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Old 05-15-2005, 01:25 PM   #14
uncertaindrumer
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You did not deal with most obvious of James verses: "You see then that we are justified by WORKS and not by faith alone"

The ONLY TIME in the Bible that the phrase "faith alone" is used, it is preceded by "not by". Now, Paul does indeed hammer the notion that we can be saved by works, and I agree. We can't. We also can't be saved by Faith, since our Faith is not perfect either. We cannot OBLIGATE God to save us because He is perfect and we are not. That is what Paul is teaching. A very good book on this sujbect is "Not by Faith alone" by Robert Sungenis. It shows in much greater detail than I have the time for, that Paul is not condemning all works, but merely saying we cannot use the Law to to obligate God in anyway. Jews would obviously be SAYING this if they believed that Gentiles needed to be cirumcised to be saved, and Paul consistently smashes this notion.

Yes, commiting adultery loses Sanctifying Grace. When Jesus died on the cross for us, He eternally Redeemed humanity. There is NOTHING we can do to "un-redeem" ourselves, so to speak. But we still have to be justified. We are born with Original sin on our souls, and after we get rid of it through Baptism, we are perfect, and ready to enter Heaven. Unfortunately, plenty of people live long enough to fall into sin. There IS SIN WHICH IS NOT DEADLY, a fact of which John makes us aware. But if there is sin that is NOT deadly, than there is sin which IS deadly, which means obviously, that we can lose our sanctifying Grace! Otherwise, there would be no such thing as deadly sin!

You keep saying we should not sin against God and should try and follow his laws, and yet, you at the same time implicate that we don't NEED to. I find this a gross misunderstanding of not only the Bible, but also the reason and Common sense which God gave us. Why would there BE laws if breaking them didn't entail anything? Do you truely believe that once you have been saved you can commit adultery over and OVER but never lose anything for it? I don't. Commiting a deadly sin such as that kills the Sanctifying Grace in our soul. Thankfully, God is a merciful God and will forgive us, once again sanctifying us and making us fit for Heaven, but that doesn't mean we can just do whatever we want and never worry about consequences.

If a Christian commits adultery, he is willfully and knowlingy breaking God's law, and thus, willfully and knowingly rejecting God! Now, you might believe that he is still saved, but if someone who rejects God is saved, then we should ALL just be saved by saying that little prayer of yours and then going on with our sinful lives. Excuse the sarcasm, but frankly it fits, and I don't see how you can negotiate that view of salvation with the fact that it is obviously difficult to get into Heaven, and that MANY are going to Hell, the unfortunate truth of which is readily attested to in the Bible.
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