Christians who believe that you are saved by good works and participation in church sacraments?

Question

Ephesians 2:8-10 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God'd masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

For those Christians who believe that works and sacraments are a "condition" of our free gift of salvation rather than a "result" of it, I have a few questions. Please support your answer with Bible references and not opinions.
1. How much work is required?
2. How do you know when you have done enough?
3. Who gets the credit for your salvation?
4. Did Jesus not complete his work on the cross, that he left some of it for us to do?
Thankyou in advance for your answers.

Thanks for your answers, but I was wanting answers from people who "do not" agree with me!

Thanks for your answers, but I was wanting answers from people who "do not" agree with me!

Answer 1

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. -Matthew 9:38.
God sends his people to do his work. What it is , we know, but not always.
1- A lot of work
2- You can never do enough.
3- Christ gets the credit, it is he who redeemed us.
4- Jesus left us all with work to do. Do you think salvation is a free ride??? We ALL must show ourselves worthy of receiving salvation. Faith without works is dead. -James 2:17.

Answer 2

This is exactly why I cannot see why some Christians believe that works are necessary along with faith for salvation. It doesn't make sense at all, and it goes against what Jesus Christ did on the cross. If you still need works to get into heaven, then what Jesus did on the cross means nothing.

Plus, I'll throw something else into this whole discussion. If you believe you're judged based on good works vs. bad works, how do you know that everything is viewed equally? What if you have to do a billion good actions to cover up one bad action? It would be nearly impossible to earn your way.

At the same time, how does God view each of your works? Maybe he doesn't view them as much and requires millions of works to get there, viewing each like a speck of sand. There are too many questions. It just doesn't make sense.

It is faith that is the only important thing for salvation. Works come from faith, but it is faith that is necessary for salvation.

Answer 3

Read James 2

Paul is overused in evangelical protestant churches and doctrines. He isn't the only writer in the bible.

Catholics, Mormons, Eastern Othordox don't belive in Grace alone.

As for how much work is required?
enough to be a good witness to man and God.
God is the judge according to your works Revelation 20

Answer 4

1) If it were up to me and my works, Jesus' death would have been wasted.

2) If it were up to how many good works I could do to keep up the the holiness of the Holy One, I would never acheive my goal.

Salvation is a gift from God - by grace, through faith. Not of any of my works, of this I cannot boast. Hmmm - sounds like scripture to me.

But, we must be patient with those who were taught otherwise. Pray for them, that the Holy Spirit would reveal Himself to them.

Answer 5

Works, are a natural progression,expectance and evidence of grace by faith....works are not synonomous with grace or faith......

We are saved by Grace,through faith alone in the attoning power of the cross.

For an uplifting and enlightening read: Please check out "The Cross Centered Life,by author C.J. Mahaney (Not sure If I spelled his last name correctly)....

EDIT I broke protocol and answered to lend extra support for your position.....Thanks for sharing brother...Nicely stated.

Answer 6

definite,all Christianity comes from Catholic and Orthodox Christianity i'm happy which you're quoting from the Catechism yet not in context Catholicism teaches not salvation by means of grace with my own works extra yet by means of grace on my own by means of faith that works by means of love each and every of the Catholic doctrines come from the Bible however the translation of the verses are distinctive from the form you intrepret the same verses interior the sunshine of your church traditions Mary isn't divine and adoring Mary is a grave sin in Catholic coaching

Answer 7

The Bible says we are saved by faith. Those who are saved will naturally do good works. We are also told that if our works do not make it through the judgment, we are still saved by our faith.

Answer 8

you cant earn salvation

yet you cant get it by cheap grace either-when your truely saved you will work out your salvation with fear and trembling

totally saved, yet "If you love me keep my commandments." Jesus

Answer 9

Shalom! May the PEACE OF YAHWEH b with you, & open your mind & heart to HIS TRUTH!!! First, I'm not a christian, however, I am one of those who LIVES BY KEEPING THE EVERY WORD (LAW ) OF YAHWEH, thro' the priestsof the HOUSE OF YAHWEH YISRAYL HAWKINS ous Pastor & Overseer, & thro YAHSHUA, MESSIAH & HIGH PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH! HALLELUYAHWEH!!! Right 2 it! The problem is found in Rev.12:9; "satan has the entire religious world deceived!" th muslim, the buddist, th christian, they all beleive just as strongly for thier religion as the other, yet, they can't all be correct. Whose wrong? & Whose 2 say whose wrong? A study of the history of the translation of the Holy Scriptures, the refreshing knowledge of the TRUE NAMES OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER YAHWEH & HIS SON YAHSHUA, the discovery of the TRUE SABBATH DAY & HOW IT IS TO BE KEPT, plus the revelation of the mark of the beast, all helps us to understand the real truth aout what's going on here on earth. The HOLY SCRIPTURES were given to us by YAHWEH thro the prophets in the HEBREW language. The NAME OUR HEAVENLY FATHER gve us for HIMSELF is YAHWEH!!! It means "I AM WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO BE, PERFECT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS & HOLINESS" cf.Ex.3:13-15; Hos.12:5; plus, our precious SAVIOR'S NAME is not jesus. jesus is a Greek word meaning "zeus our healer" , the TRUE SAVIOR'S NAME IS YAHSHUA, it means "YAHWEH IS OUR SALVATION"!!! Is a knowledge of those NAMES important? cf. Provs. 30:4; Why did the prophet ask? If not for the fact that people were already being deceived even in his time by the false writings of the scribes, cf. Jer. 8:8; 23:24-27;- Now, here we see in the bible that the scribes wrote the NAMES wrong in the scriptures so that the people would forget HIS NAME for the lord, or god, or baal. Prophesy also promises that in these last days, cf.Hosh.2:16-23; here we learn that in this day, YAHWEH will take the names oif the lords & the gods from out of our mouths & refresh us with the knowledge of HIS TRUE & HOLY NAME!!! So, that we may be HIS PEOPLE & that HE MAY BE OUR FATHER!!! Note: YAHWEH is FATHER ONLY TO THOSE WHO LOVE & OBEY HIS LAWS!!! HE IS NOT FATHER to the sinner, satan is. Now, concerning works & the KEEPING OF YAHWEH'S LAWS, WHAT DID our savior teach? Mt.4:4; Lk:4:4; Deut.8:3; So, YAHSHUA did teach us both in word & in deed by the works HE PERFORMED that we are to KEEP YAHWEH'S LAWS!!! However, the religious leaders hated YAHSHUA for HIS teachings, & taught others that the laws were done away. Did YAHSHUA agree with this teaching? cf. Mt.5:17-20;- no, HE SAID "DON'T EVEN ALLOW THE THOUGHT TO ENTER YOUR MIND THAT THE LAWS & THE PROPHETS (O.T.) HAS BEEN DESTROYED***" YAHSHUA further taught that, cf.Mt.19:16-17; "If you want to gain eternal life, KEEP THE LAWS & COMMANDMENTS!" Now, to your question? How much work is required? How much is enough? Who gets credit? These questions come from a heart of misunderstand of the scriptures, in thier thoughts they do err. It must be understood that NO AMOUNT OF WORK IS EVER ENOUGH TO PURCHASE YOUR SALVATION! If that were possible then there would have been no need for OUR PRECIOUS SAVIOR YAHSHUA to be murdered on the stake!!! However, it is also true that NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU BELEIVE, YOU CAN'T BELEIVE OR THINK YOUR SELF INTO SALVATION, or heaven, as most believe. What? then is the purpose for the LAW? Think on YAHWEH'S NAME & what it means. I AM WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO BE, PERFECT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS & HOLINESS!!! We learn from scripture that YAHSHUA KEPT YAHWEH'S LAWS & taught others to do so as well. TYherefore HE serves as OUR EXAMPLE that we too should KEEP ALL OF YAHWEH'S LAWS! What has led us astray? Mal.2:7-13; the mouths of lying preachers have led the people astray, cf. 2Cor.4:3-4; 11:13-15; Mt. 15.14; 7:15-19; beware false prophets!!! what will be thie message? that the LAWS OF YAHWEH are nailed to a pagan cross!!! & no longer necessary to keep!!! Live your lives any way you so choose, just believe!!! Look carefully at Mt.7:21-23; the judgement was "I never knew you, you who practice iniquity!" you go to church & someone will say to you, do you know jesus, brother? What's it mean "to know"? the judgement in Mt.7:23 said I never knew you! It seems important that one should 'KNOW YAHWEH then, doesn't it? cf. 1Jn.2:3-6; "Now, by this we KNOW THAT WE KNOW HIW, IF WE KEEP HIS LAWS!!!"<4 HE WHO SAYS,"I KNOW HIM, BUT DOES NOT keep HIS LAW, is a liar, & the truth is not in him!!!"<5 But whoeve keeps HIS LAW, in him is the LOVE OF YAHWEH PERFECTED; BY THIS W E KNOW THAT WE ARE IN HIM!!!" IKt seems perfectly obvious to me that we are to keep the HOLY LAWS! This is the very definition of LOVE!!! cf. 1Jn.5:2-3 " By this we KNOW that we LOVE the children of YAHWEH, when we LOVE YAHWEHBY KEEPING HIS LAWS!" <3 "For this is the LOVE OF YAHWEH, THAT WE KEEP HIS LAW, & HIS LAW IS NOT GRIEVOUS!!!" You see, the Law is a grevious burden to the christian. YAHWEH'S LAWS allow no room for cheating your fellow man out of his money. The religious leaders of any time would not stand for that!!! Thus, the WORK is not the means for our Salvation, that is the free gift of YAHEH to those with whom HE CHOOSES to offer it to. You can't earn it!!! The desire to WORK, or KEEP YAHWEH'S LAWS, IS THE RESULT of YAHWEH'S SALVATION coming upon a person. cf. Heb.8:8-12; 10:16-17; Jer.31-34: Ezel.36:26-29;- Here's the TRUE COVENANT, that yahweh will pl;ace his law in our hearts & minds!!!" Questions? Call Abel 325-670-9494 that will settle the matter!!!

Answer 10

No man can enter heaven without being born again.