Gotta love a good challenge on a forum where so many of the Castaways for Christ bring both their pain and their battle tested wisdom. And all the best answers are clear in the Word of God.
One of my saving verses, a verse that just leapt out and fixed me, is James 3:17- "The wisdom which is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, and open to reason..."
I am going attack this from the works end. I believe in good works as essential to salvation- now hear me out- but completely unable to justify any man before God. Jesus died on the cross for me, because there was no other way for God to save me. In the garden, Jesus plea to His Father was "Hey! This is gonna hurt! Are you sure there isn't something else We can do??"
The Father had only one answer- "You don't have to do it, I won't make you do it, but if you don't do it there is no way I can save them. It is up to you."
Jesus even tried twice to leave the garden- but love drove Him back to finish the negotiation. His love for all of us, personified in those sleeping disciples, sent Him to the cross. And He completed the work.
But consider the parable he told in Matt. 22. He begins by likening the Kingdom of heaven to a King who gives a wedding feast for his son. I won't relate the whole story here, but you will notice that in it Jesus never describes the son, nor the bride- because the story isn't about them.
The story goes to the guests, first the invited ones who refuse to come and the king sending his army to burn their city, then to commanding his servants to bring in the common people, "both bad and good."
And when the king comes in, he looks over the guests. One is not wearing a wedding garment and the king goes directly to him. "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?" Tradition says that the garments were given to all the guests at the door. He just hadn't reached out and taken one.
But notice what the king does. He commands the servants to bind him and pitch him into what what could only be described as Hell. Yikes, just a little social faux pas and he gets sent to Hell??
The feast was all free, paid for by the king, he accepted the invitation, became a guest in the king's presence- but refused to put on the garment!
I maintain that while the price into the kingdom is free to us, a price we can in no way pay- we are under obligation to walk in the righteousness He is looking for. The garment of righteousness, if you will. Works that give heaven and earth alike evidence that we are a part of His kingdom.
You won't hear it preached often- most churches never- but The sheep and goats judgement described in Matthew 25:31-46 is worth taking to heart. As Paris Reidhead says of this passage (yes, some have been willing to preach it) it is Jesus "looking for Himself" in the line of people coming before Him.
As James says, "...show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Faith without works is a petrie dish for pride, for leanness, despair, and hypocrisy. But trying to use works as some kind of karma to win salvation from a reluctant god is some other religion.
It is the works that give vibrance and value to the Christian walk. Give money to the poor and the hurting, help an elderly person move some boxes, send a check to the widow of a murdered Border Patrol officer- help at a soup kitchen. Not to impress God with your innate goodness (He knows you better than that!) but because you are involved in the battle for righteousness and when the victory comes, you will share in the rewards. The works are the fun part of believing in Jesus Christ, the pure delight of doing what you know is the Will of God.
Because Christianity is not a collection of good doctrines, it is a relationship!
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Tom Cameron
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