Is believing/faith a work ?

beloved57

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The word “believe” in the Greek text is “pisteuo” which is a verb denoting a work. If a person could believe in Christ before they are born again by the Spirit, it would mean they have done a work and that would mean they have worked for their salvation which is totally against what the scriptures teach. Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
 

JudgeRightly

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The word “believe” in the Greek text is “pisteuo” which is a verb denoting a work.

Saying it doesn't make it so.

If a person could believe in Christ before they are born again by the Spirit, it would mean they have done a work

No, it would not.

and that would mean they have worked for their salvation

Except that belief isn't a work. It's simply an acknowledgment that one cannot work their way into heaven, and as a result, one puts their faith in the one who COMPLETED His work on the cross.

which is totally against what the scriptures teach. Ephesians 2:8-9

If belief were a work, you'd be right.

The problem is, faith/belief is not a work.
 

beloved57

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Saying it doesn't make it so.



No, it would not.



Except that belief isn't a work. It's simply an acknowledgment that one cannot work their way into heaven, and as a result, one puts their faith in the one who COMPLETED His work on the cross.



If belief were a work, you'd be right.

The problem is, faith/belief is not a work.
I took time to explain it , you disregard, oh well !
 

beloved57

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You explained nothing, merely stated your belief.



It does, by contrasting faith with works. You can't contrast two things if they're the same.
The word “believe” in the Greek text is “pisteuo” which is a verb denoting a work. If a person could believe in Christ before they are born again by the Spirit, it would mean they have done a work and that would mean they have worked for their salvation which is totally against what the scriptures teach. Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
 

Bright Raven

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The word “believe” in the Greek text is “pisteuo” which is a verb denoting a work. If a person could believe in Christ before they are born again by the Spirit, it would mean they have done a work and that would mean they have worked for their salvation which is totally against what the scriptures teach. Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
So have you proved that faith is not a work?
 

JudgeRightly

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The word “believe” in the Greek text is “pisteuo” which is a verb denoting a work.

Saying it doesn't make it so.

If a person could believe in Christ before they are born again by the Spirit, it would mean they have done a work

No, it would not.

and that would mean they have worked for their salvation

Except that belief isn't a work. It's simply an acknowledgment that one cannot work their way into heaven, and as a result, one puts their faith in the one who COMPLETED His work on the cross.

which is totally against what the scriptures teach. Ephesians 2:8-9

If belief were a work, you'd be right.

The problem is, faith/belief is not a work.

Reposting what you said doesn't magically make our rebuttals go away.
 

JudgeRightly

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Its no way around it my friend, believing is a work, an act of the mind or heart. Its a action verb ! Nowhere in scripture is that denied !

Repeating your argument doesn't make our rebuttals go away, nor does it make your argument any less wrong.
 

JudgeRightly

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Its no way around it my friend, believing is a work, an act of the mind or heart. Its a action verb ! Nowhere in scripture is that denied !

In addition: faith is not meritorious. Having faith does not merit one's salvation.

Only Christ's completed work on the cross merits salvation. And He graciously applies it to those who believe. He does not apply it to those who do not believe.
 

beloved57

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Repeating your argument doesn't make our rebuttals go away, nor does it make your argument any less wrong.
There's nothing else to do but repeat truth, it needs repeating. Believing is an action, scripture nowhere denies that. An action is a work. Do you believe that believing is an action ? Yes or no
 

JudgeRightly

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There's nothing else to do but repeat truth, it needs repeating.

What you say isn't truth.

Believing is an action,

Believing is an acceptance of what Christ has done.

It itself is NOT a work, let alone one that has any merit, it's not meritorious in and of itself.

scripture nowhere denies that.

Argument from silence.

It DOES, however, contrast belief/faith with works, which means that it itself CANNOT be a work, or it would be contrasting work with work.

An action is a work.

Not in this context, no.

A "work" is something that one does to merit one's salvation.

Belief/faith is simply recognizing that one CANNOT merit one's salvation, and is itself NOT meritorious. Therefore, it is not a work.

Do you believe that believing is an action?

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.
 

beloved57

Well-known member
What you say isn't truth.



Believing is an acceptance of what Christ has done.

It itself is NOT a work, let alone one that has any merit, it's not meritorious in and of itself.



Argument from silence.

It DOES, however, contrast belief/faith with works, which means that it itself CANNOT be a work, or it would be contrasting work with work.



Not in this context, no.

A "work" is something that one does to merit one's salvation.

Belief/faith is simply recognizing that one CANNOT merit one's salvation, and is itself NOT meritorious. Therefore, it is not a work.



Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.
Believing is an action, its an verb. Its a work. Now if a person says they get saved because they believed, an act they performed, by default they are saved by their work, and because that work got them saved, it was a meritorious work.
 

JudgeRightly

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Believing is an action, its an verb.

You're trying to equivocate.

Scripture defines a work as something one does to merit one's salvation.

Paul says it's NOT of works, but of grace through faith.

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.

Its a work.

False.

Now if a person says they get saved because they believed, an act they performed, by default they are saved by their work, and because that work got them saved, it was a meritorious work.

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven. Therefore, if someone says they got saved because they believed, it's not because their belief merited their salvation, it's simply because, as scripture says, it is by grace THROUGH faith one is saved, and NOT of works. If faith was a work, Paul wouldn't have been able to say "not of works," because it is by grace THROUGH faith.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.

Letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you is NOT continuing to climb the rope.
 
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beloved57

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You're trying to equivocate.

Scripture defines a work as something one does to merit one's salvation.

Paul says it's NOT of works, but of grace through faith.

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.



False.



Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven. Therefore, if someone says they got saved because they believed, it's not because their belief merited their salvation, it's simply because, as scripture says, it is by grace THROUGH faith one is saved, and NOT of works. If faith was a work, Paul wouldn't have been able to say "not of works," because it is by grace THROUGH faith.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.

Letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you is NOT continuing to climb the rope.
Believing is a work, and if you or me or anyone else say one gets saved because we believed, then you or me or whoever are promoting salvation by works, by merit, something we did and God took notice of it and rewarded us accordingly. No way around it !
 

JudgeRightly

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Believing is a work,

Repeating yourself doesn't magically make what you say come true.

and if you or me or anyone else say one gets saved because we believed, then you or me or whoever are promoting salvation by works, by merit, something we did and God took notice of it and rewarded us accordingly. No way around it!

And I just showed you why that's false.

Here it is again:

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven. Therefore, if someone says they got saved because they believed, it's not because their belief merited their salvation, it's simply because, as scripture says, it is by grace THROUGH faith one is saved, and NOT of works. If faith was a work, Paul wouldn't have been able to say "not of works," because it is by grace THROUGH faith.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.

Letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you is NOT continuing to climb the rope.
 

beloved57

Well-known member
Repeating yourself doesn't magically make what you say come true.



And I just showed you why that's false.

Here it is again:

Believing is NOT a work. It is a recognition in one's heart that one cannot work one's way to heaven. Therefore, if someone says they got saved because they believed, it's not because their belief merited their salvation, it's simply because, as scripture says, it is by grace THROUGH faith one is saved, and NOT of works. If faith was a work, Paul wouldn't have been able to say "not of works," because it is by grace THROUGH faith.

To use an analogy: Works are like climbing a rope to get to heaven. Believing/having faith is akin to letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you.

Letting go of the rope and letting Christ carry you is NOT continuing to climb the rope.
Believing is a action of the mind friend, its a work ! Thinking is action of the mind, a work !
 
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