“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When we first come to Christ …
we receive the gift of salvation by God’s grace through our faith,
and not by any good works that we have done.
(Believers debate whether God must provide the necessary faith.)
Obviously, our past good works have nothing to do with our salvation!
But, what about the future of believers?
Do our future good works (or lack thereof) have any effect on our salvation?
When we first came to Christ, we received His righteousness.
But, our righteousness must be maintained through our good works.
“I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it (good deeds) to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to Me. And these (the unrighteous) will go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Jesus, Matthew 25:45-46)
John follows Jesus:
“… you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
(1 John 2:29)
“… let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous”
(1 John 3:7)
Peter follows Jesus:
“… whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:35)
“… we, having died to sins, might live for (the practicing of) righteousness”
(1 Peter 2:24)
Paul follows Jesus:
“… (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness” (Romans 6:16)
“... present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” (Romans 6:19)
“But you, O man of God, flee these things (sins) and pursue righteousness”
(1 Timothy 6:11)
“Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8-10)
James follows Jesus:
“… faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17)
Do you follow Jesus?
A word about being an “overcomer”
Maintaining our righteous standing before God is part of being an “overcomer”.
Here, the overcomer is compared to whoever chooses to be a habitual unrepentant sinner:
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8)
Jesus says: to overcome does not mean to just believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
“All Scripture… is profitable for … instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When we first come to Christ …
we receive the gift of salvation by God’s grace through our faith,
and not by any good works that we have done.
(Believers debate whether God must provide the necessary faith.)
Obviously, our past good works have nothing to do with our salvation!
But, what about the future of believers?
Do our future good works (or lack thereof) have any effect on our salvation?
When we first came to Christ, we received His righteousness.
But, our righteousness must be maintained through our good works.
“I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it (good deeds) to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to Me. And these (the unrighteous) will go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Jesus, Matthew 25:45-46)
John follows Jesus:
“… you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
(1 John 2:29)
“… let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous”
(1 John 3:7)
Peter follows Jesus:
“… whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:35)
“… we, having died to sins, might live for (the practicing of) righteousness”
(1 Peter 2:24)
Paul follows Jesus:
“… (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness” (Romans 6:16)
“... present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” (Romans 6:19)
“But you, O man of God, flee these things (sins) and pursue righteousness”
(1 Timothy 6:11)
“Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8-10)
James follows Jesus:
“… faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17)
Do you follow Jesus?
A word about being an “overcomer”
Maintaining our righteous standing before God is part of being an “overcomer”.
Here, the overcomer is compared to whoever chooses to be a habitual unrepentant sinner:
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8)
Jesus says: to overcome does not mean to just believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
“All Scripture… is profitable for … instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)
