Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
BB,
And of course, if it is mere credence, then it is not much. But it does take some credence. It takes some mental acceptance of the facts as presented. That is part of the deal.
Like I mentioned in another post, pointing to creed, or declaration of faith, and declaring it is "mere" is a distractor. It is a misdirect. It is possbily a misrepresentation of the facts. Just because you only know of the statement of belief does not make it unreal. Or the works non-existant. Just not visible to you.
I fear that there is too much desire in some to seek the scirptures for a formula rather than seeking God. You don't have to find a formula to believe in the "creed" of Jesus, and obey what he commanded (or at least keep trying) as you seek Him for your help in achieving.
And expecting that at death you will still not be fully there.
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Sorry if I misrepresented your definition of faith. I guess I'm still struggling to understand it. I'm basing it off what I've read and knew back in the LCs.
Jesus said if you do not forgive someone from your heart, the Father cannot forgive you. According to Lordship Salvationists if you die with unforgiveness, you do not receive forgiveness from God. Forgiving is deemed as an act of faith because we perform this act of obedience out of having faith that God's commands are true, just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac because he trusted in God's promises. Would a person who said he believed in Jesus and the word of God still go to heaven under your definition of faith, if he couldn't bring himself to forgive because the pain was too great?
The reason I'm citing examples of works and faith is James says there is a saving faith and a dead faith which can be judged by the fruit or the works produced from the faith in question. Hebrews 11 is also a laundry list of works that were done out of saving faith. So I just want to test the waters to see what level of saving faith you need to obtain eternal life under free grace.