The following are verses that show us that salvation is completely by faith alone without any works whatsoever on our part to be saved. It is a free gift to us because it was purchased by Jesus's blood. Jesus did all the work for us to be saved. So for us it is free. We pay absolutely nothing for it. All we have to do is accept it and receive it. It is just like when someone offers you a gift; it doesn't become yours until you receive it. Once we receive it, it is ours forever, God will never take it back because it is everlasting life, and everlasting means never ending. (John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.) God is not an Indian giver.
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Romans 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.
You see how the bible says to him that worketh not, but believeth. When we have faith in Christ, God imputes his righteousness to us, meaning God takes Christ's righteousness to be ours. Being justified means being declared not guilty because we are covered by Christ's righteousness. When God looks at our heart he sees the blood of Jesus and not our sin. That is why we get to go to heaven when we die, because Jesus made it possible by paying our way for us. (Righteousness means goodness, godliness, holy, without sin, etc). Christ is the only one perfectly righteous, and we receive his righteousness when we believe on him.
Other verses that say we are saved by grace through faith and that it is not of ourselves includes the following:
II Timothy 1:9: Who hath saved us and and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Titus 3:5: Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Galatians 2:16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no man be justified.
The purpose of this study is to show you that there is a big difference between doing works to get saved and doing works after you are saved. There are many people and false teachers out there that preach a false gospel by saying you have to do something besides trust in Christ to be saved, like being baptized, repenting of all your sins, being really sorry for your sins, being willing to do this or that. In Acts 16:30-31 it says “And brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31: And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house.”
So did you notice how it said what must I do to be saved. There is only one thing you must do to be saved and that is believe on Christ. Salvation is a free gift purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you had to pay one penny for it, it wouldn't be free. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Galatians 2:21 says “I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”. That tells us that if we could do something to earn our way to heaven, then Christ died for nothing.
So now that we have established that salvation is free and not by works, lets examine another kind of works that the bible talks about. It talks about works we do after we are saved because we love him and want to serve him for all he has done for us. II Corinthians 5:14-15 says “For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. 15: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them. The bible also speaks of laying up treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and were thieves do not break through nor steal.
The bible teaches that all the good works that we do for Jesus while living here on the earth, we will receive rewards in heaven for them. Matthew 16:27 says “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Revelation 22:12: And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Psalms 62:12: Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest unto every man according to his work.
The things we do with our life that are not for the Kingdom of God will be burned up and no reward given, but for the things that we do for God and the furtherance of the Gospel we will receive a reward. That is why it is so important to serve God with your life.
I Corinthians 3:13: Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
I Corinthians 3:14: If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward.
God wants us to walk with him and talk with him and to increase in knowledge of his Word so that our life will be useful to him (fruitful) and produce more Christians. That is why it is so important to read your bible.
Colossians 1:10: That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
I Timothy 6:18: That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
I Corinthians 3:8: Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. (Labour means work.)
I Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (In vain means useless). But our labour for the Lord is not useless, it will bring great rewards because God said it would.
In conclusion, we receive salvation as a free gift (which is absolutely free, without doing any work at all whatsoever.) But after we are saved, we can live for the Lord and serve him because that is the way to have a useful life that God will bless and use to bring other souls to Christ. It also brings great peace and joy. Just to know that God is using you is the greatest joy ever possible in this life on earth.
Another wonderful bible verse that talks about doing works for the Lord is in John 14;12, where it says “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my father.” That means we can do even greater works than Jesus did because he went back to God, from where he came, and God now gives us his Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and do works like Jesus did. For this reason it is so important to be close to God and Jesus and pray for the Holy Spirit power in your life, so you can witness for God and win souls to Him.
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