Do we obey Christ IN ORDER TO be saved or do we obey BECAUSE we have been saved?

Question

Consider the following passage of Scripture (Ephesians 2:8-10):

Ephesians 2:8-10 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain



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

9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

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

Answer 1

Obedience is a result of our salvation, not a condition. We cannot take "any" credit for our salvation because of our obedience. All the glory goes to our savior - Jesus Christ.
The Bible is quite clear that our own works or obedience do not help merit salvation. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5). “Not of works” (Ephesians 2:9). “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). This means that offering sacrifices, keeping the commandments, going to church, being baptized, and other good deeds are incapable of saving anyone. No matter how “good” we are, we can never measure up to God’s standard of holiness (Romans 3:23; Matthew 19:17; Isaiah 64:6).

Answer 2

I see these Scriptures as identifying grace preceding faith, not following it. This fits with Romans 8:30, which makes predestination itself a gift and a part of the salvation process. "Once Saved, Always Saved" becomes a bit of a misnomer then; we are saved from eternity, to eternity, bought and paid for by the Son and given a new heart and new life through the action of the Holy Spirit, never lost, because we were chosen and decreed to come to Him in the first place. We most definitely obey because we have been saved. But in a larger picture, God was never ineffective in bringing his own unto himself.

Answer 3

Excellent Question!!!! In our walk with God, we start by believing. We grow by obeying and following him with every step that we make. John 14:15 says, 'If you love me, you will obey my commands.' It doesn't say to get God's love, we need to obey him. No, it's the other way around. Also, I give you another thing to look at. Romans 12 is an excellent chapter about Christian living, especially when it comes to the topic of dealing with harsh people. The first verse in the chapter starts out with 'Therefore, in view of God's mercies..." Therefore means that everything before that is the reason that something else happens. Romans 1-11 talks about GRACE. Because of God's mercy and grace, we should then LIVE in a way that makes that grace EVIDENT in our lives!

Answer 4

Without obeying Christ, our faith is dead.

If your only goal is to achieve salvation for yourself, then you are lacking in what God really wants in our lives. Those that preach "saved by grace" alone - they are really missing the whole story.

Romans 6:15
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

Answer 5

We Christians obey and do good works because first we were saved. God loved us first; God chose to save us before the foundation of time. Our response comes after His saving grace.

Answer 6

BECAUSE He saved us! We WANT to obey Him! Before we are saved in Christ, there is NO good in us ( Romans 3:10) does not matter what man says, according to God, we are NOT good- therefore we would NOT want to obey Him- it is up to the Holy Spirit to soften us, and draw us in to Him. It is ALL God's doing! Praise be to Him!

Answer 7

I obey God because I am Saved, and I love Him. If I Fall Away, and stop obeying Him, then my love has grown Luke Warm, and He will spew me out of His mouth. If my Heart becomes cold toward Almighty God, then I've lost my Salvation.
Minister

Answer 8

Can anyone be saved by being disobedient to Christ, or even remaining neutral towards him? The answer to that is 'No!' Obedience is involved in becoming saved (initially), walking in faith the Christian way (on-going) and persevering in faith till we receive the crown (future, final reward). Yet I need to qualify that or I shall be misunderstood.

The Bible says, 'Turn to me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth!' (Isa 45:22) and that is clarified in the words of Christ who quoted another Isaiah passage about turning to him to be healed (Isa 6:10, cf Mat 13:11-17). Many will not - indeed, cannot do that because they are hard-hearted and God chooses to leave them in that state. But God enables sincere people who hunger and thirst for his righteousness to understand the gospel and turn and be converted. They have to be obedient to the gospel call to 'Come', once God opens their eyes and ears to it. The crucial point is that God does not save them BECAUSE they did this! No - God ENABLED them to turn and be saved because of his great love for them. Yet they have to turn. Nobody will be saved without turning. It is not wise to give the impression that we just sit back and wait for God to save us, or that obedience to Christ is some kind of optional extra. It is equally unwise to give the impression that Christ's salvation cannot be completed without our participation and contribution, or that we are rewarded with salvation because of our obedience. Nobody can boast - salvation is all of God - and those who realise this strive with every fibre of their being to obediently please him.

Answer 9

In the whole council of God, salvation has always been by faith.
As an example, Abraham believed and was reckoned righteous.

Faith without works is dead and useless.

Jesus tells us to:
deny ourselves
pick up our cross
and follow Him!

Answer 10

BOTH

It is all about grace

There is no salvation without the obedience of faith and all virtue is based on ,sustained by and fulfilled by Grace through jesus' incarnation,death and Resurrection