Or Is There Something You Must Do To Enter the Kingdom of God?
An excerpt from the Garner Ted Armstrong’s book:
Thousands of professing Christians and many large denominations insist there are no works required in order to receive salvation! Millions of people who profess Christ insist that the LAW is “done away”; that such things as the Sabbath, annual Sabbaths, clean and unclean meats, tithing are all unnecessary. They believe the Bible says “Jesus nailed the law to His cross,” and claim that “under the ‘NEW’ Covenant” there is no obligation to keep any laws! Millions believe we are saved by grace alone! They insist there are no works of any kind involved in salvation.
Is this true? Will God save us if we do not obey Him? Put another way, will God refuse salvation to us if He finds us trying to keep His laws? Does it make God angry with us when He sees us trying to keep His Ten Commandments? Can keeping the Sabbath and holy days get you LOST?
In this publication, you will see just what was “nailed to the ‘cross,’” and you will be astonished at what your own Bible says!
Yet, judging from the angry rhetoric one hears over radio and television and reads in religious publications, you and I would be in real trouble with God if we were found trying to keep His laws! “That’s legalism!” they say, when asked about keeping the Sabbath or feast days, observing God’s dietary laws, or obeying the Ten Commandments.
Is God angry with us if we keep His laws? Will we lose out on His Kingdom if we dare try to obey Him?
Tunnel Vision or Dishonesty?
The favorite text quoted by thousands of ministers to do away with any works is, “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” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Invariably, they stop quoting with the word “boast,” and never go on to read the rest of the thought!
On its face, this oft-quoted verse seems to tell us we need only have faith to be saved —that we certainly do not need any “works” to present before God. If this is so, then why did Paul, the writer of this letter to the church at Ephesus, continue to say in the same passage, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them“? (Ephesians 2:10).
If God has ordained that we should “walk in good works,” meaning live a life of good works, which this verse plainly tells us, then isn’t this a diametric contradiction only a few words apart in the Bible?
Not at all. God’s Word does not contradict itself. It does not tell you one thing in one verse, and the exact opposite in the next. One need only understand the meaning of the words used in order to grasp the full meaning of the entire passage. One thing is obvious: If only a part of the phrase is quoted, ending with the word “boast,” the person quoting the verse does not want his listeners or readers to hear or see the remainder, which says we are created in Christ, as newly-begotten “creatures in Christ,” unto good works! Is there any dishonesty involved?
What is the Bible Definition of Grace?
Grace does not mean a permanent condition of a human being. “Living under grace” is a term often used by those who deny there are any works to be accomplished by Christians. But grace is a quality of the character and nature of God, not the state of being of a Christian. Grace means unmerited pardon. It means undeserved, unearned forgiveness! Because God is gracious, meaning merciful, He is willing to forgive us for our sins when we repent. A plain paraphrasing of the enigmatic verse in Ephesians 2:8 would be, “By God’s loving, merciful graciousness and forgiveness, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and even this faith is a gift from God, it is not something we can produce ourselves, lest we should boast and brag that we had saved ourselves! Nevertheless, we are created in Christ, as Christians, for the purpose of performing good works, which God has before ordained that we should live in them.”
Here is what the dictionary says about grace: “God’s free and undeserved favor to and love for mankind; influence of God operating in man to improve and strengthen: ‘but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20).’”
Never forget the real meaning of the word “grace.” Remember, it is not the life-long condition of a Christian — a “state of being” in which the Christian dwells, it is part of the quality of character of God! When we repent of sin, God is gracious and merciful to forgive us of our sins. Notice, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:4-7).
We can never “work” to eradicate sin. Sin is only forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through anything we can accomplish. No amount of well-doing today can erase evil-doing yesterday. But when God “imputes righteousness without works” to us, He does so only through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ; through His righteousness.
How greatly blessed we are, by God’s loving and merciful grace, when He forgives and covers our sins! And what is sin? Sin is the breaking of God’s Ten Commandments!
No human being can ever earn God’s forgiveness. Remember, being forgiven is the very first step toward salvation. We know “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin,” wrote Paul (Romans 4:8). Neither you nor I could live one hundred lifetimes of one hundred years each, mightily striving to “be good,” or “do good,” and earn salvation! We could not keep God’s Ten Commandments perfectly for one hundred such lifetimes of one hundred years each, and earn salvation!
Why is this so? Because salvation is the gracious gift of God. A gift is not something we earn, it is something freely given!
Call or go online to order the FREE booklet
Saved By Grace?
by Garner Ted Armstrong
www.GarnerTedArmstrong.org
(903) 561-7070
