The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for non-believers, but for Christians by name only also.
Saved by grace alone, Faith alone, in Christ alone according to Scripture alone. Not by works. This statement by evangelical Christian movements and their leaders is what they say is the true doctrine of salvation. It’s history did not begin with God, but began with the theologian Martin Luther’s adjustment in the passage Romans 3:28 which originally says,
“For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
Having problems with apostle James letter in the New Testament, in 1522 Luther added the word “alone” after faith in the blessed Greek text of Romans 3:28 in his German translation of the Bible, thus adding to Gods word (Rev 22:18). He claimed it was necessary in the Germanic language to fully understand apostle Paul’s writing in the Romans 3 passage. This set in motion the false doctrine that one is saved by faith alone neglecting the full obedient gospel message from heaven, and has permeated the religious world to this day not running its course anytime soon!
The passage Luther wrestled and had great consternation with in connection with Rom 3:28 was this,
“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” James 2:24
This is the only place “faith alone” is written in the original 66 books of the Bible. When Luther added “faith alone” in Rom 3:28, preachers and teachers the last five centuries have chosen this soft half-gospel to stake ones eternity on without understanding the actual “workings of God” during the conversion process. They traded Gods truth for their human truth. Now there are millions of evangelicals propagating this incomplete gospel from the meek to the most well known teachers of today.
We can only put the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit which we received as our helper/teacher at the point when biblically baptized. We do not have the power otherwise. But the choice to live by the Spirit is ours once gifted with Him, and we are commanded repeatedly (especially in Rom. 8 and Gal. 5) to do so.
As Paul says, “if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, then (and only then) we will live.” We cannot live without the Spirit. And we cannot be blessed of the Spirit until He indwells the new convert. When does this occur? Read on and be sure to watch the video.
Jesus' death and blood are tied to our justification and our reconciliation to God. These words are used to refer to our salvation experience in the past. We die to our old life, and in baptism we are by faith buried with Christ for the cleansing of our sins by his blood (Acts 2:38) in that heavenly process, and clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27). Our salvation, in the sense of our entrance into Christ, happens purely by faith, apart from works of man. Baptism by faith is not a human work! We can never work ourselves into being born again or into becoming new creatures. But God himself can by His blessed work.
