[Biblemat] A) FAITH AND OBEDIENCE -- "ONCE FOR ALL"

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Friday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here
are a couple of short articles from my ancient files:

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE -- "ONCE FOR ALL"

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE: -- Of all who left the bondage of Egypt only two who 
were above the age of twenty were per-
mitted to ender the promised land.  "The carcasses of you who have complained 
against Me shall fall in the wilderness,
all of you who were numbered, according toyou entire numb-
er, from twenty years old and above.  Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh 
and Joshua the son of Nun..." (Num. 14:29,
30).

     The book of Hebrews gives the reason why so many did
not enter the promised land.  "And to whom did He swear that
they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey.
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief"
(Heb. 3:18,19).  It is evident then that faith and obedience are
inseparably connected: without obedience one also is without
faith.

     When people think that saving faith is at the point which
they give mental ascent to the fact that Jesus is the Son of
God, they have not demonstrated faith by obedience.  For the
remission of sins, the gospel commands repentance and bapt-
ism  (Acts 2:38).

     The doctrine of salvation at the point of faith offers salvat-
ion without obedience to these commands.  Therefore, the 
doctrine is false.

"ONCE FOR ALL": -- "Beloved, while I was very diligent to 
write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it nec-
essary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints..." (Jd.
3).

     The original Greek word hapax translated "once for all"
means that it is "of perpetual validity not requiring repetition"
(Vine, pg. 819).  The faith delivered to the saints is of such 
quality that it is complete ("perfect." Jas. 1:25) and will not
tolerate repetition or alteration.  This means that any "revelat-
ions" since the faith was given once for all have not come from God but from 
the inventive minds of men.  It further means that those who claim the 
revelations and those who be-
lieve them are condemned.  The warning is clearly given, "Whoever 
transgresses (goes ahead) and does not abide in
the doctrine of Christ does not have God.  He who abides in
the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son" (2 Jno. 9).

     We must recognize and respect the significance of this 
word translated "once for all."  Christ was offered once to bear the sins of 
many.  (Heb. 9:28).  His sacrifice was of such
quality as never to need repetition.  (The so-called inspired 
writings of men, such as the Koran, Book of Mormon, writings of Ellen G. 
White, the Bulls handed down from the
Catholic Pope as he sits "ex cathedra" in the chair, and any
other writings of men who claim to be latter day saints or 
receivers of later revelations from God, not written in the Bible.  The true 
revelation of God is found in the 66 books of
the Bible, these have "once for all time been revealed to the
saints of God."  JWS).  Articles by Billy Norris in Gospel Guide, Vol. 27, 
No. 12, December 1995.   </HTML>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.biblematters.net/pipermail/biblemat/attachments/20071012/17c2ef92/attachment.html