Is the Belief, Saved by Grace,
No Works Necessary,
Biblically Correct?
What is God’s Grace? - Go to page 9
It is totally true that Jesus Christ paid the full price
for our salvation; there is nothing we can do to earn or help
earn our way into Heaven; we are saved by the grace of
God, not by our works.
The problem is some people take the above truth
and conclude that they do not have to do the works of
becoming and being a genuine Christian; this conclusion
is contrary to the Bible. The Bible teaches us that doing the
“works” is not about earning, rather it is about loving God.
Doing the “works” is about loving, honoring, and respecting
God by saying “yes” when he tells us to do them. Our love
for God will cause us to strive to do them.
Our first commandment is to love God with our all
Jesus Christ tells us to repent and be baptized.
“If a man love me, he will keep my words:”
“He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings:”
(John 14:23-24 AV)
“23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word
which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
Are we saying “No” to Jesus Christ, declining to obey
his instructions to be baptized? Is that loving him, keeping
his words?
We connect to God with our heart, not with our works.
However, if our heart is properly connected to God,
our heart will compel us to do the “works”.
Many Bible verses support the following:
Loving God = Obeying God, which includes doing “works”.
Illustration: Nancy gave birth to a baby boy, and she
asked her doctor, “How can I be a LOVING mother?” So
the doctor gave her a list of things LOVING mothers do for
their new born babies: change their diapers; feed them
every two hours; keep them warm and clean; etc.
A friend told Nancy “Doing all these things does not
make you a LOVING mother. A cold-hearted babysitter
could do all these things and not love the child at all. Love
is a feeling a mother has for her child, not physical
movements.”
So the mother did not feed her baby. She left him
shivering all day long in a filthy overflowing diaper. She
told herself she was a LOVING mother, because she had
feelings for the child. She figured doing the things the
doctor said fell under the label “works”; and “works”
(physical movements) is not love; love is having feelings for
the child.
Just doing the “works” of providing care for her baby
will not make Nancy a LOVING mother. On the other hand,
Nancy cannot be a LOVING mother unless her love for her
child is driving her to strive to do all the “works” of caring for
her baby. It is impossible for her to be a LOVING mother
while she is willfully providing unacceptable/inadequate
care for her child. If Nancy is a LOVING mother, her love
for her baby will cause her to see that her child has proper
care.
A genuine Christian’s love for God
will cause him to strive to do
all the “works” that God wants him to do.
Insufficient love for God
results with us declining to obey him.
Likewise: Just doing the “works” (going through the
motions) of being a Christian will not make us a genuine
Christian. On the other hand, we cannot be a genuine
Christian unless our love of God is causing us to strive to do
all the “works” of being a genuine Christian”. Continuing to
choose not to obey Jesus Christ, including baptism, reveals
a heart that is not properly given to God yet.
Is Jesus Christ our Lord (the one we obey),
while we are declining to obey him? (Luke 6:46 AV)
“46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which
I say?”
Nobody has the authority to tell people they do not
have to obey Jesus Christ’s commands, including baptism.
We must not play lawyer and look at the thief on the
cross and say it sets a precedent; we do not parallel the
thief on the cross: the thief on the cross did not refuse to
obey Jesus Christ. But if we say “no” to Jesus Christ’s
commandment to be baptized, we are refusing, declining,
to obey him.
Some people think tempting/testing God is having
faith. Deliberately putting our self in harm’s way
(deliberately jumping off the temple), putting our faith in
God to catch us, is called tempting/testing God. Choosing
to sin and trusting God to forgive us is tempting/testing
God. It is not smart to tempt/test God.
Choosing to sin and trusting God to forgive us
is tempting/testing God.
We are not to tempt/test the Lord our God.
(For a better and fuller understanding download and read the
free PDF book below. Currently available at seeketh.com)
I use the word “strive”, because human beings are
not near 100% perfect. We need a perfect heart, a perfect
desire, to do all of God’s will. A perfect heart causes us to
“strive” with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, to do all
of God’s will, but because we are human, we still come up
short. The important thing is that we are honestly striving
with all our heart to do his will, so God will see we are
honestly trying to do our best to obey him.
It is true; all we need to do is believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ to go to Heaven, but we do not get to choose
which definition of the word believe is correct. The correct
kind of belief will cause us to obey Jesus Christ. We need
to understand the Bible’s definition of believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ includes accepting him as our Lord and
Saviour.
A lord is someone who has authority over others.
He tells the people in his kingdom what to do, and he has
the responsibility to care for them. If we accept Jesus
Christ as our personal Lord, we are voluntarily choosing
him as the one we will obey, and as the one who will care
for us. Our obedience will reveal if we have genuinely
accepted him as our Lord (as the one we obey).
How can we be honoring and respecting the Lord
Jesus Christ, striving to obey him, if we are willfully
declining to follow his instructions, including his instructions
to repent and be baptized? Genuine Christians will obey
him; we know he is always right, and his commandments
are for our own welfare.
Christians are not perfect, but we will
strive to obey God in all things.
A mother’s love for her child is dead, as long as she
has no concern for him.
Likewise: Faith without “works” is dead. Why?
Genuine Christian faith always produces the “works”. The
lack of the “works” is the results of not having the kind of
faith the Bible is talking about. There is no such thing as
having genuine Christian faith while we are willfully
declining to follow Christ’s instructions”. If we choose not
to do the works (not to follow Christ’s instructions), our
Christian faith is not genuinely alive.
“is dead, being alone” (James 2:17–18 AV)
“17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew
me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by
my works.”
Having faith without works is like a mother saying
she is a LOVING mother who declines to care for her child.
For a better and fuller understanding with Scriptures,
download and read the free PDF book "Missing Bible
Verses, missing from common beliefs", chapters 6 and 7.
Missing Bible Verses are ignored Bible Verses.
Currently available at seeketh.com
Go to the Book Download Page
If our definition of the word “WORKS” is working to
earn our way into Heaven, there is nothing we can do to
earn, or help earn, our way into Heaven.
If our definition of the word “WORKS” is doing things,
there is no such thing as following Jesus Christ while we
keep declining to do the things he tells us to do. Following
Jesus Christ involves a lot of doing. If our heart is genuinely
given to Jesus Christ, we will have an enormous
desire/drive to do his will. It will be our heart’s desire, even
to follow his instructions to be baptized.
Some people believe, since God is so forgiving, they
do not have to be gravely concerned about choosing to
continue their sinning - but they are very wrong! Continuing
to willfully choose to sin separates them from God. They
need to repent: turn to obey God.
If we are not striving to obey God’s commandments,
we do not even know God; we are not connected to God
yet. And if we say we know him, we are a liar.
“hereby we do know that we know him,
if we keep his commandments”
“He that saith, I know him,
and keepeth not his
commandments,
is a liar,
and the truth is not in him”
(1 John 2:3–5 AV)
“3 ¶ And hereby we do know that
we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”
We find the Bible referring to the genuine Christians as
“them that obey him”. Jesus Christ is the author of eternal
salvation to all the people who have genuinely accepted
him as their Lord (as the one they obey).
“them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9 AV)
“9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him;”
“them that obey him” (Acts 5:32 AV)
“32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
Every sheep (every person) who belongs to Christ
follows/obeys him. (John 10:27 AV)
“27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me:”
What we do, or do not do, reveals if we belong to God
“whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God”
“10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of
the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:10 AV)
Their evil “works”, and their lack of Godly “works”,
declare they do not know God.
“They profess that they know God;
but in works they deny him” (Titus 1:16 AV)
“16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny
him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good
work reprobate.”
Everyone who has genuinely accepted Jesus Christ
as their Lord does his will, even if it is called “works”.
“Not every one that saith”
“but he that doeth” (Matthew 7:21 AV)
“21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven.”
“he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17 AV)
“17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that
doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
Falsely calling Jesus “Lord”
(the one we obey) (Luke 6:46 AV)
“46 And why call ye me, Lord,
Lord, and do not the things which
I say?”
“He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21 AV)
“21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
“If ye keep my commandments,
ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10 AV)
“10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his
love.”
Do we obey God, or yield to sin?
“his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16 AV)
“16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
Read Revelation 22:14
If people rejected the counsel of God and acted
against themselves by not being baptized with the baptism
of John the Baptist, how about people who decline to be
baptized into Jesus Christ? Are they rejecting the counsel
of God, and acting against themselves?
“rejected the counsel of God against themselves,
being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:29–30 AV)
“29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified
God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God
against themselves, being not baptized of him.”
What is God’s Grace?
The merciful kindness of God
God’s grace is what allows the followers of Jesus
Christ to go to Heaven without being 100% perfect.
Every human being was sinful and heading for the
eternal lake of fire. God had compassion on us and gave
human beings grace, and sent his only begotten son to die
on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
We need to believe with all our heart that Jesus Christ
is truly the Son of God, accept him as our Lord (as the one we
will obey) and Savior.
We enter Jesus Christ by obeying the official joining
directions found in Acts 2:38.
(Acts 2:38 AV)
“38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Receiving the Holy Ghost is God as the Holy Spirit
entering us, to constantly dwell inside of us 24/7: to lead us;
to teach us; to comfort us; to mold us into the ways of God;
to give us strength and boldness for doing God’s will; etc.
Our desires are changed, because God is dwelling inside us.
Sinful things now appear disgusting, and we desire the
things that are good, pure, holy, and righteous. With the
Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, our love of God causes us
to wholeheartedly strive (do our best) to obey Jesus Christ in
everything, including the “works”, because we desire to obey
him. We will pray and continually search the Bible to find
and follow Jesus Christ’s instructions.
For a better understanding with Scriptures,
download and read the free PDF book
"Missing Bible Verses” at
seeketh.com
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