If Jesus said "faith without works is dead" then why is being "saved" the only prerequisite to go to heaven?

Answer 1

It's not...

NO ONE ON THIS EARTH IS GUARANTEED TO GO TO HEAVEN JUST BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST OR BY GOD'S GRACE ALONE!

God's grace, alone, won't do it...

My faith, alone, won't do it...

How I live my life, by itself, won't do it...

I know that I can only get to heaven through Jesus. Also, it is not just by this faith in Jesus, nor just the Grace of God, nor just the works that I do. It is a combination of many things.

We receive God's saving and sanctifying grace in many ways, and Christ Himself, into our souls when we are baptized and through the sacraments. Yet we also know that Christ Himself has established certain conditions for entry into eternal happiness in Heaven.

"Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."" (John 6:53-58)

We will be judged by this as well, so be warned...

"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Cor. 11:27-29).

We will also be judged by our faith, but not by this alone, we will also be judged by the works that we do (Justification by faith alone is a Protestant doctrine; it was unheard of in the Christian community before the sixteenth century.)...

If St. Paul meant that faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, he would not have written:

". . . and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." (1 Cor. 13:2).

If faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, the Apostle James would not have written:

"Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only'? . . . For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:24-26).

If faith ruled out the necessity of good works for salvation, the Apostle Peter would not have written:

"Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble. For, in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you." (2 Peter 1:10-11).

If faith was the only necessity for salvation, the Apostle James would not have written:

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world." (James 1:26-27)

Christ Himself stated:

"For the Son of man . . . will render to every man according to his works." (Matt. 16:27).

"‘Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’" (Matt. 7:21).

But, I need my faith as well...

"Who were those who rebelled when they heard? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt under Moses? With whom was he "provoked for forty years"? Was it not those who had sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert? And to whom did he "swear that they should not enter into his rest," if not to those who were disobedient? And we see that they could not enter for lack of faith."(Hebrews 3:16-19)

When I die, I will not enter the kingdom of Heaven immediately, either...

The Bible distinguishes between those who enter Heaven straightaway, calling them "the church of the firstborn" (Heb. 12:23), and those who enter after having undergone a purgation, calling them "the spirits of the just made perfect." (Heb. 12:23).

Christ Himself stated:

"Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny." (Matt. 5 :26).

And:

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matt. 12:36-37).

Answer 2

Faith without works means that the believer displays an outward characteristic of who they represent in word and deed.
Salvation is realizing that we have sinned. We can't redeem ourself but Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died once for every man's sin and rose again. All who accept this gift are saved. We as human's can do nothing else to merit our salvation. When we do works it is because we are grateful for the salvation we have been given in Jesus and because we are His witnesses.
Our works whether good or evil will not be judged towards salvation but towards reward for right action or wrong action.

Answer 3

Many religions attempt to distill the Bible into a single significant verse. While it is imperative to accept Jesus as your Savior, I find nothing in the Bible that implies that simply "saying the words" and then sitting on your back side is acceptable. Granted, works will NOT get you into heaven. But I have read nothing that says a simple acknowledgment (by itself) of Jesus is sufficient to get you there.

Answer 4

The idea is that works do not save you. But if you are saved through faith, the evidence of that will be you will do good works because of it. And if your not doing good works, than you probably have not been saved.

Answer 5

Faith is an act on the belief; therefore, without works faith is dead.

Answer 6

Jesus clearly stated that it's impossible to love God and not love your neighbor. Love is practical.
About being saved on your death bed; anyone who is dying will want a way out. You will be judged on the life that you lived..not accepting God at the last moment. It's easy to say you believe in God; it's not very easy easy to love your enemies....is it?

Answer 7

A person can be saved on their death bed and not have any time for works, but will go to heaven. For the rest of us, when you get saved, you will want to do the work of the Father. Faith is necessary to please god.

Answer 8

'Saved' does many things. One is get you to heaven. Another is it produces works. If you don't produce works, it means your 'faith' is not real faith. Just like if you don't end up in heaven, it means your 'faith' wasn't real.

Answer 9

that verse is found in James. The point is that true faith always qualifies iteself with Christian behavior.
We can never be saved because of what we do; we can only be saved because of what Jesus Christ has already done for us. Let me explain.

Our greatest problem can be put in one word: sin. Sin cuts us off from God, and sin also keeps us out of heaven. But how can we get rid of our sins? We can't erase them or cause them to disappear by ourselves; we don't have the power. The only way we can get rid of our sins is for someone to come along and take them away for us.

And that is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us. We are weighed down by the burden of our sins—but Jesus took that burden upon Himself when He died on the cross for us. To put it another way, He took the punishment we deserve when He went to the cross in our place. The Bible says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

What must you do? Simply believe that Christ has taken away your sins, and then receive Him into your heart and life. The Bible's promise is for you: "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). Become God's child today by asking Christ to come into your life.

Answer 10

That is part of the inconsistencies; James who knew Jesus say that "Faith without works is dead." Paul, who never knew Jesus, said "Believe and be saved." Constantine decided to go with Paul's teachings.

Answer 11

he meant if your behaviour does not represent your faith in goodness, then you cannot truly believe. but being saved means having black genes (being mixed) if you are white, genetically you remember a time not so long ago whoen your forefathers were wild and not human. therefore whites are angry and must lie to themselves and eveyone else about reality bush, etc by nature black and white is different eventhough all have been decieved by the serpent (white man)