I'm Annoyed at Those Heretics Who Insist in the Heresy of Changeless Christianity
If salvation by works isn't the only doctrine that's driving me nuts. I could also talk about the idiocy of people who insist that a person can get saved and never change. The more I read my Bible, the more I really want to tell them that they're taking Scriptures out of context. Sad but true but there are such people who pretend to be Christians but they're not Christians. There's really no change, no guarantee of power from sin because one is saved from sin and no real conversion to start with.
Matthew 1:21 addresses the one simple fact that Jesus came to save us from our sins not in our sin. The whole message of salvation has always been salvation from sin not to sin. The idea of salvation by faith alone but not by faith alone is not an invention by John Calvin. The apostle James warned in James 2:14-21 that any faith devoid of works is not faith at all. A dead faith is not a saving faith at all. When James asked that can that kind of faith save him he meant business. No true faith will ever be devoid of works as evidenced by Hebrews 11.
The proponents of changeless Christianity are right to say that salvation is by grace through faith. But there's a lot of points they're missing. Do they know the grace of God doesn't leave people as they are? Do they know that God's grace changes the person for the better? Titus 2:11-14 shows that God's grace teaches godly living. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 shows the difference before and after salvation. Did those proponents of changeless Christianity ever read those verses? Some of them may answer they did and then why do they even uphold such a dangerous heresy?
The good works in the Christian life is more than a should as it's also a would. Christians would and should walk in goods works (Ephesians 2:10). They should do good works and they would also do good works. It's both mandatory and inevitable. Like a good tree should and would bear good fruit the grace of God makes the Christians bear good fruit as a result of that grace. The grace of God is greater than all our sin. Although the changed life is not by one's own effort it happens because of God's grace working in the believer (Philippians 2:13).
In short, I have no reason to even believe that a person can get saved and never be changed. That kind of doctrine is nowhere in the Bible. When people get saved change begins from within and it works itself out. It can't be that a person can get saved and never change. If that's the case then such people were not truly saved to start with (1 John 2:19).
The good works in the Christian life is more than a should as it's also a would. Christians would and should walk in goods works (Ephesians 2:10). They should do good works and they would also do good works. It's both mandatory and inevitable. Like a good tree should and would bear good fruit the grace of God makes the Christians bear good fruit as a result of that grace. The grace of God is greater than all our sin. Although the changed life is not by one's own effort it happens because of God's grace working in the believer (Philippians 2:13).
In short, I have no reason to even believe that a person can get saved and never be changed. That kind of doctrine is nowhere in the Bible. When people get saved change begins from within and it works itself out. It can't be that a person can get saved and never change. If that's the case then such people were not truly saved to start with (1 John 2:19).