Again, Theological error concerning a works salvation espoused on FB:“… see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only….. O vain man, that faith without works is dead. James2-To the Already Saved.”

Christian response,

Again, you fail to understand the Scripture. Justification comes by grace through faith not works (Ephesians 2:8-9). If a man or woman could earn God’s righteousness by human effort, Jesus died in vain. A Christian’s works ONLY become relevant SUBSEQUENT to establishing a relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Until that relationship is established and guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, your works are as a filthy menstrual rag in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6).

In fact, before you confess Jesus as your Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead for your justification, God will NOT even hear your prayer let alone acknowledge your works (John 9:31). We know that God’s heart is turned and receptive toward the one who approaches Him with a contrite and humble spirit, not works (Isaiah 66:2). Not until that eternal relationship with the Father is established through faith-belief in the Son and said relationship is sealed-guaranteed by the Spirit will your works be accounted as validating and authenticating your confession.

Every Christian, if their confession is true, will walk in good works i.e. obedience to our Lord via the indwelling Holy Spirit as it is our obedience, our works, SUBSEQUENT to our confession that validates our faith as authentic and true. It is the one who “believes” in the Son that is justified before the Father NOT the one who works.

The Holy Spirit expresses the necessity of faith first and works subsequently in Romans 4, It is written,

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered;

8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.