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Originally Posted by ThankfulForever777
Thank you for sharing this link. After watching it, I believe it offers valuable insights that challenge many preconceptions I have acquired from WL teachings.
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Glad you enjoyed it ThankfulForever777, here's another interesting video from Sam Shamoun who the famous apologist David Wood calls the "Assyrian Encyclopedia" and arguably the best Christian debater of our lifetime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYaTEv5DZVE ("Sam Shamoun On "FAITH ALONE" & What Jesus Taught About Justification")
I often refer to this blog post for a Greek word study on "faith" actually meaning "trust within a vow to a faithful relationship":
https://thelogosofagape.wordpress.co...ek-word-study/
And Sam in the video actually proves this definition using scripture.
Paul quotes Habbukuk 2:4 three times in the NT: "The righteous shall live by faith" in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 (assuming he is the author of Hebrews which he may not be).
If you do a Hebrew word study on Habbukuk 2:4, the Hebrew word for faith "emunah" used in the verse actually means much more than "faith" in English according to Strong's:
https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/...brew/0530.html
"firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness"
So the verse Paul is quoting should be translated as "The righteous shall live by trusting faithfulness"
So faith is more like "trusting faithfulness" or "allegiance". Abraham "believed" in God but he demonstrated his faith by obeying God when he wanted him to sacrifice Isaac. Balaam had the correct "mental agreement" concerning God and was used by God to prophesy and speak truth, however his faith & obedience was directed at himself and money so he ended up in hell according to 2 Peter 2:1-15.
Matthew Bates also writes about this in his book "Salvation by Allegiance Alone":
https://www.amazon.com/Salvation-All.../dp/0801097975
Mental agreement is not enough for salvation. Obedience is required. Also obedience comes from the heart and many Christians have confused obedience with works. God desires "obedience" (trusting faithfulness) and not sacrifice (works) (1 Samuel 15:22, Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:6–8). Ananias and Sapphira "sacrificed" but they were not obedient.
John 3:36 (ESV)
"Whoever
believes in the Son has
eternal life; whoever
does not obey the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."
Romans 1:5 (ESV)
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the
obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
Acts 5:32 (ESV)
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those
who obey him.”