You want us to throw our reason to the wind and imagine that Paul is telling those already saved to work out their own salvation of the soul!
Again, in the verse we are discussing one of the meanings of the Greek word translated "salvation" is "deliverance" and that is the proper translation.
1 Cor 9:27
27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
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Gal 5:4
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
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Heb 12:15
15 looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
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[/QUOTE]
I said
That is what I am telling you.
REASON & LOGIC OR VERSES
2 Cor 11:6
6 Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.
Eph 3:3-5
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
Gal 1:6-7
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
2 Pet 2:18-20
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning
2 Pet 3:15-16
15 and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation-- as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Gal 1:10-12
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I Jn 2:27-29
27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Phil 2:12
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
Rom 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
John 6:29
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."
2 Cor 13:5
5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified.
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xxx Mans reasoning and logic is what keeps people from just believing the Word of God. Think about when you were a kid, how you could believe in Santa, or the tooth fairy, or the easter bunny. The ability to believe something has always been there. But as you grew up, you were programed to rely on mans logic. But what does the Word say:
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
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xxx Many start out looking for reasons to believe the gospel. The only reason someone would do that is because of their carnal reasoning and logic. Think about this. When you were growing up, did you need a reason to believe your teachers at school? Did you need a reason to believe your parents? Did you need a reason to believe the light would come on when you fliped the light switch? Did you need a reason to get dressed? Did you need a reason to eat? Did you need a reason to breath?
But you need a reason to believe the bible, Gods Word. You start out with the bible full of doubts, and you submit to them doubts. When the first step to the bible is repent and believe in the gospel. If you take the first step wrong, all the rest are going to be wrong also. If you try to retain your human wisdom and logic you will always fall short of the truth. The devil is always there has been. Its only because of him that you cant just believe the Word the way it is written. And the Word teaches to purge out your human wisdom.
What greater test could God have than to ask you to believe something exists that doesnt exist. And to do it by faith. Faith in Gods Word that it is all true. Because only then will you see it work as it says it will work.
Rom 4:17-18
17 (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed-- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be."
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