Jesus said that sinners are to strive (agonize) to enter the kingdom because many will “seek” to enter and not be able (Luke 13:24). It appears that no one really believers this any longer. This verse can be denied by appealing to justification by faith alone and saying that all a person needs to do is believe. It can be denied by saying that it falls under the teaching of Scripture as Law rather than Gospel. It can be denied by the American way of life which thinks that eternal things are easy and so we focus on the life that we now live.
Could it be the case that the biblical doctrine of justification is really at odds with the teachings of Jesus? Were the hard teachings of Jesus really of the Law rather than the Gospel? At best it would seem odd that the teachings of Jesus could be categorized under Law rather than Gospel, so perhaps our modern day is just plain wrong on what justification by faith alone means, or at least how it fits with the plain teachings of Jesus. It just may be that the Pelagian way of thinking about faith has entered into the Reformed way of thinking in our day.
The Bible teaches us quite clearly that the Gospel is of grace alone and comes to the sinner by faith alone. It is by faith alone that it may be by sovereign grace alone. This should show us with some degree of clarity that there may be a huge difference between what the Bible teaches is true faith and what modern people think of as belief. It is a vast difference between a sovereign grace that gives and works faith in the heart that it may receive Christ and grace and that of a person simply believing some basic facts that happened in history. The teaching concerning faith is that faith is focused on Christ and is not thought of apart from unity with Christ, but a belief in Christ can simply be the Pelagian making himself believe certain facts. True faith comes from and is centered upon God, but a simple believing the facts can come from self and be focused on self.
We can see the difference, then, between being justified by faith and being saved when a person has a belief. A person that is truly justified by faith is a person that has been given a believing (faithing) heart and so believes (faiths) as a way of life and is what the soul does. The person with true faith is a person that is united to Christ and so the very life of his soul is Christ. The person that believes some facts is a person that must work to keep believing and the life that comes from that belief is from self.
The person that has Christ by grace and so has a heart that has faith in Christ on a continual basis is a person that can strive and agonize because that person’s striving and agonizing is by grace. This striving and agonizing is that the person wants to do as this person wants to see sin defeated and for grace to reign in his or her heart. As this person is striving away against the flesh and pants and longs after God, this person does not think of it as works or as earning at all. This person simply sees it as the Spirit and the flesh at war and as any death to the flesh as being a work of grace.
There is no such thing as a simple belief in the Gospel because the true faith of the believer has been planned from all eternity past, purchased by Christ in Israel 2000 years ago, and applied at the mere pleasure of God as the Spirit blows in the hearts of the elect. It is not a simple believing but is instead the power and grace of God in overcoming death in the soul and the planting of life in the soul. Faith should not be thought of as synonymous with a simple believing of the facts, but instead as unity with Christ and so as connected with the flowing of eternal life from the indwelling Christ.
It is so easy to take a glorious truth and then have the focus changed from God to self. But the doctrine of justification by faith alone should never be moved from its eternal moorings in eternity, grace, and in Christ. The doctrine of justification should never be removed from the intent of justification which is so that God will dwell in men and He will be their light and life. Christ Himself was the very tabernacle of God while He was on the earth in a body, but now the people of God are the very temple of the living God. The living God does not depend on His people to do things for Him, but instead they are to rest completely in Him as they labor by the power of grace.
God Loves... Himself 
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