Essential practices
From “Tota Scriptura”, Joey Day’s personal Scripture topic index wiki
To [God] is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them.[1]
Passages in this topic are grouped under each heading based on their indication, grammatically, that carrying out a given practice is either necessary or sufficient for salvation.[2]
Contents
Faith and repentance
Worship of the one true God
Necessary: Ex 20:2–6; Dt 6:4–5; Jn 4:24
Faith, belief in essential doctrines
Main topic: Essential doctrines Necessary: Jn 8:21–25 (cf. Jn 8:28, 58); Heb 11:6; 1Jn 1:8, 10; 2:22–23; 4:2–3; 5:5; 2Jn 1:7–10
Repentance
Sufficient: Isa 1:27; 59:20; Eze 18:32; 33:11; Ac 2:37–38; 3:19; 11:18; 2Co 7:10; Jas 4:7–8
Sacraments
Baptism
Main topic: Baptism Sufficient: Mk 16:16; Ac 2:37–38: 1Pe 3:21
Lord’s Supper
Main topic: Lord’s Supper Necessary and sufficient: Jn 6:49–58
Good works
Keeping the commandments
Necessary: Mt 5:20; 19:16–22 (cf. Mk 10:17–22; Lk 18:18–23); Lk 10:25–28 (cf. Mt 22:34–40); 1Jn 1:6; Sufficient: 1Jn 2:3; 3:24
Forsaking everything to follow Christ
Sufficient: Mt 19:27–29
Loving God and one another
Sufficient: Jn 13:34–35; 1Jn 3:14–19; 1Jn 4:16–21
Holiness
Necessary: Heb 12:14
Enduring to the end
Main topic: Perseverance of the saints Sufficient: Mt 10:22; Mt 24:13 (cf. Mk 13:13; Lk 21:19); Jn 8:31–32; Heb 3:14; Rev 2:10; Necessary: 1Jn 2:19-20; 3:9
Warnings against sin
Sinners will not inherit eternal life, kingdom of God
1Co 6:9–10; Gal 5:19–21; Eph 5:3–5; 1Jn 3:15
But human efforts cannot save
Salvation is not of works
Main topic: Gospel Isa 64:6; Lk 17:10; Ro 3:20–21, 27–28; 6:23; 9:31–32; 10:3–13; 11:6; Gal 2:16, 21; 3:10–12, 18; 5:4–6; Eph 2:8–9; Php 3:8–9; 2Ti 1:8–9; Tit 3:5
No one keeps the commandments
Main topic: Total depravity 1Ki 8:46 (cf. 2Ch 6:36); Ps 14:1–3 (cf. Ps 53:1–3); Ps 116:11; 130:3; 143:2; Pr 20:9; Ecc 7:20; Isa 53:6; 64:6–7; Jer 2:29; Mic 7:2; Mk 10:18 (cf. Lk 18:19); Jn 8:7; Ro 3:9–18, 23; 5:12–14; 11:32; 1Jn 1:8, 10
See also
- WCF 2.2. #
- A necessary practice (e.g. “if you don’t do this you cannot be saved”) must be done for salvation but may not be enough to save by itself. A sufficient practice (e.g. “if you do this you will be saved”) is enough to save by itself, but may go beyond what is strictly necessary for salvation. Considered logically, a correct understanding of any of the sufficient practices must in some way contain or presuppose all the necessary ones. #