Justification, Faith alone, faith and good works or good works alone? (Jesus Christ, Creator)

[*Paul*]

Job 25v4: How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

This is the big question for us all. The bible declares that God has set a day when he will judge the world:


Acts 17v31: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

God has given a Law with commandments that cannot be called suggestions; they are commandments that demand obedience. To break these commandments is to miss the mark and fall short of God’s glorious perfection.
We all are going to have to give an account for this and there is no escape, there will be no bargaining with God, there will be no parole or second chances on that great day of judgement.

1Sam 2v10: The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

The scripture says that God will judge the world in righteousness that means of course that knowing someone who is friends with the Judge will have no effect on His righteous judgement at all, that would be a corrupt judge, even if it is His own mother He will judge you in righteousness.

Lev 19v15: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Moreover the bible declares us all guilty of sin:

Rom 3v19: Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Rom 3v23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We are guilty and have no chance of escaping His righteous judgement, however God Has offered justification to some, He has offered to declare us not guilty and free from any condemnation that the transgression of His Law might bring upon us.

For those of us who are convinced of our sin and guilt before Him it should be our most earnest desire to seek this justification by all means so we can be in a right relationship with our Righteous, Just and Loving Creator and this is the bible states is only possible through Jesus Christ.

Acts 13v39: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

There are I believe three differing opinion on how we are to be declared righteous by God and not have our sins imputed to us, they are:

Faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, Faith in Jesus Christ plus our good works and intentions or our good works alone God will accept. Which of these are you hanging you eternal welfare and happiness upon?

Rom 4v7: Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Rom 4v8: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

[Mike182]

thread moved to Same Faith Debates section of the forum, and public poll added, as per authors request

[*Paul*]

Of course I believe that God justifies through faith alone by His grace. I believe that the bible is very clear about this. Is a what I call a fundamental of the faith. I hold this biblical truth in such a high esteem that any who deny it I consider not to be a brother or sister in Christ.
This I believe is what sets Protestants apart from all others, someone recently asked me privately why I beleieve that mormons aren't christians and this was my main reason and the reason also why I say that Seventh Day adventists, Jehovahs Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Orthodox and some others are not my brothers or sisters in Christ. Seperated or otherwise.
I have read recently someone say that true baptism is our entrance into the body of Christ and that if a person is not baptised according to the trinitarian formulae then they are not true Christian.
For me Justification is the issue not baptism.

[athanasius]

Originally Posted by *Paul*

Of course I believe that God justifies through faith alone by His grace. I believe that the bible is very clear about this. Is a what I call a fundamental of the faith. I hold this biblical truth in such a high esteem that any who deny it I consider not to be a brother or sister in Christ.
This I believe is what sets Protestants apart from all others, someone recently asked me privately why I beleieve that mormons aren't christians and this was my main reason and the reason also why I say that Seventh Day adventists, Jehovahs Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Orthodox and some others are not my brothers or sisters in Christ. Seperated or otherwise.
I have read recently someone say that true baptism is our entrance into the body of Christ and that if a person is not baptised according to the trinitarian formulae then they are not true Christian.
For me Justification is the issue not baptism.

Funny you do not acept Catholic as christians borthers and sisters yet you quote from St Gregory of Nyssa who was a great Catholic early church Father.

[Bishka]

James 2:26

"26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

This pretty much sums it up for me.

[bible truth]

The biblical doctrine of Justification by faith alone is truly the article which the church stands or falls. The biblical doctrine of justification is the article that divided Rome from Protestants in the Reformation almost 500 years ago. The biblical doctrine of justification is the same article that divides biblical Christians with Roman Catholics in the 21ist century. In my opinion, this is the heart of the gospel of God that needs to be discussed by all. This is the one truth that should be discussed by people from all world religions.

United to Christ by Faith alone,
BT

[bible truth]

Originally Posted by athanasius

Funny you do not acept Catholic as christians borthers and sisters yet you quote from St Gregory of Nyssa who was a great Catholic early church Father.

Augustine and Luther were both great Roman Catholic monks who I embrace as servants of God. - BT

[ChristineES]

I say this all the time on a Christian board I post at and I will post it here.

A person is saved by faith, but will do works because they want to. What are works? Works are prayer, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked (I always believed that giving to various charities will cover that if you have the money), loving God and your neighbor and whomever, forgiveness, not judging others (which does not mean you cannot witness to people), by living life as well as you can (everyone slips from time to time so that includes repenting).


Side note: Although I am a Baptist, I accept Catholics and other protestants as true Christian even if we have differences in dogma. As long as they believe the most important things- Jesus died for our sins, he was raised from the dead in the flesh, obeying Jesus' commandments including loving God and fellow man (neighbors) and that Jesus is God.