Why do many good Christians based their salvation on good works and not faith in Christ alone?

Question

I found that faith in Christ for what he has done on the cross for us is complete for our salvation- forgiveness of our sins, freedom from sin and its power, eternal life in Christ. In fact he said "It is finished" (John 19:30-NKJV)

Answer 1

Because they think they have something to do with thier salvation, that somehow they can earn it. It makes them feel like they have control over some aspect of thier salvation, that it's part Jesus and part ME, they put the emphases on the me. When James writes,"Faith without works is dead being alone." I can agree with that, when a person enters into realtionship With Christ by faith the natural product of that faith is Good works, not our own, but Christ working thru us.

Answer 2

Never read then entire book of James have you?
James 2
14
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day,
16
and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?
17
So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18
Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
19
You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.
20
Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?
21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
22
You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.
23
Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God."
24
See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25
And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?
26
For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.


Jesus' followers were not suppose to be lazy Christians. Indeed to be Christian means literally to be the little Christ with all of it's service and sacrifice.

I hate quoting scripture like this. But you obviously would not even take an answer into consideration unless someone put it in front of you.

Answer 3

Because they're not good Christians.
Salvation is by faith.
Romans 3:21-28, Romans 5:1, Romans 9: 30-33, Romans 11:6, Galatians 3:11-13, Ephesians 2:8, Isaiah 64:6.

But faith without works is dead, why? Because if someone has TRUE faith, it will be accompanied by works. Don't let that verse mistaken you into thinking that we earn our salvation. If we have TRUE faith, we'd be like Paul (I think) when he said that it is no longer I that live, but Christ in me.

Answer 4

That's the sad things, most the people believe that to do good work they save. Because this is what they heard and teach by some religion. They pray and believe a lot of saints or god that made of wood or stone. They read also the bible and i know some of them know the truth but the devil spirit still control his life. That's why Jesus said " go in preach the Gospel" Because Jesus is the only way to heaven John 14:6 .

Answer 5

When Jesus said, "It is finished," he was saying that his sacrifice was finished, not that our salvation was finished. Many Biblical scholars and theologians draw parallels between the Last Supper and the Jewish Passover, and say that in fact, Jesus, who was a devout Jew, was celebrating the Passover on the night he was betrayed. In the Jewish Passover, there are 4 cups of wine, but Jesus only used 3 in the Last Supper and said that he would not drink of the fruit of the vine until he did so in the kingdom of the Father. Right before his death on the cross, he drank from a sponge soaked in sour wine and said, "it is finished." He refers to the Passover sacrifice being finished with himself as the Lamb of God, the Paschal Sacrifice. It was not until he is resurrected that his work of salvation is complete ("we are saved by his death and resurrection") so, the idea of being "finished" does not refer to our salvation. We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, take up our cross and follow him, feed the hungry, tend the sick...all of these things are in Jesus' preaching. Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, "Faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love," not faith, love. Jesus said love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength AND love your neighbor as yourself. Both.

Answer 6

Saved by Christ alone...hmm.....


Evolving souls on some level reject the false idea that a pagan blood sacrifice can absolve them of THEIR "sins" Unlike someone like an Adolf Hitler, who by this false idea, could have ascended straight to heaven on his deathbed without any consequences by a mere acceptance that Jesus "died for his sins."

I feel like I need to warn people who believe in this dangerous idea that was not offered by Christ, but is a tactic used by man to get away with bad behavior.

I knew a Christian who believed all his sins were automatically forgiven in this manner. He sexually abused his 5 daughters, raped them repeatedly, went to church, slapped them around, church again, took pornographic pictures of them at the age of 3 up, always wore a cross.

Always talked about how much he loved Jesus. Never missed church. Due to circumstances, never faced any consequences for his actions in his life at all. Totally believed he was going to heaven. After all, it was what he had been taught. Christ died for those sins.

When he passed away, you could say some prayed that God would hold him responsible for his actions. His soul descended into a place many would identify as "hell."

So you know what...some Christians out there stand on a very slippery slope when they don't question this one.

Answer 7

Maybe they read the parts of the Bible that say you have to do more than just believe.

Jam 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

There are others as well.

Answer 8

To put it lightly, when you are old enough to make it in this world...do you still rely on your parents to pull you through everything?

When it comes to faith and deeds, and this is part where I see how atheists (some) are more holier than most church goers...

Atheists have managed a way to live by a way that they know to be a strong one. Where as some of us religious folk, rely on other things to happen to pull us through.
Strong faith are those with deeds. Deeds come first. As it says in the bible, "you have faith, I have deeds, show me your faith and I'll show you my deeds". Somewhere along that lines.

But what this is, is that we have to have something to show for it. Just like God has us do.

What if we only were to put our faith in God and not what we are able to do... That's an insult to God, because when your parents raise you, they raise you strong enough to make it on your own.
If we did not utilize what God has given us.. then we insult God in a way... thus those who have TRUE faith will utilize what they know.. and not just have God do all the work. He did after all create us in His likeness...

Here's what I have done with my Faith and deeds.. I am a choreographer and dancer by trade and now that I know what TRUE faith is, I know that I have been called from what My deeds have been...
go to my sites to see

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/oceanremix
or
http://geocities.com/oceanremix/linesoftruth.html

Answer 9

Because unlike you they have read and understood James 2:17 Faith without works is dead being alone further down a verse or two James adds, you see how a man is justified by works and not faith only?
BB

Answer 10

In the book of James it says "man is not saved by faith alone but in works too". You need both in order to achieve salvation.