If you believe that you must do something, that you must perform some deed, some work, some action to add to the cross of Christ, in addition to His sacrifice for your salvation, you are not saved. You are not a Christian.
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31)
Believing is not an action or work, it is the acceptance of known truths. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow, but only because it has every day since long before I was born, it is an assurance that has proven to be indisputable, and so it can be trusted as truth.
This is faith, the unmitigated knowledge that everything in the Scriptures concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is true, and the Scriptures cannot be disputed by logic, they are not swayed by emotions, Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life before the Father, willingly went to the cross to suffer the wrath of God for our sakes, died and rose again to sit at the right hand of the Father.
“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.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
That word works refers to any work we might attempt to perform as a requirement perceived by us as an addition to what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished by Himself. It matters not if it is baptism, going to church, attempting on your own to live a good life, being polite and kind, repeating certain prayers, partaking in any foolish sacraments, or any other possible work you can think of, there is not one thing that you can add to the work of Christ that the Lord will accept, and if you believe there is, you are not saved.
“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.” (Gal. 2:16)
The assurance of salvation by grace through faith is inconceivable to many who sit in the pews each Sunday morning, and it matters not what denomination you care to choose, many who profess to know Him as Lord will not accept the fact that what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross was sufficient in itself for the Living God to accept His sacrifice, they believe they must also perform some work, and by doing so, by believing this lie, what they are saying is that Jesus Christ is not enough.
Those who think this way are not Christians. It can be stated in no simpler words than that.
Every single verse that these individuals will use to deny this truth they are misinterpreting, taking out of context, being deceived about by their lack of Spiritual discernment, by their own pride and vanity, by our adversary, it matters not the way, the fact remains, they will not accept the truth that Jesus paid it all without any assistance from them, that all the Almighty required for a man to be saved was done by Him at the cross by Himself.
All we must do to be saved is believe.
The proof is in a changed life produced by sanctification of the Holy Spirit, by dying to self, by submission to the will of God willingly offered in all humility. The works after salvation are done through us, not of us.
If you believe that you must perform a work before the Lord will accept the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of all mankind, you are not saved. If you believe His shed blood is not enough to cover all your sins, that you must do a deed to add to that blood, you are not a Christian, and you will not live eternally in His presence.
