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In order to believe that Faith must be coupled with Works, one must ignore many passgaes that directly teach the contrary. While I agree it makes sense that man must earn a part of his salvation by works, this is nowhere in view in the Book of John, in which Jesus repeatedly states that Belief on Himself (Jesus) is what saves (John 3:16, 14:1, 20:3, etc). In Romans, Paul plainly teaches that no one is save by work of the flesh. I would leave you with Ephesians 2:8-9

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

The whole point is that we are sinful, and cannot be good enough. Only through Jesus is a man saved. Our righteousness is but filthy rags, and meaningless in His sight concerning salvation.

Now, how then should I live? Love God and love my neighbor. But I do this to please my Father, because of what he has done for me, not so that he will do it.

BTW, how good must I be to be saved? How many times can I break a commandement? Why did Jesus die, anyway?

I think you agreed with me when I said that paying lip service to Jesus Christ does not grant salvation. I see faith without any sense of charity as just that. We are not expected to be perfect but we can TRY OUR BEST TO BE BETTER INDIVIDUALS.

Just some examples. Fidel Castro. Fidel believes that if he gets the priests in for last rites just before he dies, he's good with God. And in some Christian teachings, he would be correct in believing this.

Another is Eliot Spitzer, posterboy for adultery 2008. Say he was a 'Christian' that professed his faith but continued his escapades.

Then I think of a good hardworking family who live in Iran who are forbidden to even think about Christianity let alone practice it. Or the Buddhist monks in Tibet who are striving for religious and other freedoms.

Point is, whose going to Heaven from this lot? Shall we all just say the people of Tibet are heathens who are damned so why should we care? The Iranian family is our enemy because they are Muslim? How can I judge their hearts?

Admittance to the Lord's kingdom is by individual based on the lives they each led. It's individual and personal with each and we cannot know the reasons for judgment except for ourselves.

Why did Jesus die, anyway?

The Lord never "died". He became the Divine Human -- God in perfect form.

He was born half Divine, half human. Through His life, He conquered the hells and put off that which was human.

Our own regeneration mirrors this process that the Lord went through. The Lord battled all evils so we do not have to alone.