The Pharisees were proud of their ‘righteousness’. Which was law-keeping.
The Pharisees of today are proud too. They are the ones who have rejected Christ, and his sacrifice for sin and say it was not sufficient, so they must help him by good works and keeping the law too.
Until you accept righteousness can only come from Christ, as nothing else comes even close, then you will carry on this wrong path of striving to be righteous by your own efforts, as those Pharisees who rejected Jesus did.
It is only through Christ we are made righteous… 2 Corinthians 5:21
If you rely on works, and the law to be righteous then read… Romans 3:10. Philippians 3:9.
You have to comprehend that we are made righteous by faith alone… Romans 1:17.
As we head towards the end of days I have noticed most of the vitriol we true Christians face are from so called Christians, which again from understanding the Gospel it is to be expected. As it clearly points out there will be a separation in the parable of the wheat and the tares. Where the tares that look the same and have been alongside the wheat are only exposed as counterfeit at the end, when the real wheat drops its head (Humility) and the tares head remains aloft (Proud).
We need to be vigilant and self critical, and take it humbly in prayer and maybe fasting to the Lord. At least ask ourselves are we the wheat, or the tares that will be burned up. God bless.
Ephesus:
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the firstworks; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
They lost their zeal for Christ, not their belief, their zeal. Sounds to me like they were taking Him for granted. Believing in Christ and living against His commandments, on purpose, makes a mockery of the pain and suffering He did for us.
Pergamos:
Rev 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Sounds like those who confess Christ, along with the pastor of the church, and then marry two men in the church. They still believe; God wouldn’t want my son to be unhappy so it’s ok.
Thyatira:
Rev 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
This is good and bad works. We are commanded to do good works.
Sardis:
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Those not worthy, still believed, just bad works. They were not living in righteousness. Defiled themselves.
Philadelphia:
Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
What is the word of my patience? Before these statements warnings were given.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, (works) and the faith of Jesus.
Keep = (a watch; perhaps akin to G2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon;
Laodiceans:
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Hot water cleanses, cold refreshes. They were neither. Yet they still believed. They were materially set so what was missing? Out in the world they probably looked and acted like everyone else. It appears He was knocking but was not really invited in.
Christ mentions works to all the churches. Love is a verb, and action. Keeping His commandments are works.
You know Patrick, you can troll the web to find places in which to twist people’s words and beliefs around all you want. You can come here and call people names and label them which is not Christian. Personally, it is laughable because you have missed the whole point and miss the intent.
I will say this for the last time.
We are aware here that accepting Christ, His free gift saves us, and our reward is eternal life. Brandon just did a study of works, and it is spot on.
The thief on the cross obtained salvation and eternal life by believing in Christ, then he died. He obviously did no works and still gained eternity.
I never said works is a requirement for eternal life.
I will repeat that so maybe this time you don’t miss it. I never said works is a requirement for eternal life.
What I said was you, once you accept Christ you are told to make an effort to live a righteous life. We are called to do this. We are to set the example and should look differently than the world. Told to go and sin no more. Obviously, we all sin and cannot uphold the law totally. You take your cross and walk, meaning you do something. Doing the things, and not doing things, that it takes to live righteously is the work. It shows the love we have for Christ and the free gift He gave us. We don’t take it for granted.
There is scripture regarding instructions to the church as well as overseers. There is scripture on how to fight the good fight of faith. There is no scripture anywhere that says repent and continue to do what you please. You are judged and justified by your works.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 lists the quality of peoples who will not inherit the kingdom of God.
So, if your view is that once you believe and continue to do all or any of those things on the list above, because you want to, and are still covered by the cross, that is your opinion. It does not say you are still covered. It says to not do those things. It also specifically does say those will not inherit eternal life.
Now personally, my interpretation and what I believe is that murderers, thieves, rapists, gay nonsense, etc., won’t inherit the kingdom, even though you believe in Christ and say you have atonement. If you willingly, do it, there is no atonement. There are rules to be a Christian. You can be grafted in our cut out.
Now if this thinking, in your eyes makes me proudful, a tare, not in the kingdom and beguiled, this site has been called worse and we are still here.
Like I said before, what is your end game? Your entrance to the thread calls you out.
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
G4266
προγίνομαι
proginomai
prog-in’-om-ahee
From G4253 and G1096; to be already, that is, have previously transpired: - be past.
To me, the above reads like only past sins are forgiven when someone comes to believe on Jesus and accept Him as LORD and Savior–not any present or future ones.
If any sin I were to commit today or down the road was already forgiven, then, theoretically, I could start dabbling in witchcraft today, and then, maybe if there’s time, have an affair with my neighbor and all will be well with me because I believe in Jesus? So I could cast a spell this morning and in the evening, cast my eyes on the neighbor dude?
Nah, I’ll pass. Even when I’m drawn away by my own lusts (not in the extreme examples I set forth, mind you), I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to lay aside my filthiness and repent.
I want to be a friend to Jesus and at least try to keep His commandments, and when I fall short, repent. If that’s wrong, then I no doubt will answer for it on Judgement Day.
You say you are saved by faith and the free gift of Christ is what saves us and gives us eternal life, then you do an about turn by saying we have to endure to the end with works of righteousness and refrain from all kinds of sin otherwise we will not inherit the Kingdom of God and lose our salvation. So it wasn’t eternal to begin with. (As eternal means eternal)
You still sin, and most of the sin you perform is wilful, so what makes you different from all the murderers, thieves, rapists, gays, etc, who you say won’t inherit the kingdom, even though they believe in Christ? Hence you renounce what you said to start with that salvation is believing in Christ which is a free gift.
Do you not see the dichotomy of your speech? You say that accepting Christ & his free gift saves us, and our reward is eternal life. Then you go on to say it is not lasting or eternal unless you do all the works necessary.
That is why I call you out as a ‘tare’ whether you like it or not.
Unfortunately I have to be quite blunt here again.
Now take your blinkers off and read Hebrews 10:12.
Mark 3:28 clearly and unequivocally states ‘ALL SINS’ shall be forgiven.
You can of course veer off and undertake all kind of wilful sin (Known as backsliding) and as a result there will be loss, both here and after death. Though not the loss of salvation, otherwise you make out God to be a liar, for He has promised all who believe in the Son eternal life. (eternal means eternal). John 3:15.
Though not always to begin with, and not always as they should be, and sometimes they are invisible to us, yet all who believe will be seen through to the end. Philippians 1:6.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
Agreed. We cannot remain in our sins.
Acts 3:19
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
I get how some can view these verses to rubber stamp their works for salvation, false doctrine. Yet a careful & unblinkered study of those verses show it describes those who came to the knowledge of the gospel & Christ even joining with the faithful. Up to the point of acceptance & some may have even said they accepted, but they didn’t. Instead they rejected Christ & turned away, back to the world. See Parable of the Sower.
Some tangle these verses up by not comprehending them correctly & in doing so make the bible look like its contradicting itself. The verses I showed in my last post clearly and emphatically state salvation is not by law or acts of righteousness, but rather solely justified by faith alone in Christ. See also Romans 11:6.
‘Wilful sin’ is rejecting Christ. All who genuinely accept Christ as their Saviour are instantly born again & cannot sin again in Gods eyes as they are covered by the atonement of His Son. 1 John 3:9.
Their old self can sin (the flesh) and there will be consequences for that as I have pointed out prior, but no consequence against your salvation, for that is eternal. If once you believed didn’t mean eternal salvation, then you could step away, or be taken out of His hand, but thankfully we have the ‘assurance’ that it is eternal. Therefore everlasting. John 5:24.
Hey pat. Did 7 occult rituals on Halloween. Murdered 3 ppl at the florida georgia game on sat. Then enjoyed church Sunday man it feels good to just believe then do whatever i want to do. Thanks for breaking down the book of patrick for me!
So I’ve been reading this post for quite a few days now and not commenting. I do believe this post has true value in it for all who read it. Excellent responses from everyone - remember we can all learn something from each and every one of them.
So this is what I have to say on this topic. As we all grow in Christ’s teachings we will always have different interpretations of the Word. Each and every soul is on their own journey - some growing closer to God and some not taking interest at all. If you follow Christ’s teachings and follow His commandments you are doing well in the eyes of the Lord. Now, I do believe that God expects us to do our best to live like Christ did as he walked this earth. Of course, not a single soul can do it perfectly like Christ did, but Christ was showing us how to live in our flesh bodies. If someone believes they can go out and live their flesh life any way they want to with no regard to God and His commandments, I believe it will not end well for them. Also, only God knows the hearts of His children. So I never say that a person is definitely going to hell. We do not know if God is using them or if they will sincerely repent before their flesh dies just as the man that was nailed to cross next to Christ did.
God bless everyone and I pray all will ask our Father for guidance and understanding as we walk this earth in the flesh.