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Everyone is in need of salvation. Romans 3:10, "As it is written, There is nonerighteous, no, not one." Righteousness is simply doing right. By deduction, we allmust conclude that nobody consistently does that which is right from withinhimself. Not because we are born with sin in us, rather we have all committed sinbecause in our flesh, wherein no good thing dwelleth. Romans 7:18 For I know thatin me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present withme; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Many take and use only thisone verse out of context, (Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sindid my mother conceive me.) just like another scripture verse namely Matthew28:19. We all our born into a sin filled or sinful world. (And defined as thefollowing: A tainted with, marked by, or full of sin. There are three main sins.And by them comes all sin and it's bad effects, upon us all. They are the lust ofthe flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We are to deny them andinstead live soberly and righteously in this present world. This is found in 1John 2:15-17 and Titus 2:11-15.) Adam and eve ate of the tree of knowledge betweengood and evil. In Genesis 2:9-3:22. Not one of inheritance. In order to beaccountable for sin, one must commit it. James 4:17 Therefore to him that knowethto do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. A baby is innocent of sin becauseit does not have knowledge or beliefs. Therefore, until one has knowledge andbelief, they cannot sin. We will read on. The flesh is easily corrupted. Genesis6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh hadcorrupted his way upon the earth. God told us there are two ways, to follow thedesires of the flesh to sin and death, or the spirit of God to life everlasting.Galatians 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reapcorruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap lifeeverlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shallreap, if we faint not. One day we all reap what we have sown. God is notunrighteous to forget the work you have done by faith in his name. This is foundin Hebrews 6:10. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour oflove, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to thesaints, and do minister. How can one be saved then? Well, Christ the lamb of God,(John 1:29 and Hebrews 9:15-22) died for all sin. Nobody contends the fact thatJesus died in their place to remove all sin. All who believe in him will havetheir sins removed from their lives. Unbelief will condemn the world. Roman 11:32For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.All sin is unbelief. Whosoever believes and obeys Christ by that that same belief,(John 14:15/15:14 and 2 Kings 2:5:1-15) shall be saved. John 3:16-21 For God soloved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth inhim should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son intothe world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Hethat believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemnedalready, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loveddarkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one thatdoeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should bereproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be mademanifest, that they are wrought in God. The word sin has the letter "i" in at it'scenter. Satan gave the five "I wills" in Isaiah 14. Sin is being self centered andnot God centered. Faith is being focused on God (Isaiah 26:3-4) and centering ourlives (Mark 12:29-30) on him. Faith is expressed or shown by the reaction that wehave to the message of God. It can be seen as the trust we have in his words.Romans 3:24-27 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christunto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all havesinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his gracethrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be apropitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for theremission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I
 
say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier ofhim which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Some say faith requires not work to showit. These are not the words of Jesus nor his followers. Jesus replied to theunbelieving Jews who just wanted him make more food for them. John 6:28-29 Thensaid they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesusanswered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whomhe hath sent. Here Jesus said faith in of itself is or produces a work. Not a selfrighteous one. But a faith based one. Mark 16:16 restates this idea. He thatbelieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall bedamned. James 2:18-26 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shewme thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thoubelievest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, andtremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Wasnot Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son uponthe altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faithmade perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God,and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend ofGod. You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had receivedthe messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without thespirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. In all of Paul's letters andhis preaching (Acts 13:38-39), he contrasts two ideas, or systems whereby someonemight be declared righteous before God. A person can choose to enter Christ andrely upon what the salvation Jesus has provided in order to be counted righteousor he can seek to obtain his own righteousness by fulfilling the demands of theLaw. The first is known as being justified out of faith while Paul refers to thelast as being justified out of the works of the Law. Paul and James both preachedthe same Gospel. Paul's contrast is between the works of the Law verses faith inChrist. In Romans 9:30-10:21, Paul explained why Israel had failed to receive therighteousness which comes by faith. Israel had allowed an obstacle to block herpath (Romans 10:1-4). Paul used Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to teach that therighteousness which comes by faith requires that "the message," namely Jesus,becomes a belief in some one's heart and a confession upon his lips (Romans 10:8-10). Since Israel had refused to acknowledge and internalized the message ofJesus, she had not received the blessings which come from faith in Christ. Butsince salvation is open to all who will call upon the Lord (Romans 10:11-13), thatis, to all who will respond by trusting in Jesus, even an Israelite would be savedif he would overcome this obstacle and respond to the message of Christ with hisheart and his lips. Paul did himself called upon the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts10:36 Jesus is Lord of all.) in his baptism. Acts 22:16 And now why tarriestthou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of theLord. This agrees with the words of Peter in Acts 2:38. Peter said to them,"Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission(forgiveness) of your sins". The Eunuch also who believed with all of his heartconfessing this with his mouth, was baptized (in the name of Jesus) by Phillip inthe waters. This is found in Acts 8:26-40. That Paul did not understand faith inChrist to be "just accept Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior by sayinga sinner's prayer." This is made abundantly clear. Having repeatedly upheld theprinciples of faith and grace against works, Paul concluded that Christians arenot under the Law, but rather are children of God by faith in Christ as a resultof their being clothed with Christ in baptism. Galatians 3:26-27 Baptism is an actof faith whereby someone relies upon Jesus for salvation. Today there are manypeople who run into problems with the terms faith, works, and obedience. It isbecause they falsely assume that when Paul condemned works that he was condemningall forms of human action and obedience to God; and conversely when he praisedfaith he was lauding mere but genuine belief in Christ. Accepting such a frameworkwill cause a person to encounter many contradictory statements within the
 
Scriptures. Furthermore, when these unbiblical definitions are taken to theirlogical conclusions, they demand that someone must believe God which enables himto believe, (And without any action, their faith is dead.) otherwise people wouldbe saved by their works (namely, their decision to believe). Why are people drivento this conclusion? Given their definitions of works, since even believing inJesus requires the human initiative of responding to God's actions (and istherefore by their definition "a work"), those who want to be consistent withtheir definitions are forced to theerroneous conclusion that God must enable a person to believe. Paul himselfwasn't denouncing "obedience" and elevating "just believing." Instead Paul remindsthe Galatians ( Galatians 3:2-9 This only would I learn of you, Received ye theSpirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish?having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye sufferedso many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to youthe Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law,or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted tohim for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the sameare the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justifythe heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, Inthee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed withfaithful Abraham.) that their reception of the Spirit by faith and the fact thatGod had performed miracles among them was not because they are following the Lawof Moses, but rather because they had believed. The contrast is between relyingupon the Law instead of relying upon Jesus. As Paul himself said in Phillipians2:12. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presenceonly, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear andtrembling." Hebrews 11:1-7 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, theevidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Throughfaith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that thingswhich are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered untoGod a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he wasrighteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Byfaith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found,because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony,that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he thatcometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them thatdiligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which hecondemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Weread in 1 Peter 2:20-21 Which sometime were disobedient, when once thelongsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing,wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereuntoeven baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of theflesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection ofJesus Christ. Baptism now saves us by our active belief or faith. Getting wet ordunked in titles ( The name of the father, singular, and of the son, singular, andof the Holy Spirit, and again, singular.) never will do it. Acts 4:10-12 Be itknown unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of JesusChrist of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by himdoth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set atnought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is theresalvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved. Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, doall in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Weare to live by every word of God and not be simply one verse wonders. Jesus camein the name of the father. John 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receiveme not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. Jesus was theson. Matthew 1:20-21 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of
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For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That grace of God is ours, by true faith. We are created unto good works into Christ Jesus. And not by them. Nobody through the law could ever become perfect! Christ comes in our lives by active or real faith. He that believes and is baptized is saved. Because unbelievers will never have enough faith to carry out the will of God. This truth is found in Mark 16:16. Also Jesus name alone will save. Acts 4:12, colossians 3:17, 1 Corithians 1:24, Jude 24-25, John 14:6, and Matthew 28:18 point this out to all. Baptism is a requirement said Jesus in Luke 24:45-47, mark 16:16, and John 3:5. Peter said it in Acts chapters 2, 8, and 10. Paul said it also in Acts chapters 16, 18, 19. He did it in Jesus name to wash away his sins in Acts 22:16 & 9:18. Are you going to argue with God?

reply10 / 10 / 2009
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