Will Good Deeds Save Man?
“God is the one who chooses a man who will
worship him.”
The history of salvation is the
history of God’s choosing of people to worship Him. We must be familiar with
Israel, God’s chosen people of ancient times (cf. Dt. 7:6-9).
We know that Israel did not remain
faithful to God’s commandments (Jer. 11:10 and as a result Israel was cursed
(Dan. 9:11).
God sent Christ to save the world but
those who want to be saved must believe in Him (Jn. 3:16). One truly believes
in Christ if he obeys whatever He says. Christ said that He is the door of the
sheep and anyone who enters in by Him shall be saved (cf. Jn. 10:7,9); sheep means God’s people (Ezek. 34:31); those who
have entered in through Christ are in the fold as clarified in Jn. 10:9, thus:
“I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me shall be safe.” (Revised English
Bible)
The fold or flock is the Church of
Christ which He has purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28, Lamsa). Thus, Christ will save
the Church (Eph. 5:23-25) and not the whole world because only those who enter
and become members of the Church built by Christ truly believe in Christ. The
Bible states that those to be save are brought into the kingdom of Christ (Col.
1:12-14) which is the Church of Christ (cf.
Acts 2:47; Rom. 16:16).
This gathering of people together in
Christ, which is done when people become members of the Church of Christ, is
the will of the Father (Eph. 1:9-10) who is the only true God according to
Christ Himself (Jn. 17:1-3).
Those outside the Church of Christ may
have done good deeds as the example of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, but his
good deeds were not enough to save him. He was told to see Apostle Peter who
preached to him and his family and baptized them into the Church of Christ
(Acts, Chapter 10).
Thus, the essential thing to do to
attain salvation is to become a member of the Church of Christ which is the
flock purchased with Christ’s blood, the sheep mentioned in Matthew 25:32-40 to
whom Christ will save on Judgment Day “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (verse 34).
We in the Church of Christ obey the
law of Christ that is written in the Bible (cf.
Jn. 14:21; Gal. 6:2). We do not add to nor subtract from what is written (cf. I Cor. 4:6; Rev. 22:18-19). Whatever
we believe about the life of Christ and His teachings are found in the Bible
and we do not entertain any other information outside of it because although there were many things
Jesus said and did that were written (Jn. 21:25), the things that were written
are enough for man to believe in Christ and thereby be saved (Jn. 20:31).
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