why does the salvation doctrine of the christian faith make absolutely no sense at all?

Question

sorry if this question offends any one, but i'm about to lose my faith as a christian and i need your help here.
i understand why Jesus died and washed away the sins of humanity. and i understand the need for being born again. but when i read this verse it makes me wonder!!! even those who are born again and work sicerely for the Lord are in vain. look,
in Matthew Chapter 7 it says,

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.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

so even those who work hard for the Lord could not enter the kingdom of heaven.

what do you think??

faith alone does not guarantee you a place in the kingdom of heaven.

faith and work. but even those who work hard are in vain.
how do we know who will get to heaven who won't??

Answer 1

Great question! No offense taken at all. I love it when people really think and reason on the scriptures. I just hope I can get this answer written out before fifty other people enter their comments.

John 17:3 says, "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."

Also, Proverbs 2:1-5 explains we need to search for that knowledge as if it were hidden treasure, which shows there is effort involved. And, in the first century, a congregation was highly commended for being especially studious and we're counseled at 1 John 4:1: "Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world."

When Jesus said what you quoted above, he was referring to those who have not done just that, tested to confirm what they have been taught and/or chosen to believe is actually God's will through a thorough study of the scriptures.

To that end I highly recommend a book I read recently and was very impressed with entitled "What Does the Bible Really Teach?" It's designed as a Bible study aid. If you would like to read it, I'll happily give it to you.

I wish you well on your search!

Answer 2

Most Christians seem to believe they can be born again, have their sins forgiven and do nothing else or live like the devil 6 days out of the week and go to heaven. The word says "take up the cross daily and follow Him" that means to die to self and allow Him to live thru you. It says "be a doer of the word and not a hearer only". When one is working for God that means they are leading people to receive Christ as their personal saviour. God didn't put hidden messages in His word like idiots proclaim. Before you read His word, ask Him to help you understand what you read. And just as babies it takes a while to mature enough to be able to understand. People cant lose their salvation but they can forfeit it. Hebrews 6:4-6, Rev. 3:5; Rev. 20:15;John 5:31; II peter 2:21-22
Father I pray you will help her to understand!

Answer 3

It has no sense with people who don't want to understand.
It is highly precious with people who learn and practice the teachings of Christ.
Then, from where comes the conclusion that "those who work hard for the Lord could not enter the Kingdom of heaven"?
In verse 21, He clearly states that those who pay lip service are denied, only those who act are accepted.

Answer 4

I think you should spend some time talking with others at your church. The explanation to these verses is a very simple one. The Lord is referring to the hypocrites.
Verse 21 says 'he that DOETH the will of my Father' will go to heaven. In other words, if someone doesn't 'practice what they preach' they are lost.
Verse 22 refers to the hypocrites lack of understanding of what God says to do. Again referring to the hypocrites who don't 'practice what they preach'.

How could this make you lose your faith ?
Unless your faith is weak. And I think the Lord covered that one too !

Have strength, be of strong faith, do not waver in the wind.
I hope this helps you. Thank you and God Bless.

Answer 5

Good works by themselves can never get us to heaven. Otherwise, Jesus would not have had to die. Hypocrisy can't get us there either. Thus, those who say, "Lord, Lord..." but don't truly believe in and follow Christ won't make it either. The only ones who can ever hope to make it are those who put their trust in Christ alone for salvation, through faith in His sacrifice for them on the cross. This kind of "saving faith" will naturally result in good works, though it isn't the works that get us to heaven, but the faith. You might say that the outward works demonstrate the inner faith. It's true that the Bible says that "faith without works is dead." This is because true faith will always be manifested through good works. So trust Christ alone for your salvation but work hard for Him because you love Him--not because you're worried about not making it to heaven. His sacrifice is sufficient!

Answer 6

I do not understand why this would cause you to lose your faith. What Jesus was saying was that works without faith won't get you into heaven, just as faith without works won't get you there either!

If you are born again and work sincerely for the Lord, your work is not in vain. You are not just another worker bee for God, you are one of His children now! You were a gift to Jesus from God, and how precious you are to Jesus!

Jesus said this about you: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."

Answer 7

Some people claim to be Christ followers but do their own will rather than the will of the Father. They do not love Jesus Christ and they do not love His Word.

Some prophecy and do many wonderful works, even using the name of the Lord, but it is really for their glory and not for the glory of the Lord, it is these people to which he refers.

You know there are only 2 ways to live.

Study the bible at bible.org
Listen to some good sermons at calvary.

Answer 8

This is an interesting subject to me as one coming out of a religious pentecostal church. I was born-again over 10 years ago and learned these two truths: 1) Heaven and Hell will both have people in it who went to church, and 2) Not all people who go to church will go to Heaven. In the pentecostal churches I've been in, I saw a lot of religious acts, traditions, and rules...people doing things that made them appear holier the others yet seldom spent quality alone time with God (talking to God). While they were spewing out their "thus sayeths the lord" and casting demons from each other, in the same church I saw a man who had a history of sexual perversion and drugs quietly and distant from everyone else asking God to forgive him for his sinful lifestyle. According to Christ, this man will make it into Heaven before the others do.

See, verse 21 compares those who call Jesus Lord to those who's lord really is Jesus. Verse 22 takes it a step further saying that even some people who appear all spiritual in the name of Jesus really aren't going to make it to Heaven. They'll be dumbfounded because they did do all that spiritual church stuff in Jesus name.

Now, understand that Jesus isn't saying that a person who really does belong to Christ won't be doing miracles in his name. On the contrary, He said that those who trust Him will be doing these things. However, He is saying that there will be many who are not his followers also doing wondeful works in his name thinking this will get them into Heaven.

In answering how we know who will and who won't go to heaven, it's really a question of who do we trust. Do we trust ourselves to earn our way to Heaven or do we trust what Christ did on the cross to get us into Heaven. If we trust ourselves, thinking we can work our way into Heaven, then you are correct...it's all in vain (much like some of the people in verse 22). This is because the God who cannot lie says it's impossible for us to earn our way into Heaven. But, if we trust what Christ did on the cross as the ultimate punishment for our sins, then we can know that we are indeed going to Heaven because of what he did, not us.

I hope this helps. I have personally been and have seen both sides of this coin.

Answer 9

The missing ingredient here is repentance. Too many times people are told that all they have to do to go to heaven is say a "sinner's prayer" and ask Jesus into your heart.

John the Baptist warned about repentance. Jesus warned about repentance...Paul said in Romans 3:23 that all have fallen short of the glory of God. How to be redeemed in the eyes of God? Repentance.

It simply means understanding that we've broken God's laws (the Ten Commandments, the standard we will all be judged by) confessing them to God and turning away from them (repentance) and putting our trust in Christ.

As for Matthew, he's speaking directly at those who think they are Christians by their works and they have never repented of the sins they committed. They weren't Christian to begin with.

Answer 10

I believe that the doctrine of salvation makes perfect sense. I interpret that scripture to mean that there are a lot of people who "look" like Christians on the outside, e.g. Televangelists, etc... but they don't have a relationship with God. They call on him in public but he does not know them. Also, faith without works is dead according to the Bible. Not because you can "work" your way to heaven but because if you truly love God, you can't help but do good works. Prophesy and doing good works "in his name" doesn't guarantee salvation because it is your heart and your relationship with God that matters most and good works without faith doesn't cut it either. It is by faith that we are saved not by works "lest any man should boast". It does seem to contradict, but these scriptures indicate to me that you have to have faith first and the works are a direct result of the faith. I think if you read the Bible and pray that God will give you understanding, it will come together in time. Don't lose your faith. God Bless.