On the last day, there will be two groups of people who will be disappointed when they stand before God, the just judge.
The first will be those who present their faith that is barren of any works. These have failed to attend to the warnings of the apostle James when he said that the faith which is devoid of works cannot save. To be clear, it is not the works that saves, but the faith that saves must have works. This is how to detect counterfeit faith: it is one that does not have works. According to James, this is dead faith. The character of the faith that saves has good works in it. If your faith is devoid of good works, then, you can be sure that that kind of faith cannot save you. Again, it needs to be stated that it is not the works that saves, but the faith that saves must generate good works.
The second category of those who will be disappointed when that day comes are those who will only have good works as their criteria for entering heaven. But sadly for them, there is nothing done apart from faith in Christ that will be admitted into heaven. Apart from faith in Christ, man is incapable of doing anything that God will consider to be good.
When the apostle Paul wrote that salvation rests on faith alone, he did not intend to be understood as implying that the faith that saves does not have good works; and when the apostle James wrote that faith alone does not save, he did not imply that it is works that saves, but rather that the faith that saves must produce good works. Thus, both Paul and James did not contradict themselves. In the words of John Calvin, "Faith alone saves,but the faith that saves does not stand alone, it has works".
Toni
The first will be those who present their faith that is barren of any works. These have failed to attend to the warnings of the apostle James when he said that the faith which is devoid of works cannot save. To be clear, it is not the works that saves, but the faith that saves must have works. This is how to detect counterfeit faith: it is one that does not have works. According to James, this is dead faith. The character of the faith that saves has good works in it. If your faith is devoid of good works, then, you can be sure that that kind of faith cannot save you. Again, it needs to be stated that it is not the works that saves, but the faith that saves must generate good works.
The second category of those who will be disappointed when that day comes are those who will only have good works as their criteria for entering heaven. But sadly for them, there is nothing done apart from faith in Christ that will be admitted into heaven. Apart from faith in Christ, man is incapable of doing anything that God will consider to be good.
When the apostle Paul wrote that salvation rests on faith alone, he did not intend to be understood as implying that the faith that saves does not have good works; and when the apostle James wrote that faith alone does not save, he did not imply that it is works that saves, but rather that the faith that saves must produce good works. Thus, both Paul and James did not contradict themselves. In the words of John Calvin, "Faith alone saves,but the faith that saves does not stand alone, it has works".
Toni
