Are we saved by works, or saved by faith?

Question

If you ask someone (i mean someone who really knows that religion) in the Catholic church, how are we saved. Here is the what the answer wil be.

They beleive the are saved by faith, Yes. But also saved by works. Huh? How can it be both? Either God saved us, because he is the author of faith. OR, we save ourselves by walking old ladies across the street, calling ourself Good samaratins, and counting how many prayers we said, and how many times a week we went to church.

The Bible teaches we are saved by faith alone, a free gift of God. God is the author of faith, and not us.

Works is saying we have the capability by ourselves, through baptism, through prayer, through works to get to heaven. I mean come on! It's one or the other!!! If we are saved by works, what do we need Jesus for then if we can DO anything ourselves?

We are saved by faith + Nothing. Adding anything to the cross if corrupting the word of God.

Answer 1

your bible also says faith without works is dead---i guess we have to wait till you all make up your minds then maybe this question has merit---myself-i will believe a mans actions over his words--enjoy the day

Answer 2

Neither. We are saved by one and one thing only: our Oneness with God. Since we were made in the image and likeness of God, we all have the ability to Be the Christ or Be the Buddha. Unfortunately, after the fall of man, most have been walking in darkness of the consciousness of separation from God even when believing in God in an outer sense.

Belief in Christ alone will not save us. We must BE the Christ, not simply be a Christian. Jesus told us that the Kingdom of God is within us and that is where we must find it.

Take note of Jesus' parable of the wedding feast where one of the guests tried to enter the feast without first putting in the wedding garment. The wedding garment symbolizes the Christ consciousness (of Oneness with God). Without this, no matter what our outer believes are, we are not saved.

We cannot attain that which we currently are not. However, we all have the potential to attain the Christ consciousness and therefore we all can be saved. Salvation itself means permanently ascending to the higher realms of spirit. This is permanent when we have 1) balanced our debts to life and 2) overcome the consciousness of separation (known as the duality consciousness) and put on the mind of Christ.

Answer 3

I am not Catholic nor am I defending them, but please look at the verse below. It is not works that save us, by no means (Ephesians 2:8-10). Rather part of faith is displaying our faith by works. If you have faith, works will automatically come with it. Not the other way around.

James 2:20-26
"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Answer 4

Grace is God’s giving us something we cannot earn or deserve. According to Romans 11:6, “work” of any kind destroys grace—the idea is that a worker earns payment, while the recipient of grace simply receives it, unearned. Since salvation is all of grace, it cannot be earned. Faith, therefore, is a non-work. Faith cannot truly be considered a “work,” or else it would destroy grace. (See also Romans 4—Abraham’s salvation was dependent on faith in God, as opposed to any work he performed.)
Suppose a unknown benefactor—someone with whom I had no previous dealings whatsoever—sent me a check for $1,000,000. The money is mine if I want it, but I still must endorse the check. In no way can signing my name be considered earning the million dollars—the endorsement is a non-work. I can never boast about becoming a millionaire through sheer effort or my own business savvy. No, the million dollars was simply a gift, and signing my name was the only way to receive it. Similarly, exercising faith is only the way to receive the generous gift of God, and faith cannot be considered a work worthy of the gift.

Answer 5

1. We are Saved by Faith---First! (our Spirits are Born-Again by the Holy Spirit when we say YES to Jesus) Jesus does this Completely for us when we say yes.

2. Then, we Learn How to Use Faith to "Save" ourselves from Sin, Sickness, Disease, Poverty so on.

Learning how to Use Faith helps us to RECIEVE they Rest of what Jesus has Provided for us.


There are Two Parts to being a Child of GOD.
1. Accepting Jesus as your Saviour and getting Born-Again
2. Following Jesus and Learning how to "Work Out our Salvation" from Sin, Sickness, Disease, Poverty so on by Learning How to Walk in Faith.

Part 1 gets you into Heaven.
If you don't do part 2 much or any, you will Still Make Heaven your Home.

Thanky Jesus!
Dit============to!

Answer 6

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

So the obvious answer should be you are saved by faith alone. No amount of "good" works will help you. Here is what God thinks of your "good" works.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as FILTHY RAGS; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Answer 7

This is not a hard thing to understand. We are saved by Grace. Which means we do not deserve it,, it is unmerited favor....but there are certain things you must do to show your obedience to God...you must repent, be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit. You would be amazed at the people who think they received the Holy Spirit when they were baptised.

If you read the book of Acts, you will realize that the receiving of the Holy Ghost is a seperate act from baptism.
Pay attention to the scriptures below..these are baptised, believers,,yet they did not have the Holy Ghost....

"Philip went down to Samaria, and preached Christ unto them . . . the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city." Moreover, we are told that "when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. . . . Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Ghost, for as yet it was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then [Peter and John] laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Ghost."

Luke 11:11-13
........................ how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.

Answer 8

orrr you could look at it as you must have enough faith in Jesus to rely on Him to obey Him, follow Him and obey His teachings. Faith without works is DEAD!!
Jesus said, "For the Son of Man will come with His angels in the glory of the Father and He will judge all people according to thier deeds. Jesus Christ is the author AND perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12)

We are saved through His grace by faith alone. His grace gives us the power and strength to beleive in Him, trust Him, follow Him and obey Him.

If you say you have faith, but don't follow Him and still sin. . .are you really saved?? according to scriptures. . no.

P.S. Hollar to Robin including the working out your salvation with fear and trembling. . (philippians 2: 12)

Answer 9

Just so you know ... that was a sermon and not a question. Your additional details void the nature of your question.

Now I might suggest that you read the book of James, who said "Faith without works is dead." Does dead faith save? If works were not necessary, why would James have spoken so strongly about them? Is this another part of the Bible that protestants wish to ignore? Luther wished to remove the book of James from the Christian Canon. Perhaps you wish to take up the fight anew?

Anyway, I'm not a Christian, so it really doesn't matter to me. I do find the infighting among Christians amusing though.

Answer 10

Good evening Rudy.
First of all, I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Robin. I have been a Christian for almost 28 years. To answer your question, we are saved by faith. In Romans it says " For by grace are you saved by faith, not by works, lest anyone should boast it is a gift of God.

Secondly, it also states in the bible that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Answer 11

James 2:26" as the body without spirit is dead so, also Faith without work is dead". by faith with work, work by faith!
Matthew 7:21-Jesus said that those who is doing the will of his father will be saved, doing good work is good, helping the poor, volunteering, any kind of good works but as doing so... are we doing Gods will? Because all of this good works is useless if we forgot to do gods will!