BY WORKS OR BY FAITH?

  

ALL WORLDWIDE BELIEF SYSTEMS BOIL DOWN TO THE ABOVE QUESTION.

BUT WHO CARES AS ALL ROADS LEAD TO HEAVEN, RIGHT?

 
By NiteOwlDave
niteowldave@gmail.com
 
Popular thinking has it that despite the tangle of organized and unorganized religious systems out there, no worry because all roads lead to Heaven.

And, if there is a real Hell, it is reserved for the VERY bad apples like Adolph Hitler and other serial killers.

We must just respond to what we think is right, and we’re good to go. The Heaven thing will work itself out because God is a love sponge and He welcomes any and all into His eternal city of pearls. Now, let’s all do a happy dance.                              

The trouble with this thinking is that it is wrong.

God’s book, the Bible, says there is just ONE way to Heaven and that is by faith. We must believe that Jesus Christ paid our sin debt in full when He died on the cross, shed His blood, and rose from the dead.

Our good deeds - works - are evidence of our salvation by Jesus. We cannot work our way to Heaven. The Bible spells that out.

1 John 1:7 says,"....and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL sin.

We are not saved by what we DO, but by what the Lord Jesus Christ DID, as in completed. We close the deal with Him by accepting this by faith.                                                     

The works-faith discussion has global implication and it defaults to this: THERE ARE JUST TWO WORLDWIDE BELIEF SYSTEMS. And that is, we get to Heaven by our good works or by faith in Christ alone.

The correct answer is salvation is the gift of God.  A gift cannot be earned.  It must be accepted. We are saved by faith and not by works.    

                                                   

If we accept that Jesus paid for everyone’s sin and we accept Him, then we see that the rest of the belief systems in the world are dead wrong because they are all works-based.

Let’s have a look.

Islam

To be a Muslim, one has to follow five religious duties:                       
1. Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad;
2. Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day;
3. Give to the needy;

4. One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex, and smoking from sunrise to sunset;
5. A pilgrimage is required once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca. At death, a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise based upon his faithfulness to these duties. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell.

Islam is 100 per cent works-based.

                                                               

Hinduism

Hindus believe in reincarnation. Their position in their “future life” is   determined by their actions (works) in this life. Hinduism teaches that a person can work toward spiritual perfection and end bad karma. How?

1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses;     
2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness)...to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real;          
3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.

Buddhism

Buddhists do not worry about an afterlife: They don’t believe there is a God.

 

Buddhists follow a list of religious principles and very dedicated meditation. When a Buddhist meditates, it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god. It is more of a self-discipline. Through practiced meditation, a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire. Altogether now: HUH!

New Age

A person in New Age sees himself as God, the cosmos, the universe. In fact, everything that the person sees, hears, feels, or imagines is to be considered divine.

There is no reality outside of what the person determines. A person, becoming a god, creates their own reality.

Judaism

The Jews do not qualify for Heaven because they reject Jesus as their Messiah.

The Jews believe that when they die, they will be judged by God as Heaven-worthy by their actions and motives (works).

How distinct are these major religions?

In looking at these major world belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity -

• Hindus acknowledge multitudes of gods and goddesses.
• Buddhists say there is no deity.
• New Age followers believe they are God.
• Muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable God.
• Jews reject Christ and bank on good works and Moses.
• Christians believe in one God who is loving, just, approachable, and who forgives us if we ask Him through Jesus.

Confusion amongst “Christians”


The Mormons and the JWs

The Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormons) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) don’t qualify as being part of the body of Christ because their beliefs come from the Holy Bible and additional books with far flung teachings which dilutes the finished work of Christ at the cross.

And sadly, some denominations which fly the Christian flag are not of Christ at all. They believe the lie that our good works are necessary to save us from our sin.

Over and over, the Bible proclaims that good deeds do not merit anyone salvation. All the good stuff we do helping our fellowman is to be encouraged, but we must understand there is not enough we could ever do to earn anyone a place in Heaven. Salvation is by Christ alone. Period.

The Roman Catholic Church

Forefront in this false teaching about good works is the mammoth one billion-strong Roman Catholic Church (RCC) which teaches that a person must keep, amongst other things, the “Seven Sacraments” (works) to get into Heaven.

This is not found in God’s Word, the Bible, but like most of the RCC teaching is sourced in other writings, or church traditions. Here are two of many Roman Catholic conflicted issues:

·        

   *We do not need to be baptized as an infant – or anytime – to qualify for Heaven. Baptism is an individual obedience issue;

·  
 *We do not need to confess our sins to a priest in order to be forgiven. No priest can forgive or middle-man anyone’s sins. We are to pray directly to God in Jesus name.

Ephesians 2:8-9 sheds clear light on the works matter when it says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Romans 11:6 adds, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work.”

In John 6:29, Jesus tells us about the only work which men must do to be saved. “Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”’

Can a person connect with God in this life?

God is offering us complete forgiveness because of Jesus' sacrifice. This means He forgives us for all our sins - past, present and future. Jesus paid for them all. God, who created the universe, loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us.

Through Christ, God offers us real freedom from our sin and guilt. He does not leave a person's failures on his or her shoulders, with a dim hope of becoming a better person tomorrow.

In Jesus Christ, God reached toward humanity, providing the way – and only way - for us to know Him. The familiar verse, John 3:16, states, "For God so loved the world that He sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Salvation is not a commitment to a method of self-improvement like the Eight Fold Path or the Five Pillars, or meditation, or good works or even the Ten Commandments.

These seem clear, well-defined, easy-to-follow paths for spirituality. But they become a burdensome striving for perfection, and connection with God is still distant.

Our hope is not in following laws or standards, but in knowing a Savior who fully accepts us because of our faith in Him and his sacrifice for us.          
Would you like to be totally forgiven and personally come to know God's love for you?

Beginning a relationship with God.

Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God is the way to be saved, and to know it. We get “saved” by praying something like this:

Dear God,        

I am a sinner.

Others have sinned greater than I have.  But, nevertheless, I stand before you now as a lost sinner, deserving of Hell.

I choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man.

I choose to believe that He allowed Himself to be put to death, that He arose again on the third day, and is alive today.

The Bible says our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, and I believe that.

Father I want to be cleansed of all my sins right now.

I know I am not right with God, and I want to be forgiven.  I want to go to Heaven when I die.

Right now at (Time and Date)____________________________, I bow at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, and I am dumping all of my sins there.  And I mean ALL of them!

I ask that the blood of Jesus Christ wash away all my sins - past, present and future.

I am sorry for my sin, God, and I accept your forgiveness. Right now, I declare that I am a Christian.

I ask, Father, that you will make me aware of when 
I want to sin, and give me the courage to say “No.”

I ask, too, that you will help me understand the Bible, and to make the rest of my days on earth count for eternity.

I pray all of this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - my new Lord and Savior - amen.