“Nor is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
As far as earning your place in heaven, your “good” works count for nothing! They are, as Isaiah said, “Filthy rags!” (Isaiah 64:6) However, that doesn’t mean our works are unimportant. Good works must be found in your life if you belong to Jesus Christ (John 15:1-5), and there’s so much confusion regarding the Christian and good works. People either think they’re saved by their good works or they are saved by Christ alone and therefore good works are unimportant. But both of these are unbiblical teachings. The Bible teaches that the believer does good works not to be saved but because they are the saved!! Notice what Scripture teaches concerning the Christian and good works:
- The Apostle Paul said that a widow under 60 years old is not to be financially cared for by the church unless she has been “well reported for good works…” (1 Tim. 5:10).
- Ephesians 2:10 teaches that believers are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
- Jesus, in His sermon on the Mount, taught believers to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
- The Apostle Paul taught that godly women ought to “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works” (1 Tim. 2:9-10).
- Concerning the rich, the Apostle Paul told Timothy to “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share…” (1 Tim. 6:17-18).
- In the book of Titus, the Apostle Paul teaches that the young men of the church are “…to be a pattern of good works…” (Titus 2:7); that the redeemed of Christ are to be “…zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14); “…that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8); that Christians must “…learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).
- And the writer to the Hebrews admonishes the saints to “…let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).
Nevertheless, the Bible also teaches that our “good” works are not the cause of our salvation. The cause of our salvation is always & only the perfect law-fulfilling life and sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), and if you’re trusting in anything alongside of or instead of Jesus Christ then you’re not trusting Jesus and you’re on the broad road that leads to Hell! The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 30, reads: “Do those also believe in the only Savior Jesus, who seek their salvation and welfare from “saints,” themselves, or anywhere else? No; although they make their boast of Him, yet in their deeds they deny the only Savior Jesus; for either Jesus is not a complete Savior, or they who by true faith receive this Savior, must have in Him all that is necessary to their salvation.”
What about you? Are you denying the ONLY Savior Jesus by trusting in something other than Him, or do you, by true faith, look to the Savior Jesus Christ ALONE and have in Him ALL that is necessary to your salvation? “Nor is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Look to Jesus today and live!