How are we saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone? Jesus said many who call him lord will not enter the kingdom.

Question

Are we saved by faith alone? According to THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW CHAPTER 5 it would seem that MUCH more is required of a Christian then just faith...

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Answer 1

I see you have several verses you are asking for comment on.. I will do may best to get them all:

Matthew 7:22-23
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?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

These are doing WORKS in the name of Jesus. I guess works aren't enough. Looks like you have to except the gift of life through faith so that God knows you, and then give God the credit for the works He does through you..

Verse 16
You quoted the rest of the verses.. Can't you see that The works God gives us to do glorifies Him? That doesn't mean that He didn't except those he is asking to have their light shine from faith..

Verse 19
See all these people are in the Kingdom. Some who obey God are great those who continue to sin are least.. All there by faith.. This is reward not salvation.. Oh course reward is by works.. Salvation is still By faith.

Verse 20
.The Apostle Paul tells us about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. He said as to the Law that he was perfect. But we are taught that by the law no flesh will be justified.. I don't know about you but as the the LAW given to me by my Lord Jesus Christ I am FAR from perfect. I have been angry without cause (That's murder) I have had impure thought about women (That's adultery). I have seen a few sailboats I would love to have (That's stealing).. I have lied And The Bible says ALL liars will find their place in the Lake of Fire.. I am in Trouble!!! If it wasn't that Jesus made some clear promises to me I would be lost.. I trust Him not just believe that He is and is powerful. I TRUST Him That is what faith means. To know that He will keep His word... Works are a gift from Him. Things He could easily do Himself He allows me to do is His name.. It's such a blessing to be in His service.. I don't even care about any reward. The crowns He will give will be cast t His feet because ONLY He is worthy.. So turn to Christ in faith. trust Him to keep His promises. Stop thinking that you can do anything to merit His love and His salvation. Become His child and He will in no wise cast you out... Jim

Answer 2

Many shall call him Lord because thy are butt kissers, like some politicians doing it for their own gain,but they do not have the faith. If you have the faith you are full of light , so good works will be in your nature without you having to consciosly plan it, people will see and credit God-if they are smart. Anyone with the light of God in them because of faith would never intentionally break commandments and teach others to do so-no brainer. The scribes and pharisees were the politicians of the time, and used religion for show and control. They are not going with the faithful This is not hard to follow or understand.If you have FAITH all these other things just fall into place, if you do no good and break commandments you're obviously lying when you say you have faith, you will live your faith if it is really there.
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Answer 3

I pray you are not trying to take any credit for your salvation. That is the difference between those who call Him "Lord, Lord," and those who both call Him Lord and are His. Their defense was they did many great works in His name, not that they received the gift of eternal life from Him. Some do good works because they have been saved, some do them in order to be saved. One group relies on the finished work of Christ for their salvation, another group pounds their chests and says, "I thank God I am not like other men."

16 - That's a commandment to the saved, not a requirement for salvation.

19 - Breaking commandments and teaching others to break them and still in the Kingdom of Heaven, only at a very low place is how I'm reading that.

20 - Our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes because it is Christ's righteousness we are judged by when we place our faith solely in Him for our salvation. The Scribes and Pharisees were looking to be saved by keeping the Law.

He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.

Answer 4

Faith is ALL it takes. The thief on the cross had no time to do works, but Christ promised him he would be in Paradise with Him.

Don't get me wrong. Faith without works is a dead faith. Our faith is what makes us want to do good works, not because of a reward, but because we know that it gives glory to God. If you say you have faith in Jesus, but if NOTHING in your life changes where is your faith?

If we add works into the gift of grace we have received then it is no longer the free gift Christ offers us, but becomes conditional and His love is unconditional. If we add works into it then it becomes a matter of our effort, our pride and His sacrifice means little.

What Christ was saying about the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisess is completely right. Theirs was an outward righteousness that had nothing to do with any inward change. They were relying on their own ability to follow the Law. God wasn't even involved. So, yeah our righteousness had better be much improved over what the Scribes and Pharisees were offering.

There are many, many people who are sitting in churches every Sunday who have no relationship with Christ whatsoever. Those are going to be the ones who will cry, "Lord, Lord!" And He will reply, "Depart from Me, I never knew you." Believe it or not, church attendance is a works thing, too. Church attendance is not going to save you. I'm not saying you shouldn't attend one, we're supposed to, but it's not going to save us. See what I'm getting at?

Works are important, but works won't save you, only faith in Christ can do that. They are not a requirement. If you love the Lord, you will want to do well but they aren't the ticket.

So, yes is my resounding answer. Faith is all you need to go to Heaven. Remember the thief!

Have a great day!

Answer 5

Yeah, and Jesus also said "why do you call me Lord, yet do not do what I say"?
You are right (well, almost). The Bible is clear-"you must be born again" (John 3). Salvation is ""one thing""-and it is obtained only by belief in what the Bible says about Jesus-nothing else. Now, living the Christian life as an obedient follower of Christ is ""another thing"". Being obedient to Christ is required for eternal rewards in heaven, but not a requirement for salvation. If you get this mixed up- you can really screw people up.

Answer 6

How are we saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone? Jesus said many who call him lord Lord, will not enter the kingdom. This basically means that the person was never saved, those that do works and and can heal and prophecy can be anti-christs, and not be saved because they are false prophets or the anit-christ, so...works will not save you, being saved and excepting Jesus into your heart will and then you can go on with what Jesus has for your life, your ministry. Letting your light shine, just shows others that jesus is real and alive and that the cross is real and that they need Jesus and they need to be saved as well.

Answer 7

If that were the case the Apostles could have just stayed in the upper room and prayed for us but, they did not. Their Faith compelled them to ACT. It was their actions that spread the faith. Our lives should be evangelizing and this includes acts of goodwill towards others so yes faith is the first thing but, faith without works is dead Scripture says. Yes if all you do is believe,--- you are taking the deposit and hiding it instead of earning the interest which is the least of what we should be doing with it, so he will say "get out of here"

Answer 8

I was bothered by those verses and others like them. I wanted to be sure that I was a part of those who Jesus wouldn't say, "I never knew you."

Si what would I do to show God that I loved Him? I thought that if I could not only believe in Him but also love Him that He would love me back. I worried but at the same time remembered that Jesus said that I wasn't supposed to worry-- I had those verses in Matthew that told me that, and also Psalm 37 telling me not to fret.

So why was I worrying?

Then I remembered what it took to get me into this life of faith in the first place-- I trusted Him. Then I looked in the scripture and found out that I was supposed to continue trusting Him, and that He cares for me and what it is that I need. So I connected 'all my needs' with I need His urging me to do good works. So I trusted Him for even that. Even the very things that had eternal consequences.

So faith is what initiates the relationship in the first place. And faith is what continues to keep the connection if it is continued to be kept. We can all decide when to quit, but those that continue are promised blessings that we cannot contain. We just have to trust Him for it.

So I am saying that I am persuaded that even those works that are counted by Him are to His glory. And the repercussions will have eternal implications-- they are to His glory forever. Those works are spurred by Him, and they are truly done according to His will-- done by those who trust Him.

Answer 9

Read through what Jesus says about salvation in the gospels.
You'll find that what he says falls into one of 3 categories.

#1 Belief
#2 Obedience
#3 Total Commitment

I have these partially listed out in a website http://www.akoloutheo.net/teachings/salvation.html

Answer 10

Yeah, and then read Paul, who really played up the dogma of "faith before good works." He even teased people with it: "Shall we then do evil, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid!"

The point is that you can quote scripture to "prove" almost any fool idea that pops into your head, and its contradictory.

"In context," though, Jesus' main beef with the scribes and Pharisees had to do with their "formalism." They adhered to and insisted upon the letter of the Law rather than the spirit. Think the story of Jesus saving the adulterous woman from the crowd gathered to stone her. "Fundies" could take a lesson from this.