Eternal life is a free gift from God. Forgiveness of sins is a free gift from God. There is nothing that you can do to earn it. NO amount of good works can cover even ONE of your sins. Since there is no way you can earn it, God offers it for free. Trusting in your good works to get you into Heaven will guarantee your place in Hell.
8 For by grace are ye saved [from your sins] through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.Ephesians 2:8,9
[God] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2 Timothy 1:9
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Titus 3:5
You cannot be saved by trying to live holy, either. Keeping God’s laws now will not help you now if you have broken it before. You are still a sinner even if you try to live a God-pleasing life. Keeping His law now won’t get you forgiveness from the times you have broken it before. You must still accept Christ to get forgiveness of sins. Then God will give you the power to resist the urge to sin. If you do not accept Christ but try to live a holy life, it will not work. You will not have the power to resist sin, and you will fall eventually. The law cannot save you, it can only show you how sinful you really are:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16
I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet … that sin by the commandment might appear exceedingly sinful.
Romans 7:7, 13
“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men…” (Titus 2:11). Grace is the unconditional love of God, that He showed us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for OUR sins. So we see that eternal life is a free gift from God to all who will believe, and there is nothing you can do to earn it. If you would like to accept God’s free gift of eternal life (in Heaven), CLICK HERE.
What about James 2:26: “Faith without works is dead?” Doesn’t this mean you have to do works to be saved? No, it is saying “You not saved by doing good works, you are saved TO do them!” If you do get saved, that does not mean that you should stop doing good works. The works do not save you but show others that you really are a Christian: “shew [show] me thy faith without thy works and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). No one likes a hypocrite. This is what James Chapter 2 is really saying. It gives the example of seeing someone who lacks clothes or food, and not helping them. (James 2:16).
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