Faith

[Brother Adam]

"If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9 RSV-CE; Opus Dei)

The question I pose here: Is faith a singular action consisting of a prayer in which one accepts Christ at their Savior? Or is faith a trust in God which leads one to completely free submission to the Law of Christ? Is faith true if it is not accompanied by obedience and fruitful works? If it is not, then can it truly be said that works are not required?

"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including yourselves who are called to belong to Christ Jesus" (Romans 1:5-6)

[mulls]

define "Law of Christ"

[Noel's angel]

[quote]With the coming of Christ, the Law of Moses was abrogated even for the Jewish people. Jesus "canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Col. 2:14). Paul tells us that we must " let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" (Col. 2:16).

Rather than fulfilling the Law of Moses, Paul points us toward fulfilling the Law of Christ: "To those outside the [Mosaic] law I became as one outside the [Mosaic] law—not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ—that I might win those outside the [Mosaic] law" (1 Cor. 9:21). He wrote also, "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2).

The Law of Christ, or the New Law, is the second major revelation of positive divine law. It contains the laws set forth by Christ and the apostles in the deposit of faith. Some of these are moral (prohibitions on murder, adultery, and polygamy), some ceremonial (baptism, the Eucharist, Sunday worship), and some are civil or judicial (e.g., "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities"—Rom. 13:1—and the Church’s social teaching as grounded in the deposit of faith).

The New Law also provides something that the Old Law did not: the grace of the Holy Spirit, who empowers individuals to keep the New Law in a way that those under the Law of Moses were not able to keep it. This internalization the New Law was prophesied by Jeremiah: "this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:33).  [url="http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0010bt.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0010bt.asp[/url] [/quote]

[Brother Adam]

Galatians 6:2
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

[i]nomos[/i]. It refers to those who are no longer under Mosaic law, but as Christians we are called to obedience in Christ. We specifically become [i]ennomos Christou[/i] "under the law of Christ". It is also called the law of love, the law that we are to, as Christians, carry our crosses, give our full submission and obedience to Christ and His Church [whether you see this as the visible Catholic Church or an invisible church aside], and bare the burdens of one and another. Most fully the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7) reveals the calling to Christian living.

(Parts taken from The New Jerome Biblical Commentary)

[mulls]

[quote]Is faith a singular action consisting of a prayer in which one accepts Christ at their Savior? Or is faith a trust in God which leads one to completely free submission to the Law of Christ? Is faith true if it is not accompanied by obedience and fruitful works? If it is not, then can it truly be said that works are not required? [/quote]


well, repenting and confessing that Christ was burend and raised and trusting Him is an act of faith. so it's gotta start somewhere, i suppose as an "act."

it then of course should lead to a submission to Christ, obedience and fruitful works.

[Brother Adam]

is submission to Christ, obedience, and fruitful works optional?

[mulls]

i don't think its optional vs. not optional....

submission to Christ, obedience, and fruitful works should be inherent in the life of one who has genuine faith.

[Brother Adam]

Says who?

[Guest]

if one believes works will follow
anyone who loves God will be saved by God
for if God does not save someone it means that person never loved God
its all or nothening
faith saves
with faith comes everything that is required for salvation
yes
on that day many will say Lord Lord look wut i done for you
and
he will reply " I never knew you "
and this can only be because the person claiming to know the Lord did not Love the Lord and have a true faith in his existance and his promice
its simple
if you truelly love God, God will always truelly love you.....

Edited May 23, 2005 by Guest

[mulls]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='May 22 2005, 04:57 PM'] Says who? [/quote]
says who??

you disagree with that statement?

just say whatever you're trying to get at.

[Brother Adam]

I'm saying I don't believe those things are automatic to 'making Christ your personal Savior" you say that they are. I'm not trying to get at anything in particular, just having a conversation.

[mulls]

i didn't say they were automatic either, but they *should be* apparent in the life of any Christian, one who has genuinely repented and called on Christ. wouldn't you agree?

[jezic]

genuine faith leads to the total dedication of oneself to Christ. This in turn spawns the good works because of the dedication of the soul and its desire to carry on the work of Jesus Christ. They themselves are graces though.

is there a reason for the questions?

[scardella]

The Hebrew understanding of it would be that works, obedience, etc. would naturally follow. They are a result of faith; therefore, their absence would imply that faith is not there.

[quote]What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works."

Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.

Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God." See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

-James 2:14-26
[/quote]