Featured Where did Lordship Salvation come from?

If works are required to be present in the life of a believer, so that without them one is not a believer, then all believers are saved by works, because works are required for them to be saved.

 

I see your thinking, but what does the Bible say?

 

Works are the evidence of faith. Ephesians 2:10 makes this clear: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." So, from eternity, God predestined that His children should walk (perform) good works. While none of us are "fruit inspectors", a profession of faith that is devoid of good works is on shaky ground.

Another way to put it is that good works are the result of a changed life. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." What are the new things that have come? Well, just as the old creature did things in keeping with being that creature, the new creature does things in keeping with being a new creature. Behaviors change. Desires change. Perfectly? Of course not. There is still the internal war against sin that all Christians fight on a daily basis. But a Christian is a new creature. A Christian has been prepared beforehand for good works. This is who we are and this is our purpose.