>>Let me get this straight...is it your contention that when Paul said we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, he was only talking about the works of obeying the Mosaic law?<<
Yes. Are you familiar with the following:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Romans 3:19-25) What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:1-3)
So, clearly in just these two passages we learn that NO ONE is justified by the Law of Moses and to emphasize that point, Paul cites Abraham who was justified by faith without the Law of Moses because he lived 400 years before Moses was given the law. Your argument crashes and burns!
And as a parting gift, we are not even saved by ANY good works whether it's obeying the commandments or corporal works of mercy:
But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 3:4,6)
I love these threads. There’s always so much Scripture that I know I’ve read but hasn’t been at the forefront in my mind for too long, and then bam, someone brings it up, and the Word does what the Word does, and it’s AWESOME.