The Meaning of Faith Without Works, and How We're Saved: Looking at James
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Correction- at around the 26 mark, it's *Esther without the works, nor Ruth. Oops.*
Are we saved by faith alone, or faith plus works? This should be a very simple answer, but unfortunately, many works based religions have placed a yoke of works on people by using verses like James 2:26, and others, to tell them works are necessary for salvation. In this video, I look at the teachings, philosophy, and fallacies of works based religions vs grace alone, and go through James 2:14-16 and explain it. James wrote his letter for a reason. Let's take a look!
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Helpful Scriptures:
Rom. 3:24, "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"
Rom. 3:26, "for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Rom. 3:28-30, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one."
Rom. 4:3, "For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Rom. 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,"
Rom. 4:11, "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,"
Rom. 4:16, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all."
Rom. 5:1, "therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Rom. 5:9, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."
Rom. 9:30, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith."
Rom. 9:33, "just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Rom. 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."
Rom. 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
Rom. 11:6, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
Gal. 2:16, "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."
Gal. 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Gal.3:5-6, "Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 6Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Gal. 3:8, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you."
Gal. 3:14, "in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
Gal. 3:22, "But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."
Gal. 3:24, "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith."
Phil. 3:9, "and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."
1 Tim. 1:16, "And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life."
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#James2 #FaithWithoutWorks #Jesus
"it's not about how to achieve salvation, but how to live out your salvation"
Yuh🙌🏼
“God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does”. Martin Luther
As a born in Jehovah's witness who left the religion after 39 years, I love this video. Going door to door and doing the JW preaching WORK was exhausting, anxiety invoking, and mostly fruitless. As a JW I NEVER understood GRACE. Jesus...the true Jesus of the Bible, is my Lord today and I'm forever grateful for his kindly and light yoke. I'm still very much a prodigal daughter...I feel like I'm constantly slipping into unhealthy behaviors (sin), but I appreciate you explaining the difference between being a prodigal son and a lukewarm unbeliever. I'm so thankful for the RUclips Christian community and people like you who remind us all to dig deep in scripture constantly. God bless. Shalom. 💚🙏
Ali's Big TOE don’t worry as believers we are being sanctified until the day we die. It’s a lifelong process. The more we grow spiritually the more humbled we become bc we realize how bad we truly are in our hearts (though it may not manifest outwardly.) That leads us to rely more and more on Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for your life and I do pray for the JW’s to have an eye opening experience and to come to know the true Jesus.
Thank you for your testimony 🙏 Now I HAVE to watch this video!! May the peace of God guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus! 💗🕊
good work.💞
@Tash studying the bible in depth is really good, but as someone who was born a jw, I can tell you that their methods are really flawed. While they claim to just take the bible as writ without doctrine, but that's not really true. Instead they will take a scripture, often but not always, out of context, and jump to a conclusion from there.
It feels like you are getting all this insight into scriptural truth, but a lot of the most important conclusions have little actual biblical support. Like the teaching that Jesus is actually Michael(literally no scriptural basis), the compound sign of the end(based on twisting jesus's words rather than just reading them) that the end has already started(this is based on stuff they don't even believe anymore, but it's been with them so long they can't abandon it anymore even though they don't interpret the scriptures that way anymore) that jesus's return is invisible(he literally said that it wouldn't be, but they need to say it to make other doctrine work) or that you should be willing to die rather than take a blood transfusion(literally no scriptural basis)
According to Tim Henderson who has a RUclips teaching on this verse about lukewarm Christians..there is no such thing as a lukewarm Christian..
Sis shalom.. my goodness… that marriage analogy absolutely beautiful.. it’s sad us as sinners get saved become so prideful into thinking oh now God need my works.. all that’s needed is to divide the word of truth. Humans see works God see’s the faith. Clear and concise
I love that. "Faith without works is like Abraham without the altar, Noah without the Ark, Ruth without talking to the king, Moses without parting the sea." This quote really stuck to me and brought to mind people I love who fall into this category.
As hearts go, there is such a genuineness and loving-kindness about this woman. Would love to offer her my humble, sincere thanks and gratitude. This kind of heart is (sadly) quite rare in our faith - so it stands out when seen. You are a light to the world but not like a little candle...rather, like a huge spotlight, hooked to a nuclear power plant. One that nearly sets the sky on fire. What a generous heart, sister :)
Glory be to God!
The secret to understanding this is that there are two different "works" described in scripture. One is the works of the law, and the other is good works. James, here, is talking about doing good works for your fellow man.
Galatians next to James: men cannot see faith, only God can. It is that faith that saves you. Though men cannot see faith, they see the results of that faith in good works.” Love this summary!!
James crossed my mind this week. I am new to being just a plain Christian, I grew up very Catholic, so this has been something I’ve been struggling to accept, but only recently. I God works in mysterious ways since this just popped up on my feed. Thank you!
Agreed completely. When I first discovered salvation by grace in its fullest meaning, I used to be repulsed by the James passage. But in time, as I grew deep in the grace and knowledge of Christ, I also came to the same understanding, that our expectation of ourselves, and of others in the faith, is not contrary to the salvation-by-grace-alone faith at all. Actually, now more than ever, I comfort myself with James' demand: "show me your faith with your works," as I see glaring inconsistencies that damage our testimony to the world. I'm now sharing with James his frustration.
Catholicism doesn't teach that we are saved by our works alone or by faith and works.
Catholicism teaches that:
- we are saved by grace alone, a doctrine called sola gratia. That's the official Church teaching.
- after salvation by grace, we are justified by faith and works. Faith and works are the result of being saved by grace.
- NOT *salvation* by faith and works. - salvation is by grace alone
I respect you believe in salvation by faith, and your channel is such a blessing, and your videos are normally so thoughtful. I'm hoping the misrepresentation was just an oversight. I would have loved to see your thoughts (or anyone else's thoughts) on salvation by faith vs salvation by grace and on why Protestants don't believe in salvation by grace. 🙏
Yeah "being saved" is a protestant concept. We actually won't know if we are saved yet
Both of these comments have confused me, and I now realize I'm going to have to really research Catholicism before I can understand the differences. There is so much contradictory information out there. Although I have heard Melissa say by grace alone, I believe. And being saved isn't a Protestant's concept, it's Biblical. Jesus saved us, and when we put our faith in Him we are saved by His Grace.
“It is finished!” Yes, Jesus! You’ve paid it all and overcame the world! Hallelujah!
Ιm an orthodox. Never have I ever thought that whatever great deeds we do or even if we did everything good (we can't obviously ) we deserve paradise. We are always unworthy, always don't deserve it, because God validated us upon birth yet still we sin! It's only by God's grace, YET we need to do good deeds and try to behave and mimic Jesus ❤️😀
"You can't make Jesus your savior and not make him your lord" 14:45
Money quote, Melissa. Love your work, and thank you.
Indeed✨
@@radixreuel7631 That's Lordship Salvation. But the Bible does not say that. Jesus said he who believes on Him has eternal life (John 6:47). Discipleship comes after salvation.
A lot of good points are made in this video. I like the do and done explanation regarding religions. Jesus did it all. As he said, "It is finished." Done.
Yet we are still here. People are being born, and people are dying. So, even though it is finished or done, this world is still going on as it has since he said those words, which means we are obviously supposed to be doing something. But what are we supposed to be doing? And what exactly is finished or done?
Well, what is finished or done is what Jesus said he came to do, which is to fulfill the law and the prophets, to accomplish their purpose. Jesus fulfilled the purpose of Israel. He accomplished their mission, to be a light to the nations. AND he also gave himself as the sacrificial lamb to atone for the sins of the world. He became and did everything that God wanted him to be and do.
So, where does that leave us today? What are we supposed to be doing?
Well, what did Jesus tell us to do?
"Abide in me."
"Keep my commandments."
Those are a few.
He said other things, obviously. Some things that he spoke to people in the gospel records can be considered commandments for all of us, I think. Take the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, which is sin, and was brought before him. He told her to go and "sin no more."
Some professing Christians today teach that it is impossible for us to not sin. I didn't realize Jesus was in the business of commanding people, especially his people, to do impossible things. I'm thinking if Jesus commands something, then there must be a way to obey his commandment.
Maybe that ability has something to do with abiding in him. But what does it mean to abide in Jesus? That's the $64,000 question, isn't it? Is it saying a prayer one time, inviting him into your heart, then thinking you've got a ticket into heaven? Is it going to church and doing what the pastor says? Is it studying your Bible and doing 'good' things?
I find it interesting that the Hebrew name of Jesus means God is our salvation. So, if we truly abide in Jesus, then we are abiding in God, our salvation. The way I understand it, people don't "get saved." Salvation is not a gift we possess. Salvation is everything God has done for mankind in and through Jesus, and we either abide in Jesus or we abide outside of Jesus.
So, again, the big question is, what does it mean to abide in Jesus? What does that look like? How does one do it and continue doing it? What happens if one does not abide in him?
Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."
God calls the whole world, but not everyone answers that call.
Many are called, but few are chosen.
Jesus is the chosen one. Many are called to abide in him, but few actually do abide in him.
Who will stand with Jesus at the very end? Who will be in the chosen one?
The called, and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:14
That's not three different groups of people. That's one group of people who answered his call and abided in him by being faithful.
What's the equivalent of being faithful? Being obedient, maybe? Keeping his commandments?
Maybe "works" in the book of James often actually means "obedience." It wasn't the work of offering Isaac upon the altar that justified Abraham, it was his obedience to God in giving up that which he loved the most, the embodiment of the promise God had made to him.
It was Peter's obedience to Jesus when Peter stepped out of the boat into the raging sea and started walking on the water toward Jesus that gave life to Peter's faith. But then his fear caused him to pause, and his pause was disobedience, so his faith then died, and he began to sink. While Peter obeyed in spite of the raging sea, his faith was alive and kept him above the water and moving toward his lord. The second he disobeyed, his faith was no longer a living faith.
So, maybe abiding in Jesus, who IS salvation, means faithfully obeying his commandments steadfastly. He said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."
"Works is the evidence of a saving faith". Great ending words that really nailed it.
I see works as the fruit or consequence of faith (and fear of God). I want to do good things because I want to show Jesus my love for him for what he did on the cross, and the fear of God keeps me focused because everything that I do and think is recorded and will be accounted for.
I'm really thankful for your videos, I was in a hard place in my walk with Christ and i started to lose hope and find myself more lost in the world but God used you to draw me closer to Him and like i just pray He continues to bless your ministry and what your doing. Thank you :)
Love this. I’ve been a Christian for a while but I could listen to this everyday. So beautifully put!
ciircumstances in life led to my horrible nasty sins. i am physically n mentally ill. i get paranoid, but i know faith in lord christ saves me. redemption n repentence is beautiful.
Great teaching, Melissa, thank you! What helps me understand that verse is to sub the word “love” for faith. Love without works is dead being alone. You don’t just SAY you love someone yet never lift a finger to show you love them. Love is a verb. In a way, so is faith. J. Warner Wallace gave the example of a cop demonstrating his faith in a new bullet-proof vest by taking a bullet at point blank range.
I love this! I'll have to remember this 🙂 thanks for sharing
I lost count of how many times I read this verse to end up confused and lost count of how many Christians I asked what this verse really meant to only end up with different answers that confused me. I thank you sincerely, Melissa, for such a beautiful job in making God's Word so clear and simple to understand. May our Father God bless you always.
It's helped me too..AT LAST
It means exactly what it says, that faith without works is dead. Because there is actually no such thing as 'faith without works' ! Faith manifests itself through works, and if it doesn't, then it is not REAL faith ----and an unreal or "dead' faith is certainly not going to save anyone! Compare it to love. Love without works is dead too ! It's not REAL. If you claim that you "love" someone, yet never show it through your 'works' (your actions), that 'love' is not REAL. It's an ILLUSION, or it's 'dead'. Love that does not show itself through actions is FAKE love; and faith that never shows itself through actions is FAKE faith. Fake faith won't save anyone ! Without the actions, both 'faith' and 'love' are just FEELINGS someone may have or claim to have. But faith and love are REAL things, not just feelings. It's like someone saying "I have courage," but then they never act courageously ! Then they DON'T have courage. They are just LYING to themselves ! ......If you don't act faithfully, you don't have faith !
Melissa, I so needed to see this video. I'm a born again Christian, but I struggle with the idea that I haven't done enough to actually be saved and get to Heaven and make it up in the Rapture. I have talked to my pastor and he assured me that I'm saved and I don't need to do anything else. I felt good for a while, but a few days later, I was struggling again. Then I found your video. I'm not saying your video is better than what my pastor told me...it was true. But for some reason, I needed to hear and and see it presented in this way. THANK YOU
Wow ! A beautiful woman teaching the pure gospel of Christ. Thank you. I love you.
I praise our Lord and Saviour for you Melissa! You have helped me beyond measure, to understand God's Word. Please, please, continue your ministry!❤🙏
Milissa I believe God sent me on a journey to discover you on RUclips last night. It's a deceptive world out there full of falsehoods and it's refreshing to listen to you and the Divine truth you bring. May the Lord bless you in your ministry, you are a blessing to us
I don't understand how someone can take one understanding from a small snippet of a passage while ignoring the other 100 or so passages that teach the exact opposite?
Hey Melissa! I respect your search for truth and the work you have done to research. Being Catholic I have to disagree about the requirements you mentioned our faith has about being saved. There are some great resources you can check out, like Bishop Barron and Word on Fire ministries on social media like You Tube and podcasts. Fr.Mike Schmitt is also great at answering questions about the Catholic faith. “Why We Are Catholic” by Trent Horn is a great resource for non-Catholics as well as Catholics to understand some of the reasons behind our faith. Being a person who does her due diligence I think these will be resources you will love. You have great questions and these are just a couple of places to get the answers you’re looking for. God bless you in your faith journey. 😊🙏🏼❤️
The best explanation of James I have ever heard.I know you are Spirit led. I look forward to more from Jesus from you. Keep it up Sister
Dear sister in Christ, you are wise beyond your years. Jesus shines through you and you are very blessed that he has brought you to the light in your own life and uses you so eloquently to convey his true ways to the rest of us. Your ministry is a true blessing to this Holy Ghost filled gifts believing Christian.
Thank You for your service! 😇
I found my answer I recently asked you, if you were Catholic and this video definitely answered my questions and I thank you for helping me be freed from the conformity of the Catholic religion. ☮️💟✝️JESUS SAVES☮️💟✝️ me alone. Thank you 🙏 p.s what church do you go to and if you don’t, you should start one. You are definitely gifted and have helped me tremendously. God bless you and your family. Always Love, Brother Christopher 🙏
Hey there! I'm glad you went through some of my other previous videos and found that this one helped you so much. I go to a small Christian church here in my town. I suppose if there was a 'denomination' to it, it'd have baptist roots.
If you're wanting to learn more, I highly suggest Mike Winger's channel where he does a playlist on Catholicism. He's very loving and fair with his assessments. Praise God :-)
@@MelissaDougherty thank you for replying so quickly I appreciate it. What is the name of your church and does it have a website? I’m in Connecticut right now but I’m definitely looking for a church to celebrate with.
A woman after God's own heart. God bless you sister.
@@HebrewElevationChurch David did not keep God's commandments, and yet he was a man after God's own heart. What's with the name Yahuda Yasharahla? Did you make that up? Are you one of those crazy 'Black Hebrew Israelites'? Meaning some white-hating black guy from America who is just looking to pump up his pride with a fancy made up story? What's with the first person shooters huh? Does that kind of gun violence glorify God? Doesn't sound like you are keeping His commandments.
You explain the bible so beautifully. I needed this video today. God Bless you and happy new year! 💞
Hi there!
Did you watch the video?
Girl, the theology here: 🙌🏼👍🏼💯
And your hair: 🙌🏼👍🏼💯
Thank you for your bold defense of Scripture, and for your work helping us all understand other religions and how they view God, Jesus, and salvation. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
You appear to understand James within the context of sola fides.
You do not understand Catholic theology. The difference between your “faith alone” and traditional faith taught prior to the Reformation is the understanding of the role of free will and grace. That’s the difference - it’s not faith + works as you say. You are teaching a watered down comparative theology. Please consult with a real Catholic theologian to clear up your confusion.
James would likely have adopted the orthodox view of justification by faith which does not include the addition of the word “alone.”
Sola fides incorporates the word “alone” which Luther used to negate the orthodox belief that we are free to chose good and bad; free to chose grace and evil. Sola fides, as later incorporated into protestant systematic theology (likely some take on Luther or Calvin) holds that one, due to complete depravity, cannot freely choose grace but choose evil only. According to Luther, his belief in justification by faith “alone” imputed salvation because in our natural, sinful state we are incapable of participating with grace to merit salvation. However, St. Paul never added the word “alone” in his writings. Ironically, sola was imputed to the text by Luther who was pretty vocal regarding his dislike of the Gospel of James for its obvious connection to the orthodox view of justification by faith.
Good works - in the orthodox sense of the term- describes one’s participation with grace by an act of free will. That’s why Catholics say: through him, with him and in him. Whereas Protestants profess: through him and in him- excluding “with him.” There is no “with him” if your theology embraces sola fides or incorporates total depravity.
CS Lewis in Mere Christianity uses the analogy of the child who receives some money from his parent. The child uses the money to buy a gift and then gives it to his parent. No one reasons that the child earned or merited the gift. But it is apparent that the child freely chose to do something good with what was given. In this regard, it is a good work which is merited to the child by virtue of his/her exercise of free will, and it pleases the parent. Likewise, the same is true with our participation with grace: we are made worthy of receiving it by the very gift itself and thereby are made apt to do good works by it. But importantly there remains in us the
free will to chose it and do good work by it. By choosing to participate with Grace the mustard seed that is the human will grows closer to its glory.
Have you ever asked yourself why you choose Jesus as your savior? Is it you or God that does the choosing? Ever consider that it’s a combination of both your will and Grace? If it’s just God moving our wills to be good or God imputing salvation, then what’s the purpose of suffering in this life if it cannot move us to move our wills closer to God? Suffering must be pointless to you.
Faith without works is a nullity if one cannot freely exercise the will in a way consistent with god’s will.
Thank you very much! I’ve been struggling a lot but that’s what I think I understand now: God can see whether you have a living faith in your heart or not. You don't have to prove anything to him by works. He can see.
For that reason it's not about the amount of works that you do by faith, it's about whether your faith produces any good works at all. This is the sign for others, but also for yourself, that your faith is a living faith! And that’s the faith that saves.
James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead
(It pays to read an entire context of a scripture/verse to gain true and full understanding)
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
That particular scripture isn’t about being saved, it has to do with when someone tries to apply the same salvation type of faith to everything (like people be doing to this day) like instead of giving someone food, they’ll say something like they’re going to pray for them. Or instead of doing something that helps them reach a goal, instead of doing something they’ll say they are trusting God to do it in their life. The Bible and writer is just putting balance on our faith walk so we don’t live out our lives understand a false notion that God is going to do everything just because we believe by faith. The Bible is stating that there will be times where we’ll have to do something. A lot of people who believe in God/Jesus, don’t understand that just like sinners or non believers go to work or give to the homeless, we must do the same too. Praying doesn’t remove our responsibility as Christians to do something with our lives. Many of our gifts are not active, and therefore, many of us see the world prospering in every area of our lives, not because God is always making us wait, sometimes it’s because we haven’t been doing anything but living in a Christian fantasy. I mean, the same pastor that preaches living by faith will get you what you desire, is actually not just living by faith but he is actually doing something. This con job has people dependent on something invisible, and the scripture is written to help us all not live in a false belief that isn’t true. May the truth set us all free
Now read the scripture again
James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead
(It pays to read an entire context of a scripture/verse to gain true and full understanding)
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Love that! “Do!” and “Done!” Simple! Clear! No razzmatazz. Excellent analysis.
I find this passage in James very well explained. I like the explanation that there is a theological definition and a non theological definition of justification.
I was raised a Jehovah's Witness and have been a Christian for a while now. I still find meditating on this passage in James very therapeutic. Sooooo thankful for what Jesus did for us.
We are saved by our faith, but we will be judged by our works. This is important to get the second half of this right.
Thank you so much, Melissa! You laid this out absolutely perfectly. Your videos are always so edifying. In light of your most recent video, I wish I was in YOUR women’s Bible study group 🥰
Melissa, you are an amazing teacher. I’m glad YT recommended this channel.
Thank you 🙏
This is the best explanation I’ve ever heard! What a blessing to have found you
You were quite ignorant about this one, Melissa. I'm a new Christian and have been watching your videos for a few months now to learn more about biblical Christianity. I'm quite fond of your works, I appreciate them a lot ^^
Now now, it is possible I misunderstood or might've missed it in your video, but I do firmly believe that faith *and* works save us, for the simple fact that works are an inherent effect that come from the genuine faith in itself. I'm not talking for all denominations and parts of Christianity, but certainly for the Orthodox one and it is teaching here, that while yes, you ought not to serve God through your works at all, they *do* come by themselves if you indeed have had faith in Jesus and what his crucifixion meant, therefore both faith and works saving you, with the latter not proving, but rather actuating and enabling the former. It's not a matter of doing God's work, rather following His path.
An example would be, well, myself really! I'm still a very new Christian, and while I do have a blazing faith after I found Him, I haven't been able to neither read the Bible, nor practice apologetics, nor even do my daily prayers. I try to better myself bit by bit where I can, not to reach "godhood", rather to follow Him the best so forth my abilities reach. I however am very aware of the fact that while I do have my faith, at the moment I simply don't enable in any meaningful amount, really. If you have faith, but willingly refuse to let it change your life to spread the gospel and live a pious life, isn't this a form of you neglecting God Himself and His love? Isn't living a "pious" life a "work" in itself?
I do notice the slippery slope here, thinking one may "judge" ones faith based on their works (which of course doesn't work), but I think that to be a mere abuse of this fact in neglect of other biblical truths (such as that there is no such thing as being "saved more" or "less" than others). However, to be Orthodox and be grouped together with what in my opinion is blatant heretic thought is where I drive my claim of your ignorance in this particular issue from. I recognise your ill history with said heretics, but I ask you to try and keep your calm better in future times. I wish you luck! ^^
The truth is absolutely beautiful. Thank you to Jesus for His work through Melissa in presenting the Gospel so clearly.
The "do and done" explanation got me in the "feels" and I KNOW the gospel of salvation by grace alone ,in Christ alone,by faith alone.......
It's not faith alone and you read that in the Bible it doesn't make a difference how you say it is not faith alone
3:00 Now pause right there. If good works are a result of Salvation, why would James be writing this to BELIEVERS?! Could it be because they were actually not working??
So therefore, is it possible for a truly saved person to not be working??
Do you see how stating:- "good works are A RESULT of Salvation" is still preaching a works Salvation??
I hope you do.
Important topic :) I grew up believing one could loose their salvation and it was scary. It was kind of a way to keep people from “sinning”, and kept people completely unaware of how sinful we truly are. I also thought it was my prayer asking Jesus to come into my heart that saved me.
It’s way more encouraging spiritually to believe, repent and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It makes sense to me like that Bible verse you referenced says, I can look at myself in the mirror and see that I am saved and a follower of Christ, but if I walk away from that mirror and live completely in opposition to the truth that Jesus is my Lord and reject the leading of the Holy Spirit, I forget who I am and contradict that reflection in the mirror.
Hi Susan, do not be deceived. Jesus teaches always you can lose your salvation. This false saved by faith grace gospel is from Paul. Read Jesus words over Paul’s.
@@TheShutterbug1968 the whole Bible is the written word of God. All of it is good for teaching. Can you give references to what you mean?
22:29
"Belief in God does not save you"
...what
Lol okay I finished the video.
So I'm a Christian since three years now and I've been struggling and learning and seeking the Lord since but I've always been really stumped by the whole concept of works in the life of a believer. I could go on and on about it but to try and make a long story short and get to the root of it...I really struggle with wondering if my faith is genuine because I don't understand how to quantify my works or evaluate myself to test whether I'm genuine or not and it freaks me out and leaves me to just cry desperately for God's mercy on me. It's maddening I tell you. Utterly maddening. Thankfully though God has come through every single time. EVERY TIME. Yet still I find myself always ending up confused and torn again.
Part of me wants to entirely and vehemently reject the idea that I'm not genuine because no matter what happens I just can't NOT put my faith in Jesus. I have such a great desire for God that even when I feel like I'm about to let go and give up, by God's grace I'm reminded that I cannot/do not want to let go. (“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”)
But the rest of me wonders if, because I've done this and that, and I have certain desires sometimes, etc, then perhaps it means I'm deceiving myself.
HELP.
(yes I'm praying as well, I take everything to God)
I wish I knew the answer, I have the same difficulty.
@@MauveAlert 🙏
"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
- Romans 11:29
Good job clarifying this EXTREMELY important issue. I liked your "Do and Done" thing. beautifully clear and succinct way to phrase it. I'm in 100% agreement with you on this issue theologically and spiritually, and I've been writing about it and discussing it for more than 40 years, because it is so critically important. But you have been battling against the other religions and cults (which you correctly say are ALL works based), whereas I've been dealing with the opposite problem : Christians (particularly Lutherans, but many others as well) who divorce works from faith ENTIRELY, not only in their lives, but in their actual teachings!...As though you could have a real, living faith that is without any 'works' AT ALL. So you love all the verses that are about being saved through faith alone (and you're right to love them), but I love all the HUNDREDS of verses about DOING God's will----about obedience to God. Ha! We're both right ! ....I think that faith and works really cannot really be separated. Works without faith is self-righteousness (and, of course, un-Christian), and faith without works is self-delusion (it's not real faith, and also un-Christian for that reason). Faith without works isn't REAL, just as love without works isn't real. If I told you "I love you," but did NO "works" (actions) that EVER showed that, it would just be meaningless so-called 'love' ! Same with faith.
This is the best way to explain how I feel about all the "Do" Religions. You nailed it!
Please read Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus here declares that everyone will either be saved or damaged according to one's works,...Saved by Grace's is not mentioned. Please read the whole Bible, it must all harmonize.
@@juanrivera3969 Wrong. Jesus is speaking about the different rewards His saints will receive based on what they did with the Gospel and their good deeds while on earth. We are to be good stewards of all that we been given. Jesus was admonishing those who merely were saved and rested in that without spreading the Gospel or helping others. They will still be in Heaven but each e of us who will be in Heaven will receive different rewards based on our earthly good deeds. Same for those who will be in hell. They will receive different degrees of punishment based on their earthly sins.
@@melissaculpepper7663 nicely put. Those who are convicted always trying to fight it. God's Word, however, is very clear.
Your absolutely right. You can have all the faith in the world but if you don't make a move it's nothing. It's like knowing how to cook and never going in the kitchen
A lot of people misunderstand the meaning of "works" in this context. It shouldn't be taken literally. Works are not about feeding 10 homeless people to fill your "Good christian" quota. By "works" the Gospel means what we actually do to express our faith, trust and love in Christ. That is why the example with Abraham is given - he was willing to do the most painful and hearbreaking thing possible instead of following his own heart and wishes. We do works as a result of our faith and devotion to Christ, NOT as a form of bargaining between humans and God. This is what politheists were doing in Antiquity.
Recently discovered your channel and it has been life changing. Thank you for blessing us with your videos. Learning a lot
Me too ! Yay ! She’s so awesome 😎
You are very good at what you do Melissa. Very clear and precise. I agree, Jesus is enough. I am saved by Grace, or I am not saved at all.
Thank you Father God for your blessing on Melissa with Grace, wisdom and strength to share the truth!! Blessed!
🙏🏽🕊♥️
You have the most amazing ability to help one understand faith and the bible. In a world so filled with contrarian views, you truly have a gift to sift through and explain it to a lamen, or someone newly saved as myself. Thank you so much for your channel, it has given me an understanding at a time of frustration. God bless you Melissa 🙏
Dear sister in Christ..thank you...this was so needed and prayers many hear it..God bless you..Fully believe what you taught...amen
Thank you so much for your channel Mellisa! You are helping so many people❤️
You have no idea how much this has helped me!! Thank you so much!
I needed this. I’ve been questioning and wondering. Thank you for clarifying. 🎉
AMEN! Thank you my sister! I am so grateful for your time and commitment in making this video it has been so beneficial to me and I will be using it to better explain and lead my three children to the cross. God bless you and everything that you are doing on this platform to glorify His name. I am so appreciative of your channel!
Woww! You are the best teacher of the Bible to help explain all things that confused me for years in "church"!
As a third generation JW who left in 95 I may be able to contribute to this topic. I dreaded getting baptized as a kid. Why? because before baptism the candidate is required to have mostly eliminate sin from his or her life, and unfortunately I was unqualified in that regard. By the time I was 18 however people began to ask; "what is holding you back brother?" Nearly all of my peers were baptized at 12,13,14 and here I was still holding out at 18. Though I finally acquiesced out of shame and pressure, I feared that I may have been committing an unforgivable sin. I was thankful though that the common JW did not take part in New Covenant sacraments, because as a "Great Crowd" JW you are not party to the only covenant which imparts eternal life. Had I entered into a covenant with Christ, while still in a state of sin, it surly would have been the last straw sealing my condemnation.
I left in 95 because I read Ray's book, after which I flew out to Georgia to meet with him and we became friends. Realizing by that time that the whole thing was a hoax I no longer feared the charge of apostasy. Through my friendship with Ray I was fortunate enough to even make a minor contribution to his second book with some research I had done on NT insertions of the Tetragrammaton in the NWT.
Years later I met and married a lovely Adventist lady. Yes I know, from the frying pan to the fire, but we are both aware of the Millerite falsehood. Anyway, as per the custom of her church I now faced taking part in New Covenant rites. And again I was surrounded by members of another faith + works cult. It is only now that I have finally and fully come to understand sola fide. Though I was able to competently refute the teachings of both these cults, correct soteriology eluded me. Why? It was as Paul identified, _"O foolish Galatians! who has bewitched you."_ I was under a spell of sorts. My mind was trained to insert the definition of works whenever I read faith. I can not express how grateful I am to have been set free, even if it did take 29 years. I can tell you that these religions do a number on your mind and I consider myself fortunate to be among the few to have escaped their bonds while retaining faith in our Lord.
This is the most clarity I have received from anyone regarding this topic. Thank you so much for this video 🙏🏽👍🏼👏🏽
Yes, crystal clear to me! @Melissa Doherty thank you so much!
This is an A W E S O M E video!!! Thank you so much for sharing this! My eyes were opened and for the first time, I actually understand the Scripture that has been in front of my eyes this whole time! How blind was I?! Thank you Melissa!! We LOVE your videos! May your ministry be blessed.
Melissa, can you talk more about loosing your salvation? I think it needs to be broken down and unpacked just as you did here. It definitely ties into this message. It took me three years to break out of a legalistic “evangelical” church that taught you could loose your salvation- even if you fell asleep at night, forgot to pray and ask for forgiveness for sins, and you passed away that night.
I am not Melissa, obviously, but I have some insight from ex-Christians: they lost their faith because they stopped actively seeking a relationship with God thru prayer, his word, his church. They fell back into being a slave to sin and the world. They lost there faith in God and His Word and His promise. But I beleive if they turn back and repent, they will regain their faith and salvation. WIthout faith, there is no salvation, and people do loose their faith, the gift given to them by God because they consciously choose to reject him and not beleive.
This is such a nuanced concept that a lot of people don’t get it and they’ll fall either on the legalism side, or hyper-grace.
We’re saved by the sacrifice of Jesus alone and we’re supposed to repent and believe. This leads to a complete change: abandoning sin and our own desires to pursue God and His will.
You are wonderful. I feel there's more and more christians or religious thinkers coming out and exploring ideas rationally, and focusing on the source - the scriptures. So much harm has been made to the word of God, due to cultists, pathological liars and sociopaths. This is why a lot of people resent religion or christianity, and it's absolutely crucial that more people like you represent the gospel and its meaning in a thruthful manner. The biggest problem with any religion is its complexity, and thus discerning true faith vs false faith, but you among others help combat this issue.
I recently have been listening and studying with Andrew Farley and this subject caused me to listen to other teaching and I must say this gives me freedom. The truth will set you free. I’m not confused on the book of James anymore. Thank you to the Holy Spirit . God wants us to know the truth.
i was just reading james last night and these were the exact verses i was reading, and i'll admit, it got me nervous. But this video and your arguements have brought me so much peace! Thank you Melissa!!!
Im starting to change my mind about parts of my faith. To me it seems like most christians need an excuse so they can keep sinning. It doesnt feel right for me. There are many verses supporting works and not just faith alone, and those verses are pretty clear to me. Im going to do some more study on this.
It may be true that some Christians make excuses for their sin but I don't see how that has anything to do with salvation being a gift from God and that salvation is received by faith alone. If we add works to faith we are saying that what Jesus did on the cross..dying for our sin is not enough.
Plz remember that as Christians we will be judged by Jesus at the Bema Seat. We will either receive rewards or not. Maybe some Christians take eternal life for granted and stop right there..not growing, maturing..allowing God to do as He wills in them. Also, plz bear in mind that many Christians are very unhealed and many need deliverance prayer. Some have generational curses because of the sins of previous generations. Spiritual warfare is seldom taught in the church.
None of us get away with anything.
You are absolutely right. There are HUNDREDS of verses supporting "works", but they're not verses about salvation. Salvation is just the first STEP (accepting Christ and starting to get to know Him)----and salvation IS a FREE GIFT. After that first step though the whole Christian life is ABOUT following Christ ("Take up your cross and follow Me" He said. And "You are My friends if you DO what I command you." ). There is no such thing as an "excuse to keep sinning" . ("Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that he shall also reap" It was a Christian saying that ! ). Anyone who thinks they can DEFY God, reject His will, and NOT pay for it should think again ! Nowhere in Scripture does it suggest that God forgives UN-repentant sinners ! To quote the Apostle Paul "Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall".
@@joolspools777
Christians finding excuses for their sins is a huge problem. Not only are we called to accept Yeshua, Love Him and our neighbors; we are also called to not be of the world and to hate what Yeshua hates.
Finding excuses for sin means you love that sin, and if you love that sin the love for Yahweh is not in you. This is in the New Testament multiple times but Christians ignore them.
@@CarlMCole The states over and over about doing good works through
Jesus Christ. Catholics don't believe we earn salvation through our works!
Its grace by our good works, like grace by faith. So yes good works is part of
true salvation.
It's so funny how she keeps contradicting herself and the scriptures addresses the issue perfectly well.
Only a quarter of the way through and I love this Melissa!!! May God continue to bless you SO much for the work He has you doing through Him and for Him.
You Believe in The Lord God, but your name is pondering skeptic, could you explain?
This was brilliantly done, I loved the analogy to a marriage commitment and the wedding ring. The wedding ring is an outward showing of a commitment to love, your wife or husband. I would like to add to the whole thought process over works. In Matt. 6, Jesus gives us an example of how to perform works, “when you give to the poor, do not let your right hand know what you left is doing” meaning give freely and without calculating, thus should be the way we perform works.
It is about the reasons why we do something. We are not doing works to save ourselves, but simply because it is the right thing to do. Not for any reward, but that we might have made someones day.
Also, anyways remember that Christ is with you. You might make mistakes sometimes, when you think your helping, you end up hurting someone else. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. You can be forgiven. You are already forgiven, so keep going!
Thank you Jesus Halleluyah!!! Praise and Glory be to God!!! Thank you for your mercy...You are worthy to be praised. I don't do good to be saved, I do good because Im saved!!!
This was so rich, so good. I got so much from this video. Melissa, I love your descriptions and visual representations such as the marriage and the ring. Thank you so much it helps me to then teach my teens with more clarity, so that they may not be deceived in a death faith.
Thank you so much for this, i have just reliced i might be following my own law, what I mean by that is, i want to do good, but everytime I do something wrong, i kind of mentally punish myself, and I just get more and more discouraged. Thank you for reminding me that Jesus has done everything, copletely, done, i can't meet the standard, thank you for your content, and may God bless you.
This is so good. I saved it to my favorites so I can keep coming back to it, and I love the marriage analogy.
Happy New Year to you Melissa! God bless you and your family and keep making these videos. They really help. ♥
Martin Luther wanted to remove the book of James and Hebrews from the New Testament while he was a professor. He felt the two books were too Jewish and they definitely didn't agree with his teachings about "Faith Alone" By the way, the word "alone" or "alein" in German can't be found in the New Testament.
There are few people living, that I would like to have a two hour cup of coffee with... You have become one of those... Excellent teaching, with substantial scriptural references. I enjoyed your point/counterpoint approach, without being vindictive. While we are in much agreement, post-salvation works remains a slippery slope of interpretation. There are obviously situations where post salvation works cannot play a part... Death, moments after salvation, for instance... And discreet works, never observed... ie., anonymous monetary gifts, to those in need.., or discreetly placed Gospel tracts... Both honoring the Father, but unobserved as "fruit". My personal belief is that once a person accepts God's gift, through a simple act of Faith, at a single point of time, they are secured eternally. You are forever His child. It is not a "license to sin", nor "easy believeism". Moses, as he watched the Israelites cross into The Promised Land, can attest to that... I believe that post salvation works are indications of the degree to which one yields to God's Will, and God's blessings in this life, are manifestations of one's yieldedness. In turn, "God chasteneth those that He loveth..." . God punishes belevers, in this life, into submission to His Will, or will take them home prematurely. I dont believe he takes back their salvation. I John 1:9 and prayer is the key to keeping in fellowship with God, and to "run the good race", which Paul acknowledges that all brethern do not. I'm a new subscriber, and am looking forward to your many insights... Blessings!
"Good works is a result of salvation, not the cause of it." Well said.
may god bless all of you.. im very happy i found this..
Melissa, this was so informative, logical, and well organized. Thanks for making it; it was really helpful. God bless you.
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Thank you Melissa. This was a great way to start off the New Year for me. I love how clear and articulate you are.
Well presented and understandable. Thanks for this Melissa 🙏
I just realized that the saving that faith in jesus brings does not only apply to being able to enter heaven, but it is also being saved from your own sin that you were doing before you were saved that leads to destruction, depression, broken relationships, etc.
I think I’ve watched a dozen of your videos in the last week - so incredibly strong! Your grasp and understanding of scripture is amazing - truly an inspiration as I continue to carry the light of Jesus into my corner of the world. Keep it up!
WOW. Thank you, been praying on clarity on this. So helpful.
Yes, me too!
Another way to put it is, "We do good works not because we have to, but because we get to."
"Works are evidence of a saving faith" - couldn't agree with you more.
I had a conversation with a woman from the Christian Congregation in Brazil and we were comparing our beliefs. I was raised in the Presbyterian church (though I prefer to label myself as a follower of Christ). She doesn't believe Jesus is God, but she believes that we are saved by obeying what he said, and through works and baptism.
After our conversation, I realised something: if you do "good" works with the purpose of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, aren't you doing it for selfish reasons?
There was someone in my family who boasted about doing lots of good works, and she used to say that if she didn't enter the Kingdom of Heaven, then no one would. She also didn't have a good character and didn't behave as a Christian.
Jesus taught us to be empathetic to others, to be selfless.. that was his example.
His Spirit compels us to do his work out of love for others and out of gratitude for what he has done for us. We love because we are loved.
Great videos, Melissa. I like apologetics.. I want to be able to give reasons for my faith like you do.
Keep up the good work! God bless you ;)
This is profoundly true! You explain this very well! I love your grasp of what the context of scripture is really saying! Thanks! ❤️🎚
Catholics do not believe in works based salvation. We believe we are saved by grace. Only God can save. But we do believe that we must live out our faith. We cooperate with grace and that leads to us doing works, not because it saves us. We do them because we love the lord and works helps to bring the lord to our neighbors so He is made known to those who don't believe him or don't know him. You can leave Catholics off this list
Gave me chills at 11:50, thank you Jesus for everything. Redemption is ours forever thanks to the cross!
Romans 4:5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Philippians 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
This seemed like a very Lutheran take on James. I think you did a wonderful job of explaining what can seem like a contradictory topic.
To have good works you need to grow in faith and grace and above all have fruit. Kindness is a fruit that is a great motivator.
right..this view is running around defending sola fide
Nice clarification on the point Melissa! 🙂 When God is in you he works in you and your devotion to him will come out being anointied by the holy spirit. You basically need to make him lord in your life and let him lead no works. Once you understand that you will release that your find out the route he directed us to go is best. God bless you Melissa!
realize that sorry typo.
I'm really happy you connected these verses with the Galatians epistle, before I made the connection I felt serious depression and confusion but now have a better understanding. God Bless and have a wonderful day
I am so glad God lead me to your channel. I prayed, and he answered. God Bless you even more Melissa :)