Believing is a Work God Requires of His Children

Believing is a Work God Requires of His Children

 

Are you saved by grace through faith in Christ?
Then you are saved through works!!!

Believing is work! Christ Himself said so!
Why do so many carelessly contradict Him?

The act of believing in Jesus Christ is MOST CERTAINLY a work. Jesus Christ HIMSELF told men to do this work!

John 6
¶ 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

The men inquired: ''what shall WE DO, THAT WE MIGHT WORK the works of God?" Christ replied: The work that God wanted them to do is: 'that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' They were interested in WORKING the WORKS (PLURAL) of God, i.e. the WORKS that God requires of His children. [His children are those elect whom God has effectually called out of their native state of sin and condemnation to grace and salvation)

Christ points them to the FIRST and CHIEF work God requires of them. Christ said, 'First things first... believe on Him whom God has sent.'  Please don't contradict Christ and speak blasphemy that believing in Christ is not work! Christ said it is a work God requires His children to work!

The Lord God said, "This is my beloved Son: hear him" - it is a command to DO something, i.e. to believe Him! And ONLY God's children, i.e. regenerated elect, are able to do that work!

Even so, the popular slogan 'justification by faith alone through grace alone' - commonly understood is an oxymoron. Justification is not by faith, i.e. man's work of believing in Christ Jesus. Justification is by the faith of Christ, i.e. Christ's faithfulness in discharging His work of redemption.

Apostle John said,
"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." 1John 3:23.
"Believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ" is a divine command; rendering obedience to a divine command is work. 

Apostle Paul states it so plainly in Romans: the righteousness needed for the justification of a condemned criminal is the righteousness provided by God Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. It is stated as plain as noonday sun here:

Romans 3:
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

He who ears to hear, let him hear!

Justification is FREELY by God's grace, NOT by your faith;
Justification is THROUGH the redemption that is in Jesus Christ; BY the faithfulness of Christ in His redemptive work. 
Justification is not through your faith;
BUT justification is evidenced by faith in Jesus Christ; even so, breath evidences life.
Your faith in Jesus Christ DEMONSTRATES that you have been FREELY justified by God's grace (the MANNER of your justification) based on the redemption that is in Jesus Christ (the GROUND of your justification).

You are saved by grace through the faith of Christ!

You are not saved by grace through your faith in Christ!

The former is the gospel; the latter is a lie of the devil!

The Order of Salvation

The Order of salvation and 
Its Multifaceted Nature

 

#Order_of_salvation

Please tell us something about each one.

Thanks.
======

Reggie
Salvation purposed is the mind of God before Creation. Salvation accomplished is also before the world was created. Salvation applied is at the cross because I believe in A definite atonement. Salvation experience is during the time of each believer throughout time after they have been born again. Salvation consummated the resurrection!

Sing F Lau
Reggie: How is the salvation accomplished before the world was created?

Reggie
Sing F Lau 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 KJV)

Reggie 
I’m guessing this may be my misunderstanding of how the preposition (from the foundation) may be? What u think?

Reggie
The preposition from the foundation of the world either refers to the book written or it refers to the lamb slain

Sing F Lau
The Lamb was NOT slain from the foundation of the world, the names were written from the foundation of the world.

The Lamb slain qualifies the book of life... whose book of life? The book of life of the Lamb slain.

Reggie
Sing F Lau. Ok.. sounds legit to me. So I must change my mind concerning when Salvation was accomplished.

Reggie
Cool.

Sing F Lau
Take a look here: 
The Order of Salvation - Ordo Salutis
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-order-of-salvation-ordo-salutis.html

And here:
Orderly Messed Up Order!
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2018/03/orderly-messed-up-order.html

Reggie
Sing F Lau like the part where is speaks of the faith (in) Christ verses the faith (of) Christ...

Sing F Lau
Where do you put those two?

Reggie
Sing F Lau the faith of Christ, I find in the Epistle written to the churches in Galatia. Along with the phrase faith in Christ. So in this book written to the churches in Galatia, we see a difference in the faith of Christ versus faith in Christ.

Now we all know what faith in Christ is and how that accomplishes justification in our mind. It is the faith of Christ that would seem to be in my mind in question. Is the faith of Christ Jesus his actual faith or is the faith of Christ speaking of the general term of all believers placing your faith in Christ?

Sing F Lau
Reggie, the faith of Christ speaks of His faithfulness in the work of redeeming His people.

Saulo
Sing F Lau "faith of Christ" refers to the act of Christ in His redemptive work. He is faithfully fulfilling it.

"Faith in Christ" refers to the faith in the Christ and of His finished redemptive work. This is in the conversion of the regenerate.

Sing F Lau
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4102/kjv/tr/0-1/

pistis:
fidelity, faithfulness
- the character of one who can be relied on

Saulo
Salvation purposed, decreed
Salvation accomplished by the substitutionary atonement of Christ
Salvation applied by the holy spirit in the effectual calling
Salvation experienced in conversion
Salvation consummated when Christ will come to receive us into Himself.

Sing F Lau
Saulo, Thank you, dear Brother.

Revelation was written before AD70

 

Sir, you believe the book of Revelation was written before AD 70. Do you have any verses that support this?
-------

Here is one

Rev 17:6-13 “...... And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.....”

"... five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space."

Who were the seven kings? Which five had fallen? Which one was reigning at the time Revelation was being written? Who was the other to come?

Were these the kings spoken of?

"... five are fallen..."
1. Julius Caesar (49/44bc)
2 Augustus (31bc/14ad)
3. Tiberius (14-37ad)
4. Gaius,/Caligula (37-41ad)
5. Claudius (41-54ad)

 "... and one is..." ("is" the reigning king when Apostle John wrote Revelation in AD 60s

6. Nero (54-68ad)

[Galba (68-69ad);    Otho (69ad);    Vitellius (69ad)  - these three in parentheses since their combined reign was so short, and there was hardly any reign at all.  These DID NOT CONTINUE... they were cut off as speedily as they became king.]

"... and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.....”

7. Vespasian (69-79ad)  "... the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.....”

I hope the above helps.

-----------

Allan Turda

Amen.

Bradley Hilton
No way, there’s a better interpretation. Nero is not and cannot be the beast.

Sing F Lau

Bradley Hilton You go and chase after your beast. I'm on the seven kings.

Bradley Hilton
Sing F Lau WHO IS THE BEAST Of rev 13 1-8? Instead of evading my rebuttal how about defending Mr Gentry's - which is essentially what you are saying.

Sing F Lau
Bradley Hilton Ask your question on your page. Surely you will get some interesting replies.

Evading your rebuttal? Have you even offered a rebuttal of what I said about the seven kings?

You can ride your hobbybeast; I'm dealing with the seven kings.

Bradley Hilton
Sing F Lau do you believe Nero is the subject of Rev 13 1-8?

Sing F Lau
Bradley Hilton Line up the seven kings first. Then tell us about your beast.

Bradley Hilton
If Nero is not the six King, then neither are any of the other Caesars "kings" including the three you dismissed. Vespasian does not fit the text neither.

Sing F Lau
Bradley Hilton Line up the seven kings first. Then tell us about your beast.
That should be simple enough for a smart man like you. 

Sir, what was accomplished at the cross?

What was accomplished at the cross?

Sir, what was accomplished at the cross?

=====

Great question. Let me express some thoughts for your consideration.

1. One thing is most certain: ALL the sins of ALL the elect of God were IMPUTED to Christ, YES, even including all the sins of all the elect that were not even conceived yet.

2. Just as certain, Christ Jesus - the redeemer of all those that were given to Him by the Father - suffered and endured the divine curse of all those sins in the place of His people, and made complete satisfaction of the wages of sins owed by ALL of His elect.

3. Equally certain, there are misguided Christians who believe that their sins were imputed to Christ ONLY when they believed in Jesus Christ. They don't realise that any sin imputed to Christ AFTER the cross-death-and-resurrection event would be too late!

4. If a man's sins are not INCLUDED (by legal imputation to Christ) in the one-offering of Christ of Himself for sin, there is NO MORE atonement for those sins. He MISSED the one Sin-Ship; the Ship has left the harbour, never to return to ship away more sins! The one Train that carried away sin has left the Station!

There is no more a second, or a third, or a fourth offering of Christ for sins at the WHIM and FANCY of some stupid (i.e. lacking common sense - not a derogatory term in any way, but an objective adjective!) people.

Silly, misguided children of God believe fables that are so injurious to themselves! They think Christ is at their beckoning! Not surprising at all because they, the mighty ones, ACCEPTED a lowly Jesus who begged at their doors for their ACCEPTANCE of Him! They have been sold a poor and pathetic Jesus! So they end up with this fable that it is they who decide when to surrender their sins to be imputed to Christ, i.e. when they believe in Christ!

4. Just as certain, double imputations took place at the cross, i.e.
- The sins of all His elect were IMPUTED to Christ, and Christ rendered full and perfect satisfaction for all of them. That is why not one iota of sin was able to hold Him in the grave!
- The righteousness of Christ, from His life of perfect and sinless obedience to God, was IMPUTED to all the elect given to Him by the Father.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

What is IMPUTED legally (a legal transaction) at the cross is APPLIED vitally at the effectual call to grace and salvation (a personal transaction); the former doesn't need your personal existence, the latter requires it.

What is applied freely by God's grace, i.e. when a man is dead in sins and trespasses, is EXPERIENCED through faith in Christ Jesus, whose righteousness is the sole basis and alone ground of God freely justifying the condemned, dead, alienated sinners.

==========

Lahry
Excellent. I tell others frequently, I was born in 1943, but I died about 33 AD. 🙂

Reggie
Excellent Read, bro. Sing F Lau. 100% agreement with every single word of this.

Dan
The proper, biblical answer to “What did Jesus Christ ACCOMPLISH?” eliminates 10,000 false doctrines in Christendom.

Bill Taylor
Amen!

Robert 
Great words, "What is IMPUTED legally (a legal transaction) is APPLIED vitally (a personal transaction); the former doesn't need your personal existence, the latter requires it. "

Patricia
Thanks

Cindy
Amen. Thank You Jesus. ❤✝❤

Buddy
Amen Bro.

Áthlios 
Amen!

One is the CAUSE, the other is the EFFECT.

Justified freely by the grace of God is the CAUSE;
Justified by your faith in Jesus Christ is an EFFECT.
These are two distinct justifications: 

I wonder why it is so hard for a student of God's word to accept that only someone whom God HAS JUSTIFIED FREELY is able to believe in order to be justified by his faith? Someone whom God has not justified by His grace is still in the state of condemnation and death, thus absolutely incapable of believing. An UNGODLY man justified by God's free grace is NOT THE SAME as a believer being justified by his faith...

They are distinct and separate acts.

One is the CAUSE, the other is the EFFECT.
Justified freely by the grace of God is the CAUSE;
Justified by faith in Jesus Christ is an EFFECT. 

Justification freely by God's grace is NOT the justification by our faith.

In the justification by God's free grace, there is the imputation of Christ's righteousness to your account (as in Rom 3:24, 8:30)

In the justification by your faith, there is the imputation of your faith to your account (like Gen 15:1-6 account)

The two are very distinct and different acts.

Why do so many confuse the EXPERIENTIAL justification by their faith as their LEGAL justification by God's grace through their faith?

Why the confusion? Is it because many cannot differentiate between SOUND and SENSE anymore?

But many, at least those who brand themselves after a Genevan, have enough sense to admit that they must have life first in order to believe, i.e. regeneration precedes faith.

However, stranger still, there are those calvinists (the Reformed Baptists) here in malaysia who insist that regeneration precedes faith, BUT ALSO that one must believe in order to have eternal life (all stated in black and white in a official theological paper issued in the names of 7 churches!) They say that regeneration gives the ability! It gets more bizarre, implying that there can be ability WITHOUT life.

How can't they see the same truth that the removal of condemnation of death and bestowal of righteousness of life in justification by God's free grace MUST PRECEDE the activity of believing?

At least the Old Baptists declared this: "The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified" - Circular Letter of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, dated October 4, 1785.

But a whole new generation has arisen that believes the EXACT opposite - all the modern calvinists and the reformed baptists, the whole world over!

It looks like the time spoken of by Apostle Paul is here:
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

'Fables' are FICTIONS. The condemned (unjustified by God) believes in order to be justified is a FICTION, and a deceiving lie.

Tom Sellier
What came first, the chicken or the egg? We know the chicken came first because God created the chicken with the ability to have baby chickens with the roosters help, of course, through the absolutely astounding process of a fertilized egg. Of all things. Nature has no such imagination. Keith you are right but I have a slightly different take on it. The reason is today's Christian has become a reader of christian books written by men instead of students of the Bible. I say put down the books and write your own.

Tom Sellier
And you know, Sing if you look at who Jesus said He came for, most of us can't articulate the mechanics of our salvation, but we KNOW we are saved. I just pray for the weaker that no one be able to talk them out of their salvation because that is the goal of the devil and his minions these last days.

Sing F Lau
Absolutely no one is able to talk them out of their ETERNAL salvation... not even Satan himself. Each one is as safe in the hand of Christ as ever.

But so many are already deprived of their TEMPORAL salvation... having been deceived that their justification before God is conditioned upon their faith! Where is assurance and comfort from such a belief, if a man is honest before God?

A justification by faith must necessarily be maintained by that same faith! And that is precarious at best!

A justification secured by faith shall logically, and justly, be forfeited by faithlessness. There would be unending uncertainty to maintain that state of justification. Is it faith of the right kind, is there enough faith, etc.. Where is assurance with such uncertainty!

But if justification, by God's free grace based on the solid foundation of Christ finished and perfect righteousness ALONE, is evidenced by faith, then the weakest faith in the Savior evidences that secured and completed and perfected state of justification by God's free grace based on the equally secure, complete and perfect righteousness of Christ.

Jason Sides
Sing while you and I am sure agree with many of the writings of John Gill, I would like to ask you whether you evangelize as many do not believe John Gill promoted it; in fact have labelled him a hyper calvinist.

Sing F Lau
Brother Jason, some of the greatest LIARS ever lived on earth would have to be those that accuse John Gill of not evangelizing. He most certainly did evangelize, maybe not their frivolous and men-centred 'finneyite' idea of evangelism.

Read these articles by George Ella to convince yourself that it was not for evangelism that they charged Gill with hyper-Calvinism.

http://evangelica.de/articles/biographies/john-gill-and-the-charge-of-hyper-calvinism/

http://evangelica.de/articles/biographies/john-gill-and-his-successors/

Take a look. Ella is a rare and objective theological historian!

And get hold of this book and read for yourself and find out the FACTS about John Gill.

I wrote this satire:
'It is like a Genevan who believes that milk and baby clothes are necessary for the conception of a child, calling a Chinese brother a ‘hyper-calvinist’ just because he believes that milk and baby clothes are necessary only for the growth and development of the child already delivered. How bizarre can the world get! It gets even more bizarre when a Genevan misrepresents the Chinese brother as saying, “milk and baby clothes are not needed at all for newborn babes.”

A smart aleck ‘standard reformed’ brother boldly retorted, ‘If justification is before faith, then there is no need of faith at all; then what need is there for preaching!’ It is like a man saying to his wife, ‘darling wifey, you said milk and baby clothes are not needed for the conception and the delivery of a child, then what need is there to shop for these things for our baby?’ The wifey rolled her eyes and said, ‘Get me the rolling pin, quick!
[pg 64 of 'A Pruning of Seven Deformed Branches']

Sing F Lau
Amen, Brother Keith. The principle of 'first thing first' will save many from deception and delusion... I went through it all. It took quite a long while to wean myself from ingrained errors. I went back to Scriptures, and unlearned lots of man-centred (i.e. deluded Arminianism, and twisted Calvinism) errors. I am only beginning to learn the Scriptures.

[Keith has deleted his comments!]

Jason Sides
Sing, can you send the above article/hyperlink as a message to me, as I would like to share it with some others.