Faith + good works = salvation

To make clear my position, I do agree that the saved will do good works, for it’s in their nature. But I believe that salvation can only come through faith alone, not by works. For if it is truly from works, then you aren’t saved by grace. Granted, I don’t believe that faith can save all if you have it, for there is a teaching from Christ that spoke of people who believed in him, yet the Lord told them to depart from him. I’ll talk more about it in my construction. | Constructor | Scriptural Bases for the Sola Fide Position. When contemplating this we must consider If there any scriptural backing to the doctrine of Sola Fide. For I feel that proving that this theological doctrine is consistent to Biblical teaching is key to lifting the burden of proof that I carry on my position. 1→ By Grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:1-9) As the apostle Paul wrote to the churches around Ephesus “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.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV) As it reads, it say specifically through faith, but not works. And even gives the reason why, boastfulness. So salvation comes through Sola Fide, Faith alone. 2→ Grace is no longer Grace As the apostle Paul wrote to the people of Rome regarding salvation “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6, ESV) This points out the fallacy in the paradigm that salvation comes through works. For if you said it comes from works, it sounds more like your saying that you earned it. A case of salvation through Faith There must be a reasonable method to falsify the idea that faith in addition to good works is required for salvation. So how do we logically prove the theory false? If there is a case that a man is saved by faith, but did not have time to do any works before death. Surely this would prove it false. There does exist a case in the Bible where a man was saved through faith but lacked a past lifestyle of good works. This is the criminal on the cross. In fact, The Bible referred to him as a criminal, an immoral lifestyle. But Jesus told him “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” What good work could this criminal possibly do? He was nailed to a cross. The account is found in Luke 23:32-43. This gives us hope for non-believers that die shortly after being saved. Case of “Faith + Good works” Failed Salvation. “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” (Psalm 5:5, ESV) Jesus taught that there would be many who would come and say to him “Lord” (meaning that they believed he was the Lord), and boasted about their works, saying ‘did we not prophesy? Didn’t we cast out demons? Didn’t we do many mighty works?’ but Jesus would turn them away, saying ‘depart from me, ye workers of iniquity’. The account of the people with the boastful spirit can be found in the gospel of Matthew, 7:21-23. | Rebuttal | Revision of definitions “physical action that is done in obedience to God's will.” The problem with saying a good work is only a physical action in nature is that it leaves out the works of the spirit. For does someone who evangelizes to the non-believer does more good work in the physical world or in the spiritual? I say the spiritual. I believe that work done in the spirit pleases God, for He is spirit. Matthew 16:24-28 Simply believing in Christ is not enough to be saved; we also have to follow in his footsteps. True, simply believing in say Christ’s existence is not enough to be saved, for the demons acknowledge his existence and shudder. But they have no confidence that the Divine will save them. This is somewhat of a tricky statement to respond to. I know not of any saved that do not want to be like Christ (follow in his footsteps). For certain it is in the nature of the saved to do good works. But if you set your heart on not doing any good works, oh foolish person, it would be better if you were never born. For doing good works is the purpose of believers, so that mankind can see our light and glorify our father in heaven. I do not want to phrase it in the sense that good works is “required” for salvation, but that doing them (rather in the afterlife or not) is inevitable. For if you had faith that God will save you, wouldn’t you want to seek to please the Divine? Complete submission to either the divine or the world. You say, “or the world”, is an enigma to me, I do not understand what you mean. Why submit to this world? Why not God only? For what is worldly (apart from God) that is worthy to submit to? What we do in this life has an effect on our life in the afterlife. True. For if you do not acquire faith, it certainly can affect your afterlife. Actions speak louder than words. If we truly wish to be disciples of Christ, then we must not only declare our faith in the Lord, but to live a lifestyle which is in accordance with Christ's lifestyle. This is true if you wish to be a disciple of Christ you must acquire faith, but I think your confusing discipleship with salvation. A disciple is someone who seeks discipline in the teachings of Christ. True, the Disciples of Christ are saved, but discipleship is a much larger field then salvation. For Jesus taught many things that did not directly correlate to salvation but more towards statures pleasing to God (topics such as brotherly love, lust, oaths, even Taxes: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar and to God…”) 2 A lifestyle which is in accordance with Christ's lifestyle is a lifestyle of submission or obedience to God's will. A lifestyle of obedience to God produces good fruit. 3 Producing good fruit will make us righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Galatains 5:22-26 4 If we have a strong fear of the Lord, we will be watchful of our conduct day and night. Also those four things that you mention are more like benefits that the saved would acquire, but not necessary by which salvation comes through. The lifestyle, the fear of the lord, good fruit, righteousness, all of it. If we truly wish to be united with our divine creator in the beyond, we must have faith, and if we have faith, it will be beautifully expressed by our conduct, or good works. Yes I agree with you, good works will be beautifully expressed through faith. However I still stand that it is through faith we are saved, not by works. The idea being that you don't have any reason to boast, for the Lord doesn't like the boastful.