Obviously we receive regeneration and renewal through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Amen! The problem is that you say that out of one side of your mouth and out of the other side of your mouth you say something else.
And we do not do the will of the Father in order to be saved.
We do the will of the Father by looking to the Son and
believing in Him in order to receive eternal life/be saved. (John 6:40)
However, Matthew 7:21-23 appears to be clear on the idea that if we do not do the will of the Father after we are saved, He will say to us on that day, I never knew you.
How could these workers of iniquity/unbelievers do the will of the Father after they are saved when they did not do the will of the Father in order to become saved? Your theology is all over the place.
This is not salvation by works.
Doing the will of the Father after we have been saved in order to become saved is salvation by works.
It is to say that faith is an attitude in which we become obedient to the will of the Father. The obedience doesn't save us; the attitude does.
That makes no sense. Obedience after we have been saved is works. You say that faith is an attitude in which we become obedient to the Father, so you are basically saying that faith "is" an attitude along with obedience/works, then you say we are not saved by obedience, but the attitude.
It's faith that saves us. Period. We are saved the very moment that we place our faith (belief, trust, reliance) in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
I have been told that this is a "FALSE and PERVERTED" gospel...
Works salvation is a false and perverted gospel which renders Christ an IN-sufficient Savior.
but I consider that it is merely taking into account those verses in James, and here in Matthew, that speak of how a man is justified by works and not be faith only (for example, James 2:24).
First you say that obedience doesn't save us (and obedience is works), yet here you seem to be saying that we are saved by works. Like I said before, your theology is all over the place. "Justified by works" does not mean saved by works. James is not using the word "justified" to mean "accounted as righteous" but is
shown to be righteous. James is discussing the
evidence of faith (
says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18) and
not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God. (Romans 4:2-3) Works bear out the justification that already came by faith.
In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the Greek word for justified "dikaioo" #1344 is:
1. to render righteous or such he ought to be
2.
to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3. to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
In Matthew 12:37, we read - "For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This is because our words (and our works) reveal the condition of our hearts. Words/works are evidences for, or against a man being in a state of righteousness.
God is said to have been
justified by those who were baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 7:29). This act pronounced or declared God to be righteous. It did not make him righteous. The basis or ground for the pronouncement was the fact that God IS righteous. Notice that the NIV reads,
"acknowledged that God's way was right.." The ESV reads,
"they declared God just.." This is the sense in which God was "justified." He was
shown to be righteous.
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is
justified/vindicated/shown to be right by her deeds."
I am a full proponent of the idea that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. You will often find me referencing Romans 4:5-6, Titus 3:5 (kjv), Romans 11:5-6 (kjv), and Ephesians 2:8-9 to those who teach salvation by works. But there are verses that tell us that we cannot be saved apart from doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21 is one of these); and we would be neglectful in our Bible Study to ignore such verses.
Sounds like an oxymoron. The will of the Father in John 6:40 lines up with saved by grace through faith apart from works.
People are children of God because they have repented of their sins...they don't commit the same sins any more that they used to (1 John 3:9, 1 John 3:6, 1 John 2:17). Thus they are no longer "workers of iniquity" in the practical sense. See also Matthew 13:41-42.
So children of God never sin anymore at all/never stumble and if they ever sin at all, they are considered "workers of iniquity?"
When God says in Psalms 103:12 that He has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west, He is not only talking about the penalty for our sins. He is talking about our sins themselves (see also Matthew 1:21).
I understand that, yet our perishable, vile bodies will not be changed until we receive our glorified bodies. (1 Corinthians 15: 50-52; Philippians 3:21)
Much like circumcision was a seal of Abraham's righteousness (see Romans 4:11), baptism can be a seal of our righteousness (Colossians 2:11-12).
Exactly and neither circumcision or baptism is what literally saves us.
Those who merely believe "should not perish" (John 3:16).
Those who believe and are baptized "shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).
I already covered this in post #255.
Those who call on the name of the Lord "shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
Calling on the name of the Lord to be saved = relying on the name of the Lord, trusting in Him for salvation. When you call upon Jesus to save you to it is that you trust in him to come to your aid. Inherent in your calling upon Jesus is the essential faith that he can and will save you.
Therefore, if you would refuse to be baptized in Jesus' Name, it would behoove you to call on His name for salvation, at the very least (the name, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Acts 4:10-12).
Genuine believers would not refuse to be water baptized. I could not wait to receive water baptism after I received Christ through faith and was saved the night before. I gave a 5 minute testimony just before receiving water baptism on how I previously attended two different false religions prior to my conversion that taught salvation is obtained by water baptism and other works, yet now I finally understand that we are saved by grace through faith, not works. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Just know that if you merely call on the name of the Lord, the promise is not in red letters (which to me does not make a difference; but it may make a difference to you).
What do you mean by "merely" call on the name of the Lord? The result is salvation, so it's not merely. (Romans 10:13)
A "worker of iniquity" is someone who commits sins.
Apart from the blood of Christ to wash away our sins, we would all be seen in the eyes of God as "workers of iniquity."
Those who are born of God are not workers of iniquity in this sense (1 John 3:9, 1 John 3:6, 1 John 2:17; Jude 1:24, 2 Peter 1:10, 1 John 2:10; 1 john 3:7, 1 John 3:3, 1 John 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (kjv), Hebrews 10:14 (kjv), Colossians 2:11 (nlt))
No one who is born of God practices sin.. (1 John 3:9) yet that still does not mean that we are sinless, without fault or defect, flawless 100% of the time. (1 John 1:8-10)
That is not what I said. I said that we can become "sinless" in the sense of practical sinning (but not concerning indwelling sin); while those who have reached that goal of perfection will have within them the attitude that they have room to grow: they will always be pressing forward to obtain the reachable goal of entire sanctification. Once they reach it, they will not consider that they have reached it (Philippians 3:13-15).
How many people do you know who have reached entire sanctification and are now sinless, without fault or defect, absolutely perfect, flawless 100% of the time exactly like Jesus? It sounds like a contradiction at first glance: Philippians 3:12 - "..not that I have already become perfect.." Verse 15 - "..as many as are perfect.." In verse 12, Greek scholar AT Robertson comments - "Or am already made perfect (h hdh teteleiwmai). Perfect passive indicative (state of completion) of teleiow, old verb from teleio and that from telo (end). Paul pointedly
denies that he has reached a spiritual impasse of non-development." In verse 15, he comments - "Here the term teleioi means
relative perfection, not the absolute perfection." So depending on the context, "perfect" may mean "absolute perfection" or "relative perfection," which is in regards to maturity or completeness and not necessarily absolute perfection/sinless perfection.
See Job 9:21 and compare it to 1 John 1:8. Also Isaiah 42:19 (kjv) and John 9:41.
Perfect here does not mean that Job was sinless, without fault of defect, flawless, absolutely perfect 100% of the time. Job had admitted his human sinfulness (Job 7:21; 13:26). Isaiah 42:19 is in reference to Israel. Isaiah 43:10 - "You are My witnesses, says the Lord," And
My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. In John 9:41, Jesus was referring to some of the Pharisees.
