3:16, ". . . For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. . . ."?

 

Why do I care what Todd Friel says or doesn't say? Is Todd Friel God? We look to God in His word. We value all of God's word.
I already told you about my relationship with Todd Friel. His opinion is not one I listen to. Therefore, it seems you cannot support your assertion in scripture so instead you look for other humans who might prop up your assertion, outside of scripture.

I have pointed out how your assertion removes unmerited favor in salvation and replaces it with merited favor as the means of salvation. We cannot agree as I will always see salvation as being by grace alone.

 

Exactly why do I care what a man who was in a free will CMA church teaches when he isn't a pastor, nor a teacher, nor a theologian. It would be like listening to our friend George Antonios give his opinion. If you like Todd Friel, then you like him. I knew Todd. Todd was all about promoting Todd when I met him. He wanted to be a nationally syndicated shock jock. That's what he has become. I place him in the same camp as Rush Limbaugh. He's full of bluster without much substance.

 

If that were true, I would still be a free will proponent. Praise God he opened his holy word to me. I am sure as I read, God will show me more of my error.
What I won't do is take my eyes off Jesus to go looking for other men who would prop up my opinions. "Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)

 

Of course you are. You cannot see your error so everyone else must be wrong...even though the position I hold was held by the Apostle Paul and the other writers of scripture.
How could you, the great theologian that you are, possibly ever be wrong. Certainly Paul would defer to you.

 

@SavedByGrace :
My apologies to you for the apparent tone of my posts in this and other threads.
While I disagree with you on many subjects, I have no business being hard on anyone for not understanding the Scriptures the same way as I do.

I do hope that you will forgive my breach of Christian conduct.

 

Romans 16:17-20 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Be at peace, Dave. This disagreement is over theology. You have rightly argued for the doctrines Paul teaches.

 

This argument is really funny. When a man turns from his sins he is repenting. Although Paul repented every day when he died to his sins. There is no sin in Christ Jesus. So turning to Him is turning away from your sin and focusing on Him.
MB