My grandfather lived in the woods of East Louisiana. There was no cathedral and no church. But the priest would ride up on his horse every third Sunday and hold mass in the school house. I used to share that story with Catholics so I could talk to them about faith. I would say, “Well, if you go back far enough, ALL OF US are Catholics. ALL the Protestants came out of Catholicism.” Then I would talk to them about faith and works.
Not only Catholics, but MOST Christian denominations—most Protestants—and ALL OTHER RELIGIONS, believe that your good deeds get you into Heaven (or your good deeds ensure you are reincarnated as a king instead of a cockroach). The whole world, every religion, every cult, over 99 percent of the people on the planet—think GOOD WORKS are the ticket to the afterlife.
But the Bible says your good works are the filthy rags of a leper, Isaiah 64:6. That is, your best, highest achievement is still unclean. Your good works cannot make up for the bad ones.
“For you are saved by GRACE. It is not from yourself. It is God’s gift. It is not from works” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Your allegedly “good” deeds will never outweigh the bad, because your whole life is stained with sin. You might drink a glass of pure water. But if I offered you a glass of pure water containing a single drop of arsenic, you would not drink it. Why? Because one poisonous drop contaminates the whole thing. So it is with sin: one sin taints everything, rendering even your best works unsuitable for God. You must put your faith in HIM and His sacrifice for you.
We are not saved by our own hand, but by THE HAND OF GOD.
Thinking your good works will save you is PRIDE. If you could atone for your own sin, why did Jesus have to die?
We are only saved by God’s GRACE which we receive by FAITH—not by works.
There is no other way.
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