No one really believes in the faith only salvation

 During our recent gospel meeting I heard Edwin Jones say that there is no one  really believes in being saved by faith only.  I had never thought of it that way.  Have you ever heard someone say that all you have to do is say the sinner’s prayer to be saved?  Hold it; I have to say a prayer?  Saying a prayer is a work and using their argument against baptism I should not have to do a work to be saved.  Therefore, I should be saved without saying the Sinner’s prayer.  Isn’t the blood of Christ powerful enough to do that?  What is so strange about this is that the same argument that is used to justify the sinner’s prayer is used to justify baptism.  The point is that the Blood of Christ is powerful enough to save all by itself but that is not how it works.  God is a righteous God and it would not be right to save those who make no effort to be saved or just don't want to live the Christian Life.  Christianity is not passive and the idea that you do not have to do anything to be a Christian is so far from the truth as to be ridiculous.  You have to want it, believe it and do it!  “Do it” implies work.  So quit confusing work with earnings.  We have to do something but what we do does not earn us salvation on our own merit.  It is, however, obedience to the commands of God and by obedience we have salvation promised to us.   

If you tell me that if I help build a Habitat for Humanity house that I can get one of the houses for my family, did my work earn me that house.  No, I am not a professional in the construction arena and if I fetch and carry that is worthy of minimum wage, maybe.  Then, as I understand it, when I move in I will have a mortgage on the house.  So my labor efforts in no way earned me that house or I would not have needed Habitat for Humanity.  However, I was promised a house and although I did not earn it I have a right to the exercise of the promise if I obey the terms of the promise. 

The blood of Christ saves us without any merit on our part.  However, the blood of Christ is not available to those who wish to remain disobedient.  We must obey God and we can only get to the Blood of Christ if we do it the way it is offered to us.  If God, who is faithful to keep his word, has promised us eternal life we can expect the promise of eternal life if we are obedient.  Stronger than that, we can know we have eternal life because of grace and obedience.  You cannot expect grace to cover willful and continuing disobedience.  Grace is there for mistakes and weaknesses of the flesh but God has never forgiven anyone that knew they were doing wrong and did it anyway and remained unrepentant.  It doesn’t matter if you were saved when you were twelve years old God will not allow you into heaven if you are disobedient and defiant to your death.  I believe that Satan was kicked out of heaven for such an attitude.