Hello and good to be back and ALIVE!

Image by shioshvili via Flickr Sorry guys to disappoint you – NO I am not dead but alive and well!

I thank-you guys for the comments in my blog. I also encourage readers to visist SiingaporeChristianonline forum to find out for themselves.

I am surprised that it is insisted that the salvation theory is debunked there? How? By attacking the Catholic Churches with baseless, untruth and wrong perceptions? And always with issues that are not related to what is being discussed?

It was never and can never be debunked because these are Word of God!

How would I be not confident of God’s Words and promise? Just because I choose to blog it? Or Just because someone one insist on that? You must be kidding !!!

Well, it’s not hard to understand the truth which is fully defensible with the Bible. There is no need to add non-biblical notion....It's only up to one to discern, reflect and search for it.

Why stick to one that need to add on a non-biblical notion just to make it “sound correct” (and still then, it simply does not make any sense)and not defensible by the bible?

The Gospel is all about faith, hope and love and nothing is greater than love. Do you agree?

Why salvation is by faith and deeds.

Image via WikipediaPaul and James or any of the apostles are simply teaching us what Jesus has taught them. Let’s take a look now at what the teachings are about:

In MT 22:34-40, Jesus clearly sum up the commandments for us into 2. That is to love God and to love our neighbour.

In MT 25 31:46, Jesus tells us what are the criteria of entering into Heaven. The criteria such as feeding, clothing visitations are all deeds of love, compassion and charity. If one has shown such deeds to one’s neighbour, one has shown love to God. Thus both the commandments are fulfilled.

In MT 7:21-27 , Jesus also warned us that not all who call “Lord…Lord…” will enter into Heaven. It is not lips service that He wants. He said a true disciple are those who hear the words and act on it. Not those who hear but do nothing.

In the story of the good thief, one can see clearly that the thief was saved by faith and deeds. While in the midst of his own misery, he not only said that he believed that Jesus is the Son of God, he showed his beliefs by standing up (read…good deed) for Jesus when the other thief mock Jesus. Is he saved by faith alone with no deeds?

So what does Paul teaches us? Paul teaches us that faith is very important as his letters are addressed to newly converts, he stress the importance of having Christ. Without Christ, no salvation is possible. No matter how hard one works, he has no salvation unless he has Christ.

Never did Paul said faith alone will save. Neither did he ever said works is not needed.

Does Paul thinks that he is saved already? Is he working towards it?
Reading RN 8:18-25, Philippians 2:12-18 and 3:8-15 may give us some clues.

Is James contradicting Paul?

Of course not, unless you mistaken what Paul is saying in the first place. Why James said what he did in chapter 2 is to remind Christians that they need to have deeds or their faith is useless. It is also to address those who have misunderstood Paul. God is not looking for lips service.

James made it very clear and simple that faith alone does not save. Why? Because without deeds, faith is useless and such faith cannot save. Only by deeds can one show one’s faith and only such faith can lead to salvation.

As to questions of what is deeds, I think we can safely refer back to the words we hear from Jesus - that is, the 2 most important commandment (which will lead us to salvation).

As to questions of how many deeds is required, it’s an irrelevant question.
The importance really is on “effect of the Law engraved on their hearts”. It is about making the act of loving, compassion and charity a part of our Christian life – not by words alone, but by living it out (read…doing, deeds, act on it) from your heart.

Live our Christians Life

The article below is found in the weekly bulletin from the Church Of Risen Christ:

As believers, we place great importance in God’s Word and keep His commandments close to our hearts. In our faith, we speak often to God in words, which come from deep
within our souls. However, our words amount to nothing if we do not live by them or if we do not follow God’s will in our daily living. It is easy to profess what we believe in, yet our actions are not always in line with our profession. We are called to remain devoted and faithful to God’s Word in our lives. The Last Judgment account in Matthew 25 reminds us that it is our actual deeds of love that matter, not mere words. Through our deeds, then we are a light to the world and messengers of Christ. We may not know that the people we know may be looking at us for some guidance or direction as they know that we are Christians. Hence, in Christian communities, believers are doers, not hearers. Let each one of us make his or her life a wonderful gift to our Almighty Father.