salvation

As you can see, Pro's argument rests on two separate premises, with supporting verses. The first is "The scriptures speak of many things as having a part in our salvation" and therefore assumes that our salvation is contingent on these things. The second is that "to be saved we are expected and required to do ALL of Christ's Commandments" and therefore salvation is predicated on obedience. Lets tackle this in its component parts. The following components can be dismissed: God (God saves us by grace through our faith, so our faith is still the instrumental means through which we are saved by God), Jesus (Same as God), Blood (Christ's blood "purchased" the grace by which we are saved through faith alone), the Gospel (The Gospel itself is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone), Grace (as I said, grace is the what saves us through our faith), and Hope (hope does not save us, rather we find hope in the fact that our faith saves us. Furthermore, Hope and Faith are related words and many would argue that hope and faith are synonyms in the New Testament). That leaves us with Obedience/A Faithful Obedient Life, and Baptism. Obedience Hebrews 5:8-9 - This passage states that it was Christ who learned obedience and through his obedience he became the eternal salvation to all who obey him. We must ask what Christ required of his followers. Although there are many commands which Christ gives us, we must ask which ones bring about salvation. When we look at the Gospels we see an account of a rich young man who asks Christ what to be done to be saved. Christ tells him he must obey the commandments, and when he says he has done all those things (it is impossible for anyone to obey the commandments fully) he says "Sell everything you have and follow me. " Again and again we see Christ tell people to follow him. The most stark example we see is the Thief on the Cross at the crucifixion of Christ. He was not obedient either partially or completely. All he did was ask Jesus to save him, and have faith that he would. Christ assured him that he would be saved. Matthew 10:22 - This passage does not speak of obedience. It simply says one who endures will be saved. .. but endures in what? The surrounding context shows that Jesus is referring to persecution. Jesus is saying that the one who endures till the end of persecution, will be saved. .. from persecution. Furthremore, if we are going to simply pluck verses out of context. .. then I could say "the one who endures" refers to the one who endures in their faith and does not lose faith. Revelation 2:10 - This passage does not necessarily speak of salvation, it refers to receiving the "Crown of Life. " Revelation uses highly metaphorical language, but here it likely refers to a reward in heaven that goes beyond salvation that is attainable exclusively by those who persist through tribulation. Furthermore, he says that this applies to those who are "faithful" until death. The word Faith itself is used in this text. .. so again, Jesus refers back to the faith of the believer. Baptism Mark 16:15-16 - This passage states "whoever believes (has faith) and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe (has faith) will be condemned. " In this passage, having faith and being baptized are seen as the same thing. In Greek the word "kai" is used for and. This is called a "strong conjunctive conjunction" which shows a strong relationship between two words or concepts. Furthermore, he does not say "Whoever believes and is not baptized" or "whoever does not believe or is not baptized" will be condemned. This shows that belief is what salvation hinges on in this passage, not baptism. Beyond that, Versus 9-20 are not found in the earliest manuscripts of Mark, and may represent a later addition. I'm not saying to throw them out, but building entire theologies on them is dangerous. 1 Peter 3:21 - This passage is tricky. Again, my opponent plucked a passage out of context, which is ill advised. In this passage, Peter says "Which corresponds to this" in reference to baptism. We must ask "what does baptism correspond to? " The prior passage indicates that it corresponds to Noah's salvation through the Ark in the Great Flood. In Genesis 6:8 we see that "Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. " Now, we must understand the word "Favor. " The Hebrew word is cheyn and translates to "Grace, Favour, Good-will. " [A] So Noah found grace, and because of that grace God revealed to Noah what he must do to be saved. Likewise, baptism is an act through with God extends his grace to us and this is how Peter connects baptism to salvation. We receive grace through baptism (which is an outward declaration of faith) which allows us to be saved. In his second Premise, Pro lists several verses that supposedly prove that we are expected and required to do all of Christ's commands to be saved. What Pro doesn't tell you is that these passages do not teach this. Matthew 28:18-20 teaches us that we should go out and make disciples of all nations, and teach them to obey all the commands of Christ. However, obedience does not predicate salvation. .. the two are simply supposed to happen together. The text does not say that in order to be saved they must obey. John 12:48 - This passage says that the person who rejects the words of Christ will be condemned. I fail to see the connection to works or obedience here. .. if anything, rejecting the words of Christ represents not having faith in Christ's truth. Matthew 7:21-29 - This is the famous passage where Christ tells people who thought they were saved that he never knew them. However, the people who thought they were saved and were not were people who relied on works. They say "we did great things for you" and Christ says "I knew you not. " This actually argues against what Pro is saying. Hebrew 5:8-9 - I addressed this above. 2 Thesselonians 1:7-10 - This passage does not reference works at all. It says that those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus will suffer. .. and that Gospel is, as I showed above, is simply to trust Jesus and follow him. Further in the passage (vs 10) it specifically says that those who are saved are those "who have believed. " Affirmative Argument: Ephesians 2 is extremely clear. Vs 1-3 describes the state of a non-believer prior to Christ's redemptive work. Vs 4-7 states that while we were dead (dead people can't be obedient. .. they're dead) Christ saved us because of his mercy, and that he raises us up and seats us with him so we can see his grace and kindness. Vs 8-9 reads "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. " This passage specifically says that it by grace (active agent in salvation) through faith (means that we access grace) we are saved. It specifically calls out that works (obedience) are not what causes salvation. .. rather we are saved FOR good works, rather than BY them. My opponent has the order wrong. He claims that Good works result in salvation. .. rather, salvation results in good works. This is echoed in James 2 when he says "Faith without works is dead. " Just like a tree that no longer produces fruit is dead. .. the fruit is not what gives the tree life. .. rather it is the "symptom" of a vibrant living tree to produce fruit. I look forward to the next round. [A] . http://www.blueletterbible.org...