Almost uniformly, cults teach that salvation is obtained through a combination of a person's faith plus works. In other words, the cults will almost always teach that eternal life is based at least in part on doing a certain list of good deeds or serving the organization with time or money. The challenge for the Christian , is to convince them to stop trusting their own good works or obedience for salvation and to put all of their faith and trust in Jesus alone for eternal life. When witnessing to someone in a cult , Christians should be prepared to deal with this apparent contradiction. The nature of the Gospel hinges on a proper understanding of the relationship of faith and works in salvation.
Eternal life is by grace through faith.
In Romans chapters three and four alone, Paul states this principle no fewer than fifteen times. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. However, when turning to James one finds what appears at first to be a direct contradiction. In different contexts, the words belief or faith can mean a number of various things. This kind of belief is simply expressing an opinion or fact.