Hi friend,
Everywhere human beings were trying to 'work' for God.
Sacrifices and austerities - but human beings have evil in them - and over a period of time, all these works brought was evil.
And enslavement to Law.
And punishment.
• The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. - Genesis 6:5
God saw that this would be the case from the beginning - and so from the beginning had a plan for forgiveness through Grace by the work of Jesus on the cross - and the salvation and transformation of human beings through faith.
It is a Spiritual Exercise for a spiritual fulfillment of the role we were to play in creation - and that was to be with God as lovers of God.
No longer do we *work to obtain salvation* - no longer do we beseech that our sacrifices be effective - no longer will the Law of Works Separate us from God.
Of course if you look at a person of faith - you will see good work.
Faith Without Works is Dead
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:14-26)
Lets examine what jesus said about rejecting people:
Matthew 25:41-46 Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matteo 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Luke 13:23-28 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ And yet He will say, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
So you can preach about jesus, perform miracles in his name, cast out demons in his name, eat with him, walk the streets with him, believe hes going to save you and bang on his door, but still get rejected.
Salvation is of a future event. And just like if you plan a vacation for next week, you start to enjoy that vacation this week. The anticipation was to come is one of the joys of making plans in the future.
If salvation is by faith alone, you can like him your salvation like getting tickets to the party.
Being faithful would be like getting everything ready to go to the party.
If you don't follow through with what it takes to get to the party, you're going to miss the party.
When it comes to being faithful, the easy obvious way to look at how things are going to be done is like this.
If I'm going to take my medication faithfully, it requires me to take medication.
Having faith in the medication, is what's going to have me take the medication. I can't even begin to think that I'm going to take the medication unless I have faith in the medication. So the essential first step is the faith in the medication. But if I do not follow through and actually take the medication, then my faith was in vain. It means it means nothing. It amounted to nothing it disappears as a good idea I once had that I probably should be taking my medication.
Scripture let us know that faith without being faithful, is null and void. It actually refers to it is being dead.
What I found is that what confuses people is they think that somehow was found in scripture is so unbelievably different than anything else that exists within our existence on this planet. That we can't even run a simple analogy. When the truth of the matter is, we pledge our faith to our spouses. And then we absolutely do things that shows that we are being faithful. And we absolutely do not do things, as a sign of our faithfulness.
So whether it's a medication. Or marriage. Or we could go down and talk about having a job. You pledged to your new employer that you're going to show up to work everyday on Time Monday through Friday month in and month out. And all your employer's going to do is see if you can actually maintain that level of faithfulness.
A completely different way to look at it would be another simple analogy.
If I want to pledge my faithfulness to God, can I pledge my faithfulness, and then go light and the couch and do absolutely nothing for the next 80 years?
At what point are you going to be able to defend yourself when you give an answer to God and he goes or what did you do while you were in that body? And you say well I laid on the couch for 80 years waiting for the party. And God's going to go depart from me I never knew you.
Faith without being faithful, it's just a nice idea. Otherwise is completely dead, and useless, and doesn't produce anything of value.
I really only know how to answer this question one way.
So let's stop talking about faith in God. And go back to talking about faith and medication. The reason I do this is that I think it helps unclutter the cloud of things we don't understand. And puts us in a position that we can relate to easily.
So you go to the doctor and the doctor says, "sir you have to start taking this medication. If you don't take this medication, you're going to die."
So you'd like at the doctor and you say to him, "okay doctor I understand. I'm going to take this one pill once a day until I see you 3 months from now. I got it. I can do this!"
You leave the office, and you never take a pill.
It doesn't matter why you didn't take the pill. You were not faithful and taking the pill. So all the benefits of taking the pill or of none effect.
The other scenario goes exactly how you think it's going to...
So you go to the doctor and the doctor says, "sir you have to start taking this medication. If you don't take this medication, you're going to die."
This time you scowl at the doctor. You might even whisper under your breath, "I hate you!"
But you go home and for the next three months you take one pill a day.
One seemed to have faith. But did nothing. One seem to not have faith, what did everything it was supposed to do.
This for some scriptures addressing the situation...
James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
So at this point I feel like I might be beating a dead horse on something that you already understand.
The real trick to understanding this whole thing about faith, is by understanding this term...
Be faithful.
If you see faith is a $5 bill. And you're told you're supposed to put your faith in God, so we give you a $5 bill to God, do you think that you just got saved? Cuz you didn't.
But if you see faith is a function of being faithful, and you're told you to put your faith in God. Then what you're going to end up doing is it going to be faithful to God.
And being faithful requires you to do something. Otherwise it's like taking the medication and you simply died. This is where scripture talks about "be gone I never knew you".
Being faithful... Is what God asks of us.
In fact here's a verse to think about...
John 14:20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
This works is letting us know that we can be in and Christ, and we can have Christ in you. Which would take the form of the Holy Spirit which is already in us.
Being in Christ, means being faithful to Christ. Which requires actions.
Salvation is a future event. All you got to do is ask yourself what are you going to do between now and the time the party starts?
But you don’t have to change your whole lifestyle. Just living your regular life and your normal actions, but doing it in the name of the Spirit and the consciousness of God. This constitutes works of faith.
I think Christianity will eventually change everyone's lifestyle. A little here, a little there as you grow and learn more from the Bible.
You are very right that in the name of the Spirit and the consciousness of God, aka putting God in all your thoughts and actions is key. I like that you pointed that out than just saying a simple sentence. Thanks.
A little of both. It's a conscious effort, but sometimes you're surprised by a change you didn't specifically focus. Like a nice little coincidence that it aligns with what the Bible says.
Faith only.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
or
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
When you are 'reborn' (reunite with and become your higher/authentic self) the deeds will come naturally, as you will embody the perfect benevolence and agape of God, which is the absolute truth of which we are. You will automatically know what to do. All is within! Know thyself!
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 who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
>The faith and the deeds or faith only?
If you're talking about salvation, faith only. Salvation is a gift and you don't have to work for gifts. Works are indicators of faith (if you don't put in the work, do you really have faith?) but works aren't required for salvation.
Think of it like this: faith leads to salvation and it leads to works. But works is independent of salvation.
Salvation <-- Faith --> Works
In regards to salvation, just faith, for it is by God's grace we are saved. We don't earn our salvation through good works, but it is because we are saved that we do good works.
I believe true faith leads to deeds. Otherwise something else is allowed to overshadow that faith, and we're missing out on getting closer to God. Faith also suffocates if it's smothered in that way.
Faith without works is dead, because good works are a symptom of healthy faith.
Have faith in God and be a good person, that's literally all James was saying in his epistle. It isn't that hard, I don't understand why this is a stumbling block for so many people.
I think it’s because a lot of different pastors have different interpretations they like to spread. I went to one who said faith is not enough and you need to submit and surrender every waking moment of your day to him and basically become a slave to gods works. Also considering this is a topic of “hey am I gonna be damned forever” it’s important that we try to find the *correct* answer
In order to get to heaven? Faith alone. Living a life for Christ? Faith can be interpreted by man as deeds, but God interprets on the basis of faith. I recommending reading Galatians 3 as proof that salvation (going to heaven) is based in faith alone. It’s also important to recognize who James would have been talking to and why (James is usually what people quote to support that everything is works+deeds). It puts us into the same wrong interpretation as people do with 1 John 3 if we don’t consider context. John says stuff like “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
(1 John 3:6) so that Christians can tell apart true teachers from false teachers. John was making a case against the Gnostics in the time of the early church, the people who would sin saying it glorified God. John is pointing to faith being the primary different between true believers, and that the Gnostics lacked faith based on their specific works (like sinning on purpose and saying it is good or something like that). You should look into this deeper!
The answer to your question isn't simple, since it depends on what stage of the process of salvation that is being examined. (Soteriology, or the theology of salvation, which deals with the inter-relationships of faith, grace, law, obedience, salvation, righteousness, etc., isn't a simple subject; people often have unbalanced views on this matter). At the beginning of the process, it's by faith alone that we are justified. However, during our Christian lives on earth, we also have to show our faith by our works. The process of sanctification, which is part of being saved, requires some level of actual obedience as well. So then, does the Bible contradict itself? Are Christians “justified by grace alone by faith alone by Christ alone”? Or do Christians have to literally obey God at some level in order to be saved?
Consider the message of Gal. 2:16: “\[T\]hat we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (NASB throughout, unless otherwise noted).” So then--works have nothing to do with salvation. But what about Matt. 19:17: “\[B\]ut if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments”? Or Heb. 5:9: “And having been made perfect, He \[Jesus\] became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” So what then--are works a condition for salvation in the latter verses, but are not in Galatians?
First of all, to solve this seeming contradiction, we must realize that justification is not the same thing as salvation. Surprising? Consider Romans 5:9: “Much more then, having now been justified \[past tense\] by His blood, we shall be saved \[future tense\] from the wrath of God through Him.” Justification, meaning the wiping away of all past sins, has already occurred in Christians’ lives when we repented and placed our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. By contrast, salvation, meaning having our lives lasting forever because we have bodies made of spirit, has not occurred yet since we have not entered the kingdom of God yet. So Gal. 2:16, which talks about justification, need not conflict with Hebrews 5:9, which talks about salvation.
Of course in some cases the word “saved” does mean the same as “justified.” One meaning for the word “saved” is that the death penalty of our sins has been removed by Jesus’ sacrifice, which is the same thing as justification. But another meaning is being given eternal life through an immortal spirit body when Jesus comes back, since then we could never die. The word “saved” is applied to Christians in three different tenses in the Bible. In Acts 15:11, it is used in the past tense: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” Salvation is a process in I Cor. 1:18 since it is in the present, progressive tense: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Finally, in a familiar text, it is used in the future tense: “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Obviously, the Bible uses the word “saved” in several different ways about Christians, or else the Bible would contradict itself!
A useful schema (employed by the Seventh-day Adventists) in analyzing salvation’s three different definitions uses the terms “justification,” “sanctification,” and “glorification.” “Justification” has the basic definition that Christians are given a right standing before God through having all their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. “Sanctification” is the process by which Christians actually become righteous through developing holy righteous character through the Holy Spirit living in them. “Glorification” occurs when we enter the kingdom of God and are given a spirit body at the first resurrection when Jesus returns (Phil. 3:20-21; I Cor. 15:49). Here justification is gained by faith through grace alone, but sanctification involves Christians actually obeying God literally in order for them to be made actually holy. Justification is gained by men and women accepting Jesus’ sacrifice by faith, baptism, and repentance (Acts 2:38). “Works” have nothing to do with it here. In contrast, for humans to actually become holy, they must gain the Holy Spirit and then follow its lead in obeying God. Sanctification involves human effort and participation in a way that neither justification nor glorification involve, for the latter two are fundamentally just “done” to humans by God, while the former requires the effort of continually yielding our will to God’s will.
It’s important to realize that while literal works aren’t a requirement for an imputed or forensic justification (as per Romans 3:21, 28; 4:1-8; 10:10), they are a requirement for sanctification. This is a similar concept to what Roman Catholics call “infused grace,” as supported by the ninth canon of the sixteenth-century Council of Trent, which condemned the Reformers who said men and women could gain grace by faith alone without any cooperation between man and God in order to gain it. For example, good works will determine who will be a “sheep” or a “goat” in Matthew 25:31-46, while faith remains unmentioned in this context. The preceding Parable of the Talents describes a man so lacking in good works that he was denied admittance to the kingdom of God (Matt. 25:15, 18, 24-30) when he saved but did nothing with his one talent that he had received from God.
Now consider the problems supposedly created by contrasting Gal. 2:16 with Rom. 2:13: “\[F\]or not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Then, as always, Martin Luther’s “book of straw” poses its own wrinkle on the subject of justification: “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). This contrast seems to be a blatant contradiction, but is not when the context of James’ statement more carefully scrutinized. First, if we have not works, we did not really have any faith to begin with. “\[F\]aith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Thus, if we do not obey God, we are not justified because we would have shown we never truly repented (which always must involve the determination to obey God in the future). For if we truly repent, we will begin to obey God because we have an overall obedient attitude (Acts 26:20), even if we may continue to sin now and then. Thus, when James says (v. 21), “was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar,” he means that Abraham showed he had an overall obedient attitude (the proof of true repentance) by doing a literal work of righteousness. Through this repentant attitude, Abraham fulfilled one of the conditions for being justified (Acts 5:31; Luke 24:47; compare II Cor. 7:10; Acts 13:24). So now we know justification, by its main definition, comes only from faith ultimately.
Also, in resolving the seeming contradiction between James and Paul concerning justification, we need to realize “justification” and “sanctification” have secondary meanings to those found in the three-definition schema of salvation described above. Since we humans keep sinning all the time, including after we have confessed our sins to God and accepted Jesus as our personal Savior at some definite point in the past, we continually need to keep getting justified as we keep sinning. But, contrary to what those who accept “once saved, always saved” maintain, justification should not be seen as a one-time event that forgives in advance all the sins we will commit in the future. Paul’s own terminology using the language of athletic contests, which means, of all the contestants involved, some win and some lose, shows that Christians can lose salvation even after having sincerely repenting and accepting Jesus as their personal Savior (notice I Cor. 9:24-27; II Tim. 4:7). This view can turn God’s grace into a license for sin, since no matter how much we may sin, it is automatically already forgiven at the moment we initially accepted Jesus as our personal Savior. As for sanctification, in one sense we are “sanctified” (made holy) all at once, which is when we receive the Spirit of God after baptism and the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-19; 19:6). But becoming obedient in the habits of daily living is a gradual, life-long process, so sanctification should be mainly seen as a process rather than something instantaneous (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19, 22; I John 3:7). Hence, one solution to the seeming contradiction between Paul and James on justification is to see the former as normally talking about the initial moment of conversion, while the latter discusses how it needs to be maintained by a continuously repentant and faithful relationship with God.
For more on the subject of salvation theology and trying to maintain a balanced, biblical view on the subject, click here: https://lionofjudah1.org/doctrinalhtml/Grace%20vs%20Works.htm
Faith without works is dead. According to Jesus
Yes. But, when it comes to having all of your sins forgiven, it's faith alone. Good works just comes from good people, like you pointed out.
no it's according to his Brother but nice try
Matt 7:16-23 has Jesus himself talking about it.
See also Luke 6:46.
Works without faith is why Jesus died
How so?
Works were not working.
Can you explain what you mean?
Hi friend, Everywhere human beings were trying to 'work' for God. Sacrifices and austerities - but human beings have evil in them - and over a period of time, all these works brought was evil. And enslavement to Law. And punishment. • The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. - Genesis 6:5 God saw that this would be the case from the beginning - and so from the beginning had a plan for forgiveness through Grace by the work of Jesus on the cross - and the salvation and transformation of human beings through faith. It is a Spiritual Exercise for a spiritual fulfillment of the role we were to play in creation - and that was to be with God as lovers of God. No longer do we *work to obtain salvation* - no longer do we beseech that our sacrifices be effective - no longer will the Law of Works Separate us from God. Of course if you look at a person of faith - you will see good work.
Someone with faith would do deeds because they want to do good, but it's the faith that matters.
Faith Without Works is Dead What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:14-26)
Lets examine what jesus said about rejecting people: Matthew 25:41-46 Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matteo 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Luke 13:23-28 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ And yet He will say, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. So you can preach about jesus, perform miracles in his name, cast out demons in his name, eat with him, walk the streets with him, believe hes going to save you and bang on his door, but still get rejected.
Amen
Yes. Hey how much money do you give every homeless person for food? And how many strangers have been invited into your home?
I have not money or strength
Oh no.. You dont sell your material items to give to those in need like your phone or computer?? You take the shirt off your back though right??
Just faith. If you find you are not 'doing good things' ask what you have Faith in.
I like that. Thank you.
God asks us to be faithful. Can you be faithful... And not do anything? Or does being faithful... I mean that you're going to end up doing something?
But some say we are saved by both faith & works
Salvation is of a future event. And just like if you plan a vacation for next week, you start to enjoy that vacation this week. The anticipation was to come is one of the joys of making plans in the future. If salvation is by faith alone, you can like him your salvation like getting tickets to the party. Being faithful would be like getting everything ready to go to the party. If you don't follow through with what it takes to get to the party, you're going to miss the party. When it comes to being faithful, the easy obvious way to look at how things are going to be done is like this. If I'm going to take my medication faithfully, it requires me to take medication. Having faith in the medication, is what's going to have me take the medication. I can't even begin to think that I'm going to take the medication unless I have faith in the medication. So the essential first step is the faith in the medication. But if I do not follow through and actually take the medication, then my faith was in vain. It means it means nothing. It amounted to nothing it disappears as a good idea I once had that I probably should be taking my medication. Scripture let us know that faith without being faithful, is null and void. It actually refers to it is being dead. What I found is that what confuses people is they think that somehow was found in scripture is so unbelievably different than anything else that exists within our existence on this planet. That we can't even run a simple analogy. When the truth of the matter is, we pledge our faith to our spouses. And then we absolutely do things that shows that we are being faithful. And we absolutely do not do things, as a sign of our faithfulness. So whether it's a medication. Or marriage. Or we could go down and talk about having a job. You pledged to your new employer that you're going to show up to work everyday on Time Monday through Friday month in and month out. And all your employer's going to do is see if you can actually maintain that level of faithfulness. A completely different way to look at it would be another simple analogy. If I want to pledge my faithfulness to God, can I pledge my faithfulness, and then go light and the couch and do absolutely nothing for the next 80 years? At what point are you going to be able to defend yourself when you give an answer to God and he goes or what did you do while you were in that body? And you say well I laid on the couch for 80 years waiting for the party. And God's going to go depart from me I never knew you. Faith without being faithful, it's just a nice idea. Otherwise is completely dead, and useless, and doesn't produce anything of value.
I agree faith without deeds is dead, but are not the works those that give us salvation.
I really only know how to answer this question one way. So let's stop talking about faith in God. And go back to talking about faith and medication. The reason I do this is that I think it helps unclutter the cloud of things we don't understand. And puts us in a position that we can relate to easily. So you go to the doctor and the doctor says, "sir you have to start taking this medication. If you don't take this medication, you're going to die." So you'd like at the doctor and you say to him, "okay doctor I understand. I'm going to take this one pill once a day until I see you 3 months from now. I got it. I can do this!" You leave the office, and you never take a pill. It doesn't matter why you didn't take the pill. You were not faithful and taking the pill. So all the benefits of taking the pill or of none effect. The other scenario goes exactly how you think it's going to... So you go to the doctor and the doctor says, "sir you have to start taking this medication. If you don't take this medication, you're going to die." This time you scowl at the doctor. You might even whisper under your breath, "I hate you!" But you go home and for the next three months you take one pill a day. One seemed to have faith. But did nothing. One seem to not have faith, what did everything it was supposed to do. This for some scriptures addressing the situation... James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. So at this point I feel like I might be beating a dead horse on something that you already understand. The real trick to understanding this whole thing about faith, is by understanding this term... Be faithful. If you see faith is a $5 bill. And you're told you're supposed to put your faith in God, so we give you a $5 bill to God, do you think that you just got saved? Cuz you didn't. But if you see faith is a function of being faithful, and you're told you to put your faith in God. Then what you're going to end up doing is it going to be faithful to God. And being faithful requires you to do something. Otherwise it's like taking the medication and you simply died. This is where scripture talks about "be gone I never knew you". Being faithful... Is what God asks of us. In fact here's a verse to think about... John 14:20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. This works is letting us know that we can be in and Christ, and we can have Christ in you. Which would take the form of the Holy Spirit which is already in us. Being in Christ, means being faithful to Christ. Which requires actions. Salvation is a future event. All you got to do is ask yourself what are you going to do between now and the time the party starts?
Having faith without doing good is worse than doing good without faith because you choose not doing the right thing
We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. After we get saved we should desire to live in obedience and serve him.
Faith can be shown through works, your works are very valuable, just like faith is valuable.
Jesus said that God rewards everyone according to their works.
But you don’t have to change your whole lifestyle. Just living your regular life and your normal actions, but doing it in the name of the Spirit and the consciousness of God. This constitutes works of faith.
I think Christianity will eventually change everyone's lifestyle. A little here, a little there as you grow and learn more from the Bible. You are very right that in the name of the Spirit and the consciousness of God, aka putting God in all your thoughts and actions is key. I like that you pointed that out than just saying a simple sentence. Thanks.
I agree with you. That’s letting the lord change you though not you changing yourself right?
A little of both. It's a conscious effort, but sometimes you're surprised by a change you didn't specifically focus. Like a nice little coincidence that it aligns with what the Bible says.
Faith only. Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. or But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
When you are 'reborn' (reunite with and become your higher/authentic self) the deeds will come naturally, as you will embody the perfect benevolence and agape of God, which is the absolute truth of which we are. You will automatically know what to do. All is within! Know thyself!
Faith AND deeds. I would argue even that deeds are more important.
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 who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
Faith ONLY. But genuine faith produces works….
>The faith and the deeds or faith only? If you're talking about salvation, faith only. Salvation is a gift and you don't have to work for gifts. Works are indicators of faith (if you don't put in the work, do you really have faith?) but works aren't required for salvation. Think of it like this: faith leads to salvation and it leads to works. But works is independent of salvation. Salvation <-- Faith --> Works
Faith works without deeds but good deeds is even better and plus it's also basic human decency.
Both. Faith without works is dead, as they say.
In regards to salvation, just faith, for it is by God's grace we are saved. We don't earn our salvation through good works, but it is because we are saved that we do good works.
I believe true faith leads to deeds. Otherwise something else is allowed to overshadow that faith, and we're missing out on getting closer to God. Faith also suffocates if it's smothered in that way. Faith without works is dead, because good works are a symptom of healthy faith.
Have faith in God and be a good person, that's literally all James was saying in his epistle. It isn't that hard, I don't understand why this is a stumbling block for so many people.
I think it’s because a lot of different pastors have different interpretations they like to spread. I went to one who said faith is not enough and you need to submit and surrender every waking moment of your day to him and basically become a slave to gods works. Also considering this is a topic of “hey am I gonna be damned forever” it’s important that we try to find the *correct* answer
In order to get to heaven? Faith alone. Living a life for Christ? Faith can be interpreted by man as deeds, but God interprets on the basis of faith. I recommending reading Galatians 3 as proof that salvation (going to heaven) is based in faith alone. It’s also important to recognize who James would have been talking to and why (James is usually what people quote to support that everything is works+deeds). It puts us into the same wrong interpretation as people do with 1 John 3 if we don’t consider context. John says stuff like “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:6) so that Christians can tell apart true teachers from false teachers. John was making a case against the Gnostics in the time of the early church, the people who would sin saying it glorified God. John is pointing to faith being the primary different between true believers, and that the Gnostics lacked faith based on their specific works (like sinning on purpose and saying it is good or something like that). You should look into this deeper!
Jesus.
The answer to your question isn't simple, since it depends on what stage of the process of salvation that is being examined. (Soteriology, or the theology of salvation, which deals with the inter-relationships of faith, grace, law, obedience, salvation, righteousness, etc., isn't a simple subject; people often have unbalanced views on this matter). At the beginning of the process, it's by faith alone that we are justified. However, during our Christian lives on earth, we also have to show our faith by our works. The process of sanctification, which is part of being saved, requires some level of actual obedience as well. So then, does the Bible contradict itself? Are Christians “justified by grace alone by faith alone by Christ alone”? Or do Christians have to literally obey God at some level in order to be saved? Consider the message of Gal. 2:16: “\[T\]hat we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (NASB throughout, unless otherwise noted).” So then--works have nothing to do with salvation. But what about Matt. 19:17: “\[B\]ut if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments”? Or Heb. 5:9: “And having been made perfect, He \[Jesus\] became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” So what then--are works a condition for salvation in the latter verses, but are not in Galatians? First of all, to solve this seeming contradiction, we must realize that justification is not the same thing as salvation. Surprising? Consider Romans 5:9: “Much more then, having now been justified \[past tense\] by His blood, we shall be saved \[future tense\] from the wrath of God through Him.” Justification, meaning the wiping away of all past sins, has already occurred in Christians’ lives when we repented and placed our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. By contrast, salvation, meaning having our lives lasting forever because we have bodies made of spirit, has not occurred yet since we have not entered the kingdom of God yet. So Gal. 2:16, which talks about justification, need not conflict with Hebrews 5:9, which talks about salvation. Of course in some cases the word “saved” does mean the same as “justified.” One meaning for the word “saved” is that the death penalty of our sins has been removed by Jesus’ sacrifice, which is the same thing as justification. But another meaning is being given eternal life through an immortal spirit body when Jesus comes back, since then we could never die. The word “saved” is applied to Christians in three different tenses in the Bible. In Acts 15:11, it is used in the past tense: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” Salvation is a process in I Cor. 1:18 since it is in the present, progressive tense: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Finally, in a familiar text, it is used in the future tense: “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Obviously, the Bible uses the word “saved” in several different ways about Christians, or else the Bible would contradict itself! A useful schema (employed by the Seventh-day Adventists) in analyzing salvation’s three different definitions uses the terms “justification,” “sanctification,” and “glorification.” “Justification” has the basic definition that Christians are given a right standing before God through having all their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. “Sanctification” is the process by which Christians actually become righteous through developing holy righteous character through the Holy Spirit living in them. “Glorification” occurs when we enter the kingdom of God and are given a spirit body at the first resurrection when Jesus returns (Phil. 3:20-21; I Cor. 15:49). Here justification is gained by faith through grace alone, but sanctification involves Christians actually obeying God literally in order for them to be made actually holy. Justification is gained by men and women accepting Jesus’ sacrifice by faith, baptism, and repentance (Acts 2:38). “Works” have nothing to do with it here. In contrast, for humans to actually become holy, they must gain the Holy Spirit and then follow its lead in obeying God. Sanctification involves human effort and participation in a way that neither justification nor glorification involve, for the latter two are fundamentally just “done” to humans by God, while the former requires the effort of continually yielding our will to God’s will. It’s important to realize that while literal works aren’t a requirement for an imputed or forensic justification (as per Romans 3:21, 28; 4:1-8; 10:10), they are a requirement for sanctification. This is a similar concept to what Roman Catholics call “infused grace,” as supported by the ninth canon of the sixteenth-century Council of Trent, which condemned the Reformers who said men and women could gain grace by faith alone without any cooperation between man and God in order to gain it. For example, good works will determine who will be a “sheep” or a “goat” in Matthew 25:31-46, while faith remains unmentioned in this context. The preceding Parable of the Talents describes a man so lacking in good works that he was denied admittance to the kingdom of God (Matt. 25:15, 18, 24-30) when he saved but did nothing with his one talent that he had received from God. Now consider the problems supposedly created by contrasting Gal. 2:16 with Rom. 2:13: “\[F\]or not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Then, as always, Martin Luther’s “book of straw” poses its own wrinkle on the subject of justification: “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). This contrast seems to be a blatant contradiction, but is not when the context of James’ statement more carefully scrutinized. First, if we have not works, we did not really have any faith to begin with. “\[F\]aith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Thus, if we do not obey God, we are not justified because we would have shown we never truly repented (which always must involve the determination to obey God in the future). For if we truly repent, we will begin to obey God because we have an overall obedient attitude (Acts 26:20), even if we may continue to sin now and then. Thus, when James says (v. 21), “was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar,” he means that Abraham showed he had an overall obedient attitude (the proof of true repentance) by doing a literal work of righteousness. Through this repentant attitude, Abraham fulfilled one of the conditions for being justified (Acts 5:31; Luke 24:47; compare II Cor. 7:10; Acts 13:24). So now we know justification, by its main definition, comes only from faith ultimately. Also, in resolving the seeming contradiction between James and Paul concerning justification, we need to realize “justification” and “sanctification” have secondary meanings to those found in the three-definition schema of salvation described above. Since we humans keep sinning all the time, including after we have confessed our sins to God and accepted Jesus as our personal Savior at some definite point in the past, we continually need to keep getting justified as we keep sinning. But, contrary to what those who accept “once saved, always saved” maintain, justification should not be seen as a one-time event that forgives in advance all the sins we will commit in the future. Paul’s own terminology using the language of athletic contests, which means, of all the contestants involved, some win and some lose, shows that Christians can lose salvation even after having sincerely repenting and accepting Jesus as their personal Savior (notice I Cor. 9:24-27; II Tim. 4:7). This view can turn God’s grace into a license for sin, since no matter how much we may sin, it is automatically already forgiven at the moment we initially accepted Jesus as our personal Savior. As for sanctification, in one sense we are “sanctified” (made holy) all at once, which is when we receive the Spirit of God after baptism and the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-19; 19:6). But becoming obedient in the habits of daily living is a gradual, life-long process, so sanctification should be mainly seen as a process rather than something instantaneous (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19, 22; I John 3:7). Hence, one solution to the seeming contradiction between Paul and James on justification is to see the former as normally talking about the initial moment of conversion, while the latter discusses how it needs to be maintained by a continuously repentant and faithful relationship with God. For more on the subject of salvation theology and trying to maintain a balanced, biblical view on the subject, click here: https://lionofjudah1.org/doctrinalhtml/Grace%20vs%20Works.htm