Please read Parts I and II, summaries of Charles Bercot’s Discs of “Paul vs. James” before reading this.
Now we finally get to man that Martin Luther used the most to get all his “gospel” started. But let’s find the truth of what God said through Paul:
Paul was not a “faith-only” guy. Despite what you hear from some, he, like Jesus and like Peter, James and John, also taught that you maintain salvation by an obedient, love-faith relationship with Christ. Because of time limitations, we only again get a “taste” of him—but it’s an expansive taste. if you want ALL the verses that teach the whole gospel of the New Testament, buy “Paul v James” Disc 3 (from scrollpublishing .com), put it in your computer and read it—or print it for further study or to mark up your Bible. Folks, the right gospel—from Scripture—is critical to our eternal life. Let us never deceive ourselves so as to be one of the “believers” in Matthew 25 who go to hell.
Luther insisted that obedience has nothing to do with salvation. But read Paul in Romans 2:3-11:
And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
He is clearly saying, doing ungodly works and not repenting, will not escape God’s judgment, no matter what your “faith” is in; eternal life are for those who continue to do good. God “will render to each one according to his deeds.”
Romans 8:1-6:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
You need to be “in Christ Jesus” enough so that you “do not walk according to the flesh.” Thus there are twin conditions to those seeking “no condemnation,” not just faith only.
Romans 11:20-23:
Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Yes, God is good—but also severe, and worthy of fear. We must endure against sin, we must continue in His goodness.
I Corinthians 6:9-10:
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Some sins are more serious, and by themselves will throw you off the Vine (John 15) and on the way to hell—unless you repent (repentance is not here, but it’s covered in other verses). There are no restrictions on this clearly-named fact: you lose salvation by participating in these acts. Do everything you can to avoid these sins.
I Corinthians 7:19:
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.
Paul is saying, we’re not bound to Mosaic law on circumcision. We’re bound to Jesus’ commands. Study those.
II Corinthians 5:15&6:1:
…and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 6 We, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
How do you “receive the grace..in vain”? By losing the grace you got--losing salvation. The inspiration of His death? To live for Him, not for self. That necessarily involves obedience to Him.
II Corinthians 13:5:
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
The eternal security person doesn’t have to examine himself—they preach that he must feel certain that “you have it all made.” But isn’t that self-righteous, or at least, complacent, thinking? But in this verse, he should examine himself for sin that threatens to take him out of the faith. Doesn’t sound like much eternal security in this verse. So that means that there are some sins that can disqualify us. Disqualify is hell-bound. Also this: Disqualify is not the same as unqualify. “Unqualify” means you never got saved in the first place. Disqualify means you got it, then did something that got yourself turned out. Thus you can lose salvation. A big difference in a little prefix, wouldn’t you say?
Galatians 6:7-9:
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap IF we do not lose heart.
God places conditions on ultimate salvation by including the word “if.” “Losing heart,” or giving up faith, or righteous deeds, will put us on a slippery mindset headed for trouble. (I have a blog on the importance of the word “if” in Biblical gospel.)
II Thessalonians 2:11-12:
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
These verses are on the Last Days. The idea that God would “send” strong delusion is outside the realm of this paper. But I ask: What is “the lie?” Is it explained in verse 12? Is the Lie the self-deception into believing that you can live for the flesh, and still gain heaven? Is God’s severity in judgment part of “the truth?”
I Timothy 5:8:
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
“Denying the faith,” a terrible sin, isn’t restricted to verbally denying Christ; it seems to have a broader, dangerous meaning that includes doing, or in this case, not doing, certain works. Also note: This person was once a believer, since he is contrasted to an unbeliever. And note that an act of unrighteousness made him lose his salvation (implied because he became “worse” than an unbeliever.”)
II Timothy 2:12-13:
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
We would like to correctly interpret the meaning of “if we are faithless, He remains faithful.” Most people think it means ‘He is faithful to save us, no matter what we do.’ But it doesn’t say that. How could He have meant that and in the same paragraph said He “will…deny us?” Here is the answer, a troublesome truth, the only one possible: Look to the phrase “He cannot deny Himself.” It’s speaking of Him remaining faithful to His own words and to His perfect holiness. As we learn in context, “He remains faithful” simply means He will fulfill His promises to the letter. And if He said elsewhere that living for the flesh, thus denying Him will mean hell, then that’s it; He will stick to His Word and send us there, even though He loved and pursued us. He did of course also say elsewhere that real repentance (change of behavior, not just sorrow) will bring grace. Note the conditional “IF we endure, we shall reign with Him.” Denying Christ obviously means we didn’t endure. So you’ve lost your salvation by doing that.
Thus, Paul and James really agree: We maintain salvation through faith and an obedient relationship with our Savior. And it is possible to lose salvation. That’s what Mr. Bercot points out so clearly in this part of Disc 2. If you accuse Mr. Bercot of “proof texting” Paul, ignoring the verses that emphasize faith, and you prefer to believe Luther’s gospel, Mr. Bercot asks you to look at all the verses in these two discs—versus what Luther says. If he is correct, you get a messed-up gospel. Keep another important fact in mind: When Paul disparages works, he is arguing against the Judaist believers who wanted the Gentile new believers to be circumcised and forced to follow Mosaic law—those works are what he disparages. So he’s saying that Moses’ laws are not essential to Christianity.
So to prove that proof texting is not going on, let’s look at these Faith verses below, some of Luther’s favorites. Let’s start with Romans 3:20-31:
Therefore by the deeds of the (Mosaic) law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of (Moses’) works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the (Mosaic) law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law
Note how the meaning changes when you understand this term “law” means “Moses’ law.” Now consider Romans 4:1-17, how Paul disparages the work of circumcision (a big item in Moses’ law), how Abraham was not saved by circumcision, but by faith. His circumcision came later, after God declared him righteous. So now, with this thinking, we have no problem reconciling these “work-disparaging” verses into our gospel, Jesus’ gospel. Paul was talking about a different meaning of “works” than James. (Please note, however, how Abraham’s faith was followed by real works—leaving his home to follow God’s instructions, at great personal sacrifice).
Romans 10:3,5:
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God… For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the (Mosaic) law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
Verses 3 and 5 are NOT about disdaining people trying to establish works and getting holy. It’s about disdaining the Jews continuing Jewish practices to obtain salvation—which is not of God.
Romans 11: 5,6:
Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Again, by disparaging “works,” he is not talking about ignoring obedience to Christ. He’s talking about Jews who have been saved did not get there by the works of the Mosaic Law.
Galatians 2:3-5 is about circumcision. In Galatians 3:2, the works of the law is referring to the Law of Moses. Ephesians 2:8-17 has a couple of our favorite verses disparaging works, but Paul is AGAIN disparaging the Mosaic Law, note the reference to circumcision in verses 11 and 15. Philippians 3:2-5 disparages “confidence in the flesh” but he’s talking about circumcision, the Mosaic Law. Colossians 2:11-17 same story.
As you can see, this “ammunition” used by some to disparage as “legalism” our obedience to Christ are clearly out of context. In those cases, he is talking about how wrong it is to try to live the Law of Moses as the basis for salvation.
Mr. Bercot also talks about the other corrupt methodologies of twisting the real context of Scripture as we have seen here. He has some interesting remarks about the “updating” of King James in 1769 (striking large “L” and making it small in Romans 3, above, for instance, helps produce confusion—the Mosaic Law, or another law?) He also talks about how the words “grace” and “justification” have lost their original simpler meaning. They were given a theological meaning that supports a false gospel.
In summary: getting on the Vine requires belief, repentance, washing the water of regeneration. Abiding on the Vine requires obedience, a regular relationship with our Lord. You can lose your salvation by living by the flesh. Examine yourselves, readers! Read all Jesus’ words on what it takes to escape hell. Determining what it takes to spend eternity in heaven is a worthwhile occupation!
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