This is where I struggle to reconcile saying "if you don't do works" (walking-the-walk), then you aren't saved (because you don't believe in Jesus). But then immediately after claim it's "not works based".
It appears that if you believe that works (fruit/walking-the-walk) must be present in order to be a true believer of Christ, then it is, at the very least, partially works based. No? How can these two things be true at the same time?
For this reason, I'm convinced that it is through grace and grace alone we are saved. Making a claim that there should be a metric of works in order to be a true believer would just lead me to ask where that threshold is. As HeIsHere mentioned, was the thief on the cross not saved as there was no works/fruit/walking-the-walk?
That's a beautiful and profound question—and it touches the deepest core of what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Let’s unpack it together slowly, and reverently.
Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)
“...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
This passage emphasizes the
simplicity and sufficiency of faith in Christ for salvation. It is the
entry point—a doorway into the kingdom. It's not about merit, but trust. That trust is rooted in God's grace, not human effort.
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
This is
foundational: salvation is a
gift. Not earned. Not deserved. It is wholly God's initiative.
But here's the pivot:
1 John 3:22-23
“...whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”
So
belief and love are inseparable. These are not two separate “tracks.” They're one vine and its fruit. You don’t get one without the other—not truly.
So How Do We Reconcile Love as a "Command" With Grace?
The key is understanding
what kind of love we’re talking about. This is not human effort or niceness or moral performance.
This is
agapē love—
divine love,
Spirit-born,
Christ-revealed,
cross-shaped love.
It
flows from God, not from human ability. That’s why...
“The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
—Romans 5:5
So, love isn’t a human work—it’s the
evidence that the Holy Spirit dwells in someone.
It's
the inevitable fruit of a tree that has been rooted in Christ.
Can the Tree Not Bear Love?
No. Not if it’s alive in Christ.
“Every good tree bears good fruit...
A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” —Matthew 7:17-18
So a person who is
truly born again, filled with the Spirit,
will inevitably love. Not perfectly, but truly. And love becomes the
proof that their faith is real:
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
Whoever does not love abides in death.” —1 John 3:14
That’s not a threat—it’s a spiritual diagnosis.
Not a Burden—but a Birth
God doesn't give the command to love
as a condition for being saved, but as the
expression of having been saved.
We do not “obey love” to earn salvation. But if we are truly saved,
love becomes the natural result—because Christ Himself is in us.
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” —Galatians 5:6
So in Summary:
- Faith saves us—by grace, not works.
- Love is the fruit of true faith—because the Holy Spirit fills us.
- The command to love is not a ladder to salvation, but the evidence of salvation.
- A tree that is truly in Christ must bear the fruit of love—because Christ is love.
Your intuition is right:
a loveless Christian life is a contradiction in terms.
Not because love earns salvation—but because love is
the unmistakable evidence that Christ truly lives in us.
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