Faith Without Works Is Dead!
The Bible says in James 2:17-26:
17 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
We are not saved by works, but if our faith does not cause us to obey God, then we are not saved.
Ephesians 2:8-10:
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
See we are not saved by works, but once we are saved we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
So, if we are truly saved, we will obey God and live a life of good works.
You cannot be saved just by believing the facts about Jesus.
The Bible says that even the devils believe the facts about Jesus, but yet they are not saved.
James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
So, What is the Proper belief need for salvation?
The word “believe” in Romans 10:9 in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance roots backwards twice to a word, which means “obey” (the word believe is Strong’s # 4100 in the Greek, which comes from # 4102, which comes from # 3982, which means obey and also yield).
This shows that true faith is rooted in obedience.
Therefore, in order to fulfill the requirements of salvation in Romans 10:9 you must be fully persuaded in your mind of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done, and your heart must change from wanting to sin to wanting to obey God. This is an immediate change of your heart (meaning desire and will).
It means that you yield (submit) your will to God’s will.
When a person truly gets saved, they no longer have a complete free will to sin. The Holy Spirit will not allow them to fall into really evil sins like murder, bullying, adultery, racisism, homosexuality, any kind of theft, etc.
1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Jesus said in Matthew 7:18 “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”
The word evil in Matthew 7:18 means hurtful, grievous, mischief, and malicious (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries # G4190). Therefore, a saved person is not capable of falling into any hurtful, grievous, mischief, and malicious sins like murder, rape, bullying, falsely accusing, stealing, alcoholism, drug addiction etc. A saved person cannot do any of those kinds of sins. The Holy Spirit will not allow them too!
To learn more about sins a saved person cannot do please go to http://shiningthelightministries.com/2021/05/12/sins-a-saved-person-cannot-fall-into/
If a person wants to hold onto their ability to commit any sin, then they are not saved!
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
To diligently seek God includes surrendering your whole will to Him.
Also, Philip told the Ethiopian Eunuch that he had to believe in Jesus with all his heart. The word believe means to yield (Acts 8:37).
In order for a person to get saved they must yield their whole heart to Christ!
Therefore, God is not going to save someone who does not surrender their free will to Him!
That is repentance of sins, and it is required for you to receive forgiveness of your sins.
Luke 13:5 “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”
Ezekiel 18:23 agrees with 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
In addition, Matthew 9:13 says “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
You may still struggle with some sins like a short temper or saying bad words for awhile after you get saved, but you are going to be so convicted over your sin, when you mess up, that you are going to cry out to God to help you to change.
However, a saved person cannot be overtaken by any sin either.
They cannot live any kind of a sinful lifestyle. A saved person can fall into some sins, and they can struggle with some sins, but they cannot become addicted to any sin, or live a sinful lifestyle. And there are some evil sins like the ones mentioned before that they cannot even fall into.
In addition, I am not saying that a person has to work for their salvation, nor do they have to stop doing their sins on their own before they get saved. I am not saying that they have to be afraid of doing any of those kinds of evil sins.
That is what Grace is for! Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from falling that bad.
You don’t have to work at not doing those sins. When a person truly repents and makes a true commitment to Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit just comes in and makes it impossible for them to fall that bad. Therefore if they are a drug addict or an alcoholic, God will take the drug addiction or alcoholism away from them, when they truly get saved. They will never be able to do drugs or get drunk ever again. God will not let them!
This is the only way you can go to heaven.
If you have never done this please do it now. Here is a prayer that you can pray word for word or use as a guide to tell God that you believe the gospel, repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. You will not get saved just by praying this prayer, you must truly believe and repent with your heart.
The prayer does not save you. The decision to believe in Jesus and repent of your sins (submit your whole free will to God) is what saves you. The prayer just helps you tell God that you have made these decisions.
Here is the prayer:
“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and bodily arose from the dead 3 days later to pay for my sins. I repent of my sins, and I yield my whole free will to you. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to obey you and live for you for now on. Please take me to heaven when my life on this earth is over. Thank you for saving me. In Christ Jesus name, Amen.”
Also, just because a Christian is capable of falling into certain lesser sins, does not mean that they get away with doing those sins either! Christians will not get away with any sin! They cannot lose their salvation and go to hell, but they can receive a harsh judgment. To learn more about this please go to http://shiningthelightministries.com/2021/01/05/christians-will-not-get-away-with-sin/