Justification By Faith Alone is Not Biblical

[Saved-By-Grace]

The teaching that a sinner is justified before God solely on the basis of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is not the complete Gospel on salvation, as the other important factor has been omitted, - REPENTANCE

The first words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark's Gospel, are, "REPENT and BELIEVE in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15)

Again, in Luke chapter 13, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ;

"but unless you REPENT, you will all likewise perish" (verses 3, 5)

At the end of His Ministry in Luke chapter 25, we read the words of Jesus;

"and that REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (47)

The very first sermon preached in the early Church, as recorded in Acts chapter 2, we read of Peter's response to those who had been convicted by the Gospel Message, "“Brothers, what shall we do?” (v.37), to which Peter said, “REPENT and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (38)

And, in the next chapter, the Disciples again say;

"REPENT therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out" (3:19)

To say that a sinner is "Justified" on the basis of faith ALONE, cannot be Biblically correct, as REPENTANCE, is as much as a precondition to a sinner being saved, than FAITH is. It is NOT something that follows conversion, as some teach, which is plainly wrong from the Word of God.

 

[Deacon]

or perhaps repentance is a step of faith

Rob

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

or perhaps repentance is a step of faith

Rob

do you mean faith first? Surely a person cannot be saved without true repentance, first?

 

[agedman]

Anything placed as a must do in order to obtain is works based conditioned upon fulfilling to some measure of expectancy what is necessary to obtain.

Salvation is not works based

 

[kyredneck]

Justification By Faith Alone is Not Biblical

Correct.

24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. Ja 2

 

[kyredneck]

"but unless you REPENT, you will all likewise perish" (verses 3, 5)

...you mean 'likewise' perish at the hands of Roman soldiers?

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

Anything placed as a must do in order to obtain is works based conditioned upon fulfilling to some measure of expectancy what is necessary to obtain.

Salvation is not works based

Salvation is not "earned" by any "good works". However, the sinner must DO something to be saved, and the Bible calls this "REPENT", and genuine sorry for a life without and against God, and a life of sinfulness. In Acts 2:37, the people who heard Peters preaching and were "cut to the heart", said, “Brothers, what shall we DO?” to which Peter replied, REPENT. This is what we also read in Jonah chapter 3, after the Gospel Message was received, we read: "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not" (verse 10). Note, God saw their "works", which was the fact that they "turned from (REPENTED) from their evil way". God does not do the repenting for the sinner

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

...you mean 'likewise' perish at the hands of Roman soldiers?

no, eternal punishment in hell, as the Bible says

 

[kyredneck]

no, eternal punishment in hell, as the Bible says

You make no bones about reading into the text whatever it is you want it to say, right?

 

[agedman]

Unfortunately, it seems that when one departs from "for by grace you are saved through faith not of yourself rather a gift of God not of works" they can no longer claim to be Baptist.

Perhaps the person will find fellowship among those of the Church of Christ who also state that one must be baptized, using as one must repent, that the same authority who stated:

38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”​

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

Unfortunately, it seems that when one departs from "for by grace you are saved through faith not of yourself rather a gift of God not of works" they can no longer claim to be Baptist.

Perhaps the person will find fellowship among those of the Church of Christ who also state that one must be baptized, using as one must repent, that the same authority who stated:

38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”​

are you denying that a lost sinner must first repent of their sins? It is the grace of God that leads the sinner to repent in the first place. But, the sinner must DO the repenting. This cannot be done by the Lord. You are mistaken to say that repenting is a "work" so as to "earn" a sinner salvation. This is not what the Bible says, or I believe.

To be a baptist does not mean that one is either a Calvinist or Reformed, as this is not the standard of what it means

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

You make no bones about reading into the text whatever it is you want it to say, right?

So, what is Jesus referring to about "perishing" in Luke 13:1-5?

 

[agedman]

For the purpose:

Repent means to turn around, have a change of mind and heart.

Godly sorrow brings repentance as 2 Corinthians 7:10 states:

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
​

But such repentance is not human generated, and not presented as a condition or requirement of salvation.

For the same scriptures teach in Galatians 3:24

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.​

There is no human desire or ability to change their own heart to that of being Godly, holy, just, righteous. Rather, just the opposite is the foundational statement concerning the human condition in the Scriptures. As is found in John


What does the Scripture state takes place?
John 6:

44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.​

And again in John 10:

26“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30“I and the Father are one.”​

Here is a greater than Peter statement concerning the matter seen in John 6:

28Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”​

It is not Scripturally foundational to support a statement such as "one must do" in order to gain.

Especially when it is God that grants both the repentance and salvation, and it has nothing to do with human effort.

One does not have to repent to be saved.
One repents because they are being saved, are saved, and will be saved.

No single repentance is enough to be saved, but repentance is a continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer and evidence of now being in fact one of the adopted son's of God.

 

[agedman]

are you denying that a lost sinner must first repent of their sins? It is the grace of God that leads the sinner to repent in the first place. But, the sinner must DO the repenting. This cannot be done by the Lord. You are mistaken to say that repenting is a "work" so as to "earn" a sinner salvation. This is not what the Bible says, or I believe.

To be a baptist does not mean that one is either a Calvinist or Reformed, as this is not the standard of what it means

You are wrong as I showed in Post #13

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

You are wrong as I showed in Post #13

you wrote

"One does not have to repent to be saved.
One repents because they are being saved, are saved, and will be saved."

Just how can a person be saved (born-again) without repenting, as it is no where taught in the Bible. You make the process as mechanical, and the Bible says it is a personal decision. You ignore texts like Acts 2:37, where we read the words, "what much we DO?", to which Peter did not say, you do nothing, as you will be saved anyway, and then you can repent. You have put the cart before the horse, and giving a theological position (Reformed) which the Bible does not teach, as I have shown. Look again at the same principle in Jonah chapter 3, where the people of Nineveh "turned from their evil ways", which the Bible here calls "works". You are arguing against what the Bible says. Explain what the passage in Jonah says

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

For the purpose:

Repent means to turn around, have a change of mind and heart.

Godly sorrow brings repentance as 2 Corinthians 7:10 states:

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
​

But such repentance is not human generated, and not presented as a condition or requirement of salvation.

For the same scriptures teach in Galatians 3:24

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.​

There is no human desire or ability to change their own heart to that of being Godly, holy, just, righteous. Rather, just the opposite is the foundational statement concerning the human condition in the Scriptures. As is found in John


What does the Scripture state takes place?
John 6:

44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.​

And again in John 10:

26“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30“I and the Father are one.”​

Here is a greater than Peter statement concerning the matter seen in John 6:

28Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”​

It is not Scripturally foundational to support a statement such as "one must do" in order to gain.

Especially when it is God that grants both the repentance and salvation, and it has nothing to do with human effort.

One does not have to repent to be saved.
One repents because they are being saved, are saved, and will be saved.

No single repentance is enough to be saved, but repentance is a continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer and evidence of now being in fact one of the adopted son's of God.

the repentance of the sinner, is in response to the convicting of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Jesus says in Mark 1:15, "REPENT and BELIEVE", which is the norm for a sinner to be saved.

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

Ezekiel 18:21, "“But if a wicked person turns away (REPENTS) from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die"

33:14, "Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns (REPENTS) from his sin and does what is just and right"

Acts 10:34-35, "So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him"

Acts 17:30, "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to REPENT"

This is NOT "working" (earning) FOR salvation, but obeying the Lord God's requirements for being saved. This is not what I am saying, but what the Lord says in His word.

 

[Revmitchell]

The teaching that a sinner is justified before God solely on the basis of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is not the complete Gospel on salvation, as the other important factor has been omitted, - REPENTANCE

The first words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark's Gospel, are, "REPENT and BELIEVE in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15)

Again, in Luke chapter 13, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ;

"but unless you REPENT, you will all likewise perish" (verses 3, 5)

At the end of His Ministry in Luke chapter 25, we read the words of Jesus;

"and that REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (47)

The very first sermon preached in the early Church, as recorded in Acts chapter 2, we read of Peter's response to those who had been convicted by the Gospel Message, "“Brothers, what shall we do?” (v.37), to which Peter said, “REPENT and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (38)

And, in the next chapter, the Disciples again say;

"REPENT therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out" (3:19)

To say that a sinner is "Justified" on the basis of faith ALONE, cannot be Biblically correct, as REPENTANCE, is as much as a precondition to a sinner being saved, than FAITH is. It is NOT something that follows conversion, as some teach, which is plainly wrong from the Word of God.

Bub you are completely lost. You are conflating justification with responding to God's offer of grace.

 

[Saved-By-Grace]

Bub you are completely lost. You are conflating justification with responding to God's offer of grace.

No I am not. A sinner is only justified after they repent, which is responding to the Gospel offer of grace, as you put it. show me from Scripture where a sinner is justified (made right with God), before they repent of their sins?

 

[kyredneck]

1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Lu 13

So, what is Jesus referring to about "perishing" in Luke 13:1-5?

Perishing by the sword at the hand of the Romans in the wrath to come upon that generation that rejected and murdered Christ. (Undoubtedly Pilate sent Roman soldiers to do the killing in v. 1, and it was the Roman soldiers garrisoned in the tower of Siloam that 'fell upon' them and did the killing in v. 4 (Josephus actually records the incident)).