[Dr. Eckleburg]

Good Works Are Required For Salvation

Good works, like all good things, come from God and are the result of our salvation, not the cause of it.

Otherwise, men determine salvation, and God is left doling out the paychecks for wages earned.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." -- Philippians 2:13

All glory to God.

[D-fendr]

Is it just me or has it become obvious that the bottom line on a lot of this is authority?

Our authority for the correct meaning of scripture is, roughly, either:

1) Ourselves (w/presence of Holy Spirit) - our personal interpretation and reasoning.

2) 1) above with another authority we recognize such as Calvin or Luther or MacArthur for example.

3) Our Church (speaking of Catholicism here)

Even if we all accept this simple breakdown, the issue remains still "which authority is properly authorized"?

And to answer this, we circle back on scripture and authority to interpret scripture again, and again..

[annalex]

Good works, like all good things, come from God and are the result of our salvation, not the cause of it

Good works ultimately come from God (Philippians 2:13), yes, but God says that they are necessary for our salvation, as the Gospel teaches (#6283). Read it, every once in a while.