Pastor Steven J. Cole in his Lesson 14 “Salvation by Grace Thru
Faith Alone”, he asked the question: (For Roman Catholics' view of salvation
that we are saved thru Faith and Works) “When you add you works, then the
question would immediately becomes: How many works do I have to add to get
salvation? And you know what the answer to that? You don’t know…” (35:43 -
36:33 audio recording)
Well, my answer to the question of Pastor S. J. Cole is:
For as long as we are alive and
we want to be saved, we must do good works. We continue
to do good works until the end of our life on Earth. We must
remember that we die only once, and after that is we face judgment (Hebrew
9:27). The good works that we continually do will be perfected on the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). We are justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24).
What do you think Jesus would
tell us during the Judgment day?
Jesus would say, “Whatever you did or you did
not do to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did/did not do
it to me.” (Matthew 25:40,45) “Look, I
am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according
to what they have done.” (Rev 22:12)
So, it is not just by faith alone but by faith and good works. Even demons have faith and they tremble (James 2:19). Faith without work is dead (James 2:20).
Reflect on the following texts:
Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The
King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I
was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you
did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after
me.’
44 “They
also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
James 2:14-26 (NKJV)
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and
one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but
you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV)
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About
five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing
around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long
doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came,
the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and
pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to
the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These
who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have
made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Philippians 2:12 (NIV)
Do Everything Without Grumbling
12 Therefore,
my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but
now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with
fear and trembling.
Revelation 22:12-16 (NIV)
Epilogue: Invitation and Warning
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs,
those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
What's the point with the texts? The point is that we will be judged according to what we do or not do. Having faith to Jesus is not enough. It must be accompanied with good works, otherwise faith will be useless. It doesn't matter if we do good works more than other people do for as long as we will be paid by what we deserve - salvation. It is Jesus who will give us the reward for what we do, no one else.
