Faith and works

[mattfivefour]

A lot of people really struggle with faith and works. In their minds it's not so much a question of faith and works, but faith versus works. They think that anything that smacks of works is somehow against faith. They believe that faith somehow is just something you feel, or something you experience; something you have in your head or your heart, and that's it. Therefore they struggle when James says that faith without works is dead. But true faith, biblical faith, always produces works. You see, works are the evidence of the faith that underlies them.

The Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23). This is correct. But how do we know that Abraham believed God? We know because Abraham left Ur and his extended family and everything he had ever known and followed God toward an unknown land that He had promised him. We also know that Abraham believed God because he took his precious son Isaac and was prepared to sacrifice him to God. You see, Abraham's faith was demonstrated by his works. His works didn't produce faith; his works did not produce righteousness. But his works demonstrated the faith that did produce his righteousness. And so too it is with us.

If we truly have faith in Jesus Christ, we don't struggle with our salvation, because we know that He did it for us. The fact that we do not struggle with our salvation is work, if you like; it's a work of our mind, a work of our intellect, because we need to apply effort to set aside worry and fear about our salvation and trust in Jesus. Doing so demonstrates our faith in the completed work of Jesus. When we go out and do anything for the Lord, when we engage in any good works, it is not to earn our salvation: it is proof of our salvation. It is the natural outflowing of the faith that is within us, the nature of Christ that indwells us by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, these works are the natural accompaniment, the natural fruit, of our salvation. They demonstrate that our faith is real.

Obedience to God is itself a work. We need to discipline ourselves to obey God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh wars against the Spirit within us; but by that Holy Spirit we can put to death the works of the flesh (Romans 8:13). However, in order to do that we have to set our minds to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in us. We have to submit ourselves to God. We have to take up our cross each day. And it is a daily process. We have to die to self daily in order for Christ's life to be manifested in us in this present world. This is all necessary in order for God to be able to accomplish His purpose through us, which is reaching others with the good news of forgiveness and salvation that He is willing to provide to all who will come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. But clearly we need to work to arrive at this point

So, obeying the Holy Spirit is a work; but it is not a work to earn or to keep our salvation. It is a work that is produced by our faith, and it demonstrates yet again the reality of our faith. And whether these works of ours are outward where others can see, or only inward where we can see, they are nonetheless equally the evidence of our faith. However, I would caution the one who has neither works --even internal works-- nor even a desire for works of any kind, but is quite content in leading the exact same kind of life they led before they "asked Christ to be their Lord and Savior", I would caution them to examine whether in fact they truly repented of their ways and genuinely turned to Christ for salvation. Salvation always produces change. No one else may see it at first, but you will. You will because you have changed your mind (which is the meaning of repentance) and the Holy Spirit who has taken up residence in you will begin leading you in the direction God wants you to go.

In any case, despite that short but necessary sidetrack in the last paragraph, I want to get back to the beginning and assure you all that there is no conflict between works and faith ... as long as you understand that works are the evidence of the faith that underlies your salvation, not the thing that produces your salvation.

I pray this helps someone today.

 

[servant1]

A lot of people really struggle with faith and works. In their minds it's not so much a question of faith and works, but faith versus works. They think that anything that smacks of works is somehow against faith. They believe that faith somehow is just something you feel, or something you experience; something you have in your head or your heart, and that's it. Therefore they struggle when James says that faith without works is dead. But true faith, biblical faith, always produces works. You see, works are the evidence of the faith that underlies them.

The Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23). This is correct. But how do we know that Abraham believed God? We know because Abraham left Ur and his extended family and everything he had ever known and followed God toward an unknown land that He had promised him. We also know that Abraham believed God because he took his precious son Isaac and was prepared to sacrifice him to God. You see, Abraham's faith was demonstrated by his works. His works didn't produce faith; his works did not produce righteousness. But his works demonstrated the faith that did produce his righteousness. And so too it is with us.

If we truly have faith in Jesus Christ, we don't struggle with our salvation, because we know that He did it for us. The fact that we do not struggle with our salvation is work, if you like; it's a work of our mind, a work of our intellect, because we need to apply effort to set aside worry and fear about our salvation and trust in Jesus. Doing so demonstrates our faith in the completed work of Jesus. When we go out and do anything for the Lord, when we engage in any good works, it is not to earn our salvation: it is proof of our salvation. It is the natural outflowing of the faith that is within us, the nature of Christ that indwells us by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, these works are the natural accompaniment, the natural fruit, of our salvation. They demonstrate that our faith is real.

Obedience to God is itself a work. We need to discipline ourselves to obey God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh wars against the Spirit within us; but by that Holy Spirit we can put to death the works of the flesh (Romans 8:13). However, in order to do that we have to set our minds to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in us. We have to submit ourselves to God. We have to take up our cross each day. And it is a daily process. We have to die to self daily in order for Christ's life to be manifested in us in this present world. This is all necessary in order for God to be able to accomplish His purpose through us, which is reaching others with the good news of forgiveness and salvation that He is willing to provide to all who will come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. But clearly we need to work to arrive at this point

So, obeying the Holy Spirit is a work; but it is not a work to earn or to keep our salvation. It is a work that is produced by our faith, and it demonstrates yet again the reality of our faith. And whether these works of ours are outward where others can see, or only inward where we can see, they are nonetheless equally the evidence of our faith. However, I would caution the one who has neither works --even internal works-- nor even a desire for works of any kind, but is quite content in leading the exact same kind of life they led before they "asked Christ to be their Lord and Savior", I would caution them to examine whether in fact they truly repented of their ways and genuinely turned to Christ for salvation. Salvation always produces change. No one else may see it at first, but you will. You will because you have changed your mind (which is the meaning of repentance) and the Holy Spirit who has taken up residence in you will begin leading you in the direction God wants you to go.

In any case, despite that short but necessary sidetrack in the last paragraph, I want to get back to the beginning and assure you all that there is no conflict between works and faith ... as long as you understand that works are the evidence of the faith that underlies your salvation, not the thing that produces your salvation.

I pray this helps someone today.

James teaches-Faith without works is dead--I believe he was saying= By doing works it builds up a strong living faith that will stand under pressures. Those that do not do the works to build their faith will fall under pressure because their faith is dead.

 

[Kaatje]

James teaches-Faith without works is dead--I believe he was saying= By doing works it builds up a strong living faith that will stand under pressures. Those that do not do the works to build their faith will fall under pressure because their faith is dead.

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Thread 'Scriptural Truths'
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[Quantrill]

And God has secured our salvation despite the times our faith may falter.

Abraham and Sarah no doubt were getting old and were beginning to doubt that they would have children. So Abraham tried to give God an alternative. (Gen. 15:2-3) "And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, , behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir."

Somewhat of an insult to God. Abraham saying 'let me help You with that promise you made'. And the Lord replied, which to me sounds in a stern tone, at least a strong authoritative tone. "...This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." (Gen. 15:4)

Abraham had to believe God concerning something he could not do. Sarah most likely was past the age of giving child birth, which is why she later offered her handmaid to Abraham to have children by her. (Gen. 16:1-3) So Abraham had to believe God and 'only believe God'. Which he did. (Gen. 15:6) "And he believed in the LORD..." And it was at this time God counted him righteous. (Gen. 15:6) "...and he counted it to him for righteousness." God counted Abraham righteous when all Abraham could do was believe.

We are declared righteous by faith. Abraham and Sarah would lapse again into unbelief as was mentioned with Hagar, Sarah's handmaid. (Gen. 16) Which would result in Ishmael being born. (Gen 16:15) And just like he did with Eliezer, Abraham offered to God Ishmael to be the one to allow God keep His promises. And not only that, he laughed at the thought that he and Sarah could have a child. (Gen. 17:17-18) As Sarah would later laugh also. (Gen. 18:12)

Though we as believers can, just like with Abraham and Sarah, have lapses of faith, it does not affect our righteousness which is counted to us, imputed to us, reckoned to us, by faith. That is ours by declaration alone.

And when we go through these ups and downs in our walk on this earth, I believe we can know something of God's attitude towards us at that time.


For look at what God has said of Abraham and Sarah in the New Testament. Look at what He remembers of Abraham and Sarah. Of Abraham he says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations...,And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, neither the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

And of Sarah, (Heb. 11:11) " Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

Makes it sound like we are not talking about the same people. But we are. To we who are Christian, to whom righteousness is imputed also, (Rom. 4:24) our lives will demonstrate doubts and sins and failures, just like with Abraham and Sarah. But it doesn't touch the righteousness imputed to us by faith in Christ. That is what God sees, and all He will remember.

It is important to remember that the righteousness imputed to us is not ours. It is the righteousness of Christ. It is ours by declaration alone. We can't add to it or take away from it. We may grow and mature in our faith, and in our knowledge of God. But we never grow in righteousness. The day we were born again, when we were declared righteous by God, we were just as righteous that day as we will be throughout eternity.

It is my opinion that we as believers sometimes think we are to maintain that righteousness imputed to us. We can't. In our walk of salvation, we can have victories over this body of death, which will reflect more upon the imputed righteousness we are clothed in. But it does not add to it.

My opinion.

Quantrill

 

[Growing in Grace]

God counted Abraham righteous when all Abraham could do was believe.

It is important to remember that the righteousness imputed to us is not ours. It is the righteousness of Christ.

A few months ago I was studying Genesis and Romans. It became much more clear to me that Abraham's faith had beautiful facets of surrender and trust in God who he revered.

There's so much to learn from the struggles he and Sarah went through.

I struggle to not look for help from my own resources first, and am learning to pray instead of trusting myself. One big help is recognizing that Christ's righteousness never was sourced from me.

 

[1LoverofGod]

Our faith begins with a solid foundation.
Jesus is The Chief Cornerstone of our faith.
Ephesians 2:20
Believing in Jesus sets the firm foundation that we begin to build our faith upon.
Reflecting on the disciples asking Jesus
"Increase our faith"
and Jesus replied
Faith the size of a mustard seed can tell a mountain, move over there, and the mountain will move.
Luke 17:5-10
Jesus is saying here that it's not the amount of faith that matters, but how strong our faith is. How anchored our faith is in Him.
Our faith begins by standing on the solid foundation of what Jesus taught and it forms our faith.
Our faith can only grow stronger by feeding our minds on The Word of God regularly and applying it in our lives and demonstrating that we are standing on the solid foundation of our Lord's teachings and that is how we work out our faith, living by our faith.
Our faith is strengthened by the regular exercise of engaging in the Word of God and applying it, then by planting the seeds of the gospel of salvation through Jesus in the hearts of unbelievers, it fortifies our faith to keep it healthy and strong. Faith is contagious.
Our own faith can produce faith in others who see the fruits of our faith and can draw them to Christ.
That's how we shine the light of Jesus by reflecting His light by how we are working out our faith.
Working out our faith isn't complex. The indwelling of The Holy Spirit in us simplifies our working out our faith by being our Helper to remind us of Jesus words.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you". John 14:26

We are so blessed to be called Ambassadors of Christ Jesus and let our lights so shine that it brings Glory to God.

 

[Quantrill]

A few months ago I was studying Genesis and Romans. It became much more clear to me that Abraham's faith had beautiful facets of surrender and trust in God who he revered.

There's so much to learn from the struggles he and Sarah went through.

I struggle to not look for help from my own resources first, and am learning to pray instead of trusting myself. One big help is recognizing that Christ's righteousness never was sourced from me.

I agree. Nothing could be clearer than our faith, our ability to believe comes from God. Christ asked His disciples "whom say ye that I am?" (Matt. 16:15) Peter responded, (Matt. 16:16), "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." To which Christ responded, "....Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 16:17)

To which John agrees. (John 1:13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

To which Paul agrees. (Eph. 2:8) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:."

We believe because God has opened our eyes to believe, resulting in our salvation.

Quantrill

 

[1LoverofGod]

A few months ago I was studying Genesis and Romans. It became much more clear to me that Abraham's faith had beautiful facets of surrender and trust in God who he revered.

There's so much to learn from the struggles he and Sarah went through.

I struggle to not look for help from my own resources first, and am learning to pray instead of trusting myself. One big help is recognizing that Christ's righteousness never was sourced from me.

Yes. God had the many examples of faith written in the Old Testament scriptures for our benefit. We learn from them and helps us in acknowledging what God requires from us to understand what obedience is and how to follow His requirements to remain in fellowship with Him.
The entirety of scripture, with instruction and with the examples of both the faithful for us to follow, as well as the failures so we don't make the same mistakes. We learn from both.
The Bible serves as a manual for us to follow in our walk with The Lord as our Creator, just as any product we use comes with the designers operating manual to know how that product should be used properly.
God manifests His Love for us by giving us His Word as a help to know Him better and know how to use His Word as our guide to use in conjunction with the Help we have through The Holy Spirit in the ongoing process of our sanctification.

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
Romans 15:4

 

[mattfivefour]

All of these responses are excellent. Jesus Christ finished everything necessary for our salvation. As Paul assured the believers at Philippi, he was "confident of this thing, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Later in that same letter he informed them that "It is God who is the One working within you both the willing and the working for the sake of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, literal). That it is God who does the saving and sanctifying work in us is clear from these two verses; and not just these two. 1 Corinthians 1:7-8; Colossians 1:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; and Titus 2:14 all teach the same truth. In fact, it's even stated in the Old Testament! Psalm 19:13 reads: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression."

Notice that King David did not himself claim the power to keep himself from sin, but asked God to supply that of which he was unable. This was a fundamental understanding of God by David. And it can be clearly seen in one of the sections of his masterful Psalm 119 known as the ABCs of the God-centered life.

The Psalm is made up of 22 eight-verse sections, each one introduced by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in order from beginning to end. The section in which David clearly lays out his understanding is the fifth one, beginning with verse 33 and ending with the verse 40. (I find it interesting that this is the fifth section of the Psalm, and is led by the Hebrew letter ה. You see, five is the number of God's grace and mercy in the Bible; and ה in English is written "He". It's almost as if God is pointing out the fact that what we need for sanctification comes not from our efforts but from God, a product of His grace and mercy.) Anyway, this section is as follows:

33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end.​

34 Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.​

35 Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.​

36 Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.​

37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.​

38 Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You.​

39 Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good.​

40 Behold, I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.​

Notice that David did not say "I will learn the way of Your testimonies ... I will get understanding ... I will direct myself into the path of your commandments ... I will turn my heart to your testimonies ... I will turn my eyes away from worthless things ... I will revive myself ... etc, etc. No! He called on God to do all those things. And when God did them, David said he would then be able to keep God's statutes, obey His law, follow His commandments with all of his heart and be able to do all the things he desired to do. David brought nothing to the deal except one thing, which we find in the final verse of this section: ”Behold, I long for your precepts."

David brought his desire before God. And that alone. In the words of that great hymn The Old Rugged Cross: "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” David wanted to please God with his whole heart because God had blessed him immensely. But he knew it did not lie in himself to do this. It would have to come from God Himself. And If there were any doubt about this (which there is not if you read the entire Psalm), you will find the astounding words of the very last verse of this epic teaching of the ABC's of the God-center life! David concludes this entire Psalm with these words:

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments."​

​

David, the man after God's own heart, who began his Psalm with the words "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord", after writing 175 powerful verses, concludes with that 176th verse! Not a mighty note of triumph, but a simple confession of his wretched condition and a plea for God to find and rescue him!

There is a reason for the admonition in Philippians 2:12 to work out our salvation with trembling and fear, rather than in the arrogance of salvation that we have been given. It is because, first of all, we stand before an immense and mighty God who is holy and perfect and pure in every aspect. Let us never attempt to elevate ourselves before Him! Rather, let us always remember that we are poor fallen flesh, and so live in eternal gratitude that He has saved us. And in that attitude surely we should regard others better than self, and look with love upon all human beings, whether they agree with us or not, or annoy us or not.

God is not a respecter of persons; neither should we be. As His Word instructs us, "First of all, therefore, I exhort entreaties, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, to be made on behalf of all people, including kings and all those being in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) And remember this was written from prison where Paul was suffering for being a Christian and a Christian teacher under one of the cruelest, most sadistic and evil dictators whoever lived--the Roman emperor Nero. That alone should give us some thought about how we should comport ourselves in these days. And in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Paul calls all Christians everywhere "to strive earnestly to live quietly and to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, just as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly toward those outside, and may have need of no one."

But those last couple of paragraphs are an aside. The main topic is whether we need to work to secure our salvation. The answer I gave in my opening paragraphs is correct: no, we do not. Through Christ, God has done it all. And if a person is truly saved, they will in some way or other walk it out. But they're walking out something they already have, something that can never be taken away-- their salvation. It is not acquired by their own merit, or secured by it. As Paul says in castigating the Galatians:

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed having been crucified? I wish only to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of Law or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by means of the Spirit, are you now being perfected by means of the flesh?" (Galatians 3:2-3)

Amen.

 

[servant1]

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Posting Rules As you have read in the board welcome message, we ask that members operate as the New Testament directs us. We ask that you view all the members here as your brothers and sisters in Christ—which they are—and let that govern the content and the tone of your posts. After all, as...

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Thread 'Scriptural Truths'
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We are glad if you want to learn and grow with us, but we won't allow posts that are contrary to our core beliefs.

I replied a bible truth. What do you have against bible truth?

 

[mattfivefour]

I replied a bible truth. What do you have against bible truth?

I know for a fact that our sister has nothing against Bible truth. But posting Bible verses is not necessarily posting Bible truth. The word of God must be taken together and properly divided. As it says in our forum Bible Truths section, listed next to our Forum Rules:

Salvation is instantaneous and permanent: we do not pop in and out of it. You cannot be born, unborn, and then born, etc, etc. Once God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in someone who genuinely calls on Christ for salvation He will never leave. (Deuteronomy 4:31, 32:8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5) Scripture—when taken ALL together—lets us know that He who authors our salvation also completes it. Colossians 1:22-23 clearly lays out the entire contract between God and us. It reads: “Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him —if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” So, His part was to die for us; as a result of which he will present us holy, faultless and blameless in His Presence—which is something He does even now. Our part is simply to believe that gospel and hold firm to it.​

May I suggest you read my previous post immediately above your latest response? It will give the scriptural underpinning of this Bible truth.

 

[1LoverofGod]

All of these responses are excellent. Jesus Christ finished everything necessary for our salvation. As Paul assured the believers at Philippi, he was "confident of this thing, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Later in that same letter he informed them that "It is God who is the One working within you both the willing and the working for the sake of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, literal). That it is God who does the saving and sanctifying work in us is clear from these two verses; and not just these two. 1 Corinthians 1:7-8; Colossians 1:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; and Titus 2:14 all teach the same truth. In fact, it's even stated in the Old Testament! Psalm 19:13 reads: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression."

Notice that King David did not himself claim the power to keep himself from sin, but asked God to supply that of which he was unable. This was a fundamental understanding of God by David. And it can be clearly seen in one of the sections of his masterful Psalm 119 known as the ABCs of the God-centered life.

The Psalm is made up of 22 eight-verse sections, each one introduced by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in order from beginning to end. The section in which David clearly lays out his understanding is the fifth one, beginning with verse 33 and ending with the verse 40. (I find it interesting that this is the fifth section of the Psalm, and is led by the Hebrew letter ה. You see, five is the number of God's grace and mercy in the Bible; and ה in English is written "He". It's almost as if God is pointing out the fact that what we need for sanctification comes not from our efforts but from God, a product of His grace and mercy.) Anyway, this section is as follows:

33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end.​

34 Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.​

35 Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.​

36 Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.​

37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.​

38 Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You.​

39 Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good.​

40 Behold, I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.​

Notice that David did not say "I will learn the way of Your testimonies ... I will get understanding ... I will direct myself into the path of your commandments ... I will turn my heart to your testimonies ... I will turn my eyes away from worthless things ... I will revive myself ... etc, etc. No! He called on God to do all those things. And when God did them. David said he would then be able to keep God's statutes, obey His law, follow His commandments with all of his heart and be able to do allnthe things he desired to do. David brought nothing to the deal except one thing, which we find in the final verse of this section: ”Behold, I long for your precepts."

David brought his desire before God. And that alone. In the words of that great hymn The Old Right Cross: "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.”
David wanted to please God with his whole heart because God had blessed him immensely. But he knew it did not lie in himself to do this. It would have to come from God Himself. And If there were any doubt about this (which there is not if you read the entire Psalm), you will find the astounding words of the very last verse of this epic teaching of the ABC's of the God-center life! David concludes this entire Psalm with these words:

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments."​

​

David, the man after God's own heart, who began his Psalm with the words "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord", after writing 175 powerful verses, concludes with that 176th verse! Not a mighty note of triumph, but a simple confession of his wretched condition and a plea for God to find and rescue him!

There is a reason for the admonition in Philippians 2:12 to work out our salvation and trembling and fear, rather than in the arrogance of salvation that we have been given. It is because, first of all, we stand before an immense and mighty God who is holy and perfect and pure in every aspect. Let us never attempt to elevate ourselves before Him! Rather, let us always remember that we are poor fallen flesh, and so live in eternal gratitude that He has saved us. And in that attitude surely we should regard others better than self, and look with love upon all human beings, whether they agree with us or not, or annoy us or not.

God is not a respective persons; neither should we be. As His word instructs us, "First of all, therefore, I exhort entreaties, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, to be made on behalf of all people, including kings and all those being in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) And remember this was written from prison where Paul was suffering for being a Christian and a Christian teacher under one of the cruelest, most sadistic and evil dictators whoever lived--the Roman emperor Nero. That alone should give us some thought about how we should comport ourselves in these days. And in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Paul calls all Christians everywhere "to strive earnestly to live quietly and to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, just as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly toward those outside, and may have need of no one."

But those last couple of paragraphs are an aside. The main topic is whether we need to work to secure or salvation. The answer I gave in my opening paragraphs is correct: no, we do not. Through Christ, God has done it all. And if a person is truly saved, they will in some way or other walk it out. But they're walking out something they already have, something that can never be taken away-- their salvation. It is not acquired by their own merit, or secured by it. As Paul says in castigating the Galatians:

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed having been crucified? I wish only to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of Law or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by means of the Spirit, are you now being perfected by means of the flesh?" (Galatians 3:2-3)

Amen.

Beautiful summery of how we are dependant on our Creator to walk upright with Him and our works isn't what saves us, only Jesus can do that, but it is our sanctification process that Keeps us in fellowship with Him, and yet we don't have to do it on our own, we can't, so God Helps us and what a Loving Compassionate God He is.
I often remember how God demonstrates His Compassion for us because He knows our weaknesses in this verse

"As a father pities His children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust" Psalm 103:13-14

Thank God for Jesus Who did it all for us and has reconciled us with The Father.
Thank you Adrian for sharing this blessing with us.

 

[servant1]

I know for a fact that our sister has nothing against Bible truth. But posting Bible verses is not necessarily posting Bible truth. The word of God must be taken together and properly divided. As it says in our forum Bible Truths section, listed next to our Forum Rules:

Salvation is instantaneous and permanent: we do not pop in and out of it. You cannot be born, unborn, and then born, etc, etc. Once God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in someone who genuinely calls on Christ for salvation He will never leave. (Deuteronomy 4:31, 32:8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5) Scripture—when taken ALL together—lets us know that He who authors our salvation also completes it. Colossians 1:22-23 clearly lays out the entire contract between God and us. It reads: “Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him —if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” So, His part was to die for us; as a result of which he will present us holy, faultless and blameless in His Presence—which is something He does even now. Our part is simply to believe that gospel and hold firm to it.​

May I suggest you read my previous post immediately above your latest response? It will give the scriptural underpinning of this Bible truth.

Faith without works is dead=James=Jesus' brother. Only those who OBEY are Jesus' friends and remain in his love( John 15:10-14)

 

[Quantrill]

I replied a bible truth. What do you have against bible truth?

Faith without works is dead=James=Jesus' brother. Only those who OBEY are Jesus' friends and remain in his love( John 15:10-14)

What Biblical truth are you stating?

Jesus brother in the book of James said, '...faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone.' (James 2:17) OK. So what?

My, oh my. You capitalize the word 'OBEY' when interpreting (John 15:10-14). Yet I don't see the word 'OBEY' anywhere in those verses.

Quantrill

 

[servant1]

What Biblical truth are you stating?

Jesus brother in the book of James said, '...faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone.' (James 2:17) OK. So what?

My, oh my. You capitalize the word 'OBEY' when interpreting (John 15:10-14). Yet I don't see the word 'OBEY' anywhere in those verses.

Quantrill

Observe my commandments=obey.

 

[Amethyst]

Observe my commandments=obey.

Have you ceased from sin?

 

[Andiamo]

James teaches-Faith without works is dead--I believe he was saying=

Ultimately it doesn’t matter what you believe any verse means. The correct way to interpret the Bible is to allow scripture itself to interpret scripture. Not with your own mind. Your thinking and beliefs needs to be filtered through the Bible…not the other way around.

 

[mattfivefour]

Faith without works is dead=James=Jesus' brother. Only those who OBEY are Jesus' friends and remain in his love( John 15:10-14)

If you are not going to read and try to understand, dialogue is meaningless. Respectfully, just repeating your points without dealing with the scriptures raised is not discussing the Bible or seeking to learn anything.

 

[Quantrill]

Observe my commandments=obey.

Again, what 'Biblical truth are you stating?

Again, (James 2:17) says "...faith if it hath not works, is dead, being alone". So what? What are you saying that means?

No. The tone of 'observe my commandments' is far different then your use of 'obey'. Which is why you use it.

Quantrill

 

[Kaatje]

@Quantrill

James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith without works is a dead faith because the lack of works reveals an unchanged life or a spiritually dead heart. There are many verses that say that true saving faith will result in a transformed life, that faith is demonstrated by the works we do. How we live reveals what we believe and whether the faith we profess to have is a living faith.

James 2:14–26 is sometimes taken out of context in an attempt to create a works-based system of righteousness, but that is contrary to many other passages of Scripture. James is not saying that our works make us righteous before God but that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. Works are not the cause of salvation; works are the evidence of salvation. Faith in Christ always results in good works. The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in willful disobedience to Christ has a false or dead faith and is not saved. Paul basically says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. James contrasts two different types of faith—true faith that saves and false faith that is dead.

Many profess to be Christians, but their lives and priorities indicate otherwise. Jesus put it this way: “By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:16–23).

Notice that the message of Jesus is the same as the message of James. Obedience to God is the mark of true saving faith. James uses the examples of Abraham and Rahab to illustrate the obedience that accompanies salvation. Simply saying we believe in Jesus does not save us, nor does religious service. What saves us is the Holy Spirit’s regeneration of our hearts, and that regeneration will invariably be seen in a life of faith featuring ongoing obedience to God.

Misunderstanding the relationship of faith and works comes from not understanding what the Bible teaches about salvation. There are really two errors in regards to works and faith. The first error is “easy believism,” the teaching that, as long as a person prayed a prayer or said, “I believe in Jesus,” at some point in his life, then he is saved, no matter what. So a person who, as a child, raised his hand in a church service is considered saved, even though he has never shown any desire to walk with God since and is, in fact, living in blatant sin. This teaching, sometimes called “decisional regeneration,” is dangerous and deceptive. The idea that a profession of faith saves a person, even if he lives like the devil afterwards, assumes a new category of believer called the “carnal Christian.” This allows various ungodly lifestyles to be excused: a man may be an unrepentant adulterer, liar, or bank robber, but he’s saved; he’s just “carnal.” Yet, as we can see in James 2, an empty profession of faith—one that does not result in a life of obedience to Christ—is in reality a dead faith that cannot save.

The other error in regards to works and faith is to attempt to make works part of what justifies us before God. The mixture of works and faith to earn salvation is totally contrary to what Scripture teaches. Romans 4:5 says, “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” James 2:26 says, “Faith without works is dead.” There is no conflict between these two passages. We are justified by grace through faith, and the natural result of faith in the heart is works that all can see. The works that follow salvation do not make us righteous before God; they simply flow from the regenerated heart as naturally as water flows from a spring.

Salvation is a sovereign act of God whereby an unregenerate sinner has the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” poured out on him (Titus 3:5), thereby causing him to be born again (John 3:3). When this happens, God gives the forgiven sinner a new heart and puts a new spirit within him (Ezekiel 36:26). God removes his sin-hardened heart of stone and fills him with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then causes the saved person to walk in obedience to God’s Word (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God. When we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our lives will demonstrate that new life. Our works will be characterized by obedience to God. Unseen faith will become seen by the production of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22). Christians belong to Christ, the Good Shepherd. As His sheep we hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:26–30).

Faith without works is dead because faith results in a new creation, not a repetition of the same old patterns of sinful behavior. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Faith without works is dead because it comes from a heart that has not been regenerated by God. Empty professions of faith have no power to change lives. Those who pay lip service to faith but who do not possess the Spirit will hear Christ Himself say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:23).

Why is faith without works dead? | GotQuestions.org

Why is faith without works dead? Do we contribute our works along with our faith for salvation?

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