Featured Grace Alone

Kenny Dyess needs to read the Bible! In the Epistle to the Romans and in all of his epistles where he uses the word “works,” Paul is referring exclusively to the works of the law. Otherwise, he would be expressly contradicting the Lord Jesus,

Mat 19:16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Mat 19:17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Mat 19:18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mat 19:20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Mat 19:22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (ESV) Compare Mark 10:17ff and Luke 18:18ff.

He would also be expressly contradicting the brother James of the Lord Jesus,
Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
Jas 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
Jas 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Jas 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
Jas 2:22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
Jas 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (ESV)

 

I have here in my study 28 commentaries on the Epistle of James authored by New Testament scholars representing a wide spectrum of theological thought. Unfortunately, Bill Parker has apparently never read any of them or had enough interest in the Bible to study it.

 

It’s simple. If you are saved, good works will follow. Ephesians 2:10.

 

Hmm, I think it's the opposite. Good works often precede faith.

11 And into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth. Mt 10

34 And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. Acts 10

21 But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God. Jn3

Because.......regeneration precedes faith.

 

The more of the Bible we ignore, the simpler it gets. However, I choose not to ignore The Epistle of James, The Epistle to the Romans, the synoptic gospels, and the Book of Acts where the Bible explicitly teaches that works must precede salvation.

 

All of this is absolutely irrelevant to this thread because no one is denying that good works do follow salvation. The issue is that many people choose to believe a 16th century French politician named Jean (John) Calvin instead of The Epistle of James, The Epistle to the Romans, the synoptic gospels, and the Book of Acts where the Bible explicitly teaches that works must precede salvation. For example,

Acts 16:25. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.
27. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
28. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
29. The jailer {Gk [He]} called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
30. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The jailor asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, and they replied,

Acts 16:31 οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· πίστευσον ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου. (NA28)

Acts 16:31. They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (NRSV)

Notice that the verb πίστευσον is in the imperative mood—the Greek mood used for commands. Paul and Silas commanded the jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus” in order to be saved. The jailer chose to obey the command, and was saved. Jesus met some of the needs for the jailer’s salvation—and the jailer chose to meet the remaining need.

This is the word of God and no amount of Calvinism will ever change it!

 

Actually, works are subsequent to salvation. "Without Me, ye can do nothing." "The flesh profits nothing." "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

It is the works we do AFTER salvation that God credits to our Heavenly account. Faith without works, is indeed dead. Likewise, works without faith is equally dead.

 

Where exactly does the Bible explicitly teach that preaching brings about the birth of the Spirit? The Spirit blows where He wills, no preacher required for the birth from above.

 

The birth from above must occur before one can enter into this, or even see it, or even have ears to hear the preaching. 'Preaching' has zilch to do with the birth of the Spirit.

13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jn 1

 

K.

 

Of Course! Every true believer knows this to be an incontrovertible fact! However, this fact has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Paul and Silas commanded the jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus” in order to be saved. This command was a direct answer to the question asked by the jailor in the immediately preceding verse in which the jailor asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas did not answer the question by replying, “Don’t sweat it! It has all been taken care of from the foundation of the world.” Instead, they told the jailor the truth, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (NRSV). Their salvation was to be in future time and dependent upon the jailor obeying the command given to him by Paul and Silas.

It appears to me from your posts that you have never read through the Bible but that you have only read miscellaneous verses here and there—making a nuisance of yourself!

 

Fatalism.

“Make your calling and election sure.”

Per the rules of English grammar, the sentence has an understood “You” at the beginning, because it is speaking to the reader.