Grandpa, your bifocals seem to be fogged up, making it hard for you to read. I said:
We CAN earn God's favor (grace) through the attitude of our hearts as we obey Him.
So, in other words, if you get to heaven and someone else doesn't, it will be due to your obedience which causes God to look favorably upon you as you obey Him, correct?
How does that exclude boasting?
This is the same thing God has said throughout all of scripture.
You can't have faith without works.
James 2:26
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. |
That says nothing of how you are saved.
So, Paul was obviously comparing faith with works to works without faith in Romans 9:32
Paul was saying the opposite of what you are now saying. Look at the verse you listed. They sought it by works, didnt' get it.
Pretty much, since we can't work our way into the kingdom, but have to rely on God's favor. (Esther 5:1-3)
If that scares you, then you are on the right track. (Philippians 2:12)(2 Peter 3:17)
1 Peter 1:13
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; |
I am not trying to work my way in. I am already in. I have eternal life right now, I am passed from death to life and I am sealed unto the day of redemption. Jesus will not lose me and will not cast me out.
I follow the example of Jesus and the apostles, who all quoted from the scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16)
My point was you quote a lot of OT and Gospels and apply those verses to the way people are saved today. Surely you realize the way God saves people today is different than the OT law. Remember, we are not under law, but under grace.
It means exactly what it says. The man that does not have his sin counted against him by God is blessed. Of course, you know that happens at the judgment. (Revelation 20:12)
Rev 20:12 is not for the church. That is the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11) AFTER the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth (Rev 20:7). At that point, the Bride will have been complete for over 1,000 years.
I will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ (Rom 14:10, 2 Cor 5:10). My works will be judged and the only thing in question is my level of reward at the time, not whether I am saved or not. (1 Cor 3:15)
No, that is the switch from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, and is actually incidental to the Gospel.
But I am having a hard time discerning what you think the purpose of Jesus coming, bleeding, dying and rising was. It sounds like you don't think much has changed from the OC and that you see salvation as pretty much the same today as it was before the Cross.
The Gospel is what Jesus preached.
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into 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 ye, and believe the gospel.
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Ok, but that doesn't tell you what the gospel is, just that you are to believe it.
Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. |
Acts 1:3
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: |
What did he preach about the kingdom of God?
The Gospel is what the angel spoke.
Revelation 14:6-7
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. |
This message, preached by the angel, is not the gospel for today. Notice the timing of Rev 14. The audience is the 144,000 that are saved during the Great Tribulation. The church has been raptured already, and married to Christ. People will be saved differently then than they are today.
The Gospel is what was spoken of by Paul.
Acts 14:22
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:5
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Acts 28:23
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
Getting closer
Phillip preached the Gospel.
Acts 8:12
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. |
The Gospel is what Peter preached.
2 Peter 1:11
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. |
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You still haven't listed what the gospel is. You have showed me places where it was preached, but you haven't shown me what was preached. Allow me to help:
1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
* -- We believe and we are baptized into Jesus: (Eph 5:30; 1 Cor 12:13),
* -- We become a part of His body (Eph 5:30)
* -- We are baptized into His death (Rom 6:3)
* -- We are buried with Him since we were baptized into Him (Rom 6:4)
* -- We are raised with Him since we were baptized into His body (Rom 6:4)
* -- Christ is seated in Heave (Eph 1:20) and since we were baptized into His body, we are also seated in heavenly places (Eph 2:6)
* -- I am sealed unto the day of redemption (2 Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30)
* -- Jesus will not lose any of His own (John 17:12),
* -- Jesus will never cast me out (John 6:37)
* -- He will never leave
nor forsake me (Heb 13:15)
* -- My sins are covered in the Blood (Eph 1:7)
* -- and I know I have eternal life (1 Jn 5:13)
you can know today if you place all of your trust in His work on your behalf. Repent of your dead works and put your hope in God. Be Born again and rest from your work as God did from His