Good Works Get You In To Heaven?

Question

You always hear that " you can't do any amount of good things in your life to "go to heaven"'...it's dependent on Jesus, or belief, etc. But what about John 5 : 29? What does this indicate to you?

5:29 "...and shall go forth; those that have practised good, to resurrection of life, and those that have done evil, to resurrection of judgment. "

BTW, these were Jesus' own words, according to scripture. (Seems some of you may have assumed otherwise.)

I bring this up in response to Christians I know who still practice meaness and evil, but feel their salvation is assured because they accepted Jesus some time ago.

Some have you have counseled me not to go with just one verse. So I add this:

Matthew 007:021
"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."
(again, this is Jesus speaking according to scripture)

I'm grateful to see that some of you have studied the Bible extensively, and understand, and probably have fully turned from eveil way. Unlike so many who still practice evil, say they're Christian, and I wonder about their spiritual fate.

Answer 1

Are works really necessary if a person has faith?

Jas. 2:17, 18, 21, 22, 26: “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself. Nevertheless, a certain one will say: ‘You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from the works, and I shall show you my faith by my works.’ Was not Abraham our father declared righteous by works after he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? You behold that his faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected. Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

To Illustration: A young man may court a young lady, telling her that he loves her. But if he never asks her to marry him, is he really demonstrating that his love is thorough?

Likewise, works are a means of demonstrating the genuineness of our faith and our love. If we do not obey God we do not really love him or have faith in the rightness of his ways. (1 John 5:3, 4) But we cannot earn salvation no matter what works we do. Eternal life is a gift from God through Jesus Christ, not payment for our works.—Eph. 2:8, 9.

Answer 2

Those verses you quoted are literally true. They appear to contradict the verses that say you are saved by faith alone apart from works. But they do not contradict. Through faith we are saved from sin. But through works of repentance, obedience, and love we prove our faith. Faith without works is dead, wrote James.

Our works will prove whether we really believe what we say. If we do not live like Jesus lived, then we do not yet believe (see this teaching in 1 John).

In the passages you quoted, Jesus was looking at the fruit of those who believed. Those who believe will do the good works that will result in a reward in heaven. Those who continue in the works of the flesh will be rewarded with shame and contempt .

Answer 3

It all depends on the heart. A lot of people only do good to say "look what I have done." It is the deed from the heart that wants no recognition that is "good".
As for evil. When I was in my 20's I never thought "evil" existed. Now I know that it does. Evil is more than sin--it it evil.
It is the abduction, abuse, rape, and murder of a child just for someone to have a few moments of sexual satisfaction.
It is the torture of another living thing, to achieve satisfaction.
It is an act done in violence for someone eases satisfaction.

Answer 4

John 5:29 means those who have practiced doing good will come out to the resurrection(new life) and those who have done evil will be raised for judgement(to meet their sentence)try Dan.12:2

Answer 5

Faith without works is dead( James 2:14-24) and cannot save. Only living faith which works through love(Gal 5:4-6) is truly a real saving work of grace,which alone saves.People who believe in Jesus in their heads and emotions but live in mortal sin and die in mortal sin have ejected Grace anf God from their lives. The Bible nowhere teaches that faith separated from love is saving or tolerated by God.

Answer 6

Muslims and people who claim to be Jewish say yes-Jesus says NO. "For by grace are you saved through faith, it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8&9

SORRY MUSLIMS AND JEWISH PEOPLE YOU ARE WRONG AND JESUS IS RIGHT!

WE HAVE a thing called this claimed in Judaism today to bring salvation by works= Tzedakah this comes from the Lord our Tzedak =The Lord is our righteousness
Isaiah 53 explains how the Lord becomes our righteousness

at the destruction of the temple and no sacrifice of blood for sin-a new religion was developed apart for Scriptural Judaism -
Moses explained "The life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it upon the altar to make atonement for your souls."

this new religion rejecting Moses and the promised Messiah
tries to say a new atonement can be found through helping others -and this is encorporated into this new religion -strangely still called Judaism
it is helping people of their faith and can also be used though rarely to help people that personally know the religious people's Messiah Jesus.

although Messianic Jewish people do do this too -but not to try to earn their salvation through alms-but because they love the Messiah Jesus and all others.

Isaiah 9:6 "Unto us a child is born a son is given, and he will be almighty GOD, and the Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 states "He shall lay down his life to make atonement for our sins."

thus we get to chose from a Messiah that will save us and be our best friend, and helping others, or helping others to be our own savior thinking we are earning our way to heaven.

praying for you and best wishes too Shalom peace-David

Answer 7

The difference is this, Good Works are those done for the benefit of others without regard for self. Dead Works are those performed with the idea that if one works hard enough they can earn their way into heaven without believing in Christ.

Answer 8

Remember that you can't take one verse from the bible and make a rule out of it. The bible always needs to be compared with the bible. Therefore, the book of Ephesians tells us it is not by works we are savd, but by faith; if another verse tells us if we call upon the name of Jesus we are saved, and another says if we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved....then we know salvation comes not from works, but from faith.

Practising good is an admonition of God to those who believe. It is not what saves us, as the bible clearly points out over and over and over again.

Answer 9

It is only faith that actually gets you into heaven, but the the bible also teaches that we as Christians will be recognized by our deeds. Any one who has truly accepted Jesus will do good works, not to get into heaven, but to follow his example. If someone claims to be saved and is not doing any good works, I would seriously question their claims. Only God knows what is truly in their heart, but I would find it doubtful if what is in their heart is not manifesting itself in any outward way.

Answer 10

Perfection is required to go to heaven, " no sin will enter heaven". The problem is no one qualifies except by having faith in Jesus Christ who was the perfect lamb and gave His life for those who believe. We are saved by faith, not by OUR works.