Tag Archives: justification

What do fear, flesh, and works have to do with salvation?

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Someone left an interesting comment on an earlier post:

If we cannot lose our salvation why then did Paul say Walk out your salvation with fear and trembling.

And why did he say I pummel my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be cast away

It’s in reply to an earlier comment that claims it’s impossible to lose salvation once saved. Numerous Bible verses seem to point in that direction. Numerous other Bible verses seem to say that it’s possible, once saved, to lose salvation. Theologians have been arguing about it for centuries.… Read the rest

Justification: by grace or works?

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Does the Bible contain contradictions? It can appear so.

Paul wrote, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28), and a few lines later, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2).

James, on the other hand, wrote, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? . . . You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:21, 24).

Upon close examination of these verses in context, however, the apparent contradiction disappears.… Read the rest