I didn't fail to mention it, I made my point with the verses I post.
Yes Paul is teaching that you have to earn your salvation by works. Let's take at an example when person sit back and do nothing. Yon can read the whole story on your own, I'am skipping down to the part inthe story where the point need to be made in Matthew 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Like Paul says in Gal 6: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. God is not to be played with. Whatsoever you plant, that’s what you are going to reap. Be it good works unto eternal life, or evil works unto eternal damnation. The choice is yours, and your works belong to you.
It is true, you blinding yourself and not understanding the scriptures and verses in the Bible. In judgment each one of us will give account for our own salvation. The bible says, we must not only be a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word also (James 1:21-22). DON'T FOOL YOURSELF! If we really have faith in Jesus our actions will prove it. If Jesus is our Lord then we will obey him. Even a child will obey a parent, by getting good grades in school, for the reward of a new bicycle. The child cannot earn money for the bicycle, but instead must act upon their faith to receive the free gift. We must do the same to receive eternal life. "FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD” (James 2:20).
Dear bro.tan,
You said:
Yes, Paul is teaching that you have to earn your salvation by works. Let's take at an example when person sit back and do nothing.
A converted believer will not "sit back and do nothing" because the Holy Spirit "
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phi 2:13).
Concerning the parable you quoted, the man who was only given one talent represents an
unconverted believer. They are still carnally minded and because of such, they see Christ as a "hard man" who torments his enemies in literal fire for all eternity. Because they "see" Christ this way, they are afraid of Him. As for burying the one talent in the earth, this represents that they used the gift that the Lord gave them in a carnal way (buried in the earth). The carnal way
will not produce the spiritual fruit that Christ requires of His children.
In other words, the "talents" in the parable do not represent "works" - they represent the
gifts of the Spirit that will cause us to produce spiritual fruit (love, joy, longsuffering, etc.). This is what Christ wants in return for the gifts He gives us and is what the parable is actually teaching.
You said:
Like Paul says in Gal 6: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. God is not to be played with.
Just like the man in the parable, you, too, see God as a "hard man".
As for the verse you quoted:
Gal 6: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
When a believer has been converted, the Spirit within them will cause them to "walk by the Spirit". Unconverted believers can only walk by the flesh (carnal nature). This is what Paul meant when he said in Gal 6:2 concerning "
ye who are spiritual". Converted believers who walk by the Spirit do not sow to the flesh - they sow to the Spirit
BECAUSE the Spirit governs them to "
will and do of His good pleasure". A converted believer does not walk by the Spirit because of their supposed "free will" ability to decide to do so. Only God the Father has a "free will" to do as He pleases - mankind does not.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Prov 20:24 Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Prov 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Because you do not believe these verses above, you have accepted the lie that you must contribute your own "works" and make your own decisions so that you can earn your salvation. This is what the Law teaches and it was given to us to prove that the "crooked way"
does not work and cannot save us. The truth you should be believing is that Christ is the one who causes us to "
will and do of His good pleasure". He is the one who causes us to no longer sow to the flesh but to the Spirit.
You said:
The bible says, we must not only be a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word also (James 1:21-22). DON'T FOOL YOURSELF! If we really have faith in Jesus our actions will prove it.
This is true except that you believe that our "actions" come from our supposed "free will" ability to decide to do them. Scripture, however,
contradicts this belief. Read those three verses again which I quoted above and add this verse to them:
Isa 26:12 O Jehovah, thou appointest peace to us, for, all our works also thou hast wrought for us.
If a person has faith (which is one of the "talents") and has been converted, they will "walk by the Spirit" because the Spirit governs them. And because the Spirit governs their actions, the believer will to do "good works"
because that is what they want to do. Christ gives them their "will" to do their "good works". When they do their "good works", this is the outward evidence that they are converted and are walking by the Spirit. This concept is what James taught.
Joe