First and foremost, I meet and speak with multitudes of people who spend a good part of their daily experience working for their salvation! What a terrible way to live. Never knowing what sin will be the one that takes you out. Beloved, God won’t have it. God’s only requirement for salvation is that you believe by faith alone that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead three days later.
It is essential for Christians to fully understand the truth about salvation and the roles of grace and works. The apostle Paul, in multiple Bible verses, makes it clear that we can not work for our salvation, and that any attempt to do so nullifies the grace of God.
One of the most explicit verses on this topic is Ephesians 2:8-9, where Paul states “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.” This verse clearly states that salvation is not earned through our own works, but it is a gift from God given through faith.
This message is reinforced in other verses such as Romans 3:28, where Paul states “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” and Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
It’s important to understand that this is not to say that good works are unnecessary or unimportant, but rather that they are the fruit of salvation and not the means by which we attain it. In James 2:14-26, the apostle James makes it clear that faith without works is dead, but that works flow naturally from salvation by grace.
In conclusion, the apostle Paul makes it clear that we can not work for our salvation, it is a gift from God given through faith, and any attempt to earn it through works nullifies the grace of God. Good works are important, but they are the fruit of salvation, not the means by which we attain it.
Get your Bible out and Study the Passages below:
Ephesians 2:8-9 “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.”
Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
James 2:14-26 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?… Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”