Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace
Galatians 5:2-6
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Look at the above verses. What do they teach about trying to mix grace and works as the basis for a relationship with God?
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. It's not what you do - it's why you do it. Do you do a good thing because it makes you look good, or you think it's what you should do - or do you do a good thing because you Love God and you want to do that good thing to honor him? If you do it out of Love, it gives your action meaning - but it doesn't make you good.
Besides, trying to buy your way into heaven by being good, cheapens God's gift of grace. Because if we could do it ourselves, it would make His grace have no meaning. It's sort of like when you get a phone call promising some great vacation for ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!! When really, you have to go sit in on a presentation and then take part in a time share... well, that makes the whole ABSOLUTELY FREE thing sort of meaningless... By doing good works it's like we're saying to God "No, I know there's a catch! It can't possibly be FREE - so I'll just build up some credit on my own - you know... just in case" We don't like it when people cheapen our gifts - why would God?
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