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Quote Originally Posted by De Maria View Post
Revelation 22:13-15

King James Version (KJV)
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[FONT=Charis SIL]13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
So does verse 14 teach that only those who live sinless lives by perfectly doing all of His commandments will be in heaven? Those who by faith that have trusted in Christ as the only means of their salvation have received Christ's imputed righteousness (Romans 4:4-6; Philippians 3:9), so in God's eyes (positionally speaking) they have perfectly obeyed His commandments and are seen as sinless and perfect, based on the righteousness of Christ, but practically speaking, we are not sinless and perfect and have not perfectly obeyed all of His commandments (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Only those who have been granted eternal life through faith are those who keep His commandments. This is the demonstrative evidence that we have been saved, not the cause of our salvation. 1 John 3:10 - In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. The children of God keep His commandments (which does not mean they perfectly obey all of His commandments and are sinless and perfect in of themselves) by practicing righteousness. The children of the devil practice sin and not righteousness. Other translations read, "Blessed are those who wash their robes," (Revelation 22:14) which symbolizes those who have been forgiven of their sins by the blood of the Lamb through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24-26).

I believe in Jesus, therefore I obey Him:
Hebrews 5:9


Trusting in works for salvation is not believing in Jesus for salvation or obeying Him. So the word "obey" here leads you to believe that we are saved by "obedience" (works) which follows saving faith in Christ? How can you say that you have truly "obeyed Him" (in that sense) unless you have done it completely, 100%? Are you sinless and perfect? All sin is disobedience and believers are not sinless and perfect in of themselves. In Romans 10:16we see: But they have not all OBEYED the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has BELIEVED our report?" We can clearly see that we OBEY Christ by choosing to BELIEVE the gospel (Romans 1:16). Refusing to OBEY the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8) is refusing to BELIEVE the gospel (Romans 10:16). If we have not BELIEVED the gospel, then we don't "obey" Him no matter how much so-called obedience that we attempt to conjure up through the flesh. There are those who "obey their church" yet don't obey Christ and they confuse this with obeying Christ. Children of God obey Him by practicing righteousness after they are saved, yet children of the devil do not obey Him by practicing righteousness because they are not saved.

King James Version (KJV)

[FONT=Charis SIL]9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

I simply follow the words of Scripture:
According to the interpretations of the Roman Catholic church. Are you obeying Christ or your church?

Romans 2:13

King James Version (KJV)
[FONT=Charis SIL]13(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
So you will justified by the law? Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. Paul’s argument is very simple: The Jews had the law (possessed it), they heard the law, but they did not do the law, and therefore the Jews are condemned. Paul is not teaching salvation through observing the law here which is clear from Romans 3:20. Do you believe that you have done enough to earn your salvation? Verses that make it "sound like" we are saved by works sure jump out and grab you. These are the kind of verses that you continually quote.

Philippians 2:12

King James Version (KJV)
[FONT=Charis SIL]12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Notice that this verse says, "work out" not "work for." This does not refer to salvation by works, but it does refer to the believer's responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification. The justified person is actively involved in resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7). Sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't live a perfect life (which we won't), we are still justified by faith in Christ (Romans 5:1). Notice that verse 12 does not end with a period, but with a comma. It would be incorrect to stop reading there, for we would not understand what God was inspiring Paul to tell us. Verse 13 continues, after a comma, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

James 1:21-23

King James Version (KJV)
[FONT=Charis SIL]21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Hearing the word without action is self-deceptive. Being doers of the word, and not hearers only is the proper response to the Word of God. Looking intently at his natural face in a mirror and then forgetting what he was like demonstrates the folly of examining oneself in God’s “mirror” of the “implanted word” (v. 21) and then doing nothing about it (v. 22). When one sees something wrong (as when looking in a mirror), common sense says something should be done about it.

Matthew 7:21

King James Version (KJV)
[FONT=Charis SIL]21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
In Matthew 7:21, what does Jesus mean by the will of the Father? Are you suggesting that by the expression "the will of My Father" Jesus meant a life of complete obedience to all that the Father has commanded? Thus those who do the will of the Father would be people who live absolute godly, holy lives? The problem with that interpretation is that one cannot be said to have done the will of the Father (in that sense) unless he does it completely, 100%. Are you sinless and perfect? In John 6:40, we see "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The will of God for us to receive eternal life is that we believe in Christ for salvation. A person who believes (trusts in Christ alone for salvation) obeys the will of the Father in receiving eternal life. Beyond this, only believers can do His will for them throughout their lives after they have been saved through faith. Unbelievers have not done His will to receive salvation so they don't do His will throughout their lives either. Children of God practice righteousness and children of the devil do not practice righteousness. People who are religious, but not right with God, end up doing the will of their church and not the will of God.

At the judgment, many will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works?" (Matthew 7:22). And the Lord will answer, "I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23). Why didn't Christ ask them into His kingdom? Because their works are not the means of their salvation, which they are obviously trusting in to save them, which demonstrates that these people were not trusting in CHRIST ALONE for salvation. Notice that these people said, Lord, Lord, didn't "WE." The correct answer for these people would have been, "Lord, Lord, didn't YOU live a sinless perfect life, die for my sins and rise from the dead. I trust in YOU alone for my salvation. Amen! In Matthew 7:23, notice that the Lord DID NOT say that He once known them but doesn't know them anymore. He said, "I NEVER knew you." Could He EVER say that of someone who had once been genuinely saved -- and then lost their salvation?

There you go. Believers keep the Commandments.
Believers keep His Commandments BECAUSE they have been saved, not to become saved. The Greek word for "keep" 5083 τιρεω tireoo basic meaning of which is: to ATTEND TO CAREFULLY, TO TAKE CARE OF, TO GUARD, TO KEEP, TO WATCH OVER. It does not mean sinless perfect obedience to all that the Lord has commanded. It also does not imply that we are saved based on our best efforts to obey all of His commandments, "works salvation." Why do you continually point out verses in Scripture that pertain to the fruit of our salvation and imply that they pertain to the root cause of our salvation?

Are you trusting in Christ ALONE as the allsufficient means of your salvation or are you also trusting in "works that you accomplish" to help save you? Please prayerfully consider the truth and God bless.