Why I Left Lordship Salvation (Part Two) | Theocast 

I fell into the "Lordship" gospel and it really messed me up for a long time. What finally led me back to the "grace" gospel was reading the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus said "As the serpent in the wilderness was lifted up, so shall the Son Of Man be lifted up". This lead me to study the story of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21, and I had an epiphany. The people were bitten by snakes as punishment for their misdeeds, but to be forgiven and live, they only had to _GAZE_ at a bronze sculpture! That was purely an act of faith which had _nothing_ to do with behavior or agreeing to live a certain life. Then I studied the Passover story and noticed a similar pattern. In order to be spared, they were only asked to do a ritual purely based in faith - paint their doorposts in sheep's blood. The symbolism and underlying meaning between these two stories was obvious. Long before Jesus was even born, God already had a history of letting people off the hook through simple acts of faith!

First, I've been quite a long time listener to the podcast you have! I'm finding myself struggling, because it almost seems like there are two types of Lordship Salvation. One is the works-based version that is being discussed here, and I 100% agree that is not Biblical! However, there is also the type of Lordship Salvation that people like the reformers, as well as people like Sproul, Lawson, Horton, and many others seem to promote. IN their case, it is about recognizing that the Holiness (unique set-apartness and absolute perfection of God along with His demand that He is LORD over everything and everyone and there is no other true lord, the first commandment tells us that we are to place no gods before Him as He is the one true God and there is no other, Romans 10:9 tells us that we will be saved if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and if you look at the 2 Peter 1:9 verse that you mentioned in part 1 in context with its surrounding verses, it actually talks about the fact that we should be thinking of our actions as verse 10 states "Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities [see v. 7] you will never fall", and Mark 1:15 also says that we are not just to believe but to repent and believe and that the Kingdom is at hand "and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the [kingdom of God is at hand]; [repent and believe] in [the gospel].". If also, Calvin, Luther, and the other reformers(yes, I am thoroughly reformed) all teach that the Sovereignty of God is at the very heart of reformed theology, in fact R. C. Sproul stated that the Sovereignty of God is what holds the whole Gospel together and is at the very center of every doctrine (including each of the Doctrines of Grace) that make up reformed theology, and if Sovereignty, Kingdom, and Lord/Lordship all mean essentially the same thing "Lord" then why would Lordship Salvation be wrong in its more basic sense. It seems to me there are two types: 1) What you are describing, you have to do this and that and the other to believe and remain saved. That is truly heretical and is truly works based and makes it a work we do before, during, and after salvation and is tied to the Law and is definitely not good news. 2)The other taught by Christ, the Apostles (including Paul), the reformers, and most of the truly reformed scholars I know today, seems to be the idea that although Lordship is part of Salvation, it is a work done through us by the Holy Spirit as a way to glorify God not us as it is done by the LORD Himself working through His Elect. Given that John 3:3 tells us that we can't even believe unless the Holy Spirit regenerates us first and gives us the amazing additional gift of faith to believe (Ephesians 2:8-9), and given that before we are even told in Romans 10:9 and Mark 1:15 to believe we are first told to confess Christ's Lordship (Romans 10:9) and repent (Mark 1:15), and given that we know the Holy Spirit is never deceptive and that we can only let our lips say that Christ is LORD and make true repentance to God with the Holy Spirit's help (we cannot do this before salvation, but only at the moment that the Spirit is given to us) it would seem that this type of Lordship Salvation is exactly what the whole Bible, the reformers, and current genuinely reformed theologians seem to proclaim. So 1 above seems to suggest that to get saved and stay saved you must do things (works based) and through your own power. While in contrast, 2 above says that you are still acknowledging the Lordship of God and understanding of what it means for God to be Thrice Holy as part of your Salvation, but you are doing this through the guidance, leading, prompting, power, and convicting of the Holy Spirit and through His Will not your own so as to glorify God as you are confessing His Sovereignty over your life completely. So in this form, wouldn't Lordship Salvation be correct as it would seem to honor the LORD of LORDS who came to this earth to die for His chosen and it would honestly just be glorifying Him. Also, it wouldn't be doing things to try to Get or remain saved... but rather as our love and gratitude toward our LORD and Savior. So if the first alone is lordship salvation, then I want nothing to do with it as it is truly heretical! But if the second is Lordship Salvation then I will gladly proclaim it as the truth of Salvation until the day I enter glory and for all of eternity thereafter! For I was saved to serve my LORD and revere Him like Isaiah when he fell to his face in reverent fear when the glory of the Thrice Holy God entered the temple! That is the God I know, love, and serve and because of His unbelievable grace which He gave me even though I fail every commandment every day of my life, I will proclaim Him, as He has called and empowered me to do through His wonderful Holy Spirit, the ONE and ONLY TRUE Holy and Sovereign LORD!

Happy to hear you came out of Lordship salvation!

This video truly blessed me. I have been pondering on those that teach this for a while now. Wasn’t sure why until this video. My eyes are truly opened ! Can’t believe I was caught up in this for the past year now. God bless you for sharing this!

This is the gospel I first received and this is totally in line with what I have been taught back then and what I believe, to the dot. Later on some youtubers and acquaintances and some friends started to confuse me, but I always stick to the gospel I first heard. Many people do not understand that their "gospel" is performance based and a lot of online preachers preach a poisoned message that is not Paul s Gospel of grace! I am always amazed at how great our God is, how abundant His grace is, how good He is to us! Haleluja!

This is beautiful and both your videos helped me a tonne!!

Excellent video God bless you preaching the true gospel! Amen

Good stuff, thanks for your time and effort. Keep up the good works(😉).

This is good, I imitate Ray Comfort a lot, but now I will re-adjust my Gospel presentation to unbelievers

Really helpful, thank you!

This was so so good

I love this video. Thank you and thank Jesus.

Thank you for this! Finally, some answers! 😊

This was so helpful and clearly articulated. Thank you!

This was beautifully worded. Thank you

This helped me a lot, thank you.

Good job, man. Good job.

About 3 years ago, I found myself not being able to listen to the John Mac’s, Pipers, Washers, et. Al. And I couldn’t figure out why. All I knew is that I had a real phobia of their preaching styles. I always loved these guys, but I started to feel burnt out! These videos have opened my eyes! Thank you!

Love is the key. The more you read the Bible, the more you fall in love with God. Jesus lived and died for us, He wants the same love from us ... that's what Revelation teaches. The prayer Jesus taught us "Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth just as it is in Heaven..." We were created to bring HIm honor, glory and power, this will bring us great joy for He truly is worthy. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, praise God

Excellent! Thank you!

So good! Thank you!

My experience of over 40 years. It’s all about how hard you try. You can’t achieve your own righteousness through works, but you are a lousy Christian if you don’t try hard enough. I love the revelation that sanctification is a gift, something that God is working in you and not something I am trying to do through my works. Trying hard has always led me to failure.

Thank you for that. God bless

Very good thank you 🙏

We (believers) don't REPENT..we Confess our sins. I John 1:8-10. The believer has already "Repented" of their UNBELIEF!

Yes, this was very helpful! I am eternally grateful for God's mercy and grace. I lived the majority of my life worrying about losing my salvation and if I was pleasing God with my life. Even though I was first exposed to the reformed doctrine in my teens, it wasn't until just a few years ago, as an adult, that I saw the true beauty of God's redemptive plan of salvation without "works" mixed in. While I understand that you can be saved and not reformed, it's very concerning to see how easily works-based teaching can grow from causing basic confusion on the state of your salvation to things like spiritual disciplines that directly teach a works-based/self-driven sanctification. When Christ is no longer the author and finisher of our faith; and we have some responsibility in our salvation, there's no end to the number of false teachings that can creep in.

There can be NO joy in the Lord if a man is continuing to doubt himself, even after he knows for sure he has been given the gift of the spirit, it also hinders a man to evangelise others while doubting himself and dwelling in sorrow x

Thank you so much for your honesty and boldness in declaring truth. I’d like to start posting my own little theology videos and I loved your take on 2 Peter 1.

worth listening! Different from what I know so far.

I'm so loving this. Lordship theology messed me up so bad.

❤ saving to a playlist

Thankyou 😢

Hi John, I loved these two parts of your podcast. I have never been to a church with a reformed doctrinal approach but I am greatly attracted to its truth, so please be patient with my comments. I feel, that something is missing from what you said. Your message had a lot to do with assurance of salvation and I have often struggled with this along the lines you mentioned, in common with so many. In addition to assurance of salvation, I have often also struggled with whether I am pleasing the Lord. The thing is when you love someone, you want to please them. You said we do good works because of what God done for us. But that message can, to some people, sound as if we do it out of moral obligation because of what He has done. As you say, God is at work in us. I think the bit that needs to be said is that He actually changes our thinking. Our transformation takes place as our mind is renewed. Jesus delighted to do the will of the Father. The law was written on His heart. God does the same with us. He works in us to Will and to do of His good pleasure. Also, the Spirit in us cries Abba Father (Gal 4:6). We increasingly grow in our love for Him and our relationship becomes more intimate. We want to please Him and so increasingly avoid the things we do that are displeasing to Him. In fact, with our changing mindset, these things increasingly become less attractive. I'm really just trying to grasp the truth of these things and I don't mean any of this as a criticism of what you said. Paul tells us to make every effort to enter the rest of God and you are helping us do just that. Praise God. Thank you brother!

Where has this message been my whole life? 😮

Here's a quote from an excellent book I heartily recommend, 'The Wonder of Grace' by Herman Hoeksema (ch. 20 - Working Out Our Salvation by Grace, pg. 77)..."It is Christ who bears fruit in us when we work out our own salvation, even as the vine bears fruit through the branches; and we have nothing to boast in ourselves. But we bear this fruit, too, with joy and delight, and enjoy the privilege of being his co-workers. Hence, the word of God treats us as God's free and obedient children and as such addresses us: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Besides, let us not forget that as long as we are in this life and in this world, we are in constant need of hearing this word and of being reminded of our calling, of being admonished and encouraged in the good fight of faith. For we must walk as children of light and manifest the salvation of God in the midst of a world that lies in darkness. And that is not easy for the flesh..."

Hey Jon; first, hello, and good to hear from you and see this transition to Reformed theology! I'm over in the WCF camp, but appreciate this. I've been listening to your stuff, and appreciate the dedication to God's Word and preserving the preciousness of the Gospel and the rest that's distinct from ethical demands that Jesus makes for us. I think I see a tighter connection between the Gospel, and how it frees us to want to be obedient, and to perform good works- Romans 8:4 in its context, comes to mind. It seems that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in the renewal of our desires that being united to Christ's atonement gives us. It seems to me the goodness of the Gospel is that we can truly become creatures who are forgiven for our corruptions and who really want to and do good, through our union with Christ making us alive to do good, whereas in Adam we weren't able to do good. Would you disagree with that? I don't think we'd disagree confessionally, but I think I do hear an emphasis difference. Am I mishearing?

You say “I call them to believe it [the gospel]”, but that is also something a dead sinner cannot do apart from the Spirit’s work.

I agree for the most part with what he is saying, but it’s a few things I think he’s wrong or is confused on … Paul does tell us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. so we can’t act like we are to never look at our lives for evidence… we can’t depend on anything we do to set us in right standing with God, but we must realize that without holiness no man sees the Lord… we must live holy, we must repent, we must fight and battle sin. Will the battle be perfect without failure? No, but this life is still a battle and we must be ready to go to war with our flesh… And Lordship salvation teaches that’s God must first intervene and change your heart in order for the person to even repent or have faith.. so this guy is the one who’s causing confusion… not the teaching of Lordship salvation

Jon: Thanks as a "Reformed" Pastor for your honest, biblical and courageous presentaion. You have a tremendous opportinity to speak into the pitfalls of this persuasion that can be way more effective than those that may not be wholly Calvinistic in their soteriology, like myself. You've indentified the major areas of Biblical truth with the spiritual and practical deficiences this error has brought. It's hurting the Church and causing undo division by those that hold this error so rigidly, that if questioned or cautioned, charge that we actually don't believe the Gospel. They are suspicious of every profession and are obsessed with an evangelism to the saved, who they beleive on the main, arent saved. The Scriptures warn us of such inquisitons: Matt 13:24-30 (parable of the wheat and the tares); James 4:11. Are there apostates in the Church? Are there false professions? Certainly there are but I must let God, the all knowing and perfect judge, deal with that which I have no right or authority to judge or know. Jesus warns us that in our persuit of inquisition for authenticity I can end up doing great harm to true believers and even myself as His servant. This will be a great resource to share with my fellow Christians who are caught up in this confussion. Thanks again!!!

Love how you break things down in a simple way to understand for simple folk like me lol. Question- what is the different views of repentance and the role it plays in Lordship VS reformed?

I believe many people get sanctification or Lordship salvation misconstrued. Scripture does teach that saving faith will produce good works and that a profession of faith does not necessarily mean a possession of faith. So we do have to look at good works as proof of our justification/saving faith. But we do not ask if we live out our life in perfect obedience to Christ nor do we ask if we did enough for Christ as if there is some kind of threshold or to do list. Rather we must ask ourselves do we love Christ AT ALL? There is the difference between the unregenerate and regenerate. The unregenerate has NO love for God AT ALL while the regenerate has at least some love for God. If you have any love for Christ then you are elect and you can trust that the Holy spirit will preserve your faith and sanctify you until the end of your life. Yes, we fall into sin continually but we persevere till the end.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, (which God prepared beforehand) that we should walk in them. Even our good works are not our own. He has prepared them for us, His elect. I know alot of people struggle with that, but His Word is True.

I listen to John MacArthur, Steven Lawson, Richard Caldwell, Voddie Bauchman, as man of godliness. Yet I'm expecting to recieve more from God in my walk that examines myself. Am I living godly, sanctified to be available to God only, yet a servant to those in sharing the gospel, not just by talk but by action.

" if you do not accept as a Child the Gift " " the Gift Must be recieved freely as a Child" only That will bring Glory to Jesus ... when One surrenders to the inability and outer dispare of once state of spiritually being dead..... when You surrender To His love..... the love... the spirit will guide you in all truth and will

Well, nice to see a Calvinist I agree with about salvation! So true that we can never measure up to God’s standards of holiness no matter how much we repent or serve Christ. A fast way to despair is to compare our lives with what we think we should be to be saved rather than knowing that we believe Jesus took our sins and punishment on our behalf at the cross. You sound like the original reformers! Sadly, they had to compromise somewhat as the Roman Catholics accused them of antinomianism and thus backloaded the gospel with the need for works to prove your salvation. Many a road leads back to Rome!

Where is scripture about what u spoke of how God ordained us for the good works ahead of time. Thanks guys! This was such a great video

fantastic video... many excellent points... that was a very interesting approach indeed, a rare one, to reject "lordship salvation" and at the same time preserve a "confessional reformed" position... not the usual "Calvinistic" position... but then, a "confessional reformed" position may not always be the same as the usual "Calvinistic" position .... :)

I struggle to reconcile passages like Galatians 5:17-21. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks for illuminating this topic. Salvation is 100% gift of God through the Gospel - irrespective of what we did before and will do afterwards. To be assured of salvation is only to satisfy our own confidence/curiosity and has nothing to do with the state of us already being saved. The temptation from our flesh will remain as it is (same was with apostle Paul) and will not impact our righteous standing with God in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I come from a very calvinist background but it was actually Dr Andrew Farley and his grace message that got me questioning everything 🤔

Love the Lord with all you Heart mind and soul stay on the narrow path to find the narrow gate Jesus. Love the World 🌎 leads to the broad path to destruction!

Did we really have a change of mind when we repented? Do we hate the sin that caused Christ to die such a horrible death? If so then we are justified, if not we believe in vain. We need to examine ourselves to see if we're being sanctified, if we're not then we should be terrified.

Hi, I just finished reading Christ the Lord by Dr. Horton. What does this quote mean from the book “ We affirm that, although no one will be justified by works, no one will be saved without them.”? Thanks.

Thank you for these videos, they have been very helpful. Do you believe that there are born again believers who live in perpetual disobedience and continually evidence the flesh while displaying very little (if any) evidence of the Spirit in their lives? I know many Christians deny the reality of "carnal Christians" & I wanted to get your take on it. Thanks!

When you read the comments they are all in agreement. If that seems strange it is because any comments that are not in agreement are not put on. That should tell you something.

So is what ray comfort does lordship salvation?

This is 100% correct

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means!"

I’m a little unclear here. Are you still reformed in some areas? Does regeneration precede faith? Thanks

Thank you for your message. What is Reformed Theology?

The law was given to condemn us. Almost everyone, once they die, will have chosen to be judged by the rubric of the law at the great white throne judgement. Every last one of them will fail the purity test and be found guilty and will be sentenced to hell. Only those that chose to instead to be justified and find righteousness through the free gift of salvation that faith in Jesus offers will be found pure and go to live with God.

Law and grace = oil and water. The Law not only exposes sin, it actually instigates sin (Romans 5:20a, 7:7-11, 6:14).

@16:30 you said the motivation is not to confirm your faith but yet you failed to read the very next verse that would point blank contradict your reasoning 2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent TO CONFIRM YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

He did receive righteousness by lord obedience. After he kept duet 15 he had the opportunity to be in kingdom

I just found this channel and am loving it. In fairness to John MacArthur he doesn’t call what he teaches in “The Gospel According To Jesus” Lordship Salvation. That’s what his detractors call it. He just calls it “Salvation”.

In 2 peter 9 which you had us look at what do we do then with verse 10!!!it almost sounds like "check yourself to make sure you're saved...for if you do THESE THINGS you will never fail" everybody fails and are THESE THINGS the list from verse 5?

I don't think we will ever be able to conclusively figure it all out on this side of Heaven (1 Cor 13:12).

Faith is active, it is described that way all throughout the bible.

I receive the passage about the rich man in the same way.. the guy was professing his own self righteousness.. so jesus tested him on that.. give all your wealth away if you think your able to follow the law and earn salvation..

The man didn't want to give up his money, that is the exact thing that happened with the rich young ruler. Jesus knew his heart, his money was at the front of his heart, Christ needs that spot as the focus of our lives.

13:30 self introspective a person becomes when he loses something experientialy, feel void when once his heart was. Read Psalm 37(38).

Must be faithful to the very end and try our best not to sin after Salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit!

Glosspel. Nice. The Gospel is clear. It is good news! Through him we have also obtained access into this faith in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God!

So repentance is works or a gift from God? I am at a lordship salvation church and we teach repentance is a gift that we do it isn’t a work expecting salvation.

Paul in his discussions of "deeds of the law" (the traditional Jewish laws of the Halakah, circumcision, etc) is only addressing Jewish believers. These traditional Jewish laws had nothing to do with gentile believers, so it is wrong to extrapolate some general idea of legalism from Paul's writing. In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul lists all the behaviors that will prevent us from entering heaven, and we see that all of these activities violate one or more of the ten commandments. This is fully consistent with the words of Jesus in Mark 10:19 that we must keep his commandments in order to inherit eternal life. These are separate categories of law and that is why in Romans 3:31 Paul says we are *NOT* free to ignore God's law. Since he exempted circumcision and the laws of the Halakah from salvation doctrine, we know that he was referring to God's moral law, or the commandments. "He that says he knows him, but does not keep his commandments, is a LIAR, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:4) By the way, Jesus only refers to salvation in the future tense, never in the past tense. "He that endureth unto the end _shall_ be saved." (Matthew 24:13) Paul refers to salvation only in the perfect present tense (you are being saved), or in the future tense. The Greek words for justification and salvation are not the same. Your doctrine gives rise to the false doctrine of sola fide, which directly contradicts James 2:24. You are leading souls to hell.

Wait a minute, when Jesus was asked what shall I do for eternal life christ answered your work is to believe 😊

That sounds very logical. If I have to contribute something to my salvation, I will have something to boast and it will never be a free gift of grace. If it is free, it must be truly free of any of my efforts. If there is any bit of my effort, then it ceases to be free and grace. The other thing is that I can not even do good works that please God if I am not saved first. If I can do or have the capacity to do good works that can save me, Jesus's death was in vain. Why does he have to die for what I can do it with my own capacity? But the text you read from efsians prove that I was dead before God saved me. Ok. If I was dead before I was saved, how did God save me with out my good works? ok. If once I m saved with out doing good works, how can I lose it for not having good works? How can the thing that was not the requirement for getting saved be the requirement for sustaining it? If I can sustain my salvation even after getting saved (at first) with out my efforts, I still have something to boast about (i.e for sustaining it with my good works). He loved me with out my qualification; how can He leave me for not being qualified? He knows that I m not qualified even before He saved me. What a revelation! By the way I write this even to myself who is always nagging that I m not qualified for God's love even with out doing any mistake or sin. I love God. He is my father. I just want to break free from the voice in my head that makes me doubt God's love for me. I believe in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe He died for my sin on the cross. I hate sin and there is no pleasure in sin as it feels there; but if I accidentally sin, God will not take my salvation. I can not be sure that I will not commit sin in the future, but I am be sure that God will not let me down anyways. That, I think, seals the deal. I just got this channel now and it is a redefinition of what I have known. It is different from what I know so far. I will listen part one of this series and your other videos too. You crossed my way with this good news. Thank you. (Sorry if my English is poor. It is just because I m from a poor country.)

When you come to Christ, will your life look different?

Glawspel!

Jesus did say, I sanctify myself so that they may be sanctified! The fruits of the spirit should manifestif a person truly has the love of Christ in as we know we played no part in our salvation, also as we know faith without works is dead. the devil's believe but yet they're still devils. and their hell bound. I have not yet heard your whole sermon but I find that it will be very educating thank you. and thank most of all the king of glory Jesus the Christ, who was slain for the sins of the world ,for all that would come to repentance and call on the name of the Lord shall be saved!

Ahh sorry for the multiple comments, but it seems that OSAS is the issue. Salvation is looked at as a single event. If you're on your way to being saved, then Lordship can make sense to you.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

so i can declined as my Lord and serve other, ie money , and still be saved

The salvation of the thief on the cross lets ua know it is grace alone. Does this mean commit sin until your last dying breath and then ask for Jesus? Nope...that would mean you know who Jesus and only refer to Him for your own personal "needs". Salvation is more than a one time event. Its a genuine desire to know God

They never talk about what works is. That makes a person who’s special needs like I am feel like how can I work for God if no body gave me the opportunity because of my disability? Like me for example I’m legally blind have a hard time seeing my eyes don’t stay in one place that’s something I can’t help. Anyway that’s the question I have when it comes to people saying you gotta work for the lord I’m like what kind of works are we talking bout? Being a person with a clean slate or are you talking bout go spread the Gospel?

Wondering why you didn't use the term "born again" a single time? When you are born again, you have confidence in your salvation and you are a disciple fully devoted- Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 10. So what do you say about the doctrine of marriage? Most reformed people reject Jesus's commands that marriage is only one never married man to one never married woman until death- Mark 10:1-12, Luke 16:14-18, (Matthew 19 has except for FORNICATION which is premarital sex), Romans 7:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 & 39.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 Revelation 20:11-15 Romans 2:5-8 1 Peter 1:17 If God is going to determine whether we had faith by judging our works, shouldn’t we then also do the same?

Is "Lordship salvation" = "Jesus' Lordship salvation" ? Does the video title mean "Why I left Jesus' salvation" ?

Have been under the teaching of Pastor John MacArthur for decades and if anyone should have the struggles with Lordship Salvation that you are outlining it would be me, and yet, I have none of these problems and never have. I have NEVER heard Pastor John advocate for anything you are arguing about, quite the opposite, actually!

Nothing can separate us from Gods Love ❤️

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the model for the life of a believer and show how each of them have to be brought to an end of their own natural strength and just trust what God has promised. Abraham couldn't produce Isaac by his own effort he just had to trust that God would produce him in his time and that is the same thing as a believer trying to produce the "Christian life' by their own strength when all we can do is continue to produce an Ishmael. This is why circumcision is symbolic of the cutting off of your natural strength which is why the true circumcision is those who have zero confidence in the flesh. Likewise, baptism is meant to produce a similar mindset which is why it begins with your death because you're in agreement with God's judgment on the flesh and now live by faith in Christ because it is now his life in you.

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things

The part you miss the mark in is sanctification by which we receive the inheritance per Acts 20.32/26.18. Sanctification is God's will in our life per 1 Thes 4.3 yet is not part of Rm 8.30 because this is our choice in complete salvation of the soul. WE can reject following Christ and be carnal and still be justified/cant loose it. The result of which will be loss of the inheritance/kingdom of which scripture is all about obtaining by cooperation with the leadings of the Holy Spirit. We are rewarded by our works and obtain the kingdom, this is the significance of the rich young ruler. Entrance into the kingdom is the goal of Christ on the cross.

Work out your salvation with “fear and trembling”. Is that literal or is that an idiom? Paul says to the Corinthians (2 Cor 7:15), I sent Titus to visit you. You received him with “fear and trembling”. Were the Corinthians afraid of Titus or were they excited that Titus came to visit bearing news of their beloved friend, Paul? Also see Jeremiah 33:9. Why do the nations “fear and tremble”? Because of God’s goodness or His severity?

Jesus pointed out commandments his heart was hardened to . Duet 15

I would like to learn more about this, it’s amazing the rest it gives me! A school or church anyone recommends? I am in Canada Toronto

Is true...thank God for truth Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 1 Timo 6 who giveth us richly all things to ENJOY🥺❤️🥹 Satan is a lier and a deceiver who lies Rob us of our Joy😞 False Doctrines have cause much damage I pray the Lord have mercy on me🙏💕🥺

13:10 People simply backslide and require restoration. Not of faith but if pulling their souls back up onto the ground from Sheol. And any reasoning doesn’t work. Cause a person remember the moment of their personal salvation, remember them being resurrected like from a grace. And then temptation came and they didn’t treat it seriously and the soul got pulled back down to the Kingdom of darkness. So if Christ is in your body but your personal spirit, your soul got pulled down again, devoured, you feel like standing on the ground and yet being under. And no amount of reasoning on what salvation is makes any difference. If your spirit doesn’t back quickened and return to your body you will still feel like you feel. And the only hole is to be saved “as if by fire”. So, there is a need of spiritual quickening and warfare. Watchman Nee writes about it pretty precise, about the warfare we may lose out of ignorance after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, if one saved always saved- ok- as if by fire. But Experience wise a person may spend all his life feelings under. So this stuff is experiential, it’s about raw reality, not about doctrines.

What did Paul say to do when satan tries to lure us into sin? To kick back and relax because Jesus did it all so we do nothing? Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand thereforehaving your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Fight the good fight of faith if you get knocked down confess the sin dont ignore it and ask for forgiveness. 1John 1:9

Romans 7 explains things well, but I have been taught over and over again, not to apply it to me.