God’s Righteousness
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
“Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”
– Job 34:12 (ESV)
“Remember that anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong.
And the Lord treats everyone the same.”
– Colossians 3:25 (ERV)
GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT ON THE CHRISTIANS AND THE NON-CHRISTIANS
“Qoheleth [the preacher] asserted that God was a just God and would judge both the wicked and righteous in the end, and it was better to serve God through obedience than to offer the sacrifices of animals to cover one’s disobedience.”
Source: Shannon Byrd, “Ecclesiastes Explained: Unraveling the Negative Connotations” (unapologetic)
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(Note: Maybe I should clear this out: Sola Fide does not neglect Synergism and Conditional Security. I have also come to believe more in Annihilation than in Eternal Conscious Torment, due to studying the Bible. But that subject is for another post.)
Picture source: LittleLifeDesigns
“If they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God: and the Scripture foretells that they shall be blessed, saying, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin “; that is, having repented of his sins, that he may receive remission of them from God; and not as you deceive yourselves, and some others who resemble you in this, who say, that even though they be sinners, but know God, the Lord will not impute sin to them. We have as proof of this the one fall of David, which happened through his boasting, which was forgiven then when he so mourned and wept, as it is written.”
– Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXLI [Read the story in 2 Samuel 2:12]
“Remember that anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong.
And the Lord treats everyone the same.”
– Colossians 3:25 (ERV)
Man’s Righteousness
NO RIGHTEOUSNESS BY WORKS OF THE LAW: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
Read Sola Gratia and Imputed Righteousness
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
– Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV)
JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS
Read “Sola Fide Revised“, Synergism and Living What We Believe
RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR DEEDS
“Man appears to resemble a ship which has been constructed by the builder and launched into the deep, which, however, it is impossible to navigate without the rudder, by which it can be kept under command, and turned in whatsoever direction its steersman may wish to sail. Also, that the rudder and the whole body of the ship require the same artificer, is a matter admitting no doubt; for without the rudder the whole structure of the ship, that huge body, will be an inert mass. And thins, then, we say that the soul is the rudder of the body; that both these, moreover, are ruled by that liberty of judgment and sentiment which we possess, and which corresponds to the steersman; and that when these two are made one by, union, and thus possess a unison of function applicable to all kinds of work, whatever may be the products of their own operation, they bear a testimony to the fact that they have both one and the same author and maker.”
– Archelaeus, The Acts of the Disputation With Manes, 19
“For all the creatures that God made, He made very good; and He gave to every individual the sense of free-will, in accordance with which standard He also instituted the law of judgment.
To sin is ours, and that we sin not is God’s gift, as our will is constituted to choose either to sin or not to sin.”
– Archelaeus, The Acts of the Disputation With Manes, 32
“There can be no doubt that every individual, in the exercise of his own proper power of will, may shape his course in whatever direction he pleases.”
– The judges agreeing with Archelaeus, The Acts of the Disputation With Manes, 33
“For no other reason does God punish the sinner either in the present or future world, except because He knows that the sinner was able to conquer but neglected to gain the victory.”
– Clement of Rome, Recognitions of Clement of Rome, 111. 23, V. 8, IX. 30.
“If ye be willing and obedient; whence, it is plainly manifest and indubitable, that God had granted to man free-will, so that it is in his power to do the good, or choose the evil. For if it be predestined that one man be good and another man evil, then the first is not deserving of praise or the other to be blamed.”
– Epiphanius, Against Heresies, 16 Isaiah
“Unless humans have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions whatever they may be… For neither would a man be worthy of reward or praise if he did not of himself choose the good, but was merely created for that end. Likewise, if a man were evil, he would not deserve punishment, since he was not evil of himself, being unable to do anything else than what he was made for.”
– Justin Martyr, First Apology, chap. 43
“I find, then, that man was constituted free by God. (…)
Man is free, with a will either for obedience or resistance.”
– Tertullian, Against Marcon, Book II, Chapter 5
“The reward neither of good nor of evil could be paid to the man who should be found to have been either good or evil through necessity and not choice.”
– Tertullian, Against Marcon, Book II, Chapter 6
“God put the question [to Adam – “where art thou”] with an appearance of uncertainty, in order that even here He might prove man to be the subject of a free will in the alternative of either a denial or a confession, and give to him the opportunity of freely acknowledging his transgression, and, so far, of lightening it. In like manner He inquires of Cain where his brother was, just as if He had not yet heard the blood of Abel crying from the ground, in order that he too might have the opportunity from the same power of the will of spontaneously denying, and to this degree aggravating, his crime; and that thus there might be supplied to us examples of confessing sins rather than of denying them: so that even then was initiated the evangelic doctrine, “By thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
– Tertullian, Against Marcon, Book II, Chapter 25
“For if man did not possess the power to will and not to will, why should a law be established? …And that by himself in person he might prove that God made nothing evil, and that man possesses the capacity of self-determination, inasmuch as he is able to will and not to will, and is endued with power to do both.”
– Hippolytus, Against all Heresies, Book 10, Chapter 29
Q&A
But Jesus sacrifice on the cross was enough right…? Yes, that is true. He paid once and for all (Hebrews 10:10 and Hebrews 7:27). This does not mean we can do what we want. If we keep the faith, we will be saved (Hebrews 4:14-16). Giving up our faith and crucifying the Son again, won’t keep us inside of his salvation. (Read Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:29!). Scriptural faith is not merely a head knowledge, it includes obedience (See also Sola Fide, Synergism and Sola Deo Gloria). Wanting to obey is normal for a Christian. We should not get our hearts hardened (See question above the question above) by sinning. Receiving mercy (not having to go to the lake of fire,…) and grace (having a relationship with God through the sacrifice of Christ and through His Holy Spirit,..) does not mean the consequences of our sins don’t remain. Read “GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT ON THE CHRISTIANS AND THE NON-CHRISTIANS” (above). The biggest danger is keeping on hardening our hearts.
What is the unforgivable/unpardonable sin?
I think this video might explain it well. Although it can also be explained differently. (The only thing I’m not in favor of in this video, is replacing the Name Jesus for the name Yeshua.)
I think the preacher’s idea of Jesus warning the pharisees is another reason to believe in Open Theism. He also makes it clear that forgiveness of our sins requires repentance (Hebrews 4:14-16).
The unforgivable sin comes from a continually unrepentant and continually hardened heart.
PLEASE READ ALSO “Striving to Bridle The Tongue and Striving to Live Sinless“!
Picture Justin Martyr taken from forallsaints
Picture Archelaeus taken from Early Church Fathers (youtube)
Picture Clement of Rome taken from Orthodoxroad
Picture Epiphanius taken from lightofdesert
Picture tertullian taken from: ericdarylmeyer
Picture Hippolytus taken from: biblical
crosstheology.wordpress.com 