Faith and/or Works ?! What About Good People? part 1

It has been years since I have written anything here, but I am so glad to be here today. As I was on a prayer call, the LORD showed me something to help me better understand the faith vs works concept in scripture. There are two scriptures about faith vs. works that seem to be opposites, but in actually go together perfectly. First is Ephesians 2:8-9 and it says: New International Version 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. This scripture reminds us that we can not save ourselves but that is our faith in the savior, Jesus, the gift who lived, died, and rose again to pay the cost for our sin debt. When I share this with people there is almost always the question of "good people" who don't recognize Jesus. What if someone follows the 10 commandments, but doesn't believe that Jesus is LORD? The answer is simple and sad. John 14:5-7 New King James Version 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. The Father Revealed 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Romans 3:22-24 New King James Version 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [a]and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified [b]freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Our good works can not save us because the cost of a single sin is death, and everyone has sinned at least once. Therefore even "good people" are in a debt of sin that they can not afford. There are "good people" going to eternal separation from God. By that I mean Hell and damnation. No amount of good works can pay off the sin debt. Only Jesus could pay it off, and he did. It is our choice whether or not to place our trust in his payment on our behalf. Romans 6:22-23 New King James Version 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit [a]to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [b]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. How does one have confirmation that God has accepted us in the name of Jesus? It is his spirit that marks us as forgiven and adopted into the family of GOD. The difference between those who are saved and "good people" going to Hell is the Holy Spirit in us. Romans 8:8-10 New King James Version 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. The Holy Spirit is the passport to Heaven and the Kingdom of GOD. Without it, there is no access or entry. NO amount of works can give us access without the passport. It is Jesus that gives us access to heaven not ourselves because we are not good enough. That being said, there are some people who other would consider "bad people" who are going to heaven. What's up with that? Jesus said something that probably seemed strange to those who heard it. Luke 18:18-20 New King James Version Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ If we take into consideration what Jesus says here then everyone who is going to heaven is a bad person, and all the people that we call good are also bad people. So essentially, there are bad people going to Hell and bad people going to Heaven. The difference is Jesus. Acts 16:30-32 New King James Version 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

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