James 2:24
24 “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
Mark 16:15-17
15” And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;”
Luke 13:2-3
2 “And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Matt. 10:32-33
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven”
John 6:39-41
39 “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Romans 10:17
17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Matt. 4:4
4 “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
I love Scripture, absolutely love it, but since your just quoting random disconnected verses I’m not sure what you are getting at. If you are using these texts to support the proposition that a man’s works play some part in justification you are guilty of eisegesis. You don’t fully understand the sin nature of man, the absolute holiness of God, the work of Christ, propitiation, or justification. I’m not questioning your salvation. That’s between you and the Lord. I’m simply suggesting you dive in and study more, perhaps from a different perspective. Scripture must be read in context and in light of other Scripture.
I’m sure you know natural man is “dead in trespasses and sins.” Isaiah says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Every aspect of man is tainted by sin to the extent that even his best works are sinful. You’ve never prayed a prayer that didn’t have enough sin in it to send you to hell—and neither have I. Because of our common grandpa Adam, we are sinners by nature. Every aspect of man’s nature wears that taint of sin. What can a sinful man do for himself to remove that taint of sin? The clear answer from Scripture is NOTHING.
We also know that “the wages of sin is death.” If you try to offer your sin tainted acts your wages in exchange for justification, the only payment you will receive is death because you have nothing perfect and holy to offer. The Lord taught us this clearly early in Genesis. Cain learned the hard way that God will not accept our works. The only way to satisfy God is through the shedding of blood. The unknown writer of Hebrews said that “without shedding of blood is no remission.” There can be no remission (pardon, forgiveness, pardon) of sins with the shedding of blood. It was His perfectly lived life and his substitionary death on the cross for His sheep that satisfied the demands of God’s justice. Christ was the heaven sent “lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He . . obtained eternal redemption for us” John 1:29 “John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God.” Your filthy works can add nothing to His sacrifice on that tree. Why would you even want to add anything to the only thing that satisfies God the Father. The shed of blood of Christ is the only thing that He will accept. And we know He did accept it because Christ rose again on the third day. God demanded blood and Christ gave His. What mercy!
Paul told us there is a remnant chosen by grace. Romans 11:5-6 “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Grace is no longer grace when you add works of the law. Payment for debt owed can never be considered gracious.
The one and the only way any man is acceptable in the sight of the Lord is by having Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to his account. When He sees me He no longer sees a man dead in trespasses in sins. He sees me clothed in the pure white robes of Christ’s righteousness. He has separated my sin from me as far as the east is from the west. Salvation is from the beginning to the end of the Lord and it’s only found IN CHRIST. Look to Christ and Christ alone and be saved. Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” How do we walk? We walk by FAITH.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”—Romans 10:4.
Please don’t read anything into my words. Don’t come away with the idea that I don’t believe in works or that I am saying works are unimportant. I’m saying this: salvation is by grace through faith ALONE. But if there be no evidence of works, then regeneration has not taken place. Today we often hear preachers begging people to let Jesus come into their heart, but what we really need is for Him to give us a new heart. And if He has graciously done that for us, a by-product of that new heart will be good works. Those working their way to God will meet the same fate as Cain.
I recommend the words of Spurgeon in “The Agreement of Salvation by Grace with Walking in Good Works”
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2210.htm
or “Christ the End of the Law”
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1325.htm