Understand that salvation is all of God. Salvation is pretty cheap when man can say that he has a part in it. His blood atones for my sin. I would hate to think that water could pay part of the price that Christ paid on the cross for me. Is that really what you teach? When the people said to Christ, "What must we do to work the works of God?" Christ replied, "This is the work of God that ye believe on him who hath sent me." He was teaching faith alone. He was not teaching that faith is a work, per se. He was teaching that in order to have salvation you must have faith. In this you must compare Scripture with Scripture, for the Bible does not contradict itself.Originally posted by Frank:
1.Eph.2:8,9 requires two to be saved.
ERROR 1. IT IS FALSE DOCTRINE TO TEACH ANYTHING ONLY SAVES. Grace is with faith so she is not alone.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Acts 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Rom.10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom.10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom.10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Grace DOES rule out law. We are under grace, not under the law. Furthermore, grace is not something you do. Grace is God's free unmerited favor. "For by grace are ye saved," yes--but that is God's grace, not yours. "For by (God's) grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." One is saved through faith and not of works. That is what the Bible says. If you don't believe that then your argument is with God not with me.
Rom.3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Rom.3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Gal.3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Gal.3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
---Grace and law are mutually exclusive. If you are going to keep the law, then keep all of it. That is what Paul teaches in Gal.3:10. "Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." If you do not continue in every single thing that is written in the law, every day of your life, then you are cursed. If you but break one law, sin but one time, then you are cursed. That is the law. We are cursed under the law, thus Christ became a curse for us.
Gal.3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
---Baptism wouldn't work. But Christ's sacrifice on the cross did. Don't cheapen salvation by saying that you helped out God by being baptized. Jesus paid it all. There's no works involved. Salvation is by faith alone.
DHK