Some people think, “I am a sinner and need to have good behavior. Being saved just by believing in Jesus is too cheap. I should believe in Jesus and do good works so that I will be assured of being saved.” But this is not the teaching of the Bible. Although God saves us unto good works, that is, we have been “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10) and “prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21), nevertheless, we must remember that the Bible tells us that good works come after being saved. Salvation is not a result of good works, nor is it the result of good works in addition to believing. A child cannot walk before he is born; in like manner, we have to be reborn first, and then good works come. It is impossible to expect a person to do good works before he is reborn.
Romans 4:4 through 6 says, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not accounted according to grace, but according to what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted as righteousness. Even as David also speaks blessing on the man to whom God accounts righteousness apart from works.” The wages of the one who works are not accounted according to grace but according to what is due. He deserves his wages because he has done a good work. But the faith of the one who does not work but believes (let us note the word “believes”) on Him who justifies the ungodly is accounted as righteousness. We can be saved not by works but by faith. Something else in addition to believing is not needed. We must remember that faith alone is sufficient. David said that “the man to whom God accounts righteousness apart from works” was blessed. “Apart from works” shows that salvation has nothing to do with works.
Ephesians 2:8 through 10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works that no one should boast. For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.” Verses 8 and 9 tell us that we are saved by grace through the faith which God has given to us and not by our own works. Verse 10 tells us that God has saved us to do the good works which He prepared for us. We are saved by grace through faith; after being saved we should do the good works which God prepared for us.
Some people think that praying should also be a condition for salvation. They do not realize that salvation is by faith not by prayer. Since the Lord Jesus Christ has already borne our sins and been judged by God, we do not even need to pray; all we have to do is believe. To pray is to ask God to do something, but to believe is to accept what God has already accomplished. We believe that God has judged Jesus Christ and that Christ has died for us. The cross has fully accomplished the work of redemption so that whoever believes in what God has done shall be saved.
However, someone may ask, “Does not Romans 10:13 say that ‘whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’? Does this not show us that we must pray to be saved and that if we do not pray we will not be saved?” But let us read the following verse which says, “How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed?” Believing comes first, and calling comes after. First there is the believing, and then there is the calling. To call is an expression of faith-it is not an independent or additional requirement. Believing includes calling, and believing spontaneously produces calling. Furthermore, the calling in this verse is not an ordinary plea; it is an invoking of the name of the Lord. This is similar to what was spoken in the previous text about confessing the Lord Jesus with the mouth. It is also referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:3: “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” The name of the Lord is salvation. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord or says that Jesus is Lord will be saved. Can one say Jesus is Lord if he does not believe that Jesus is Lord? On the other hand, can one who believes that Jesus is Lord not say that Jesus is Lord or call on His name? Therefore, prayer is not a requirement of being saved. Faith and faith alone is the requirement.
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