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What does the Bible say?
Protestants believe in a number of different ways to attain eternal life. This is confirmed by the approximately 33,000 different Protestant denominations (World Christian Encyclopedia by Barrett, Kurian, Johnson (volume 1, page 16, Table 1-5; Oxford Univ Press, 2nd edition, 2001).
Generally, Protestants believe in a faith alone (sola fide) method based on certain passages in the New Testament, although none state that man is saved by “faith alone.” Actually, the Bible says that we are not saved by faith alone (James 2:24).
Faith is perfected through works!
Matthew 25: 35-39 is the passage wherein Jesus states:
“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in…”
Galatians 5:6 states:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”
James 2:21-24 reads:
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.”
Protestants often cite Ephesians 2:8-9 as evidence that we are saved by faith alone. However, they inevitably fail to include verse 10. The entire passage reads:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast, (v. 10) for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
If you only read the part up to the word ‘boast,’ in can be interpreted that faith alone is correct. But that is not what it is saying. It is saying we should not boast in our works. Verse 10, beginning with ‘for we’ firmly states that were created for good works!
Remember James 2:24? It says man is justified by works, and not by faith alone!
Not by faith alone
Not by faith alone
Not by faith alone
The Protestant position of faith alone salvation has no firm scriptural basis. The Catholic position of faith plus works is based on strong scriptural evidence.
Scriptural emphases added by CozmicJunkyard. All scriptural quotes are from the New American Standard.
1 comment:
The jews believe that one must perform good deeds known as "mitvahs" and that god presents constant oppurtunity to perform mitzvahs many times each day. Conscious awareness of these oppurtunities, plus a desire to perform them, leads to actual performance. The act of performance of the mitzvah serves god, fellow man and consequently oneself through the inner joy of helping another and carrying out god's desire.
Jews recognize free choice in that each person has the power to choose to perform or not. Achieving eternal life is not directly tied to specific choices. One's choices are based on many factors and can only be judged by god. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, each jew must reflect on the choices made, and actions taken during the previous year and make a conscious effort to improve oneself. No person is considered so good that this reflection is unnecessary. There is no magic recipe for eternal life that uniformly applies to everyone. Each person's life experiences are considered different and only god shall judge.
Orthodox jews believe that one must follow every rule of the Torah (first testament), the Talmud (a centuries long interpretation of torah) and various other teachings of jewish law. Non orthodox jews do not believe that compliance with the human interpretations of all laws is necessary especially since it is a rare occasion when two jews can agree on an interpretation. At no time can any jew feel that he has already achieved the necessary qualifications to enter heaven and therefore become complacent about self improvement. It is a lifelong process, an act in progress until death. You will only learn your fate after death, so best to do your best while you are here.
Jews believe that one of the greatest gifts of heaven will be the ability to ask any question about anything and receive the correct answer. If I make it, I am sure I will be in charge of answering baseball questions. Evan
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