This is an file I found while converting AppleWorks files to Pages so I can upgrade my operating system software.
I'm not sure if I posted it on here or another forum.
I think all of us here are trying to determine the same thing (if our doctrine is completely Biblically sound). We don't see eye to eye with each other and at times our discussions become a little heated, some times plummeting to the level of personal attack which is not good. But, I'm sure that all of us on this forum are sincerely hungry and thirsty for God and want to please Him.
I'm not sure how to explain how I believe without sounding like a greasy grace, easy believism, sloppy agape Bapticostal. I personally believe that Paul was emphasizing in Romans chapter 3 and 4, that Abram was saved/justified by faith, before circumcision or any other action. He did get circumcised and he did offer Isaac but that was a result of his faith and those actions (or works) did not save him. Those actions demonstrated his faith. God knew ahead of time that Abram would obey but that obedience is not what saved him. His faith saved him...
For years I have been a Bible marker. I underline, I circle words in verses, and I write notes in the margins. These are some of the comments on James chapter 2 that I have in one of my Bibles:
Faith is the root of salvation. Works are the fruit.
Calvin said, "Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone"
Invest your faith with visibility, translate doctrine into doing and creed into character.
What we do reveals what we are.
"Faith is not even worthy of the name until it erupts into action." Catherine Marshall
"Faith is never passive. It is an action word. It is not just mental assent. It demands a response --some kind of action." Bill Bright
Doing -not doctrine is the test of faith.
Justification by faith is demonstrated by works. Justification is poured out into the test tube of:
works, chapters 1 and 2
words, chapter 3
worldliness, chapter 4
warning to rich, chapter 5
Rev. Dr. Halsey Dewey spent at least 30 years as a missionary for the Methodist Church in India. On one occasion he invited M. Gandhi to speak to his congregation...
Gandhi said, "If you Christians would truly follow the teachings as found in your Bible, you could take this city by storm."
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Galatians 5:6 says:
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. KJV
For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. NLT
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. NASB
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. NIV
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith through love working. YLT
What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. The Message
For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love. Amplified Bible
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So, in my opinion, we are saved by faith --not by anything we might be able to do-- just by trusting in Jesus. But the faith that saves us is not just a head faith, it results in a change in our attitude and actions. It is a heart faith that results in our acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord or our lives.
It is my opinion that anyone who believes in his heart that Jesus died, was buried and rose again and who confesses Jesus as Lord is saved/justified/born again. This salvation is the result of faith and not based on something we can do to merit or earn salvation. It is my opinion that anyone who can recite/say/pray what we know as "The Apostles' Creed" and mean it is saved/justified/born again.
Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.
Again, a couple of notes from my Bible at
Romans 6:
Salvation is a gift to receive, not a goal to achieve.
and
"If you go to hell, you pay your own way; but you go to heaven on a pass" John R. Rice
and
Gift -something that is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation. It must be accepted -voluntarily received- not forced on the recipient. Voluntarily given and voluntarily received.
OK, after all this rambling, what am I trying to say?
We all believe that we are saved by faith.
We all believe that the faith that saves is not a dead faith or just a head faith.
Where we differ here is that some believe faith is not really faith if it does not result in certain defined actions such as water baptism in Jesus' name, and the Holy Ghost baptism, plus other things. I personally believe it is really faith whether the person ever sees or believes in or experiences water baptism by immersion in Jesus name or whether the person ever sees or believes in or experiences the Holy Ghost baptism. In my opinion, the faith that saves changes a person's attitude and actions but we can't limit those attitudes and actions to our personal interpretation of doctrine --that person (and all of us) is in the hands of a merciful God.
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