Paul says faith alone, John the Revelator says works...which one?

Question

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

John the Revelator says "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." in Revelation 20:13

So what is it? Are you granted salvation by faith alone, or are you granted salvation by being judged on your works?

shaolt......did you read my question?

Paul is saying that faith is only nescessary to getting into Heaven and works don't matter. But John is saying people are judged by their works...

So which one is it?

No, I don't htink it's cool....

I'm in a bad mood tonight...........lol

Answer 1

Paul is not saying only faith. Read Ephesians 2:10! It says that we were designed to do good works! That is an example of scripture taken out of context.


Hey! this is my 777 answer! ^_^ Hey Peter, don't you think that's cool?

Answer 2

You really need to go one verse farther in Ephesians. Verse 10 tells us we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We are saved by faith. But when we are saved our works show that faith. As to what John means. When Christians are judged the only works we will have are our good works. Our sins will have been forgiven and thus nothing bad will be there to be held against us.

Just to make sure it is clear we are saved by faith. But once saved we should have works. As James says faith without works is dead. A Christian who has no works should be worried.

Answer 3

You are saved by faith alone. Your works should then bear witness to your faith. If you don't follow Jesus' teachings to love your fellow man, help those in need, and be kind to people, you will not have as many rewards in heaven.

There are 2 judgments- the one for Christians is the Judgment Seat of Christ. We will give an account for our works at that time. But, we will still be in heaven, just have fewer rewards.

Answer 4

If you were an astute observer you would have noted that the latter verse refers to those who are not part of the first resurrection - that is, they are not among those who were saved by grace through faith. They are therefore judged according to their works:

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Revelation 20:14-15

So we see their name was not written in the Lamb's Book of Life - they were not believers, and they therefore ended up paying the consequences of their sins.

Answer 5

FAITH is the real basis of all religions. It is the corner stone of all these man made fairy tail storeys (like the long one you can read in the bible...).

You see, since noone can come up with any concrete evidence of any god. One must have blind faith, accept all that bs at face value without questioning!

Why is it that if god is so mighty, and if god really wanted to eliminate evil on earth, all he would have to do is show up and "prove" to all that he really exists?

The answer is simple: HE DOES NOT!!! as Napoleon once said: " Religions were invented so the poor people would not kill the rich people for their money".

What a joke! Here we are in 2007 and tons of gullible people are still very happy to "blindly believe" because someone (who also blindly believe) tells them to... using a fairy tail book no less!!!

Amazing!

Answer 6

I believe that John of patmos was saying that the dead are judged.
The "dead"
Those who believe on Jesus Christ have passed from death to life.
So anyone one with faith is not really dead.
But for those who do not believe, judgment abide on them.
Its not just Paul who says by faith alone ye shall be saved.
Look at the end of the book of acts, Peter go's on about it.
Also Jesus himself says "believe unto me and ye shall pass from death unto life" He is a god of the living not of the dead.
This is the constant theme of the new testament. FAITH-

Answer 7

Works accoding to the bible is belief in Jesus Christ.

That is stated plain and simple in the bible. Our work according to God is to believe that he sent us his son, Jesus Christ and that he died and rose again, all for the remission of our sins.

Thus, you could believe in God (faith) and not have works (belief in Jesus CHrist).

Problem now a days, is people equate this word with a physical movement of some sort. Biblically, it states that our work is to believe in the one whom God sent.

Oh and by the way, if you believe in the one God sent, you will obey his command to Love one another, and yes, that takes a physical movement.

Answer 8

Your works are a side effect of your heart.
Jesus said your good deeds are like filthy rags (how do you clean with filthy rags)
The Holy Spirit heals the soul,.. so if your heart is pure, everything that stems from the core of your being will also be pure of heart.

Answer 9

That's people thinking they can get into heaven on they're own.
Without the blood of Christ, you will be judged by your works.

Answer 10

the key is the time sequence...the REVelation account is talking about the 2nd resurrection AFter the millenium
Christians are judged by being born again only..