SL82N@cc.usu.edu (08/30/90)
This is in reply to Jason's article: > Every Mormon Family that I have know is relentless to the fact this one may > believe in Jesus, but, if they are not _baptized_ they are still not saved > (taking the verse from John, out of context from the rest of the Bible.) > > Doesn't Ephesians 2:8,9 state that there is _no_ _act_ by which we can earn > salvation? That it is _soley_ a gift from God that we can lift no finger > to achieve, but only the spiritual and conscious _acceptance_ of his death. Let's start off with what Ephesians 2:8,9 really says,(KJV) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" Let's also throw in the next verse for good measure: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" These two verses (verses 8,9) when read by themselves can be misleading, no doubt, but, when read with other verses from the Bible, they can become very clear as to their meaning. Let's take the first part of verse 8 and look at it- "For by grace are ye saved through faith;", "through faith", of course, being very important keywords. Let's then take the word "faith" and look at James 2:14-26 and see just what James has to say about it. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Jump over to Revelations 20:12-13: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. There are a lot of Bible verses that clarify Ephesians 2:8,9. In fact, if you have the time, you can look up some of them. Here's a list of some: 2 PETER 2:20-21 PHILLIPIANS 2:12 TITUS 2:11-15 ST. JOHN 5:28-29 HEBREWS 10:26 LUKE 6:46-49 HEBREWS 3:6-14 ST. JOHN 14:15 LUKE 12:36-48 TITUS 3:8 JAMES 1:22-23 HEBREWS 6:4-6 MATTHEW 24:13 MATTHEW 7:13-29 MATTHEW 12:36-37 REVELATIONS 20:13 1 CORINTHIANS 3:8 ROMANS 2:16 2 CORINTHIANS 5:10 HEBREWS 13:21 GALATIANS 6:7-8 ACTS 26:20 1 PETER 1:17 2 CORINTHIANS 9:7-8 ACTS 14:22 Here is my personal opinion of Ephesians 2:8,9- I believe that there is no way that we could have earned salvation on our own merits. But, by the grace and kindness of our Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ was sent to atone for our sins and make it possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven if we choose to do so, and our choosing to do so requires that we follow Jesus Christ and his example and to obey all of his commandments (not just the ones that we like.). Why would we have the rest of the bible if all we needed was to accept Jesus and be saved. Believing is not as simple as it looks in St. John 3:16 or being saved is not as simple as it looks in Ephesians 2:8,9. I'm far from being perfect, but, one thing I know is that salvation is not as easy as some would like it to be. There is a lot of work involved on our own part- "It ain't no free ride". Also, repentance is an important process in all of this. Thank you, brother, for letting me express some of my thoughts and ideas. I hope that some of the above verses help someone in their search for truth. One of your brothers, Mike "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (ST.JOHN 8:32)