I think my brain turned into a pretzel, trying to read and understand this. Would you please restate this?
@prism
1. Faith = to trust, to rely upon, to embrace, to apprehend. The question in personal justification is
WHAT? Trusting, claiming WHAT results in the justification to that individual (here and now)?
2. You have suggested trusting in a promise, in the reality of Jesus as a person, in obedience. I've suggested that NONE of those things saves, NONE of those is the Savior, trusting/relying/embracing/apprehending any or all of those would do, well, nothing.
3. Traditional Christianity proclaims and Scripture teaches that JESUS saves - via His incarnation and perfect life, His sacrificial death on the Cross, His resurrection and empty tomb, in history, as an objective, real fact. Via His atoning/justifying work. His work is THERE. It's REAL. It's not a promise (as yet unfulfilled), it's not just Jesus being real, it's not some phantom - no, it's his justifying, atoning work. Jesus DID something. It's REAL, it's there, it exists, it is objective. It is His atoning/justifying work. It's real. It's historic. It's a fact. It's objective. This foundational truth is often called "Objective Justification." Many Scriptures make this very point (although you've not accepted any of them).
4. And it is for all, for everyone, for the world - as the Bible so often, verbatim, boldly, word-for-word states. While the Bible at times says it's "for the Elect" it far more often says for everyone, for all, for the world. Which is Gospel because if it was only for say 10% of the people, we'd have to know the list of names of those 10% or no one could know if their faith is in something FOR THEM (likely, not). To say "for the elect" does not contradict when the BIble says "for all" since "elect" is a subset of "all." We don't have to guess and HOPE against HOPE that we are on the list because the Bible is right when it says He died for all, His atoning work is for all. Thus He died for ME (Cuz I'm part of "all"). There is not one Scripture - and not one Christian voice for some 1600 years - that states, "Jesus died ONLY for the elect, ONLY for some few, and probably not you." But the Bible does state the exact opposite.
5. But this OBJECTIVE REALITY needs to be applied. And the vehicle for that is faith. Thus, it's not JUST the Cross or JUST faith but both. Not either/or but both/and. The atoning work EXISTS whether someone personally embraces it or not, but it doesn't benefit THEM as an individual. That doesn't mean it didn't accomplish anything - Christ would have died if that was the only individual on the planet, it is a priceless treasure gained at GREAT cost for that person. But if it's not received, it's not their possession. I gave you my "pancake illustration." I made pancakes for my boys. Nutritious and delicious pancakes. Their favorite breakfast. They are REAL. They objectively exist. For all of them. But they just sitting there on the table.... unconsumed, uneaten... well, they're missing out, aren't they? Again, as several of us here have tried to explain to you and brightfam52, it's the Cross plus Faith.... the objective atoning/justifying/saving work of Christ PLUS the trust/reliance/embrace/apprehending of the individual.
For God so loved the world (Sola Gratia)... and this caused Him to DO something - something real, objective. For the world.
That He gave His only begotten Son (Solus Christus) who provides to that world His saving, atoning, justifying work (Objective justification)
That whosoever believes in Him (Sola Fide) those who apprehend HIS objective work for them by faith. Not the "Whosoever"
Has everlasting life. The result. Personal justification. (Subjective justification - justification applied to the individual)
Soli Deo Gloria. God gets all the credit, all the glory because all this is His blessing, His work, His gift, His doing.
I hope that helps.
Josiah
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