Getting to Heaven by Works.

Many people believe they can work their way to heaven; If their good outweighs their bad they will be saved from hell. There are a few problems with this line of thought.
Firstly, God is a good judge. He will judges all things, secret and known; good and evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (2 Timothy 4:8 )

If He let someone off from punishment of bad things, because they did mostly good things, He could not be a good and righteous judge. I like the example given in the movie Courageous. "Nathan Hayes: "Ok. Suppose she (your mom) was brutally attacked, and murdered in a parking lot. The guy was caught and put on trial. They guy says hey judge, I've committed this crime, but I've done a lot of good in my life. If the judge let him go free, would you say he was a good judge or a bad judge?" ..."because the Bible says that God is a good judge, and He will punish the guilty, not for what they did right, but for what they did wrong. Because He loves us, He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment that we deserved, and put it on Himself, and that's why He died on the cross. But it only applies, if you accept it. That's why I asked for his forgiveness. I asked Him to save me. And I'm a new man because of Christ. You understand what I'm telling you? Then what's holding you back?"

Secondly, the bible says that you can't get to heaven by works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

BUT this does not mean you can go to heaven work-free!

hows that you ask?

Because simply having faith in God is a work. Once you truly have a faith in the Almighty, you will follow Him; which is another work of many works. 

James2:17, 20, 26 

17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Faith, is not real faith, unless you act on it. You can say you have faith in a chair all you want, but until you sit in it, the claimed faith is useless.

Until you live depending on God, trusting Him with all your life, your claimed faith in God is dead.

This is the works to get to heaven: Trusting God, Loving God, Believing God, Following God.

and note, "Believing God" is not "Believing in God" but believing what He says, and what He has done.

For Jesus.

One of my biggest battles has been doing things for people I don't like. I don't want to do things for people who don't like me, and who are against God. I want to scream at them that they are going to Hell and that nothing I can do for them will change that. I want to sit up on a pedestal, and be too good to do anything for them. This is a battle of pride. Many excuses, or reasons, or other names to call it, can not change what it is at the heart.

Today, I was asked to move an object from one place to another place. The object was not that heavy, nor was it to be moved so very far. But with all of me I did not want to do it, because of who asked me to. I knew in my heart that I should, and so I gave no answer, and battled within myself. Then I mentioned it to Granny when the subject arose that the object needs to be moved. I said "I still haven't decided if I'm going to do it or not." And with that, she goes over and tests the objects weight (as she did not before know), comments about how light it is, and moves it.

This stabbed me in the heart. It was a simple task, why was it so hard for me to accept it? Because I didn't want to do it FOR the asker. I knew that, but why did that really matter? Granny then mentions several things still needing to be done, and I volunteer. Why? Because I'd love to do things FOR her.
This all did not come to my mind as it happened, but as I did the tasks, God gave me a song that cut me right through the heart.

"I wonder have I done my best for Jesus,
Who died upon the cruel tree?
To think of His great sacrifice at Calvary!
I know my Lord expects the best from me.

Refrain:
"How many are the lost that I have lifted?
How many are the chained I’ve helped to free?
I wonder, have I done my best for Jesus,
When He has done so much for me?

"The hours that I have wasted are so many
The hours I’ve spent for Christ so few;
Because of all my lack of love for Jesus,
I wonder if His heart is breaking too.

"I wonder have I cared enough for others,
Or have I let them die alone?
I might have helped a wand’rer to the Saviour,
The seed of precious Life I might have sown.

"No longer will I stay within the valley
I’ll climb to mountain heights above;
The world is dying now for want of someone
To tell them of the Saviour’s matchless love."


John 15:15-20
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Prov25 21-22 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.

God loves to work THROUGH His children. I am to be a vessel for Him to fill with His Spirit that others may receive the gift of Living Water. I need to keep my focus on Him, so that everything I do is for Him, no matter who else may benefit.

Love=Salvation?

After hearing the last verse in "Jesus Love Me" (If I love Him, when I die, He will take me home on high) a few questions arose to me.
"Can one be saved if they don't know what love is?"
"Do we *have* to love Christ to be saved?"
I thought on this, and began seeking God, and what His Word has to say about it.

I thought, well, first, what IS love?
1st Cor13:4-8

4 Charity suffereth long, 

and is kind; 

charity envieth not; 

charity vaunteth not itself, 

is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, 

seeketh not her own, 

is not easily provoked, 

thinketh no evil;6 

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, 

believeth all things, 

hopeth all things, 

endureth all things.

8a Charity never faileth:

Okay, Anything else?

John 3:16

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.

Love is Sacrifice.

Without knowing that love is sacrifice, how can anyone understand the Love of God to accept it?

So, to answer "Can one be saved if they don't know what love is?" No. You have to learn what love is to be able to truly accept it.

You can say "I love you" but if you think love is sex, than all you are really saying is "I enjoy sexing you."

If you know love is the action of choice, a sacrifice, than saying "I love you" means "I CHOOSE you. I SACRIFICE (things) for you."

Love as such has many meanings.

commonly used: "I loved that movie!" means you enjoyed something. In this case the movie.

There are also different kinds of love. 

"Human love" which is a lust, a wanting. 

"Spiritual love" Which is a caring for/about. 

and "Godly love" Which is a sacrifice, and a choosing.

So, my other question was "Do we *have* to love God to be saved?"

I refer you back to John3:16 "Whosoever believeth" 

So, is that it?

James2:18-26 has more to say about it.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

so, what does that mean? That everyone has to work their way to heaven? No. It means that our belief in Jesus Christ will produce the fruit of working and serving Him. 

Romans10:9-10

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Believing is the first step in a whole marathon with the Lord. There is always the choice to turn away from Him. To return to the sins that one once chose to forsake in the name of the Lord. And there is always the choice to return (Isa55:7). In conclusion, I believe one does not have to love(Godly) the Lord to be saved from hell fire, but that Love should come and a whole new life born from it. That after the acceptance of the Love of God, it begins the Spring of Living Water flowing up within, and soon overflows with the Love of God-of Loving God. The Fruit of the Spirit begin to grow as it drinks of the Water in you.

Salvation is not the end, but the beginning of so much more.