Featured MUST a Christian have Good Works?

The flip side of that question, "What is God looking for us NOT to do?":

8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. Ro 13

17 And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good save one, even God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy father and mother.
20 And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.
21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him..... Mk 10

 

Parrot the status quo JesusFan/DeChaser1/Yeshua1; that's all you've ever done regardless of what moniker you've posted under. Have you ever had an original thought concerning the scriptures?

And what was Paul exposing? Same thing?

 

Good one, and one I had in mind. Helping orphans and widows comes to mind also. James 1:27.

Let's have more examples...I'm not coming up with much.

I would think this question would be a slam-dunk for most of the pastors on this board.

 

Not what I asked for.

 

Inheriting eternal life is a reward for service. Not at all the same as "having" eternal life Jesus made it clear in Matthew 19, immediately after this exchange with the rich young ruler. Matt 19:16-30

16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

20 The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

30 But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.


Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.


Inheriting eternal life is a reward which will come "in the regeneration" when Jesus returns, determined by our faithfulness. James 2:12-26 says that believers will be judged, and that faith by itself will not "save" a person. From what? from losing his reward (1Cor 3:10-15)

This is not the same as having eternal life now, which is through faith alone (John 5:24)

 

'No ill' towards your neighbor is sort of an over simplification isn't it? There's got to be more to it than that.

 

On another occasion He was asked the same question, and He once again directed them to the law:

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. Lu 10

Why didn't He just come out and say 'Believe in Me and you will inherit eternal life'? If that's all there is to acquiring immortality why direct them to the law?

 

I read this years ago:

If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

 

Couple of things to note here:

Christ never rebuked/refuted the young man's assertion, 'All these things I have kept', quite the opposite actually, the Mark 10 account states 'And Jesus looking upon him loved him'.

"What am I still lacking?" And Christ calls him to discipleship, and the young man balks. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked the question.

This is but a 'snapshot' of this young man (who I doubt not at all was one of His sheep); who knows that later he was not one of those who sold all their possessions for the good of the First Church at Jerusalem.

 

I agree with brother Tom:

Returning to the Biblical Bema

I believe your view would be 'status quo'. Christ said:

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,
29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. Jn 5

The 'bema' is not about rewards, it's about THE judgment; the ultimate judgment.

 

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life;......Jn 3:36

.....He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life,...Jn5:24

... He that believeth hath eternal life. Jn 6:47

I read it that those believing are already immortal. They were immortal from 'some point' in the eternal realm when their names were written in heaven. The manifestation of this in the temporal realm begins with the birth from above which has zilch to do with hearing the gospel but has EVERYTHING to do with one's works. The 'birth from above' is synonymous with 'the law written upon the heart' is synonymous with 'circumcision of the heart'; it has NOTHING to do with head knowledge. The Spirit where He willeth doth blow; He is not conveyed by the preacher, or the missionary, or the Sunday school teacher, or the parent, or the Church, or any other external means.

'who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'

 

Because inheriting eternal life is a reward for faithfulness. He simply answered what was asked. You want to share in His inheritance, be faithful.

But one cannot share in His career inheritance unless one belongs to Him

 

Jesus said;
Mat 7:16
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
v17
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
v18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

In 1John it says;
3:6
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
v7
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
v8
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
v9
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

2:4
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

Eph 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

2Peter 2:22
What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
1John 2:19
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

 

15 But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many.
16 And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.
18 So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. Ro 5

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ro 6

I'm sorry, but 'reward' and 'free gift' are not the same.

Care to expound?

 

The "free gift" is physical resurrection. Even unbelievers will be raised. In Adam all die, and in Christ, all will be raised. Ever wonder why Romans 5:18-21 uses such universal language? Because it's not speaking of someone being dead spiritually, or born again spiritually. Compare the wording of Romans 5 to 1Corinthians 15:20-23. And Paul is clearly in the context of physical death and resurrection on 1Cor 15. Here in Romans 5 the same.

Ever wonder why Paul used such confusing language in 5:9-10? Having been justified by His blood, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Justified by His death, saved from physical death by His resurrection. He's the first fruits, and we will all follow. We cannot help our physical relation to Adam. We are all condemned to die physically because of that rascal.

But spiritual death? That's on you. And that's on me. We can't pin that on Adam. Romans 1-2 make it very clear that you and I are without excuse. How can someone become a fool if he was born a fool? How can someone acknowledge God no longer if he never did in the first place? How can one exchange the glory of God for an image it he was born not acknowledging God in the first place?

 

Jesus made it clear in Matt 7 and a few chapters later that the "fruit" He mentioned had nothing to do with works. He said they look like sheep on the outside, but INWARDLY are ravenous wolves. In Matt 12:33-37, He stated plainly that the fruit is WORDS, which come from the abundance of the heart. Not outward works as you have been misled to believe.

Fictitious "habitual sin" doctrine doesn't hold up, no matter how many "translations" are feeding it to you. The text actually says that the one who is born of God Is Not Able to sin. It's speaking of the inner man, which is corroborated by Romans 7:14-25. The inner man (being born again) cannot sin, while the outer man is decaying because of sin.

one-liner theology doesn't cut it, you know. Neither does out-of-context verses which are dragged out of context then twisted.

 

Actually your tranlation skills are lacking. However the bible clearly teaches good works follow those who are saved. Bad fruit no salvation.