Re: Riddle me this: How can one reconcile "Sola Fide" with Matthew 7:21-23? Yes!
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing... So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13)
And what is love?
"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (ibid)
Jesus is the perfect example of love. Mercy, selflessness, sacrifice.
Yes, OUR righteousness is as filthy rags (Is 64:6) and yes we are not saved by OUR works, but solely by the work of God, by God's grace.
Philippians 2:12-13
"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (NAS)
But I wonder if it is God at work in us, motivating us to "will and to work for His good pleasure," if that also means that "work for His good pleasure" is also "filthy rags" before the Lord. If the work is for his good pleasure, how can it also be filthy rags?
The difference as I see it, is that it's not WE who are doing the good work then, but really CHRIST who lives in us. It is He acting through us to do good (for example, feed the poor, clothe the naked, convert the world, free slaves of sin, transmit His Mercy, etc.). In that case, it's not us, but Christ who is accomplishing that good through us. Isn't it?
1 Cor 1:30-31
"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." " (NAS)
In that case, we will also be held accountable for resisting Christ in us, for the work we do not allow Christ to accomplish through us (e.g., feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc.) as in Matthew 25:32-46. BTW - isn't it interesting in that parable that it's not what the "goats" did, but what they DIDN'T do that got them sent to eternal punishment?
I think we're basically saying the same thing Mel, just in different ways.
It really is all about the love of Christ and LIVING through Him, with Him, and in Him.
You all did a great job of bringing this to light here.
Re: Riddle me this: How can one reconcile "Sola Fide" with Matthew 7:21-23?
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I think we're basically saying the same thing Mel, just in different ways.
Yep, I think so too.
:zel
--- I know who saved my soul and I want this world to know, that I was once blind, once lost, Now I'm blood bought, reconciled to God by the blood He shed on the cross. -Eternal M.o.G.
Re: Riddle me this: How can one reconcile "Sola Fide" with Matthew 7:21-23?
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GosdGadfly wrote:
According to Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, based upon certain passages in the writings of St. Paul, you only have to confess the name of Jesus to be saved. According to these people, "works" have no merit.
Yet, Jesus Himself says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, 10 but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."
I'd like to see an Evangelical give an adequate response to this verse. And that response should not involve
a) trying to dismiss Jesus' teachings as metaphorical or something
b) just insisting that the passage from St. Paul trumps this passage, since that would be to place St. Paul in a higher importance than Jesus.
## As a non-Evangelical, how about this:
The Matthean passage - not just that half-verse - is IMHO a rejection of false miracle-workers. For people can work miracles in the name of Christ, & use His Name to do so, without being His (just as they can prophesy truly but not be true prophets).
This is what the sons of Sceva in Acts 19 attempted to do, with uncomfortable results for them. Calling on His Name as a source of semi-magical power (as they did) is not the same as having faith in Him; it is a form of putting Him to the test, of using Him: which is utterly forbidden, & has nothing whatever to do with faith in Him as Messiah, & Saviour, & Lord. Far from it - it is a form of unbelief, because true faith in Him utterly excludes the sort of attitude that allows one to use or manipulate Him, just as true married love excludes adultery. Faith implies submission, obedience, with Him being in charge - using His Name without faith in Him, is quite compatible with man's being in charge;& with rejection by Him.
Evangelicals don't seem to be bothered by any supposed contradiction between Sola Fide & this passage - so maybe there isn't one, even from their POV :)
Re: Riddle me this: How can one reconcile "Sola Fide" with Matthew 7:21-23? parasum
welcome to P and F. I thought before i'd reply to your post i'd welcome ya first.
Enjoyed reading both your posts and when i get back this way..will add a reply.
Thanks for joining us.Good to see a new face here.
God Bless,
p4p
parasum
