Protestants won't agree that one must relax non-stop. They believe that true faith will result in good works. However, they do believe that faith in Christ's work is what saves...His righteousness replaces our sinful nature and that is a saving truth.
remember that true belief requires obedience and good works.
Again, Protestants believe this.
Stopped right there ... for EVERYthing said past that hinged ON that and ... it's wrong.
The gospel (good news) of eternal salvation:
The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross as our substitute.
He paid the penalty for our sins.
He took the punishment that we deserve.
God’s provision of eternal salvation is a free gift (Eph. 2:8,9).
God, through Jesus Christ, did everything.
All you do is accept that free gift.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
The Bible explains how to be saved (how to receive the free gift of eternal salvation):
John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVES in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He who BELIEVES on him is not condemned: but he who does not BELIEVE is condemned already, because he has not BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Romans 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but BELIEVES in Him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is reckoned as righteousness
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law
John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
(Jesus Christ said) He who BELIEVES in me has everlasting life.
Acts 16:31
BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved
Acts 10:43
Every one who BELIEVES in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
John 11:25-26
(Jesus Christ said) I am the resurrection and the life. He who BELIEVES in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and BELIEVES in me will never die. Do you BELIEVE this?
_______________________________________________
A few helpful resources:
Gospel Wars - Part 1 (paper)
by Dr. Robert L. Dean Jr.
http://deanbible.org/Media/Doctrines/A-G/Gospel%20Wars%20part%201.pdf
Gospel Wars - Part 2 (paper)
by Dr. Robert L. Dean Jr.
http://deanbible.org/Media/Doctrines/A-G/Gospel%20Wars%20part%202.pdf
What Is Wrong with Lordship Salvation? (article)
by Dr. Andy Woods
http://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/documents/articles/59/59.pdf
The Free Grace Alliance
offers dozens of free papers examining problems with so-called Lordship Salvation:
http://www.freegracealliance.com/articles.htm
Why should we believe this man’s interpretation of what God and Christ mean when they speak? Scripture is the only data. This author has expressed mere opinion. The reason I bring this up being today’s general, and in many cases proper, disbelief in any authority. Authority has shown itself venal and corrupt filled with secret unstated goals and “policies!”
I want to know one thing. What purpose does all this anti-Protestant junk serve? It seems like y’all are trying to convince yourselves you are right. I have never seen so many threads about you are right and everyone else is wrong.
Well, if the Pontiff, who as I understand it is the Vicar of Christ, is saying athiests can attain Heaven by listening to their conscience, then I think anything that comes from Rome needs to be re-evaluated.
Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
And - why did Jesus die? And - Why were those who wanted to continue the old ways of circumcision and such to "help earn their way" said to be fallen from Grace?
Where does the Bible say that priests have the innate ability to cause transubstantiation at will, Sunday-after-Sunday (and other days too)?
I believe the enemy will use Any argument to distract the Believer.when a Protestant recalls that certain Catholics have in times past claimed that Protestants almost are Christian also. ( Or whatever that Pope said) and whenever Catholics point to Protestants ,as has been attempted here—it is nothing but the enemy using whom so ever he will.does not the Holy Writ declare “There is one body and one spirit,just as you were called in one hope of your calling:one Lord, one faith,one baptism;one God and Father of all,who is above all,and through all,and in you all.” (Nelson Study Bible;The Companion Bible) In my opinion This passage affirms my doctrine—that whenever anyone is pointing a finger at any other part of the body of Christ and suggesting that because they are not the same finger-or hand— or foot—because they have not looked through that dark glass in quite the same way that their believing is somehow less—be time you got the log out of your own eye
before you speak of a splinter in another’s?I can no more fault all Catholic because I am not Catholic Nor all Jews because I was born an American Christian and once was taught false doctrine myself. On this journey I would rather stand with a brother or sister in Christ than I would waste my time only with those who think or who were schooled in the same school.
“This cleansing is done through Christ, of course, but meriting it requires a little more than a belief in Him.”
This goes to show the absolute biblical confusion of the Catholics. While it is certainly true that a faith without works is dead, it is not true that works merit grace, or that a quantity of works saves, as the scripture directly says that “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom 4:4). And again, “by grace ye are saved” (Eph 2:5). This is because whoever seeks to be justified by doing good works must do them perfectly, as the scripture declares, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them”(Gal 3:10). In fact, keeping the law perfectly is our duty which we must do as the minimal standard, as Christ declares:
“Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”(Luk 17:9-10)
Catholics have a tendency, then, to downplay the heinousness of sin, and to puff up the righteousness of man, in order to get beyond these difficulties. So they build up degrees of sin, even though all are fatal, since, in reality, even just one sin puts you under the guilt of the entire law, as the scripture says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas 2:10). And again, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek 18:4). And as touching the righteousness of man, he is utterly empty of any of it. A man has no righteousness of his own. What passes as our righteousness, as the scripture declares, “are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isa 64:6). And again, “there is none that doeth good, no, not one”(Rom 3:12). Therefore we must conclude with Paul that, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2Co 3:5).
It is for this reason, then, that we do not glory in our alleged meriting of grace, or of a righteousness of ourselves that is worthy of salvation, but instead we must glory in Christ whose righteousness is imputed onto us by faith only, as Paul says:
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” (Rom 4:5-8)
When we speak of faith being dead without works, therefore, we speak not of a quantity of works which merit grace. The Papists, occasionally, imagine a scale in heaven with their good and evil works weighed against each other. For example, from the ‘Secrets of the Rosary” endorsed by Pope John Paul the second:
“One day the King fell seriously ill and when he was given up for dead he found himself, in a vision, before the judgement seat of Our Lord. Many devils were there accusing him of all the sins he had committed and Our Lord as Sovereign Judge was just about to condemn him to hell when Our Lady appeared to intercede for him. She called for a pair of scales and had his sins placed in one of the balances whereas she put the rosary that he had always worn on the other scale, together with all the Rosaries that had been said because of his example. It was found that the Rosaries weighed more than his sins.
Looking at him with great kindness Our Lady said: “As a reward for this little honor that you paid me in wearing my Rosary, I have obtained a great grace for you from my Son. Your life will be spared for a few more years. See that you spend these years wisely, and do penance.”
When the King regained consciousness he cried out: “Blessed be the Rosary of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, by which I have been delivered from eternal damnation!””
http://www.rosary-center.org/secret.htm
This is a wholly blasphemous view of salvation which must be rejected. There is no weighing of good works for your salvation, as if you had any. According to the scripture, there isn’t a single man who is good. Not even Paul, as we see in Romans 7, was free of sin. Instead, he lamented that he sinned so greatly, and did not do all the good that he would. John, in his epistle, declares that anyone who says the have no sin, is a liar. In reality, if anything is measured, it is the quality of the faith which a man has that shall either damn him or justify him. Not the quantity of works, but the living faith, as opposed to the mere belief of devils (who all believe in God, but are damned), which produces good works the way a pregnant cloud produces rain.
Though this would still be an imperfect way of speaking, because faith also is the gift of God, and we cannot imagine that anything given by God is of dubious quality. Perhaps it is better to say, that the faith of the elect, which is from God, is always perfect; whereas the dead faith of evil ones is always found wanting. Hence why Paul says that we are not sufficient for anything, and this includes our faith, which is given to us by the Holy Spirit when we were yet unwilling and dead in our sin. As the scripture says, “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Co 12:3). Again, “no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” (Joh 6:65). And again, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Php 2:13).
Thus both faith and good works must bow to grace, which provides liberally for both for all those predestined before the world began; not according to our works, or our foreseen goodness and faith, but according to His good pleasure and purpose.
Ephesians 2:8-9
King James Version (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The essentials of the gospel are simple and need no extended theological arguments...
1. Hear the Word
2. Believe the Word
3. Repent your sins
4. Confess that Christ is the Son of God
5. Be baptized for the remission of your sins
The New Testament lays this process out it in an easy to understand format. No need for endless debate. The story is there. If you don’t believe it then you reject it. End of argument!
One would have to ignore the whole of scripture to arrive at such a position. Romans 4, Titus 3, Galatians, Ephesians 1-3, Phil. 3.
That might seem a little damning to the Catholic position that good works are necessary, right? Well, in truth, it’s not.
It is damning to your Catholic religion until you guys get your hands on it and pervert what it says...
With God, to believe means to obey. God does not desire a lukewarm, vague belief in Him, but a devoted life in His service.
What are you doing perverting God's scripture???
Gal_1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Believe
πιστεύω
pisteuō pist-yoo'-o
From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ): - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.
To believe on means to entrust...
John 3:36 reads as, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The verse does not say that at all...Why are you again perverting God's words...What is your agenda???
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
You even pervert your own Catholic Douay-Rheims bible:
36 He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting: but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Sin — which, at its heart, is anything offensive to God — is a heinous, damaging thing that we must cleanse ourselves of. This cleansing is done through Christ, of course, but meriting it requires a little more than a belief in Him. It requires a repentant heart (see Luke 13:3) and, in the case of mortal sin, sacramental confession (see my video about Confession).
More perversion...
Do you not even know what REPENT means???
Repent
μετανοέω
metanoeō
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
Repentance is not to do something to clean ourselves...It is impossible to 'clean' ourselves...
Repentance is to change the direction of your heart and mind toward God...There are no works to repentance...
I would suggest a careful review of the text:
As the scriptures clearly states:
So no, it doesn't require obedience and good works. It requires repentance, submission to His word and prayer. God will produce the good works as He sees fit.
It may be best to read Augustine after reading the scriptures.
Mathew
21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
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Of course salvation is solely on the basis of the atonement of Christ. The Catholic Church, in fact, has condemned Pelagianism (salvation by works) as well as the variation called semi-Pelagianism.
As I understand it, Catholics consider "good works" to be the natural fruit of genuine faith, e.g., "For we are created unto good works" and "Faith without works is dead."
I understand that many Protestants believe (or are taught to believe) that Catholic Churches are filled with parishioners who are trusting wholly in their "good works" for salvation, as well as their membership in the Catholic Church.
However, many Protestants fail to grasp the very understandable concern on the part of Catholics regarding the dogmatic insistence that there is no relation whatsoever between good works and salvation. Unfortunately, this view can lead to "antinomianism" - the rejection of the moral law - and can lead in the flaunting of the moral commands of the law.
Jesus himself condemned this attitude: "Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?" We all know about the long list of famous Protestant pastors and evangelists who have fallen into sin and/or flagrantly show by their lifestyles that they love the "things of this world." (but we disregard such shameful excess because they are "spirit-filled", which apparently overrides the responsibility: "Do not love the things of this world)
On the other extreme, many Protestants - while condemning Catholics for believing in "good works" - evince a far greater legalism in their own lives. I grew up looking down my nose at Catholics who - gasp! - actually drank wine and beer! Just more evidence they aren't true Christians!
I frankly find embarrassing the arrogant and willfully ignorant attitudes of some on this board regarding Catholics - who (I cannot fail to notice) typically respond with grace and reason instead of knee-jerk condemnation.
Full disclosure: I was trained in well-known Evangelical colleges, have an earned Ph.D. in Theology, and have taught on the college level, served on the overseas mission field, and written extensively on theological subjects.
Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever...Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! [http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/luther-faith.txt]
This is why St. Luke and St. James have so much to say about works, so that one says: Yes, I will now believe, and then he goes and fabricates for himself a fictitious delusion, which hovers only on the lips as the foam on the water. No, no; faith is a living and an essential thing, which makes a new creature of man, changes his spirit and wholly and completely converts him. It goes to the foundation and there accomplishes a renewal of the entire man; so, if I have previously seen a sinner, I now see in his changed conduct, manner and life, that he believes. So high and great a thing is faith.”[Sermons of Martin Luther 2.2:341]
The average person must be obedient and do good works. However, there are some cases where it is impossible to do good works, like in the case you mentioned. In such cases, the willingness to do good works is sufficient.