Judged by "if we believe"

We just had our Bible study the other night (monday & thursday with church on sat)
And our group leader made an amazing statement that just lit up in my head

I'm going to paraphrase here

"We won't be judged by our works, but by whether we believe or not"

And how do you tell if someone believes or not, you ask? By their works

So yeah... God's forgiven me for everything I've done or ever will do. But if my life doesn't change to show that I have faith (or believe in God's promise for me) then I'm just living a lie and probably would be better off never knowing the truth (as the bible says) So if I fail in my life I know God has forgiven me, but if I never change at all I'm running the race in vain.

Praise God

Hackmodford wrote:We just had our Bible study the other night (monday & thursday with church on sat)
And our group leader made an amazing statement that just lit up in my head

I'm going to paraphrase here

"We won't be judged by our works, but by whether we believe or not"

And how do you tell if someone believes or not, you ask? By their works

So yeah... God's forgiven me for everything I've done or ever will do. But if my life doesn't change to show that I have faith (or believe in God's promise for me) then I'm just living a lie and probably would be better off never knowing the truth (as the bible says) So if I fail in my life I know God has forgiven me, but if I never change at all I'm running the race in vain.

Praise God

I think what you've hit on there is some good stuff and reflects both Romans and James concerning grace, faith, works and the whole deal.

Our sanctification (which good works are part of) is meant to function as an assurance of our justification.

Where it gets a little off the rails is when we assume that we can tell who is genuinely justified based on our assessment of their sanctification. Works can provide partial evidence of justification and sanctification (two facets of "salvation"), but good works (or a perceived lack thereof) are not a proof for someone NOT being justified or sanctified.

In their proper role in our lives, as I think you've hit on, good works function primarily as a source of our encouragement regarding our sanctification.

Cool stuff, Brandon. Thanks!