Except that works don't save you.
They are the FRUIT of salvation, not the cause of it.
If you can *lose* your salvation by not doing good works then you're depending on your good works to save you and they can't.
All the works that I mentioned are Christian works that follow becoming a Christian. Some are works mentioned in the third parable of Matthew 25.
There was not a hint that I said these works would earn salvation.
You and I both understand that Christian works follow the baptism of believers.
I attempted to select works that only a Christian would do. Being a cheerful giver is another following work of a Christian. Thus, by implication, I chose works that follow the event of becoming a Christian; they do not earn salvation, they result from one’s love toward the Lord.
Let’s think about scriptures that teach that one might lose one’s salvation by failing to do good works.
Parable #3, Matthew 25. These are the sheep that are on the Lord’s right hand, mainly because while they were actively doing works, and the Lord considered those works to be done to HIM. I interpret that to mean that the Lord is not offended, but rather, pleased, when Christians do good works.
There was a second group, the goats, in that parable who were indifferent about doing those Christian works. They failed to do Christian works and they are placed on the left hand of the Lord, condemned and sent to that other place. Failing to do Christian works causes the Lord to take the position that the goats are not doing good works to HIM. Goodbye, Goats!
The second parable of Matthew 25 is also about Christian works. Here, money is given to three servants in proportion to their abilities. Two of the servants double their money and are rewarded. They WORKED! They are REWARDED!
There was one servant, who from fear did not work. The Lord calls him LAZY and WICKED because he didn’t do works that the Lord expected him to do. He learned about outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
SO, we have TWO parables that are consistent in teaching that those who did not WORK (after becoming a Christian) were condemned in no uncertain terms.
The first parable of Matthew 25 teaches about two groups of Christians, one group that is prepared, the other unprepared. The main lack of the unprepared is righteousness, which to some extent can be shown by doing Christian works.
As James said, faith without works is DEAD.
Scripture teaches that the Lord will blot our name out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. The theory that one’s name may be blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life for failing to work for the Lord is consistent with those two parables.
There are a huge number of works mentioned in the New Testament. Start with the Sermon on the Mount and make a list. It is not a short list.
We have been around this block before.
Let me clarify.
I, too, believe that one cannot be saved by works.
Please don’t *ever* think that I take that position.
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is a parable about Christians and Christian works (as is the Parable of the Talents). The sheep are obviously doing Christian works.
Their motive is not the *earn salvation.*
Their motive is to serve the Lord by *serving others.*
They are doing Christian works as a *consequence* of their being a Christian not as a causal factor to earn their salvation.
The sheep are denying themselves and *serving others.*
OTOH, the goats are obviously indifferent to doing Christian works and are condemned for it. By failing to do Christian works they lost their salvation.
Please do not have a knee-jerk reaction when I speak of works. The Lord expects us to do Christian works after he has written our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life.