Are Some Unable To Be Renewed To Repentance?

[Enow]

2 Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

The same as the Old Covenant, God remains faithful to His promises, both positive and negative. When God abides faithful, it reminds us that when some people do not abide in Him, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31.) God cannot deny His own standards, He remains faithful to them.

When someone has died, it is common for people to ask... "Did they go to heaven?" Especially when they were not overt Christians. I cannot claim to be God and know their hearts. My answer is usually, "I do not know where they are, but one thing I do know is, they are in the hands of a Just God." Now the question comes to mind, does the thought of being in the hands of a Just God strike terror in you? Or does it comfort you?

The verse immediately before this gives the context of it all, "If we endure we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;" Yet, He abides faithful to do this. Don't doubt God.

The problem here is that believers are not seeing those who get cut off and left behind are still saved. Those left behind is where the vessels unto dishonor comes from that are still in His House that did not depart from iniquity. Those who do, shall be received as vessels unto honor in His House. Those who do not by the time the Bridegroom comes, will be disqualified as in reprobate from attending the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven.

So any unrepentant iniquity is the same as denying Him verbally but by their works;

Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Paul gives an example of a former believer where he errs from the truth and had his faith overthrown but he says "nevertheless" in pointing out again of 2 Timothy 2:13, that the foundation of God stands sure with His seal for why former believers are still to be called to depart from iniquity so they can be that vessel unto honor in His House as received by the Bridegroom when He comes.

2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

So if a believer depart from iniquity, he purges himself by His grace & by His help ( Hebrews 12:1-2 & 2 Timothy 4:18 ) to be received as that vessel unto honor and yet those who do not repent, that foundation still remains along with that seal of adoption, but disqualified to be resurrected after the great tribulation as vessels unto dishonor in His House for why there are vessels of dishonor in His House that did not depart from iniquity. They will weep and gnash their teeth over the loss of that firstfruit of the resurrection, and they will get stripes per the knowledge for not being ready, but He still calls them servants just as the prodigal son gave up his inheritance for wild living but he is still son.

 

[Enow]

I'm surprised that you don't see these as being accounts of the same event, and this narrative connected throughout.

So then the "wherefore" in 31 refers only to the statement in vs. 30.

So then in Mark,

22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

The statement in verses 28-29 are in reference to verse 27 only? That would then harmonize between the two passages. Except that Mark names something else, so wouldn't we need to bring the more specific passage to interpret the less specific passage, rather than the other way?

Much love!

Between Matthew & Mark which is the same event is why and how I see you applying His words wrong to mean in Mark's reference by itself.

I understand your point of view if we were to go by Mark's reference by itself, but since Matthew's is the same incident and Luke's account does not refer to that incident at all but by those who deny Him before men, then the only conclusion as to the unforgivable sin as blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is unbelief. What was said in Mark's reference was an act done in unbelief.

To continue in unbelief in never having believed in Jesus Christ is how the Holy Spirit is blasphemed and that is the only sin the Holy Spirit will convict of for where there is no forgiveness.

For as much eternal peril as to your application to mean, I see no special judgment in that regard in Revelations or any where else in the N.T.

Like Peter 2:38 for how believers think that water baptism is how a believer gets the remission of sins, but if they do not take the rest of scripture in account, regardless of what seems to be the plainness of what is written in Peter 2:38, other scripture will point out that "repent" in Acts 2:38 is repenting from unbelief by believing in Him is how one receives the remission for sins because that was plainly stated to the Gentiles as such in Acts 10:43-44 and they got the gift of the Holy Spirit BEFORE water baptism.

Anyway, we agree to disagree.

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

And how do you do that? By faith in Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd and Savior or resorting to our own power in keeping His commandments to obtain salvation by running that race?

If the latter, not sure how anyone can have power to follow Him by faith unless Jesus Christ is in you as saved, but those who resort to their own power are not doing it by faith in Him, even though they are ignorant that they are already saved. They either vain in trying to finish by the flesh what was begun with the Spirit or they confess their sins of their foolishness and go back to surrendering in resting in Him as saved for how they can run that race.

We are to have faith like Abraham. Abraham was considered righteous because of his faith working along with his works. The scriptures show that Abraham was obedient to God because of the love he had for the True God. In other words when The True God commanded or told Abraham to do something Abraham was obedient to what God commanded. So like Abraham we strive to be obedient to The True God understanding that we are all imperfect therefore will make mistakes, but God has given us a deliverer who is God's Only Begotten Son so that when we do make mistakes and we genuinely ask for forgiveness in Jesus name, God will forgive us. So if anyone is saying works are not involved in the walk of faith, then they're not the seed of Abraham. We exercise faith that the appropriate sacrifice was given to cover the transgression of the first Adam, that appropriate sacrifice being God's Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ and because The True God and his Only Begotten Son have shown such a great love for us we reciprocate with love by striving to be obedient go God and when we make a mistake ask God to forgive us and continue on trying to be obedient. Will we be perfect in this world we're living in? No, but we have faith that if we keep striving to be obedient God will eventually perfect us in the next world we live in, the new Earth.

 

[Enow]

We are to have faith like Abraham. Abraham was considered righteous because of his faith working along with his works. The scriptures show that Abraham ........

Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

 

[marks]

To continue in unbelief in never having believed in Jesus Christ is how the Holy Spirit is blasphemed

That's not the meaning of the word blasphemy.

Luke 12
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Four things are spoken of here. Confessing Jesus before man, denying Jesus before men, speaking against Jesus, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Each have their own meaning in their own right.

Much love!

 

[marks]

then the only conclusion as to the unforgivable sin as blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is unbelief.

I think the only conclusion of what blasphemy is is that it's blasphemy.

Much love!

 

[Earburner]

If the latter, not sure how anyone can have power to follow Him by faith unless Jesus Christ is in you as saved, but those who resort to their own power are not doing it by faith in Him, even though they are ignorant that they are already saved.

What?
Why are denying John 3:18 Romans 8:8-9 and 2 Timothy 3:4-5?

 

[Enow]

That's not the meaning of the word blasphemy.

Luke 12
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Four things are spoken of here. Confessing Jesus before man, denying Jesus before men, speaking against Jesus, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Each have their own meaning in their own right.

Much love!

Well. in light of the term, why use the Son of man instead of the Son of God? So when God is at work in Jesus as the Son of man, it would be speaking against the work of the Holy Ghost in that disbelief.

Plus, like water baptism where we can find Paul speaking against it as not required for salvation in 1 Corinthians 1:14-18,21 & Peter spoken against water in 1 Peter 3:21, then we should be able to find how the Holy Spirit will judge those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in the way you apply that to mean in Mark's account, but we do not.

Instead we see what He will convict of which is sin for not believing in Jesus; John 16:8-12 That is the sin of unbelief for which there is no forgiveness of sins for why sinners goes to hell and then to the lake of fire.

You say it is what was said about the Holy Spirit and I say what was said about the Holy Spirit was done to discourage the masses away from believing in Jesus, thus speaking against what the Holy Spirit was doing to help the masses believe in Jesus in that way. What was said was not directed at the Holy Spirit, but at Jesus for all the spotlight that was on Him for "how" the miracles was happening to scatter potential believers from Jesus.

That is how I lined all three accounts up with Matthew's, Mark's, and Luke's for what was said in Mark about the Holy Spirit was to scatter people from Jesus just as you & I would to clarify Mark 16:16 as assigning that baptism with the baptism with the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives at our salvation.

But I can accept that we agree to disagree, brother.

 

[Enow]

What?
Why are denying John 3:18 Romans 8:8-9 and 2 Timothy 3:4-5?

If any believer resorts to their own power to accomplish that which should have been done by faith in Jesus Christ for Him to do it, then that is voiding faith in Jesus Christ to do it.

That is how believers wind up naked, not wearing their wedding garment as that wedding garment is our faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

This was what was said about Abraham in regards to what was considered righteousness in the eyes of God was by believing God.

Romans 4:1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

How we follow Him is believing Jesus Christ is also our Good Shepherd to do His work in us and thru us so we can follow Him. Hebrews 12:1-2

 

[marks]

Well. in light of the term, why use the Son of man instead of the Son of God? So when God is at work in Jesus as the Son of man, it would be speaking against the work of the Holy Ghost in that disbelief.

I'm not sure I understand your question. Jesus said blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, so, to vilify the Holy Spirit, I think that was what He was talking about.

Probably most hold more to your view, so you have lots of company.

Much love!

 

[marks]

You say it is what was said about the Holy Spirit and I say what was said about the Holy Spirit was done to discourage the masses away from believing in Jesus,

I think if you look back in my posts I've said this bolded part. I mentioned that as a possible reason for this being so unforgiveable. Although I suspect it has to do with the hardness of the hearts of those who would do that.

But putting this as If I speak against that isn't correct.

Plus, like water baptism where we can find Paul speaking against it as not required for salvation in 1 Corinthians 1:14-18,21 & Peter spoken against water in 1 Peter 3:21, then we should be able to find how the Holy Spirit will judge those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in the way you apply that to mean in Mark's account, but we do not.

I don't understand this either.

Your arguments in general seem to me to be rather convoluted, If it meant what it said there in all it's simplicity, blaspheming the Holy Spirit, then it would have said this like that there, and wouldn't have said that there in that way . . . not trying to put words in your mouth, just how it comes across to me.

I believe that the more one understands the Bible, the simpler one will be able to express its meaning, which is, in general, exactly what it says, I think.

I would easily imagine that those who are guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit simply aren't saved. Asked and answered.

Much love!

 

[Enow]

I'm not sure I understand your question. Jesus said blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, so, to vilify the Holy Spirit, I think that was what He was talking about.

Like what Jesus said to Peter in naming him as Peter, when the Father revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, you have to take what Jesus said for everything that was going on there and said by Jesus for how He applied blaspheme against the Holy Spirit rightly.

Probably most hold more to your view, so you have lots of company.

Much love!

Numbers do not make a rightly dividing the word of truth right. Only Jesus can confirm the word to you thru the Holy Ghost in you and since we prophesy in part and know in part, we will both know when we see Him face to face.

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

You behold that [Abraham’s] faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected.”—JAMES 2:22.

MANY say that they have faith in God. Yet, mere professed faith is as lifeless as a corpse. “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself,” wrote the disciple James. He also said that God-fearing Abraham had faith that “worked along with his works.” (James 2:17, 22) What significance do such words have for us?

If we have true faith, we will not just believe what we hear at Christian meetings. We will give evidence of faith because we are active Witnesses of Jehovah. Yes, faith will prompt us to apply God’s Word in life and will move us to action.

Faith Produces Fine Works

Besides making us loving and merciful, faith produces fine works. (James 2:14-26) Of course, professed faith that lacks works is not going to save us. True, we cannot earn a righteous standing with God by works of the Law. (Romans 4:2-5) James is talking about works motivated, not by a law code, but by faith and love. If we are moved by such qualities, we will not merely express kind wishes for a needy fellow worshiper. We will give material aid to an unclad or hungry brother or sister. James asks: ‘If you tell a needy brother: “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed” but do not provide the necessities, of what benefit is that?’ None. (Job 31:16-22) Such “faith” is lifeless!

We may be associating with God’s people to some extent, but only wholehearted works can back up our claim that we have faith. It is fine if we have rejected the False doctrine and believe that there is one true God. Yet, mere belief is not faith. “The demons believe,” and they “shudder” fearfully because destruction awaits them. If we truly have faith, it will move us to produce such works as preaching the good news and providing food and clothing for needy fellow believers. James asks: “Do you care to know, O empty man [not filled with accurate knowledge of God], that faith apart from works is inactive?” Yes, faith calls for action.

The faith of the godly patriarch Abraham moved him to action. As “the father of all those having faith,” he was “declared righteous by works after he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar.” (Romans 4:11, 12;Genesis 22:1-14) What if Abraham had lacked faith that God could resurrect Isaac and fulfill His promise of a seed through him? Then Abraham would never have tried to offer up his son. (Hebrews 11:19) It was by Abraham’s obedient works that “his faith was perfected,” or made complete. Thereby, “the scripture [Genesis 15:6] was fulfilled which says: ‘Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” Abraham’s works in trying to offer up Isaac confirmed God’s earlier pronouncement that Abraham was righteous. By works of faith, he showed his love for God and came to be called “Jehovah’s friend.”

Abraham proved “that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone.” That was also true of Rahab, a harlot in Jericho. She was “declared righteous by works, after she had received the [Israelite] messengers hospitably and sent them out by another way” so that they eluded their Canaanite enemies. Before meeting Israel’s spies, she recognized Jehovah as the true God, and her subsequent words and abandonment of prostitution gave evidence of her faith. (Joshua 2:9-11;Hebrews 11:31) After this second example of faith shown by works, James says: “Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” When a person is dead, there is no animating force, or “spirit,” in him, and he accomplishes nothing. Mere professed faith is just as lifeless and useless as a dead body. If we have real faith, though, it will move us to godly action.

 

[Paul Christensen]

That's not the meaning of the word blasphemy.

Luke 12
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Four things are spoken of here. Confessing Jesus before man, denying Jesus before men, speaking against Jesus, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Each have their own meaning in their own right.

Much love!

Jesus' definition of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to that of the devil.

 

[quietthinker]

Jesus' definition of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to that of the devil.

...and the work of the Holy Sprit is to convict, to enlighten and to encourage, to point out the right direction. If this is rejected there is no other avenue for God to work on a persons heart thus rejection or blasphemy against the Spirit becomes unpardonable.

 

[Paul Christensen]

...and the work of the Holy Sprit is to convict, to enlighten and to encourage, to point out the right direction. If this is rejected there is no other avenue for God to work on a persons heart thus rejection or blasphemy against the Spirit becomes unpardonable.

Yes. As long as the person remains in an unbelieving state. But there is the way back: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven of men". I think that when a person gets to the depth of unbelief that he knowingly and deliberately attributes the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil, then the way back may be so difficult that it is almost impossible.

 

[Truther]

"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame" (Hebrews 6:4-6).

I want to give my take on this Scripture to make a bit clearer exactly who this Scripture refers to.

Right at the outset I want to say that it does not refer to genuine believers who fall into sin while yet retaining their general faith in Christ. I know they need to repent, and the opportunity for repentance is always open to them without restriction of any kind. We need to not only confess our sins but to keep our bodies under subjection by doing what we can to forsake any sinful habit patterns we might have. We need the strength of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it in most cases. That is a given.

The Scripture also doesn't apply to atheists, agnostics and cult members who have never known the truth of the gospel, have never received Christ or partaken of the Holy Spirit. The door to repentance is always open to them.

But there is a class of people where the Scripture does apply and that the door to repentance is firmly closed to them. These are the ones who previously received Christ, got filled with the Holy Spirit, and enjoyed the Christian life for a period of time. Then, knowing full well what they were doing, they decided, or some reason, to reject Christ totally and go back to a sinful, atheistic world-view. According to the Scripture I have quoted, there is no way they can be restored to repentance and faith in Christ again. The door is firmly closed against them. Now some may not be able to accept that because the God they believe in has to accept everyone who desires repentance back into the fold, even though the Scripture says differently.

We see the example of Esau, when he lost his birthright and blessing, sought it earnestly with tears, but to no avail. Because he sold his birthright to Jacob, he had lost it forever. He had it and rejected it. This is the same as a person who receives Christ, and then afterward totally rejects Him and declares himself as an atheist. He fits right into the person described in the Scripture as totally unable to be restored to repentance because he has trodden the blood of Christ underfoot and crucified Christ afresh.

Now, this is the reason why some atheists on Christianforums.com and possibly on this forum, who were once born-again Christians, but for some reason, have rejected Christ and departed the faith altogether and declared that they are atheists, in spite of every attempts to persuade them to see reason and re-affirm faith in Christ, they remain totally adamant in their atheism, to the point of viciously attacking those believers who try to help them see and understand the gospel.

The fact is, they fully understand the gospel, they have already experienced what it is to be a born-again believer filled with the Holy Spirit, but with that full knowledge, they have rejected Christ, trodden His blood underfoot and crucified Him afresh, and so there is no way they can repent; and so they can do no other but argue vehemently against any attempt to persuade them back to faith in Christ.

Even if they do decide to attempt to come back to Christ, and seek Him with remorse and many tears, their hearts cannot be changed, because the door to repentance is firmly closed against them. This is because a person can repent only through the work of the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit doesn't do it, there is no way they can repent. So although they might desire to undo their tragic rejection of Christ, they can only wait in fear for the judgement time where they will have to face the Lord and give an account for their rejection.

An example of one such atheist is the one who said in a post that they were once a born-again Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit, but because of an incident in their church, they decided to abandon the faith and become an atheist. Another person, who happened to be the Principal of a school I taught at, told me that he was a Spirit-filled Christian once, but because of all the "hypocrites" in the church, he decided to leave it and become and atheist. He told me that he wanted to go to hell, because his wife was also atheist and he wanted to go to where she is going so he wouldn't be separated from her. How very, very sad for him and her! So, according to the Hebrews 6 Scripture, there is little possibility that they will ever be restored to repentance.

Tho scripture text in chapter 6 is talking about returning to the Law to attempt to find salvation, crucifying the son of God afresh and putting him to an open shame.

 

[Enow]

You behold that [Abraham’s] faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected.”—JAMES 2:22.

Abraham proved “that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone.” That was also true of Rahab, a harlot in Jericho. She was “declared righteous by works, after she had received the [Israelite] messengers hospitably and sent them out by another way” so that they eluded their Canaanite enemies. Before meeting Israel’s spies, she recognized Jehovah as the true God, and her subsequent words and abandonment of prostitution gave evidence of her faith. (Joshua 2:9-11;Hebrews 11:31) After this second example of faith shown by works, James says: “Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” When a person is dead, there is no animating force, or “spirit,” in him, and he accomplishes nothing. Mere professed faith is just as lifeless and useless as a dead body. If we have real faith, though, it will move us to godly action.

Brother Barney Bright,

James was not talking about the faith in Jesus Christ for salvation regarding those "works".

Jesus was talking about how the church was verbalizing faith in God's Providence to provide to the poor and yet the church was not leading by example by meeting the immediate needs of the poor from the bounty collected at church service.

James cited the example of Abraham and Isaac only because that too, was the history about Abraham's faith in God providing.

Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together....11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

By what Abraham name of the place is the moral of that historical account for what James was referencing Abraham & Isaac for.

Rahab was provided by God an escape for she believed He would for helping the 2 spies.

So the faith James was talking about that requires work is the faith in God's Providence. You can't tell someone else to have faith in His Providence if you do not show that faith in His Providence. In the eyes of the poor, the church's faith is dead for why the church's faith will not profit the poor nor save the poor from the elements and starvation.

Because of other scriptures, you cannot apply faith in Jesus Christ to be accompanied with works for obtaining salvation. No one should believe that their works with their faith has saved them.

Titus 3:4 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.

Works are good and profitable unto men, but not having anything to do with salvation when believers are saved just for believing in Him.

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

 

[Paul Christensen]

Tho scripture text in chapter 6 is talking about returning to the Law to attempt to find salvation, crucifying the son of God afresh and putting him to an open shame.

Informative.

 

[Dcopymope]

"Are Some Unable To Be Renewed To Repentance?"

Well, yes, Satan is a prime example. Those who take the mark of the beast are unpardonable as well, though others may have a different opinion about that.