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To: God is good
Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

Jesus said " not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not drive out demons in Your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in Your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers.' " (Matthew 7:21-23)

"What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,' but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have good works, is dead..." (James 2:14-26).

Jesus said to His disciples "For the Son of Man will come with angels in His father's glory, and he will repay everyone in accordance with his conduct." (Matthew 16:27)

Jesus answered the rich young man, "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 19:16-19)

Nothing we do can cause us to merit Heaven, but things we do can cause us to merit Hell. Again, there is not a thing we can do to earn our way to Heaven. We have to accept the free gift from Christ and believe. But remember our actions can have the effect of us declining this free gift.

You must believe and you must obey. But our works are not responsible for us getting into Heaven; Christ is. Otherwise we'd be right back where we were before Christ died for us, and then His death on the Cross is meaningless.

But your belief must not be empty. It must be accompanied by obedience to God's will. If you are not obedient, then you have a dead faith.

Faith without works is dead.

124 posted on 09/30/2002 7:16:19 AM PDT by Rambler
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To: Rambler
I agree that easy believism doesn't get a man into heaven. Except a man be drawn by the Holy Spirit he is coming in vain. Yes faith without works is dead and you know a person by their fruits, but that does not mean that person must do works to keep their salvation. In fact, a person can never please God unless a person is being lead by the will and way of the Holy Spirit. You can't just tell yourself what's good for you and do that, you must listen to the Holy Spirit and have faith in His way. Faith comes by hearing and hearing is by the Word of God. There is no greater authority than the Will and Word of God. We know Him by His living Word, Jesus Christ. And we know Christ through His written Word, the Bible.
125 posted on 10/05/2002 9:48:17 PM PDT by God is good
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