Was the thief suffering by Messiah’s side saved by faith or works?

Upholding Messiah’s Law is only possible by the one redeemed through faith in Jesus as Lord and possessing the Spirit of God as Teacher, Intercessor, Guarantor of relationship, forever. Until such time relationship is established by faith, alone, in Messiah, it matters not works or laws or ideology one follows.

Jesus must be first and He can only become Lord, Messiah, God, by faith…just as the thief on the Cross discovered, there is nothing we can do to garner God’s favor but believe in Jesus as God who died to pay our sin-debt (John 3:16). Our good works will follow when the Spirit is our Sanctification and our Guarantor of relationship (Ephesians 1:13-14).

If man could find righteousness with the Father through obedience, Jesus would not have needed to suffer and die (Galatians 2:21).

Faith alone? Yes or No?

Grace (unmerited favor) by faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus as God and Messiah, alone, apart from works, will one find a covenant relationship with God the Father that is sealed and Guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 3:16). No man or woman possess the righteousness or the capability to work themselves into relationship with God through the mediation of one’s sin as we’re all sinners condemned by the Law void atonement (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:16); therefore, Jesus, alone, is God who entered Time via the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) in order to circumvent the seed of Adam (the sin-nature) (Romans 5:12) and Jesus kept the works of the Law for you and promises to give you HIS perfection via the imputation of HIS righteousness if you will believe-trust in Him, alone, as God and Messiah (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

It is your faithfulness and obedience subsequent to salvation that validates your faith but your works cannot supplant the sufficiency of faith in Messiah (Ephesians 2:8-9)…ALONE!

ONCE SAVED – Always Saved? The Controversy – a discussion…

The Legalist – the Law Keeper – those who deny the sufficiency of Messiah Jesus to save by grace, alone, by faith, alone, and the Father’s omnipotence and faithfulness to keep securely those who are in Covenant with Him, please allow me to succinctly vent my frustration with your absence of faith in my God.

The Scripture you quote, repeatedly, in vain, attempting to nullify God’s promises of security concerning the one who loves Him via Covenant in Jesus as Lord are prejudiced by your legalism and false doctrine resulting from false teaching, cult compromise and an absence of the Spirit as your Tutor/Teacher (Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 John 2:27). Scriptures that speak of “those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,” (Hebrews 6:4) for example, never suggest that the one who has denied my Lord as their God and Messiah were ever in Covenant relationship with Him by faith nor do these Scriptures suggest that the one who has “fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4) ever possessed the indwelling Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit given to the faithful as the Seal and Guarantor of Covenant relationship with the Father relevant to everyone who believes in Jesus as Messiah and God over their life (Ephesians 1:13-14).

These controversial Scriptures do imply that the one who has walked away from Jesus as their Lord were knowledgeable concerning the Gospel; they understood the message of grace through faith as preached; they tasted and experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, in the personal lives of others who truly believed; they observed the work of the Spirit in Jesus during His ministry, in the Apostles, in the servants of God in all the Churches; they felt the joy of the Spirit’s presence within the congregation of believers; yet, they denied the sole sufficiency of Messiah Jesus to save by faith, alone, and they returned to a “works salvation,” the eternal Jewish error; they sought righteousness through Law and the works of their own hands in religious narcissism (Romans 9:30) while rejecting the simplicity of the Gospel; that is, Jesus, alone, by faith, alone, concerning a Covenant relationship with the Father, forever.

In closing,

IF one is born again by the Spirit, they belong to the Father through a Covenant relationship, forever (John 10:28-30). Though the faithful in Messiah Jesus possess free will, both now and in Eternity, their heart’s desire no longer aligns with the World but with God and His Truth; these faithful in Jesus will not compromise void conviction/repentance; they will not walk away, they will never deny grace and they will love our God, forever, because they are a “new creation,” forever (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Though the sinful nature lurks at the door (Genesis 4:7; 1 John 3:4; Romans 7:14-25), the faithful seek to walk in the Spirit and eschew the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). No man or woman born of the Spirit can live in willful disobedience or deny the Truth of Jesus as Lord by grace through faith as these eternal truths are inextricably ingrained within the spirit of those who belong to Jesus.

Question was asked: “What has religion done for the World?”

Christian response,

Religion places burdens upon mankind that he/she can never conquer or overcome. It is Jesus that destroyed the burdens and condemnation of religion through His perfection/sinlessness and made those who trust in Him “worthy” of eternal life through the imputation of His own perfection – righteousness earned for us at Golgotha and we can access that perfection by believing in Jesus as our God and Messiah who died to pay our sin-debt for us…a debt we could not pay ourselves due to our sinful nature (2 Corinthians 5:21; John 3:16-18; Romans 8:1).

A warning to every Jew who trusts in the Torah for righteousness and rejects Jesus Christ as Messiah…

Unless you repent of your sins and humble yourself before the Father and sincerely believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is God who died to pay your sin-debt, you will not be named among the remnant and you will suffer the “second death” in Hell along with a majority of Jacob’s children who have died in their sins rejecting their Messiah (John 8:24).

Are the Ten-Commandments and the 613-Levitical Laws of the Covenant of Law applicable to the New Covenant established in Messiah’s blood?

Christian response,

If I never possessed a copy of the Torah, the Decalogue, the Covenant of Law, I can be redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ as my God and Messiah and I can know the will of my Heavenly Father through the Law of Spirit; that is, the Holy Spirit that lives within me subsequent to trusting in Jesus as my Lord and the Law of God that is written upon my heart, not etched in stone or scratched upon parchment (Hebrews 10:16).

God’s moral law has been extant within every human being since the 6th-Day of Creation as we are created in the spiritual image of God (Genesis 1:26-28) and have been endowed with certain communicable attributes of God; morality – the natural law – the law of conscience (Romans 2:15) is integral within every man and woman and we become culpable for violating that law subsequent to attaining an age of reason/accountability.

Human kind has been governed and constrained by natural law from the beginning and will be judged by God’s moral law that is extant from Eternity past; this same moral law will convict both Satan/the fallen angels and unredeemed mankind in the Judgment; The Holy Spirit tells us that all of mankind, those having rejected the truth of God, will be “without excuse” (Romans 1:18-32); this, apart from the Commandments/the Torah given the children of Israel thousands-of-years subsequent to the 6th-Day of Creation.

The Jew, the cult members, the law keepers, inundating these religious oriented forums refuse to acknowledge God’s truth that in conjunction with the shed blood of Messiah poured-out for the forgiveness of sin (Matthew 26:26-28), the Covenant of Law was made obsolete, nullified, replaced with something eternally superior; that is, the New Covenant, where the condemnation of Law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:10) was replaced by grace and the hopelessness of Law that is absent atonement (Romans 8:3) was replaced by a Mediator for sin, Jesus Christ, who did, indeed, fulfill the promises of the Old Covenant through perfect obedience, sinlessness (Matthew 5:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8:46).

As a Gentile, I was never obligated to the Torah or the Commandments, but God’s moral law was present in my heart from conception (Romans 2:15) and had I never trusted in Jesus Christ as my God and Messiah, that natural law (Romans 2:15) would have convicted me at the Judgment of the Condemned (Revelation 20:11-15). I do not need the Torah, the Commandments, to know God’s will for my life nor do I require them to know His moral law concerning my relationship with my fellowman. I need Jesus in my life in order to walk in obedience to God’s will as His Spirit is my strength, my LAW, and that Law is written upon my heart and the Spirit continually, daily, guides me in that Law through sanctification as He prepares me for service in the New Jerusalem.

In closing,

I do NOT need the Torah, the Commandments, to know God’s will. God gave the Commandments/the Torah specifically to the children of Israel for a sundry of reasons; primarily, the Law defined sin (Romans 3:20) via codification, enhanced culpability, as the children of Israel were set-apart specifically by God for His purposes and they were to be Holy as God is Holy. The Law was given Jacob’s children as they were to be different, holy, apart from the pagan tribes that would tempt them with apostasy and war against them to the death. The Law specifically pointed Jacob’s children to the coming Messiah as that Law demonstrated man’s inability to please God through obedience as mankind is sinful by nature in Adam and the Law demonstrated the necessity for a Mediator that was to come through the Tribe of Judah. Law keepers, SDA, Jews, keep your Law and your Torah, it’s beautiful, it’s worthy, it’s an excellent teaching tool. I’ll keep Jesus as my God and the precious Holy Spirit as my Law, for life.

Law Keeper mistakenly suggests the BEMA-Judgment of Christ corresponds to a works salvation.

Christian response,

The BEMA-Judgment is relevant to “believers” works; that is, those works done SUBSEQUENT to salvation during the sanctification process; these works of obedience are judged for authenticity; that is, a differentiation between works done in selfishness from works done via the Spirit.

Works play no role in salvation as our God, Jesus Christ, is more than sufficient to save the one who trusts in Him as God and Messiah, alone. It is heresy and an absence of faith to believe that one must “help” Jesus save via works.

Theological question on FB concerning the Holy Spirit: “What constitutes the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? Mark 3:29. Is there any difference between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit?”

Christian response,

The Holy Ghost (Old English) – Holy Spirit is the same God, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11-13) and Seals/Guarantees Covenant with the Father by faith in Jesus as Messiah and God over one’s life (Ephesians 1:13-14). It’s a matter of differentiating the KJV from modern translations.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was relevant during Messiah’s ministry upon this Earth as He performed miracles, raised the dead, cast out demons, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Jews accused Jesus of performing miracles by the power of the Devil/demons (Matthew 12). Such arrogance, blasphemy, and false accusations against the Spirit is the ONLY sin that Jesus said would not be forgiven within the Realm of Time or in Eternity. For that reason, blasphemy against the Spirit is not possible subsequent to Messiah ascension though some disagree.

Some theologians and Bible scholars believe that blasphemy against the Spirit is relevant today in the form of “unbelief” in Jesus as Lord; this reasoning is based on the truism that unbelief in Messiah Jesus is the only sin that God the Father will not forgive; that is, if a person dies in their sin having rejected Messiah as Mediator there remains no hope, no repentance, no forgiveness subsequent to the last exhalation (John 3:16-18; Acts 4:12; John 8:24).

Law Keepers and their heresy continue to plague these pages: “WHEN GOD TELLS YOU >>WELL DONE<< THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT DOES IT SOUND LIKE YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY PART TO PLAY IN YOUR SALVATION?”

Christian response,

Your obedience SUBSEQUENT to your salvation in Jesus Christ is credited as good works and will be evaluated at the BEMA-Judgment of believers for authenticity (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). You err eternally if you think that keeping a Law somehow plays a role in the forgiveness of sin earned for you ONLY by Jesus Christ and His suffering.

It is pride; narcissism; self-sufficiency; Scriptural misunderstanding; false doctrine; that insists human kind has any role to play in the redemption of the soul…a “works doctrine” is a lie of the Devil; you’re a sinner born of the seed of Adam (Romans 5:12) and the Law has already condemned you to Hell (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:10; James 2:10); therefore, only by faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus APART from your own efforts, will you find forgiveness of sin and a Covenant relationship with the Father!

WE ALL approach the throne of Christ as unworthy sinful men and women (Romans 3:9-23); Christian’s don’t work to be saved; they seek obedience to the Spirit via sanctification BECAUSE they are saved. Christians understand that Jesus, alone, is more than sufficient to save and provide us with the imputation of His righteousness by faith i.e. GRACE, alone, by FAITH, alone.

The Christian honors Jesus and the Spirit with love and obedience because we’re redeemed and we’re a new creation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus + NOTHING saves; if you feel you must add to or supplement the sufficiency of Jesus to save you from sin and death in Hell, you have become a cult and you serve the Devil and a religion, not our omnipotent God. It is the one who “believes” in Jesus as God and Messiah that is saved and NOT the one who works.

A “works doctrine” is a Jewish Religion and Cult error. Remain true to our foundation in Christ, alone, and find peace with assurance.

A “works salvation” advocate, possibly a Jew and/or legalist, quotes James and arrives at a false conclusion.

“FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEADCan faith alone, without works, justify and save anybody?” James 2 (KJV)

Christian response,

James is correct…faith, lest it be validated by good works, was never truly faith…just a head knowledge or words expressed void substance. Those redeemed by faith in Messiah Jesus will reflect a changed heart, a renewed perspective—works befitting the presence of the Spirit in one’s life.

Where you must approach with caution is misinterpreting James by suggesting he is advocating for a “works” salvation; that is, our works, good deeds, play a role in pleasing the Father who grants eternal life to the faithful…this is a Jewish error; this is death to mind, body, soul in Hell.

As far back as Isaiah, we’re told that our works, even on our best day, are as a filthy, bloody, menstrual cloth in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6) and the error made by the Jew, the religionist’ – the legalist, is thinking that we must do something, some good work, in order to please God and thereby earn our salvation; this demonically-rooted, prideful, error mocks God and His sole-sufficiency to save through Messiah apart from our input. This is heresy.

There is absolutely NOTHING you can do physiologically to be saved from sin and death in Hell…not one thing, not one work, not one good deed, will save you from God’s wrath; if that were possible, Jesus would not have needed to suffer and die for our sin. It is by faith ALONE in Jesus, alone, as our God who died to pay our sin-debt that pleases the Father who grants the faithful in Jesus redemption from sin and life in Eternity via the imputation and subsequently provides the redeemed the Gift of the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of relationship with Him…nothing else, no one else will please the Father and establish Covenant with Him but faith in Jesus, alone.

The ONLY time your works become relevant in Christianity is SUBSEQUENT to your confession that Jesus is your Lord. It is your works SUBSEQUENT to your confession that validates, authenticates, your faith as being true and your relationship with the Father as established in Covenant and verified by the presence of the Spirit in your life (Ephesians 1:13-14). You can give your body to science for your fellowman; you can love without fail; you can serve your local Church till the day you die; but, if Jesus is not your God and Messiah, your good works will die in Hell with you at the “second death” (Revelation 20:11-15). Faith alone in Jesus, alone, establishes Covenant with the Father. Good works/obedience subsequent to establishing relationship with the Father by faith, these validate your faith…they do not supplant it. A works salvation results from narcissism; pride; arrogance; self-sufficiency; these are an anathema; these are demonically rooted.