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Jason wrote an article (late 90s) entitled, \u201cA Response to Passages of Scripture Often Cited in Opposition to Salvation Through Faith Alone and Eternal Security.\u201d<\/a> In it he critiques the passages from theological opponents that (in our opinion) prove eternal security to be a false doctrine. E for effort and a certain sort of sophistical cleverness, but ultimately his reasoning fails, as always, when he attempts to war against Catholicism. This is my counter-reply. His words will be in blue. I will post the entire Bible passages (not included in his article) in black, indented (RSV).<\/span><\/p>\n *****<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 7:21-23<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 These people were never saved. Jesus says that He\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0knew them. They couldn\u2019t have lost a salvation they didn\u2019t have.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNot every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,\u2019 shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.\u00a0[22] On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?\u2019\u00a0[23] And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.\u2019<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The main point is that those who claim the name of Christ but don\u2019t follow His commands<\/em> (i.e., do good works) \u2014 combined with faith by His grace \u2014 are not and cannot be saved. He condemns falsely claimed works but at the same time affirms good works (\u201cdoes the will of my Father\u201d); i.e., doing<\/em> as well as merely saying words<\/em>. There are indeed certain folks that He never knew, that were never<\/em> saved or in His good graces at any<\/em> time (just as in the parable of the sower). But this doesn\u2019t (logically or theologically) rule out another category of those who were<\/em> in such a good state and forsook<\/em> it. <\/span><\/p>\n The context provides further insight. In 7:15-20, Jesus warns against false prophets. How do we know<\/em> they are false? \u201cBy their fruits\u201d (7:16, 20): again, good<\/em>\u00a0works<\/em> as the manifestation of genuine faith. In 7:24-27 He makes the analogy of building a house on a foundation of rock rather than sand. \u201cHouse\u201d in this analogy is salvation. The house built on rock stands; i.e., the salvation is genuine and permanent. But the house built on sand \u201cfell; and great was the fall of it\u201d (7:27). It seems clear to me that the house falling, by analogy, refers to falling away from salvation. The man once \u201chad\u201d the house, then he no longer did.\u00a0 Therefore, Jesus refutes eternal security.<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 25:31-46<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Jesus doesn\u2019t say that these people were saved through works. The works of the sheep reflect a regenerated heart (2 Corinthians 5:17), and are the\u00a0result<\/em>\u00a0of salvation (Ephesians 2:10), but they aren\u2019t the\u00a0means<\/em>\u00a0of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). The sheep became sheep through faith (Acts 15:9),\u00a0then<\/em>\u00a0behaved as sheep. There are lost people who feed the hungry, visit people in prison, etc. And there are saved people who don\u2019t do any of that (Luke 23:39-43, 1 Corinthians 3:15). What Jesus is addressing in Matthew 25 is the\u00a0general<\/em>\u00a0contrast between the lives of the regenerate and the lives of the unregenerate at the time of His second coming. He\u2019s not teaching salvation through works.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.\u00a0[32] Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,\u00a0[33] and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.\u00a0[34] Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;\u00a0[35] for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,\u00a0[36] I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.\u2019\u00a0[37] Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?\u00a0[38] And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?\u00a0[39] And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?\u2019\u00a0[40] And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.\u2019\u00a0[41] Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;\u00a0[42] for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,\u00a0[43] I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.\u2019\u00a0[44] Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?\u2019\u00a0[45] Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.\u2019\u00a0[46] And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n We agree that He\u2019s not teaching salvation by works, which is the heresy of Pelagianism.\u00a0 But He is teaching salvation that cannot be obtained without<\/em> good works (enabled and wrought always in His grace). The ultimate means of salvation are, of course, Jesus\u2019 death on the cross and God\u2019s grace, sufficient to reconcile us with Him. We agree again with our Protestant brethren about that. The passage is remarkable in that it never mentions faith in Jesus as the sole (?) key to salvation. And that\u2019s because the strict (almost or sometimes actually antinomian) \u201cfaith alone\u201d position is not biblical at all.<\/span><\/p>\n The key to interpreting the above passage is the word \u201cfor\u201d in both verses 35 and 42. Jesus is saying, in effect, \u201cyou are saved and will go to heaven [or hell], for you did<\/em> these good works: x, y, z [or did not<\/em> do them].\u201d He makes it a directly causal relationship<\/em>. \u201cFor\u201d can only plausibly be interpreted, I submit, by giving it the meaning of \u201cbecause.\u201d In other words, in the overall context of biblical soteriology, it means, \u201cyou proved that you have a genuine faith by your good works; therefore you are rewarded with eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Luke 18:18-25<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Jesus had just taught salvation apart from works (Luke 18:10-14). He doesn\u2019t contradict Himself in the conversation that follows with the rich young ruler. To the contrary, the conversation is a further illustration of what Jesus had taught in verses 10-14. The rich young ruler, like the Pharisee mentioned a few verses earlier, expected to be saved through works. He thought he had kept all of God\u2019s commandments throughout his life (Luke 18:21), though he obviously hadn\u2019t (Romans 3:9-23). As Jesus told him,\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0God is good (Luke 18:19). Since this man thought that he was good enough to attain eternal life through works, however, Jesus revealed the man\u2019s imperfection by commanding him to do a work that he then refused to do (Luke 18:22-23). The disciples asked who, then, could be saved (Luke 18:26). If the rich young ruler couldn\u2019t be saved, despite claiming to have kept all of God\u2019s commandments throughout his life, how could anybody be saved? Jesus explains that what\u2019s impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18:27). He was reaffirming what He had taught in verses 10-14.\u00a0God justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5-6).<\/em>\u00a0A tax collector who relies only on the mercy of God is saved, while a Pharisee and a rich young ruler who try to attain eternal life through works are lost (Romans 9:30-10:4). Rather than supporting salvation through works, the conversation with the rich young ruler is more evidence of the hopelessness of trying to be saved through works. To be saved through works, a person would have to perfectly fulfill God\u2019s laws for all of his life (Galatians 3:10, James 2:10), and nobody does that (Romans 3:9-23, Galatians 3:22, James 3:2). Only Christ perfectly obeyed God throughout His life. Only Christ is good (Luke 18:19). Only His righteousness, accepted as a free gift through faith, apart from works (Romans 3:21-24, 4:5-6, 5:16-17), can justify.<\/span><\/p>\n [rich young ruler story] And a ruler asked him, \u201cGood Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d\u00a0[19] And Jesus said to him, \u201cWhy do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.\u00a0[20] You know the commandments: `Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'\u201d\u00a0[21] And he said, \u201cAll these I have observed from my youth.\u201d\u00a0[22] And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, \u201cOne thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0[23] But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich.\u00a0[24] Jesus looking at him said, \u201cHow hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!\u00a0[25] For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I love this example, because it totally<\/em> goes against Protestant soteriology, as I have<\/span> written about<\/a> (in fact,<\/span> two times<\/a>). Jesus wasn\u2019t condemning works per se in 18:10-14, but rather, pride<\/em> in works or self-righteousness<\/em>, which was the Pharisees\u2019 main fault. Jason simply reads that into it (eisegesis), because it\u2019s what he wants<\/em> to see, according to his mistaken theology in this respect. Jesus didn\u2019t run down good works (\u201ccommandments\u201d) at all. He was directly asked how one obtains eternal life. So what does He mention first<\/em>? Faith alone? Nope: He inquires as to whether he kept the commandments<\/em>. Jesus\u2019 answer is more straightforward and explicit in the version in Matthew (\u201cIf you would enter life, keep the commandments\u201d: 19:17). That was His first answer as to how a human being can be saved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jason contradicts himself by saying, \u201c<\/span>Since this man thought that he was good enough to attain eternal life through works, however, Jesus revealed the man\u2019s imperfection by commanding him to do a work . . .\u201d If the ruler thought that works saved him, why didn\u2019t Jesus start talking about faith, rather than another work? It makes no sense. The whole passage only makes sense within a Catholic or Orthodox paradigm. This particular person (not all<\/em> rich people) idolized his riches; therefore it was necessary for him not just to have faith, but additionally to yield up his idolatry and to give up his riches.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n No one denies that we can\u2019t save ourselves (contra Pelagianism again). Jesus, in saying, \u201c\u201dWhat is impossible with men is possible with God\u201d (18:27) is simply noting that God\u2019s grace can make all kinds of \u201cimpossible\u201d things possible. That\u2019s not running down works, but rather, asserting God\u2019s providence and power. Jesus didn\u2019t say<\/em><\/span> \u201ca Pharisee and a rich young ruler who try to attain eternal life through works are lost\u201d. That\u2019s putting words in His mouth. To the contrary, Jesus asserted that if the ruler sold all he had, he would \u201d have treasure in heaven\u201d (meaning that he would be saved<\/em>, which is proven by his being in heaven at all). And remember, the original question was, \u201cwhat shall I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d Jesus\u2019 answer was, 1) keep the commandments, and 2) sell all that you have (two instances of good works). The word \u201cfaith\u201d is never mentioned.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, Jesus again emphasizes the necessity of good works in the following passage: \u201cTruly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,\u00a0[30] who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life\u201d (18:29-30). They did stuff and received eternal life because they did it. Again, I think grace and faith are implied and are present in the whole equation, based on many other passages, but the works clearly play a key and indispensable role, too<\/em>. It\u2019s not \u201csalvation by works\u201d but rather, \u201csalvation by grace and faith, which inevitably manifests itself through required good works.\u201d That<\/em><\/strong> is the biblical, Pauline, and Catholic position (summarized).<\/span><\/p>\n Romans 2:7<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Those who perfectly fulfill God\u2019s laws will live eternally, as Paul explains. However, he goes on in chapter 3 to explain that nobody lives up to that standard. Everybody falls short (Romans 3:9-23). As he writes in Galatians 3:22,\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0men have been shut up under sin. God\u2019s laws are meant to be a tutor to lead us to salvation through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:21-25). Those who try to attain eternal life by following all of God\u2019s laws will fail, and they\u2019ll be rejecting the perfect righteousness of Christ in favor of their own imperfect righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6, Romans 9:30-10:4, Philippians 3:9). As Paul explains in Romans 2:12, everybody who sins is lost. And nobody is without sin. This is why those who are saved must be saved\u00a0by grace<\/em>\u00a0(Romans 4:4, 4:16) as a\u00a0free gift\u00a0<\/em>(Romans 3:24, 5:16-17, 6:23), not as a reward attained through works. Anybody who is so deceived as to think that he\u2019s living up to the standards of Romans 2 should go on to chapter 3 to be undeceived.<\/span><\/p>\n