Faithful produces works of Gold, Silver and Precious Stones...
How would one describe a believer who has works of wood, hay and stubble that get burnt to a crisp yet they are still saved yet so as by fire.......?
UNFAITHFUL would be the word I would use......
Unfaithful perhaps, but in works of ministry. That is the context of 1 Corinthians 3:8-15. The work that may or may not pass through the Judgment to be a reward for the laborer in the building and field of God are the people you minister to, not your personal works of righteousness. The passage has nothing to do with a person not having works of righteousness to go along with his faith and still being saved despite having no works. The passage is about you not having raised up people in the building and field of God through your ministry who can make it through the Judgment, while you yourself are pass safely through.
How many works are needed to identify a believer......Hebrews 11 seems clear....MANY only had 1 (one) listed that proved their faith, some had more....and yet the bible makes it clear that NOT all of the saved will walk a fully faithful life constantly producing....
Right, it's not about living a fully faithful personal life of holiness. It's about being
characterized as a person who lives a holy life. In general, serious Christians are noted for their holy lives. Not perfect lives, but their overall success in departing from the ways of the flesh and being
characterized as such. Just as unbelievers are noted for their unholy lives. Not completely unholy lives, but lives
characterized by their devotion to the flesh.
The work that characterizes the saved person is explained in Hebrews 6:9-10. It's not an 'x' number of works. It's the characteristic of loving and working for the people of God. Unbelievers do not like the church. They do not die for God's people. True believers do. Unbelievers are not characterized by their love for God and his people. Saved people are. The author of Hebrews says that is the work that accompanies salvation--love and work for the people of God.
EVEN nature itself which speaks PROVES this....
A apple tree is an apple tree from the moment it sprouts....it takes years of growth and maturity to produce...sometimes a single apple, sometimes an abundance and even after producing it may experience drought or a late frost and PRODUCE NOTHING that year...yet is still an apple tree.....the point is obvious........!
Very true. And God's people should take comfort out of this truth. I have. But the author of Hebrews speaks in the chapter I quoted above that we are not to take comfort in that truth
and use it to remain unfruitful. He exhorts us to realize the assurance of our salvation by being diligent to do the works that accompany our salvation. His warning is that people who have nothing but thorns and thistles
in the end will be burned up.
Seek to do what the Spirit of God is compelling you to do inside so you will not be deceived into thinking you have a salvation you really don't have. That is how we make gain assurance in our salvation--by our works. But I see too many people taking assurance of their salvation in the fact that, 'yes', it takes time for even the true fruit bearing trees to bear fruit and so they are content to never bear fruit and insist they don't have to to be saved. Oblivious to the fact that he says if you're still a non-fruit bearing tree on the day of Judgment you will be burned up, not saved.