FRIDAY AGAIN GARFIE BABY

I received a very galvanizing reply to this post so i am going to repost it as well as my response
obviously posting the reply should not be constituted as agreement, but i do appreciate the discussion.

Christ was crucified with two thieves, one of whom was saved at the moment of his death. How was the direction of his life reversed?

the theif that was saved was saved by his faith. were he to have not died that day he would not have continued to live the old life of thievery and sin that got him to that point
if you truely do have faith- the only thing necessary for salvation- then you will live a life that reflects that.
if you go to some rally, get emotionally whipped up and say some prayer, then go home and live the exact same sinful life you lived before then your profession of faith is empty. works are not necessary for salvation, they are a byproduct of it.

This is the Gospel according to John Calvin and Augustine not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The bible gives the account of someone who believes yet work not in Romans 4.
Romans 4:5 "But to him that worketh not but believeth his faith is counted as righteous" This is a clear example of a faith that didn't "transform" the person, yet they are considered righteous. Upon salvation a believer's spirit is born again yet they still have the sinful flesh, the flesh "lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ... so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." to have a transformed life someone has to choose to walk in the spirit, it is possible to be saved with the spirit and not walk in it which is why Paul compels us to do that because it's our choice and not an automatic process "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." by choosing not to walk in the spirit we can quench it which 1 Thessalonians 5:19. Since obviously unsaved people like muslims, mormons and jehovah's upon conversion to those religion can all be on fire for what they think is God and do good works, there's no assurance that doing good deeds = saved.

the context of romans 4 is paul arguing that justification does not come by works, which i wholly agree with.

1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

Abraham was called out by God and was set apart by Him.
What did he do after he was called out? The Lords will.

if abraham had not left Ur and traveled to the land promised to him, could it be said that he has faith?

mom said i cant come out to play