Salvation and Final Salvation
VI Questions and Answers About Salvation and Final Salvation
Question 5: You say only by accepting God’s work of judgment in the last days can man’s corrupt satanic disposition be transformed. We practice patience and humility as required by the Lord, we love our enemy, bear our cross, subdue our body, abandon the secular world, work and preach for the Lord, and so on. Aren’t they all our changes? Can’t they be seen as the credentials for our entry into the kingdom of heaven? I believe only if we continue our pursuit like this can we become holy and enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Answer: Man can love their enemy, bear their cross, subdue their body, and preach the Lord’s gospel, which are all man’s good deeds after their believing in the Lord and show that they have a true heart toward the Lord. Such good deeds are right in man’s eyes, and seemingly they are in accordance with the God’s word, but they don’t indicate that men are practicing God’s word and doing God’s will, much less indicate that they have cast off their sinful nature and become holy. We cannot only judge a person’s good deeds outwardly, but should discern his intentions behind them.
If one’s intention is for obeying God, loving God, and satisfying God, such good deeds are practicing the truth and doing God’s will. If one does good deeds only for receiving blessings, the crown, and rewards, not for loving God, such good deeds are not doing God’s will, but are hypocritical performances. If good deeds mean that one has done God’s will and become holy, then why is he still able to commit sins and resist God often?