靠着对上帝的信心生活，是你的生活方式Living by Faith-- It's ...

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靠着对上帝的信心生活，是你的生活方式

你要和我同受苦难，好像基督耶稣的精兵（提摩太后书2:3）

亲爱的弟兄姊妹们，你要懂得，经受苦难是不可避免的。主耶稣已经把我们从诅咒中赎回，这是事实。虽然撒旦对此无法逆转，但是他会想尽一切办法来挑战你。

所以当事情变得艰难时，你不要感到意外。即使你感觉不到或看不到事情有好的发展，你也一定要靠着对上帝的信心站稳脚步，在言行举止和态度上都表现出对上帝的信心，就像上帝已经给你成就了。当每件事情都看起来非常糟糕时，你更要作耶稣基督的精兵，坚韧不拔、永不气馁。

很多人听说信心能治病、能发达，所以他们想：“好啊，我也试试看。”然后，当苦难来临时，他们就放弃认输了。

让我警告你，靠着对上帝有行动的信心来生活，决不是让你试试看的，而是要让它成为你的生活方式---不仅在艰难时你要这么做，在顺利时你也要这么做，你要每时每刻都这样去做，因为你并不是只为得利益才这么做的。你这样做，是因为你知道有信心才能令上帝喜悦（希伯来11:6人非有信就不能得 神的喜悦，因为到 神面前来的人，必须信有 神，且信祂赏赐那寻求祂的人）。

虽然有的时候一些事情会变得艰难，但是我向你保证，如果你能做得像基督忍受苦难的精兵，那么你永远都会战胜这些苦难。如果你拒绝软弱和放弃，那么最后的胜利就会属于你，因为惟一能击败基督徒的，就是他自己放弃。

研经：民数记14:1-24

Living by Faith-- It's a Lifestyle

"Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."(2 Timothy 2:3)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Times of hardness are inevitable. You need to know that. It's true that we've been redeemed from the curse, and there's nothing Satan can do to reverse that, but he is going to challenge you on it.

So don't be surprised when things get tough. Times will come when you have to stand strictly by faith, when you'll have to speak and act as though what GOD says is true even when you can't feel it or see it happening around you. There will be times when everything looks terrible. That's when you must endure hardness as a good soldier.

So many people hear the word of faith about healing or prosperity and they think, "Hey! I'm going to try that." Then when the hard times come, they give up and cave in.

Let me warn you, living by faith is not something you try. It's a lifestyle. You do it when it's hard. You do it when it's easy. You do it all the time because you're not doing it just to get in on the benefits. You're doing it because you know that faith pleases GOD (Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.).

Things may get a little rough at times, but let me assure you, you'll always come out on top if you endure hardness as a good soldier. If you refuse to faint and fall away, you will have the victory. The only defeated Christian is the one who quits!

Scripture Study: Numbers 14:1-24

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谁犯了下地狱的罪

今天凌晨我醒来，然后开始写主的信息（过去几年我一直在做这项事工），我决定今天写些不一样的信息。于是我关上电脑，只通读圣经中所有关于地狱的信息。我没有构思怎么写，也没有试着列出具体细节，我只让新约充满能力又简朴的话语带领我。然后，上帝所告诉我的信息，令我大受震撼。

1】主耶稣以“下地狱”来警告那些诅咒主内弟兄姊妹的人【马太福音5:22 只是我告诉你们：“凡向弟兄（姊妹）动怒的，难免受审判；〔有古卷在凡字下添无缘无故的五字〕凡骂弟兄是拉加（辱骂词）的，难免公会的审断；凡骂弟兄是魔利（辱骂词）的，难免地狱的火”】。主耶稣没有用“下地狱”警告那些烟徒、酒徒、杀人犯和奸淫的人，主耶稣传讲地狱之火，是针对那些大胆用尖刻言辞攻击别人的人。我们现今就存在这样讽刺又可怕的现象，有很多人用写书来大谈地狱、或在布道台上大讲地狱、或发表地狱的博文热帖，可实际上他们在发表言论的过程中是在猛烈抨击主内弟兄姊妹们，原因很简单，因为其他基督徒对地狱持不同观点，这些抨击别人的基督徒完全忽略了马太福音5:22的警示目的：“凡骂弟兄是魔利（辱骂词）的，难免地狱的惩罚。”

回想一下，你最近有没有在博客、脸书、推特或各样的情况中称你的弟兄笨呢？

基督徒们经常将地狱的信息变成辩论的素材，却忽略它的警告重点。主耶稣讲到地狱，并不是让我们对它进行研究、辩论或写书的，主耶稣赐给我们地狱的警告，是要让我们过圣洁的生命。所以停止彼此毁谤，让我们和平相待、兄弟般同心合一。主耶稣明显恨恶我们用侮辱言辞攻击主内弟兄姊妹，因为我们这么做是没有尊重上帝的美好创造，我们都是上帝按照自己的形象和样式造成的（创世纪1:26 神说：“我们要照着我们的形象、按着我们的样式造人……”）

2】对穷人，主耶稣讲得十分清楚，必要向他们伸出援助之手。然而，很多将受地狱之火的传道人们是过度肥己、生活奢侈，甚至面对每天不足2美元艰苦度日的众多基督徒（在美国），他们的做法是无动于衷、毫不理会，他们的作为与基督的教导相悖。主耶稣最长的讲道，就是关于帮助穷人对个人的审判至关重要，概括地说就是：没有帮助穷人的基督徒会被判下地狱（马太福音25:32-46）。

我知道、我知道，每个人都想通过加添各种注释来限定这一点，然后把主耶稣在马太福音25章里的教导修改为不确定神论：称义是靠信心，不是靠行为，所以不用必须帮助穷人等等。另一方面，有些人认为需要帮助穷人，但是帮与不帮跟地狱毫无关联。更有甚者撇开了主耶稣，认为扶贫济困是与生俱来的美德，而不是源于福音必须遵行的教导。

让我们咬住两个事实：地狱的信息是真的，帮助穷人也是必须的。主耶稣不仅亲口教导我们这两个真理，同时祂也看到两者互为必要并且相互关联---“不救济穷人就不得进入天国”（马太福音25章）。

3】雅各在他简短的书信中没有过多提及地狱，事实上，他的书信里“地狱”一词只出现过一次。但就是这惟一一次提及，却正是指向作为圣经老师的我。这个警告就是：圣经老师将会受到更重的审判（雅各3:1 我的弟兄们，不要多人作师傅，因为晓得我们要受更重的判断 ）。雅各说，舌头能点燃整个森林（雅各3:5这样，舌头在百体里也是最小的，却能说大话。看哪，最小的火能点着最大的树林）；舌头就是火，且是从地狱之火点着的（雅各3:6 舌头就是火，在我们百体中舌头是个罪恶的世界，能污秽全身，也能把生命的轮子点起来，并且是从地狱里点着的）。雅各没有特别警告酒徒、小偷、奸夫或杀人犯会下地狱，毫无疑问，他是同意所有不悔改的罪人都会下地狱，但是为了更能发人深省，他将惟一一次明确又相当严厉的地狱警告，留给那些传讲上帝话语的老师们和那些把圣经断章取义来误导人的人。

同样，彼得后书和犹大书也讲到地狱的警告。这些书信虽然简短，但却充满了地狱之火，加重强调：地狱是假传道人和假圣经老师们的去处，他们声称是传 神的道，可事实上却是在讲自己的道。根据彼得和犹大所讲，这些人现今就在我们中间，他们用假道来欺哄利用我们，他们传讲上帝实际上是为了自己的肚腹和钱包。所以彼得和犹大说，他们是在奔入地狱。

4】关于种族主义。数个世纪以来，世界各地的基督教会都在种族主义上犯了罪，严格地讲也是该受诅咒的。你可能会问：“种族主义跟下地狱有什么关联呢？”按照主耶稣的教导，两者关联可大了。

在马太福音8章里，主耶稣用下地狱来警告种族歧视和种族中心主义。从马太福音8章、9章的上下文描述出，主耶稣在那一天颠覆了整个犹太民族假想的种族文化和社会，他们假想：只有他们这些“上帝的子民”，才有资格进入天国，其他任何种族都是肮脏的罪人，比如外邦人、希腊人、罗马人。但是在马太福音8章里，主耶稣用一个罗马外邦人的百夫长的信心，绝对性地击碎了他们的假想。虽然这个百夫长是外邦人，但是主耶稣却悦纳了他的信心。主耶稣说，那些“上帝的子民”（现代自称基督徒的人），认为上帝爱本族超越其他民族的，该受地狱的诅咒。因为审判要先从 神的家起首，所以没有把上帝的教导完完全全地行出来，只凭自己是犹太人（现代自称基督徒的人）是不能得救的。“惟有本国的子民竟被赶到外边黑暗里去，在那里必要哀哭切齿了”（马太福音 8:12）

愿上帝祝福你们，我们的弟兄姊妹们---自上帝最卑微的仆人

Who are guilty of hell?

This morning, I woke up to start writing, as I’ve been doing for the past years, and I decided to do something different. I closed my laptop and just read through all of these passages on hell. I didn’t think about writing; I didn’t try to figure out all the nitty-gritty details of the text. I just let the New Testament speak in its power and simplicity, and here are some of the shocking things that GOD hit me with.

1】JESUS threatens hell to those who curse their brother (Matt. 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister  will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ [An Aramaic term of contempt] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.). HE’s not warning drinkers or smokers or murderers or adultery. JESUS preaches hellfire against those who have the audacity to attack a fellow human being with harsh words. It’s ironic—frightening, actually—that some people have written books, preached sermons, or written blog posts about hell and missed this point completely. In fact, some people have slammed their Christian brothers and sisters in the process, simply because they have a different view of hell, missing the purpose of Matthew 5:22 . . . . ‘Whoever calls his brother a fool may find himself guilty of hell.’

Have you called your brother a fool lately? On a blog? On  Facebook? Have you tweeted anything of the sort?

So often, these hell passages become fodder for debate, and people miss the point of the warning. JESUS didn’t speak of hell so that we could study, debate, and write books about it. HE gave us these passages so that we would live holy lives. Stop slandering one another, and live in peace and brotherly unity. JESUS evidently hates it when we tear into our brothers or sisters with demeaning words, words that fail to honor the people around us as the beautiful image-bearing creatures that they are created in the likeness of GOD (Then GOD said, “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness; . . . Gen. 1:26).

2】And what about the poor? JESUS is crystal clear about the necessity of reaching the poor. Yet many hellfire preachers are overfed and overpaid, living in luxury while doing nothing for the majority of Christians who live on less than two dollars a day (in America).  Contrast that with JESUS, who in HIS longest sermon about judgment made helping the poor a vital criterion. Put simply, failing to help the poor could damn you to hell. (Matt. 25:32-46)

I know, I know, everyone wants to qualify this. We want to add all sorts of footnotes to fix JESUS’ shaky theology in Matthew 25—justification is by faith, not by works; you don’t really have to help literal poor people, etc.

On the flipside, some want to keep the stuff about helping the poor but take hell out of the picture. Sometimes, people even take JESUS out of the picture—fighting poverty, they believe, is an inherent virtue whether or not it’s rooted in the gospel.

Let’s keep the teeth of both truths. There’s a literal hell, and helping the poor is essential. Not only did JESUS teach both of these truths, HE saw them as necessary and interrelated.

3】James doesn’t say much about hell in his short epistle. In fact, the word hell only occurs once. But this one instance is directed right at me, a teacher of the Bible. In the context of warning teachers that they will incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly), James says that the tongue is capable of burning up an entire forest (v. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark). “The tongue is a fire,” James says, and it is ignited by the fire of hell (v. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell). He doesn’t warn drunks, thieves, adulterers or murderers about going to hell. No doubt James agrees that sinners of all sorts will go to hell, but for some sobering reason, he saves his only explicit—and quite scathing—warning about hell for teachers of GOD’s WORD.

The same goes for 2 Peter and Jude. These short letters are full of hellfire and emphasize that hell is a place for false teachers—those who claim to be speaking for GOD but are really only speaking for themselves. According to Peter and Jude, these teachers are among us, exploiting us with false words. They speak a lot about GOD, but the gods they really delight in are their own bellies and wallets. Peter and Jude say they are heading for hell.

4】Or take racism. The Christian church in many ages and in many places has stood on the wrong side of this issue, and it’s damnable—literally. What’s racism got to do with hell? you may ask. According to JESUS, it’s got everything to do with it.

In Matthew 8, JESUS puts a warning about hell into the context of racism and ethnocentrism. The entire context of Matthew 8-9 depicts JESUS reversing all of the cultural and social assumptions of the Jews of that day. One assumption is that the Jews, as the “people of GOD,” are much more fit for the kingdom than all those other nasty sinners—those Gentiles, those Greeks, those Romans. But in Matthew 8, JESUS is absolutely floored by the faith of a Roman Gentile military leader. And JESUS accepted him as he was, as a Gentile. From this encounter, JESUS says that the “sons of the kingdom” who think that GOD values one ethnicity over another are damned to hell: “The sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 8:12)

GOD bless you my Brothers and Sister,

from the least of GOD’s servants.

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开始降雨了

锡安的民哪，你们要快乐，为耶和华你们的 神欢喜。因祂赐给你们合宜的秋雨，为你们降下甘霖，就是秋雨、春雨，和先前一样（约珥书2:23）

亲爱的姊妹们，上帝承诺，会有灵上的洪水涌来，就是圣灵的大能会源源不断地涌出，这将带来灵魂的大丰收，是我们所有人都不曾见过的。

作为基督真正的跟从者，我们从上帝的话语中读到过这些信息，并且多年来也从传道者口中听到过。所以，我们仰天长望，等候圣灵大能的涌流，直等得我们灵上的“脖子”都抽了筋。我们能想象，上帝将祂的灵从属天的巨大罐子里倾泻而下，浇灌我们。

但是你知道吗，我们望错了方向！

上帝将会在地球上，从罐子里倾出祂的大能。主耶稣这样解释：“信我的人就如经上所说‘从他腹中要流出活水的江河来’”（约翰福音7:38）。

我们都期盼从众多基督徒的腹中流出活水来，汇聚成末日的洪水。

先知们预言，在我们里面的圣灵是一切神迹、奇事和异能的源头，所以当我们热切祷告、代求时，这洪水的大能将开始涌动。

撒迦利亚10:1说：“ 当春雨的时候，你们要向发闪电的耶和华求雨，祂必为众人降下甘霖，使田园生长菜蔬。”  

我们的祷告和代求，将会使圣灵大大地释放出祂的能力。而当我们万众合一时，就会在地球上汇聚成灵上能力的强大洪水。

所以，让我们祈求、祷告、代求，使圣灵的大能源源不断地奔流涌出。让汇成灵上能力的大洪水，成为你祷告生命的首要。

荣耀归给上帝，看，现在已经开始降雨了！

研经：约珥书2:23-32

2:23 锡安的民哪，你们要快乐，为耶和华你们的 神欢喜。因祂赐给你们合宜的秋雨，为你们降下甘霖，就是秋雨、春雨，和先前一样。  

2:24 禾场必满了麦子，酒醡与油醡必有新酒和油盈溢。  

2:25 我打发到你们中间的大军队，就是蝗虫、蝻子、蚂蚱、剪虫，那些年所吃的，我要补还你们。  

2:26 你们必多吃而得饱足，就赞美为你们行奇妙事之耶和华你们 神的名，我的百姓必永远不至羞愧。  

2:27 你们必知道我是在以色列中间，又知道我是耶和华你们的 神，在我以外并无别神，我的百姓必永远不至羞愧。  

2:28 以后，我要将我的灵浇灌凡有血气的，你们的儿女要说预言，你们的老年人要作异梦，少年人要见异象。  

2:29 在那些日子，我要将我的灵浇灌我的仆人和使女。  

2:30 在天上地下我要显出奇事，有血、有火、有烟柱。  

2:31 日头要变为黑暗，月亮要变为血，这都在耶和华大而可畏的日子未到以前。  

2:32 到那时候，凡求告耶和华名的就必得救，因为照耶和华所说的，在锡安山耶路撒冷必有逃脱的人，在剩下的人中必有耶和华所召的。  

It is Beginning to Rain

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your GOD: for HE hath given you the former rain moderately, and HE will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain the first month." (Joel 2:23)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

There's a spiritual flood coming. GOD has promised it. HE's promised us an outpouring of HOLY SPIRIT power that will bring in the greatest harvest of souls any of us have ever seen.

As true followers of CHRIST, we've been reading about it in the WORD and hearing about it from the pulpit for years. We've been staring toward heaven so long, waiting for it to come, that we've gotten cricks in our spiritual necks. We've had this mental image of GOD pouring down HIS SPIRIT from some sort of big heavenly pitcher above us.

But you know what? We've been looking in the wrong direction!

The pitchers GOD is going to use to pour out HIS power are right here on earth. JESUS explained it this way. "He that believeth on ME, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" John 7:38.

The end-time flood we've all been expecting is going to be composed of living waters that will pour forth from believers.

The HOLY SPIRIT within us will be the source of all the signs and wonders and miracles the prophets foretold. And when we begin to fervently pray the prayer of intercession, the flood of that power will begin to flow.

Zechariah 10:1 says, "Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers for rain, to every one grass in the field."

Our prayers, our intercession, is what will release the great outpouring of GOD's SPIRIT. As we begin to join together and become a flood of Spiritual power in the earth.

So, ask, pray for a HOLY SPIRIT gully washer. Intercede for the outpouring. Make this mighty flood of spiritual power a priority in your prayer life.

Glory to GOD, it's already beginning to rain!

Scripture Study: Joel 2:

23 Be glad, people of Zion,

rejoice in the LORD your GOD,

for HE has given you the autumn rains

because HE is faithful.

HE sends you abundant showers,

both autumn and spring rains, as before.

24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;

the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—

the great locust and the young locust,

the other locusts and the locust swarm—

MY great army that I sent among you.

26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,

and you will praise the name of the LORD your GOD,

who has worked wonders for you;

never again will MY people be shamed.

27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,

that I am the LORD your GOD,

and that there is no other;

never again will MY people be shamed.

The Day of the LORD

28 “And afterward,

I will pour out MY SPIRIT on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

your young men will see visions.

29 Even on MY servants, both men and women,

I will pour out MY SPIRIT in those days.

30 I will show wonders in the heavens

and on the earth,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

32 And everyone who calls

on the name of the LORD will be saved;

for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

there will be deliverance,

as the LORD has said,

even among the survivors

whom the LORD calls.

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我们得救只靠信心吗？

让我们看看圣经是怎么说的。

世上一般的教义教导：人只要相信耶稣基督就是得救了，也就是说人得救只要相信就行了，不用更进一步地有服从主耶稣命令的行为。然而，在新约的雅各书里却讲到很多与之相反的教导，例如，“这样，信心若没有行为就是死的”（雅各2:17）。  

对另一个圣经教义可能误解会更多，就是关于行善对救恩的重要性。很多人将福音里的善行（圣经强调为重要）与行摩西律法混淆，或者凭人的善举要努力赚取救恩。

圣经根本没有教导：得救是靠行旧约的摩西律法。对此，我们从罗马书 3:20读到：“没有一个因行律法能在 神面前称义”，又从歌罗西2: 14（基督又涂抹了在律例上所写，攻击我们、有碍于我们的字据，把它撤去，钉在十字架上）学到：摩西的律法已经钉在基督的十字架上了，不再捆绑任何人。我们知道，迷失的人类在今天惟有一个得救的盼望，就是基督的福音。我们靠行律法不能得救，惟有凭着信心的行为和甘心情愿地服从基督，以致得救。

当圣经在罗马书3:20说：“没有一个因行律法能在 神面前称义”的同时，也在雅各2:24 里说：“这样看来，人称义是因着行为，不是单因着信。”这里的“行为”决不是行律法的行为，而是显明出基督福音里信心的行为。行摩西的律法是死的，在当今毫无意义，只有福音的善行才大有益处。

人得救要透过基督的宝血，并靠着上帝的恩典，并不是单靠着信心，乃是要服从基督的命令，以致得救。因为“耶稣是为凡顺从祂的人，成了永远得救的根源”（希伯来5:9 ）。但是，这并不代表有一个顺服的灵就能赚取、配得或应得救恩，而是有资格得蒙上帝的怜悯和恩典，照上帝的怜悯、借着重生的洗和圣灵的更新来拯救我们（提多 3:5）。

圣经同样在这里清楚地阐明：我们得救是借着重生的洗（或受洗）和圣灵的更新，而不是靠我们的义行。但是，如果我们没有以服从上帝的话语来降服于祂的公义，那么我们就不能得救。

圣经里很多信息都显明信心的重要：我们得救靠信心、称义靠信心等等，几乎每一个关于信心的信息都被众人相信和接受。但是，所有关于信心的信息有一个共同点，就是都没有讲过“我们得救是单靠信心”，而且圣经里也没有这样的信息。

要谨记这个重点：在任何的年代或特定的人类历史上，上帝决没有单以人的信心来拯救任何一个人，上帝自始至终都需要人的信心和服从并行，救恩别无他法，也永远都不会有。主耶稣说：“信而受洗的必然得救，不信的必被定罪”（马可福音16:16）。这里的信要加上服从，这永远都是上帝拯救世人的原则。“现在，上帝能破例拯救某一个只有信心、没有服从的人”---这完全是荒谬的期望。

Are we saved by Faith Only? Let’s see what the Bible says.

The doctrine is commonly taught in the world that a person is saved the very moment he believes in Jesus Christ, that he is saved without any further acts of obedience. The New Testament book called James has much to say on the subject of faith and works. For example: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" James 2: 17.

Misunderstood possibly as much as any other part of the Bible doctrine is the essentiality of good works to salvation. People confuse the good works of the gospel which the Bible clearly defines as essential, with the works of the law of Moses, or the meritorious works of men in an effort to earn salvation.

The Bible does not teach that people are saved by works of the Old Testament law of Moses, for we read in Rom. 3: 20, that "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight". From Col.2: 14 (having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.), we learn that the law of Moses was nailed to the cross of Christ and is no longer bound upon anyone. We know that the only hope for salvation for lost humanity today is through the gospel of Christ. We do not propose to be saved by the works of the law, but through the works of faith and the labor of love in obedience to Christ.

While the Bible says: "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified", it also says in James 2: 24: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only." 'These works then must not be the works of the law, but are the works of faith revealed in the gospel of Christ. The law of Moses is dead and its works mean nothing today, but the works of the gospel mean much.

A person is saved by the blood of CHRIST, through the grace of GOD. He is not saved by faith alone, but through obedience to the commandments of CHRIST. JESUS became "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" Hebrews 5: 9. This does not mean that the obedient soul earns, merits, or deserves salvation, but that he qualifies for the mercy and the grace of the LORD, who according to the on-going of HIS mercy saves us "by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the HOLY SPIRIT" Titus 3: 5.

The Bible makes it clear in that same passage that while we are being saved through the washing of regeneration (or baptism) and the renewing of the HOLY SPIRIT that it is not by works done in righteousness which we have done ourselves. But if we do not submit ourselves to the righteousness of GOD in obedience to HIS WORD, we cannot be saved.

There are many Bible passages that show the essentiality of faith, that we are saved by faith, justified by it, and so on. Every one of these passages is to be believed and accepted. But there is one similar thing about all these passages on faith, not one single passage ever says we are saved by faith only. There are not such passages in the Bible.

Here is a great point to remember: Never in any age or dispensation in human history has GOD saved man by faith alone. GOD has always required faith and obedience. No other formula for salvation has ever worked. None ever will. JESUS said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" Mark 16: 16. It is faith plus obedience. This is the embodiment of the principle under which GOD has always worked in saving man. It is utter folly to expect HIM to make an exception to the rule now and save anyone by faith only and without obedience.