Posted by WorryGirl on May 11, 2007, at 16:13:54
In reply to Salvation by faith alone?, posted by greywolf on March 31, 2007, at 21:23:26
I was inspired by this discussion I once heard:
If all we had to do was "believe" in God, then even the devil would be in heaven for the devil believes.
By grace, we have received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept that gift. In accepting it, we are telling God that we believe in Him. We show our thanks for this gift by the good deeds that we do. If we simply said, "Oh, OK, cool, Jesus died for me, now I can go do whatever I want, and still go to heaven." Doesn't sound so grateful, does it? If you receive such a priceless gift as this from someone who so obviously loves us, you would want to please them, right? By doing good works, you are saying, "Thank you", and also showing how much that gift means to you. In no way must you be perfect. God knows that here on this earth, until we are in heaven, we can't be. He knows what we are capable of, in our human capacity, and we have a responsibility to try to live up to our capabilities. When we see our shortcomings, we continue to ask for forgiveness and we are made perfect each time through His grace.
GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH GOD'S GRACE = FAITH + PROOF OF OUR FAITH AND GRATEFULNESS BY GOOD WORKS
poster:WorryGirl
thread:745865
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20070227/msgs/757847.html