Bible readers: God commands us to "obey, repent, believe, love God, etc." But aren't ALL of these works? ...

Question

In Ephesians 2:8, 9 and Titus 3:5 (among other verses), the Lord tells us that we CANNOT be saved by ANY works that we do! But all that God commands us to do are "works" we do.

God commands that we should obey His word (1 Peter 4:17).
Yet, God commands us in His word to repent (Acts 17:30).
John the Baptist gave God's word that men should believe (Mark 1:15).
Jesus said that to love God is the first commandment (Mark 12:30).

In Romans 3:19, 20 we read, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

This is a very difficult question and requires one to search the Scriptures.


**All Scriptures are from the King James Version.

After reading several of the answers to my question, I encourage those who answer to read 1 Thessalonians 1:3, "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father."

And in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 we read, "Wherefore we also pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:"

From these verses we understand that "faith" is a work.

Answer 1

We don't do good things (good works) to Get saved; we do them because we are saved. Things in our lives should change once we are born again. They should and they will, but we must always remember, we are saved by grace, not by works.

Legalism will always release a curse that will block the blessing. For example: Should we go to church, witness, get baptised, tithe? Of Course! But, these things are a Result of our forgiveness, Not The reason For Our Forgiveness.

Look at this scripture: 'Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
If we are saved by grace, not by works, then why did Paul tell us to work out our salvation? The word most often used for 'salvation' comes from the Greek root word "sozo". It means "to deliver, save, heal, protect (self), do well, (make) whole, rescue, safety." Our sins are forgiven. By grace we make heaven our home. But if we want God's blessing on our lives here on earth, then as we grow in the Lord, from glory to glory, He changes us.

'But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2Corin. 3:18)

One of the most misunderstood Scriptures in the Bible is Galatians 3:13: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.")
Paul said here, "Don't you understand? It's not what we do for God that saves us, but what God did for us. God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ not only to forgive us our sins, but also to die on the cross to break every curse off our lives." Paul said that if you think salvation is through works of the law you are bringing a curse on yourself, for no one can keep All the laws.

Christ has redeemed us From the Curse Of The Law. This means two things. First, We're Not saved By keeping all the laws; We're saved by grace. Second, Not Only are the sins we committed (the laws we broke) forgiven, but we can also finally have the curses, the penalties that come on us for sin, broken through Jesus Christ. We are finally Redeemed From the Curse of the Law!

Let me repeat. We are saved by grace, Not by works.
But grace Does Not give us permission to become lawless.
Just ask your spouse if,' Now that we are under grace, is adultery okay?" I could go on, but you get the point. we are saved by grace, not by works. Our forgiveness, our salvation, is a Gift from God. God gave us His Word, including His laws, to lead us and guide us - not to bind us up, but to set us free, so we can be blessed.

"That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. " (Gal. 3:14)
If we don't understand this concept, we open the door for the enemy to attack our lives. - "You shall not steal." etc. - . It's not bondage; It's freedom to be blessed by the hand of God.

Answer 2

Ephesians 2:10 explains it: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

We are SAVED by faith alone. But once we are saved the RESULTS of that salvation will be a changed life that does good works.

If being saved did not change us, somehow make us different, make us better, or help us do the right thing, what would be the point of it?

The commandments you list are not what we do to get saved, but rather how we will live because we are saved.

Answer 3

" For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith with out works is dead also ", James 2:26. Gods works are witnessing , being the true light ,helping others , tithing, doing God's will. The works that other people do is Well, if I get baptized...I'll go to heaven then...But I also have to abstain from meat on Friday to go to Heaven ...Then I have to be a good person ..to go to heaven then I'll give money to charity , to go to heaven ..Hey, Look God I'm doing all this .He'll let me in . If it were by our actions ,why did Jesus die on the cross for Then ?

Answer 4

We are saved by faith alone, not by works. Once we commit our lives to Jesus, by faith, we are starting on the road. We must pick up the work and go forward, doing good deeds and teaching in His name. Read Ephesians and then James.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

James 2:20
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Answer 5

Faith that has no works is dead. Read the second chapter of James. If our faith which is of God and is the basis of salvation does not lead to good works, it is useless and dead

Answer 6

"Works" means the doing of good deeds. You are correct that "works" do not get us to Heaven, that doesn't mean we shouldn't attempt to do good works. It's just God reminding us that salvation is a gift, not a trophy to be won.

Answer 7

And?Works have nothing to do with salvation,but everything to do with living out one's Faith.Read Hebrews.

Answer 8

no...What the Bible refers to is that we should not crawl on our knees as a form of repentance or sacrifice. I believe that when we do things as such we even Christians pervert Jesus' death on the cross.

Answer 9

There are so many things that come to mind ,yet I'm unsure of how to put them together .
i think i,ll start in the garden.so many people take it for granted that the first sin was disobedience( in the act of eating of the forbidden fruit.)but lets consider for a moment what caused that act .Yes ,eve was tempted.but as humans we have been tempted and some we give into and others we do not.so why did Eve fall into this particular temptation?what was her weak point.James1/14 tells us that we are weakened to the point of sin by our desires and thoughts. so i feel it safe to say that Satan tempted her with something she desired.(The desire to be something apart from God.) Her own boss so to speak.I say this because ,Satan's temptation was, surely you shall not die.and then he told her that God was trying to keep them from being gods and had in fact lied to them to keep them from becoming as Gods! Why would this appeal to her .why would she believe this lie against GOD, if she was content to be in submission to GOD? and Adam must have thought along the same lines as Eve ,cause he gave in also.
my point is that before there was the actual act of sin the seed of sin was lying dormant in their hearts.
God created man to glorify himself.and the purpose of man is to serve and glorify God. read that a couple of times and then say that there isnt somthing inside that rebels against that.a something that says what about me?and what i want?
I believe that that feeling of rebellion is related to the fact that God allows us free will ,actually created us with the ability to choose to follow or not follow him.And what God truly desires from us is that we die to self desire and choose him above all else.
this is what seperated us from God in the garden,The giving in to the desire to be something apart from God instead of submitting to being a part of GOD.
I know this is a long and winding road. but be patient please.
so what ive been saying so far is,sin is a heart issue.not just the act of disobediance but an issue of where ones heart and thoughts are at. mt.15 -19 for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.
at true conversion,we submit our will to God,denying self and seek to do his will. true conversion includes a heart change,Ro.12/1-2. so at last we come to your Question of works. the difference here is we do these works out of love for GOD and submission to his will ,that this is our acceptable service as man.That we daily sacrifice what we desire, for the glorification of God.
what is unacceptable to God is what Jesus called white washed tombs /The religious whose works are for show.the one s who for outward appearances look righteous but inside have not conformed to Gods will.they are doing the right things without relationship to GOD.It looks good on the outside but the inside is full of rot and decay.
the law was used by God to make the people ready for his plan of salvation .to make them realize that man is not capable of the perfection required by GOD under the law.That man Must submit and depend upon GODs mercy and grace in the form of Jesus,s sacrifice,covering our sins and restoring us to GOD.so we are no longer under the law but under the new covenant of law.where our heart condition (submission and relationship to GODis judged) and not our works .
right heart ,right thought,right relationship.and then right works will follow as a result.
Peace><>

Answer 10

your missing the one word that makes all the big deal work....its called...*alone* you cannot be saved thru works *alone*...it is by faith in Jesus birth, death and resurrection... that ye may be saved....