Faith & Grace...Part 2.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 7:21 (see also Luke 6:46-49 )

A cry of faith to the Lord does not let the sinner into God's kingdom without doing the Lord's will. Jesus' words are precise, with no questions about what a true Christian must do.

In Matthew 25:40, we read: " And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Here, Christ was talking previously about giving meat to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and visiting those in prison. These are those who will inherit the kingdom of God. These are those who did good works. They are not the ones who say that they have faith alone. They are not the ones who say that they have been permanently saved. Jesus is telling us here tha those who omit good works from their lives will go into everlasting punishment, in spite of any faith they claim to have. Read Matthew 25: 31-46.

In Mark 12: 28-34, Jesus is asked what the first and greatest commandments are. He says that the first is to love the Lord God, and the second is to love our neighbor. then He adds: there is none other commandments greater than these. If faith alone were all that was necessary for salvation, Christ surely would have mentioned it here as one of the greatest commandments. To love God requires an action on our part, for He says if you love me, keep my commandments. To love our neighbor also requires action on our part - we must feed the hungry, care for the sick, etc - all a part of doing something.

James 1:22 says: "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." It is clear that James is saying that hearing of the word is not good enough - that we must also be doers of good works.

3 John 11 " He that does good is of God; he that does evil is not."

The Bible assures us salvation is not by faith alone. In fact, the word "faith" and "alone" are not found together in the Bible anywhere, so why would one put his trust in such an anti-biblical concept?

Now, if somebody is already saved, what is the need of a judgment? Judgment is not necessary if one is already saved - either you are saved, or you are not. No need of a judgment.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10

Revelation 2-26 teaches us " And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations."
If someone is permanently saved, there is obviously nothing to overcome, and this warning is in vain. There is no absolute biblical assurance of instant and permanent salvation. IMHO