B-A-C
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- Dec 18, 2008
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There are certain Christian denominations who take this "not saved by works" a little too far.
I agree we are not saved "by" works. Nobody can work their way into heaven. No one gets saved without Jesus.
But having said all that, are no works at all required?
Even if they aren't required, is doing good deeds a bad thing? Some denominations talk about the dreaded "works" so much, they scare people from doing anything useful for God.
Eph 2:8; For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph 2:10; For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
You were created for "good works". God prepared them for you, so you would "walk in them".
In the parable of the talents, two servants were told "well done, good and faithful servant", but one of them was told...
Matt 25:26; "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Matt 25:27; 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
Matt 25:28; 'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
Matt 25:29; "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Matt 25:30; "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus calls this servant wicked and "lazy". Jesus has this one thrown out. All because he didn't use the talent God gave him. How many of us will be called "wicked and lazy".
Matt 25:7; "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
Matt 25:8; "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
Matt 25:9; "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
Five of the virgins kept their lamps full of oil, five did not. The door was shut on them.
In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus says...
Matt 25:39; 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
Matt 25:40; "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
Matt 25:41; "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Matt 25:42; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
Matt 25:43; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
Matt 25:44; "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
Matt 25:45; "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
Matt 25:46; "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
One group fed the hungry, visited the sick, clothed the poor, and the other group did not. One group goes into eternal life, the other group goes to eternal punishment.
James says...
Jas 2:15; If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
Jas 2:16; and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Jas 2:17; Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Jas 2:18; But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Jas 2:19; You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Jas 2:20; But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Jas 2:21; Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
There are dozens more verses like this. So while good works alone can't save you, does that mean no work at all is required?
Even faith itself is a work.
John 6:29; Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Jesus says here that believing is a work. If you're here on TalkJesus posting messages about doctrine, guess what, you're working whether you now it or not.
Do you read and study the Bible?
2Tim 2:15; Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
If you are studying the Bible, you're a workman.
Prov 27:17; Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
If you're discussing the Bible and doctrine with other believers, guess what, you're sharpening iron. You're working.
Luke 9:62; But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Are you plowing fields, planting seeds? Praying for people, evangelizing? Then guess what, you're working.
People point to the thief on the cross and say he didn't do any work, maybe not, he didn't have much opportunity, but do you?
In 3 of the 4 gospels, Jesus says we need to take up our cross and follow Him.
Matt 16:24; Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Mark 8:34; And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Luke 9:23; And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
If you're taking up your cross and following Jesus, you're working. Will you make it to heaven if you don't do anything, if you just sit around and bear no fruit?
Luke 13:6; And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
Luke 13:7; "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'
Luke 13:8; "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
Luke 13:9; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"
Some trees refuse to bear fruit, even with Jesus watering them and fertilizing them. Jesus says those trees will be cut down.
Are you working to bear fruit?
Rev 2:4; 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev 2:5; 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
Jesus says "repent and do the deeds you (used to do)."
John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
The people who did evil things will go to hell. The people who did good things go to eternal life, but what about those on the fence who didn't really do much one way or the other?
Rev 3:15; 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16; 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Jesus is going to spit those people out also.
I agree we are not saved "by" works. Nobody can work their way into heaven. No one gets saved without Jesus.
But having said all that, are no works at all required?
Even if they aren't required, is doing good deeds a bad thing? Some denominations talk about the dreaded "works" so much, they scare people from doing anything useful for God.
Eph 2:8; For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph 2:10; For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
You were created for "good works". God prepared them for you, so you would "walk in them".
In the parable of the talents, two servants were told "well done, good and faithful servant", but one of them was told...
Matt 25:26; "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Matt 25:27; 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
Matt 25:28; 'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
Matt 25:29; "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Matt 25:30; "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus calls this servant wicked and "lazy". Jesus has this one thrown out. All because he didn't use the talent God gave him. How many of us will be called "wicked and lazy".
Matt 25:7; "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
Matt 25:8; "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
Matt 25:9; "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
Five of the virgins kept their lamps full of oil, five did not. The door was shut on them.
In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus says...
Matt 25:39; 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
Matt 25:40; "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
Matt 25:41; "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Matt 25:42; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
Matt 25:43; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
Matt 25:44; "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
Matt 25:45; "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
Matt 25:46; "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
One group fed the hungry, visited the sick, clothed the poor, and the other group did not. One group goes into eternal life, the other group goes to eternal punishment.
James says...
Jas 2:15; If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
Jas 2:16; and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Jas 2:17; Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Jas 2:18; But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Jas 2:19; You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Jas 2:20; But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Jas 2:21; Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
There are dozens more verses like this. So while good works alone can't save you, does that mean no work at all is required?
Even faith itself is a work.
John 6:29; Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Jesus says here that believing is a work. If you're here on TalkJesus posting messages about doctrine, guess what, you're working whether you now it or not.
Do you read and study the Bible?
2Tim 2:15; Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
If you are studying the Bible, you're a workman.
Prov 27:17; Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
If you're discussing the Bible and doctrine with other believers, guess what, you're sharpening iron. You're working.
Luke 9:62; But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Are you plowing fields, planting seeds? Praying for people, evangelizing? Then guess what, you're working.
People point to the thief on the cross and say he didn't do any work, maybe not, he didn't have much opportunity, but do you?
In 3 of the 4 gospels, Jesus says we need to take up our cross and follow Him.
Matt 16:24; Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Mark 8:34; And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Luke 9:23; And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
If you're taking up your cross and following Jesus, you're working. Will you make it to heaven if you don't do anything, if you just sit around and bear no fruit?
Luke 13:6; And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
Luke 13:7; "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'
Luke 13:8; "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
Luke 13:9; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"
Some trees refuse to bear fruit, even with Jesus watering them and fertilizing them. Jesus says those trees will be cut down.
Are you working to bear fruit?
Rev 2:4; 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev 2:5; 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
Jesus says "repent and do the deeds you (used to do)."
John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
The people who did evil things will go to hell. The people who did good things go to eternal life, but what about those on the fence who didn't really do much one way or the other?
Rev 3:15; 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16; 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Jesus is going to spit those people out also.
.
