Hi Fran,
From what I gather reading scriptures, being saved by works would be putting the cart before the horse. We just don't go anywhere if we think we have to work to be saved. There's none righteous, no not one.
In the OT, one had to have faith. If all they did was obey the law without faith, they had no relationship with the Father. They didn't have the faith of Abraham.
A person is saved by grace through faith. The Grace of God saves us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We repent of our sins during the process of the new birth. This is at the heart of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Jesus speaking with the disciples tells them, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14
And Jesus came up and spoke to them after he died saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
The apostles in their teaching throughout the New Testament taught that we the church are to obey all that Jesus has commanded. When Jesus spoke of abiding in the vine He tells us we can do nothing without abiding in Him. And He tells us if we love Him, we will obey His commandments.
And when we trip up He tells us to confess our sins and we'll be forgiven. He'll cleanse us from all unrighteousness because when we sin we get dirty spiritually speaking.
The believer who believes that after we've been saved we continue to abide in Him and because we love Him we obey His commands is not working for salvation. The new birth causes our wanter to change. The wanter switch is turned on now and we want to obey and we want to resist sin. In fact we hate sin and love righteousness.
I love to love one another and forgive others, care for others an even love our enemies. It's all a sanctification process, but we grow in obedience. Working for the Kingdom is not a works salvation. If it was, Paul, Peter, James, John and the rest of the apostles are in trouble because they spent their whole life working for God 24/7.
From what I gather reading scriptures, being saved by works would be putting the cart before the horse. We just don't go anywhere if we think we have to work to be saved. There's none righteous, no not one.
In the OT, one had to have faith. If all they did was obey the law without faith, they had no relationship with the Father. They didn't have the faith of Abraham.
A person is saved by grace through faith. The Grace of God saves us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We repent of our sins during the process of the new birth. This is at the heart of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Jesus speaking with the disciples tells them, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14
And Jesus came up and spoke to them after he died saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
The apostles in their teaching throughout the New Testament taught that we the church are to obey all that Jesus has commanded. When Jesus spoke of abiding in the vine He tells us we can do nothing without abiding in Him. And He tells us if we love Him, we will obey His commandments.
And when we trip up He tells us to confess our sins and we'll be forgiven. He'll cleanse us from all unrighteousness because when we sin we get dirty spiritually speaking.
The believer who believes that after we've been saved we continue to abide in Him and because we love Him we obey His commands is not working for salvation. The new birth causes our wanter to change. The wanter switch is turned on now and we want to obey and we want to resist sin. In fact we hate sin and love righteousness.
I love to love one another and forgive others, care for others an even love our enemies. It's all a sanctification process, but we grow in obedience. Working for the Kingdom is not a works salvation. If it was, Paul, Peter, James, John and the rest of the apostles are in trouble because they spent their whole life working for God 24/7.