Judged by faith or deeds?

[glo1]

The concept of being saved by faith alone seems pretty clear in the Bible.

But what about judgement?

Are we judged according to our faith?
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (some versions say 'judged'); he has crossed over from death to life."(John 5:24)
“He who believes in Him is not condemned (some versions say 'judged'); but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
(John 3:18)

Or are we judged according to our deeds?
"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. 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, 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.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"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. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 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.'

"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?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
(Matthew 25:34-46)

Any thoughts?

glo

[eklectic]

Hi glo. I believe that, according to the words of Jesus, our works are finally weighed at some point to determine their worthiness.

Jesus said that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. So the truth is not in what we believe but in the kind of fruit that we bear.

We tend to think of judgement as a bad thing. But God thinks of judgement as teaching the nations righteousness. If he never judged us, we would simply live any old way that we want to. But he assures us that he will judge us and hold us accountable for what we have done with our lives.

It is a good thing, of course, to experience salvation by simply trusting Jesus. We all take baby-steps when we believe that Jesus is our savior. But it is another thing when we start growing and realizing that he wants to be our Lord. He wants us to become like him. And I believe that God will hold us accountable for how much we are like Jesus, not for whether we ever had a "profession of faith" or not. Professions of faith are fine as far as they go. But they don't go very far. True faith results in good works. They is simply no way to get around that.

What we can trust, however, is that God is a good and just judge. He will determine how much of us is hay and how much of us is gold. :)

[MarkEvan]

Hmmm I believ that it is liuke this, it is by our faith that we are saved and escape judgement that will send us to hell, however then I believe that we have our works tested to decide what rewards we earn.

My thoughts and I am afraid not very comprehensive.

Mark :)

[GraceSeeker]

I don't see works as having anything to do with the means of our salvation. The means is totaly God's grace, but I think works has a lot to do with giving the evidence of God's grace actually being present in our lives. So, a person with no works, is in essence giving evidence that God's grace is not present, and thus that it is unlikely that they are truly saved for if they were saved they would show that God's grace was present in their lives by their works.

[rrguy]

James 2:14-18 Faith and Deeds


14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

[eklectic]

Good reminder passage, rrguy. To me, justification by faith is not about "how does a sinner stand before a holy God" but, rather, how do Jews and Gentiles come together as one community of faith. It is not about entering heaven but about entering God's kingdom people on earth.

I think sometimes Christians take justification by faith and use it as "microwave spirituality" as if, just because God has declared them righteous, they are now 100% Christlike in their character and have no further need for growth.

But if we want to grow as followers of Christ, we have to move beyond simply "Jesus as Savior" and live out "Jesus as Lord" and that means doing what he said to do.

[Redheadedstepchild]

I believe that we are saved by grace, however we are called to love God and be obedient. So for me, any good works on my part are a result of my gratitude to God for what he has done for me, and my desire to be obedient to him.

[Everlasting]

:groupray:

I believe that God's judgment of our deeds, is manifested through His mercies. If our walk with God manifests all of the things that bring peace in His eyes, then it appears that by grace we are saved. The Bible tells us to not take to much merit on what this world will have us do. Knowing that the Holy Spirit, and God's hedge around us, protect us from the sin and evil of this world.


Everlasting

Moon Over Key Biscayne

[Everlasting]

:groupray:

I believe that God's judgment of our deeds, is manifested through His mercies. If our walk with God manifests all of the things that bring peace in His eyes, then it appears that by grace we are saved. The Bible tells us to not take to much merit on what this world will have us do. Knowing that the Holy Spirit, and God's hedge around us, protect us from the sin and evil of this world.


Everlasting

Moon Over Key Biscayne

[GraceSeeker]

:groupray:

I believe that God's judgment of our deeds, is manifested through His mercies. If our walk with God manifests all of the things that bring peace in His eyes, then it appears that by grace we are saved. The Bible tells us to not take to much merit on what this world will have us do. Knowing that the Holy Spirit, and God's hedge around us, protect us from the sin and evil of this world.


Everlasting

Moon Over Key Biscayne

Can you clarify what you mean by "then it appears"? Do you mean that the reality is actually something different, that appearances can be deceiving and we are actually saved by what we do in our walk?

[Everlasting]

Can you clarify what you mean by "then it appears"? Do you mean that the reality is actually something different, that appearances can be deceiving and we are actually saved by what we do in our walk?

:groupray:

Job 35:5
Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds [which] are higher than thou.



Mat 22:14
For many are called, but few [are] chosen.


3 Cr 3:5
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;

Love with all pureness, meekness and hope.

Everlasting

[Concetta]

IMHO we are indeed saved by His grace, but we are kept saved by what follows. Our names stay written in that good book if we continue onward in a loving manner, not falling back into the old ways of sin (as we were before we were saved).

It is hard for me to put into words. Like those who stop smoking, they can start up smoking again later. Those who are saved can resort back to sinful ways and lose their salvation. Just my opinion.

[GraceSeeker]

:groupray:

Job 35:5
Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds [which] are higher than thou.



Mat 22:14
For many are called, but few [are] chosen.


3 Cr 3:5
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;

Love with all pureness, meekness and hope.

Everlasting


I guess I am dense, as I don't understand if this is intended to be an answer to my question regarding your previous comment. And if so, how.

[Everlasting]

:crosseo:

Hi GraceSeeker,


When I used the term "then it appears" I was referring to "by grace we are saved".

But my following scriptures are God's reminder to us. We must try and keep the new covenant with Him. We can never be sure of our salvation, until we have fully received God's grace, through Jesus Christ.


Blessings, :angel:

Everlasting,

Moon Over Key Biscayne

[GraceSeeker]

:crosseo:

Hi GraceSeeker,


When I used the term "then it appears" I was referring to "by grace we are saved".

But my following scriptures are God's reminder to us. We must try and keep the new covenant with Him. We can never be sure of our salvation, until we have fully received God's grace, through Jesus Christ.


Blessings, :angel:

Everlasting,

Moon Over Key Biscayne

OK. Thanks for clearing that up.:thumbsup:

[Kryzoz]

Sound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ produces good works. Read the book of James for a clearer perspective

[rrguy]

Okay I think we can agree we need Gods Grace.

I think we can agree we need to have Faith in God.

That Faith without works is dead, Sound Faith produces good works?



So Faith is not alone? By saying faith alone wouldn't that eliminate the need for God's Grace? The need for us to forgive others as God forgives us?

James 2:24

[Kryzoz]

Okay I think we can agree we need Gods Grace.

I think we can agree we need to have Faith in God.

That Faith without works is dead, Sound Faith produces good works?



So Faith is not alone? By saying faith alone wouldn't that eliminate the need for God's Grace? The need for us to forgive others as God forgives us?

James 2:24
I don't mean that you never fall into sin. What I mean is that you do things becoming of a Christian. Of course we need God's grace as there are areas in us that need work.

[rrguy]

I hear yah & agree. Or am I saying more than you agree with? lol

[Kryzoz]

Nah I think we are on the same page here

[MoNiCa4316]

I don't see works as having anything to do with the means of our salvation. The means is totaly God's grace, but I think works has a lot to do with giving the evidence of God's grace actually being present in our lives. So, a person with no works, is in essence giving evidence that God's grace is not present, and thus that it is unlikely that they are truly saved for if they were saved they would show that God's grace was present in their lives by their works.

:amen:

I once read somewhere that 'justification by faith' does not mean that we're saved because we believe, but rather faith is the way that we respond to God's grace and accept salvation. Maybe it's a similar case with 'works'...we're not saved because of our good works, but they are the evidence/result of our salvation.

God bless!

monica

[StacieA]

:amen:

I once read somewhere that 'justification by faith' does not mean that we're saved because we believe, but rather faith is the way that we respond to God's grace and accept salvation. Maybe it's a similar case with 'works'...we're not saved because of our good works, but they are the evidence/result of our salvation.

God bless!

monica
Agreed!! :thumbsup: