Things that will keep you out of Heaven.

[KingJ]

If we do works thinking it is necessary for salvation, our work cancels out God's grace. The Apostle Paul was very clear on that.

In the old covenant, working on the sabbath incurred the death penalty. Likewise in the new covenant of grace, where we have continual sabbath rest in Jesus' blood, working will also result in (spiritual) death.

Am I saying Christians shouldn't do good works? Of course not. What I am saying, is if someone is working as part of salvation, because he somehow doesn't think what Jesus accomplished for us is enough, i.e. that He saved us to the utmost, then all he has is works and no salvation.

Faith alone, in Christ alone, people! You are not saved by doing good works, nor by doing these things to maintain your salvation.
The Bible states plainly, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Salvation depends solely on what Christ has accomplished, not on anything you do or don't do.

Important to state that saving faith required (Rom 10:9) is gifted by God (1 Cor 12:3) to those who truthfully repent. Once truly saved, always saved.

I agree that we can no longer work for salvation. Teaching we must leads to heresy and a whole host of other issues. Chiefest being a gross misrepresentation of God in that it suggests He is unjust. He can gift eternal bliss to the criminal next to Him on the cross but someone who does the same / is saved, serves ten years and in the eleventh falls from grace can go to eternal damnation = gross injustice. Never saved in the first place = just. There is simply no way around it. You can argue this extremely logical fact over 1000 pages and will still not be able to persuade some. Scripture is crystal clear that God is just. Job 34:12 It is unthinkable that God pervert justice.

You will find many Christians not agreeing with OSAS. It is not really the end of the world as we do have common ground on ''no unrepentant sinner will be in heaven'' 1 Cor 6:9-12.

 

[KingJ]

Jas 2:24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

There is a verse that says NOT faith alone, can you show me a verse that says "faith alone"? Or are you making up this up
and adding "alone" in a verse where it doesn't exist?

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

James 2:24 is one verse where the Greek and context really matters.

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1. The core issue:​

James 2:24 (ESV):

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

The tension only exists if we assume:

• “justified” = declared righteous before God
• “faith” = saving faith

James is not using the terms the same way Paul does.

Greek matters here​

The word dikaioō (“justify”) has more than one legitimate biblical usage:

1. Forensic / declarative justification before God
   – Paul’s usage (Romans 3–5)
2. Demonstrative / evidential justification before people
   – James’ usage (James 2)

Jesus Himself uses dikaioō this second way:

“Wisdom is justified by her works” (Matt 11:19)

Wisdom isn’t saved by works—she’s shown to be right.

That is exactly how James is using the term.

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2. James’ audience and concern​

James is writing to professing believers (James 1:2; 2:1) who:

• Claim faith
• Show no transformation
• Exhibit favoritism and dead orthodoxy

His concern is not how one gets saved, but how genuine faith is recognized.

Key verse:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14)

The Greek construction implies:

“Can that kind of faith save him?”

James is attacking empty profession, not true faith.

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3. “Faith alone” — James vs Paul​

This is crucial:

Paul says:​

“Justified by faith apart from works” (Rom 3:28)

Paul is answering:

How is a sinner declared righteous before God?

James says:​

“Not by faith alone”

James is answering:

How is faith shown to be real rather than dead?

James uses “faith alone” to mean:

Intellectual assent without regeneration

That is not what Paul means by “faith”.

James proves this explicitly:

“Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19)

Demons have belief but not saving faith.

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4. Abraham proves James is not denying OSAS​

James uses Abraham deliberately.


James 2:21:

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac?”

But Abraham was declared righteous decades earlier:

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6)

Paul explicitly anchors justification there (Rom 4:1–5).

So James cannot be talking about initial justification.

What happened in Genesis 22?

• Abraham’s faith was proven
• His righteousness was manifest
• His faith was brought to maturity (James 2:22)

James even says:

“You see that faith was working with his works, and faith was completed by his works.”

Completed ≠ created
Proven ≠ granted

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5. James aligns with Jeremiah 17:9–11 (your insight is correct)​

You are absolutely right to bring in Jeremiah 17.

God judges:

• Heart
• Mind
• Intent

Humans cannot.

So what do humans see?

• Works

James is saying:

Since humans cannot see the heart, faith must be shown.

This aligns perfectly with:

• Luke 5:32 (repentance unto life)
• Romans 10:9 (confession flowing from belief)
• 1 Corinthians 12:3 (Spirit-enabled confession)

James is dealing with human epistemology, not divine soteriology.

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6. OSAS is not threatened—it's actually reinforced​

If salvation depended on works:

• God’s omniscience would be irrelevant
• Grace would be conditional
• Assurance would be impossible

James does not teach:

“Works keep you saved”

He teaches:

“Works reveal whether faith is alive”

Dead faith ≠ lost faith
Dead faith = never saving faith to begin with


This is fully consistent with:

• John 10:28–29
• Romans 8:30
• Ephesians 1:13–14

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7. Summary (plainly stated)​

• James 2:24 is not about how one is saved
• It is about how faith is demonstrated
• “Justified” means vindicated before others
• James assumes God alone judges the heart
• OSAS remains intact in context