But I said that Christ is our Judge.

Luther said:

Jesus said, he who believes on Him is not condemned (John 3:18). Ephesians 2:8 says that we have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). My faith is in Christ for salvation so according to His promise, I am saved. With His imputed righteousness, there is no sin to condemn. Jesus will judge my works. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 - each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; (of reward) but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Loss of reward (not loss of salvation) for works that are burned up, but the believer is still saved.

What do you make of this verse?
1 Corinthians 4:3-5

King James Version (KJV)
³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
⁴For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Do you just cast it out of the Bible?

You place faith in partaking of the Sacraments, in obeying the Commandments etc.. (works) not completely in Him. Whatever you are trusting in to save you, that is what you believe/have faith in for salvation.

I place my faith in Christ. But I'm interested. You see, you confound the question very easily.

First, you condemn me because you claim that I say I am saved by works.

And then you condemn me because I don't claim that I am saved at all.

So, which is it? I'll tell you which it is. I've never claimed to be saved by any works or any Sacraments. I place my faith in Christ. It is you who claim to be saved by your faith, essentially bypassing the Just Judgement of the Just Judge.

It isn't about me being so faithful that I earned my salvation.

That's what it sounds like to me. It sounds as though you say, "I'm faithful, God has to save me."

Salvation is through faith, not works.

Scripture says:
Philippians 2:12

King James Version (KJV)
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.

Hebrews 5:9

King James Version (KJV)
⁹And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

NOTICE that both of those are Pauline teachings.

I believe in Him for salvation and have received His imputed righteousness.

Where does Scripture say that anyone receives His imputed righteousness?

He is the reason I am saved. I have nothing to boast about, but so much to be thankful for! Praise God!

He is the reason those who obey are saved. He is the reason the Elect are saved. He is the reason we hope for salvation. But unless you are God, you don't know if you are saved.

Matthew 7:13-15

King James Version (KJV)
¹³Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
¹⁴Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
¹⁵Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 7:21-23

King James Version (KJV)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.
²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

1 Corinthians 10

¹Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
²And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
³And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
⁴And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
⁵But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
⁶Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
⁷Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
⁸Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
⁹Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
¹⁰Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
¹¹Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
¹²Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Christ is their judge, but He has already made it clear - He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already.. (John 3:18). The Bible makes it clear. Works are not weighed and balanced to determine if we did enough of them to earn our salvation. That is not what the Judgment is about.

Yeah! He makes it clear:
Revelation 22:13-15

King James Version (KJV)
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.

Matthew 25:31-46

King James Version (KJV)³¹When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
³²And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
³³And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that BELIEVES (Romans 1:16).

Believing is more than an empty claim of faith alone.

What happened to baptism? Christ sent me not to baptized, but to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17). Notice the distinction. Mark 16:16 is talking about general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized. If water baptism is required for salvation, then why did Jesus Himself not mention it in the following verses? (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26).

Because He mentioned it Mark 16:16. How many times does Jesus need to say something before you believe Him?

What is the ONE requirement that Jesus mentions in each of these complete statements? BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism? This demonstrates that your faith is in baptism and not completely in Christ for salvation.

My faith is in Christ. That is why I believe what He said in Mark 16:16.

What happened to you? You claim to believe Jesus but you deny what He said in Mark 16:16.

Jesus here is giving a description of believers, not a requisite to become saved - He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. Jesus here is giving a description of unbelievers - He who does not love Me does not keep My words. This demonstrates that your faith is also in your best efforts to keep His commandments, and not completely in Christ for salvation.

On the contrary,
1st. it demonstrates that you justify your way out of believing Christ's words. It is very easy to see that Jesus is precisely giving a requisite for being saved. Unless you believe that the unbelievers who don't keep His Commandments are going to be saved?

2nd. it demonstrates that you either forget, ignore, or deny Christ's words in other verses. Christ has already said elsewhere:
Matthew 19:17

King James Version (KJV)
¹⁷And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mark 10:20-22

King James Version (KJV)
²⁰And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
²¹Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
²²And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

By faith we partake of Christ, and the benefits of His bodily sacrifice on the cross and the merits of His shed blood, receiving and enjoying eternal life. Eating and drinking is not with the mouth and the digestive organs of our bodies, but the reception of God’s grace by believing in Christ, as He makes abundantly clear by repeating the same truths both in metaphoric and plain language. Compare for example the following two verses:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (v47).

“He who eats this bread will live forever” (v58).

“He who believes” in Christ is equivalent to “he who eats this bread” because the result is the same, eternal life. The parallel is even more striking between verses 40 and 54:

“Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (v40).

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (v54).

John 6 does not afford any support to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. On the contrary, it is an emphatic statement on the primacy of faith as the means by which we receive the grace of God. Jesus is the Bread of Life; we eat of Him and are satisfied when we believe in Him for salvation. This demonstrates that your faith is also in partaking of the bread and wine, and not completely in Christ for salvation.

You can keep telling yourself whatever you want in order to justify your denial of Christ's words. But believing in Christ MEANS believing and obeying His Words.

When He says that the bread is His Flesh. We believe that the bread is His Flesh.
When He says we must eat the bread which is His Flesh. We obey Him and eat the bread which is His Flesh.

That is what it means to believe in Christ. That is what it means to have faith in Christ.

Jesus mentions branches that produce no fruit (dead branches) and branches that bear fruit (vs. 2) but Jesus says nothing about branches that produced fruit but then stopped producing fruit and were cut off. The branches that bear no fruit represent unbelievers and the branches that bear fruit represent believers. This demonstrates that your faith is also in your best efforts to bear fruit (works), and not completely in Christ for salvation.

Again, my faith is in Christ. I don't judge my works. He does. What this demonstrates is that you believe you can take the place of Christ and not only judge your final end but mine.

That which you claim is not mentioned in that verse, was mentioned long ago in another:
Ezekiel 18:24

King James Version (KJV)
²⁴But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

This we do BECAUSE we are saved, not to become saved.

You judge yourself saved. You have your reward. I will await the judgement of my Lord.

After a casual reading of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), it seems that these verses suggest that salvation is the result of good deeds.

You like to read into Scripture your prejudices. What it says is that God saves those who do His Will.

However, this is clearly not the meaning of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. All Scripture proves itself right and non-contradictory when compared with the totality of Scripture. This passage has to be taken alongside the whole of Scripture. It is not advocating salvation by works. That would be contrary to Romans 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5 etc... One's works are an effect of (and therefore indication of) one's salvation status, rather than being a cause of one's salvation. This is not performance based salvation, but salvation based performance. The good deeds mentioned in Matthew 25:35-36 are merely the fruit that will be manifest in the lives of the redeemed. Notice verse 37 begins, "Then shall the righteous answer" (emphasis added). It doesn't say, "Then shall the good doers answer." Those who are placed at Christ's right hand are not there because of/based on their own good deeds, but because Christ imputed His righteousness to them (Romans 4:2-6; Philippians 3:9). When works are mentioned in connection with salvation, the works are always the result of, not the basis of, salvation. The stress is on works as a manifestation of one's faith (or lack thereof), not simply on the faith from which these works follow. So it is understandable that in this context, Matthew would stress the works that are a manifestation of "faith by which one receives eternal life." Notice how love for other Christians is an indication of one's salvation status: 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. He who practices righteousness and loves his brother does this because he is "of God" not to become of God. 1 John 3:14 - We know that we have (past tense) passed from death to life, because we love our brothers (present tense). Loving our brothers is the result of, not the condition of passing from death to life. In verse 46, notice that therighteous go into eternal life. Who are the righteous? But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5). This demonstrates that your faith is also in your best efforts to accomplish good deeds, and is not completely trusting in Christ for salvation.

You are twisting the Scripture to justify your beliefs. Scripture is quite clear:
Romans 2:13

King James Version (KJV)
¹³(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Revelation 22:13-15

^{King James Version (KJV)
13}I 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.

2 Peter 1:5-10

King James Version (KJV)
⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Children of righteousness don't sit around clueless to whether or not they are saved. They know they are saved and will be judged to receive rewards or loss of rewards.

That is not what Scripture says:
1 Corinthians 9:27

King James Version (KJV)
²⁷But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

According to the works based false gospel of the Roman Catholic church, one could not have assurance of salvation because one could not ever know for sure that they did enough works to earn their salvation. The Roman Catholic church keeps people in bondage.

Which is it? Does the Church claim we are saved by our works? Or does the Church say we do not know we are saved? You know the truth. You know that we rely upon the Judgement of Christ. Whereas you rely upon yourself.

I already know that God justifies and the Law doesn't.

But apparently you justify yourself by your faith. Whereas, it is God who justifies those who keep His law. Not those who claim faith alone.

God doesn't leave us in the dark as to whether or not we have been justified by faith. He plainly tells us that we have been in Romans 5:1, if our faith is in Christ alone for salvation.

But your faith is in yourself. Not in Christ.

Through the Sacraments is nowhere mentioned here in Romans 3:22. The righteousness of God which is by faith...unto all and upon all them that believe: This is how the Roman Catholic church adds works to the gospel of grace.

Notice that it doesn't say by faith alone. And just the one chapter before, it says, "doers of the Law are justified."

I have not ignored the rest of the Bible at all. I addressed (and did not ignore) the verses that you cited to try and support your arguments.

So you haven't. I will leave it to the readers to decide between you and I, whose interpretation makes more sense.

We are to work out the salvation that we already have through faith in Christ,

That doesn't makes sense. If you already are saved, you don't have to work out your salvation in FEAR AND TREMBLING.

not work for the salvation that we don't yet have.

True. But I didn't say that and the Church doesn't teach that. So, that is your straw man.

The verse does not say, "work for your salvation."

work out

verb

Definition of WORK OUT

transitive verb
1
a : to bring about by labor and exertion <work out your own salvation — Philippians 2:12 (Authorized Version)>b : to solve (as a problem) by a process of reasoning or calculation

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/work out
THAT is precisely what it means.

These Philippians had already been saved.

If that is so, why does he also admonish them to:
¹⁴Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
¹⁵That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

One must possess salvation first, and then we work it out to it's ultimate conclusion in the process of ongoing sanctification. We continually grow to be more like Christ because we are saved, not to become saved. That is not work for "to become saved." Salvation has three tenses. Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. People who teach works salvation end up confusing justification with ongoing sanctification. 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.” "To whom did Paul say, "Work out your own salvation?" To lost people or saved people? So the sense in which we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling is twofold. First, the Greek verb rendered “work out” means "to continually work to bring something to completion or fruition." We do this by actively pursuing obedience in the process ofsanctification, which Paul explains further in the next chapter of Philippians. He describes himself as “straining” and “pressing on” toward the goal of Christlikeness (Philippians 3:13-14). The “trembling” he experiences is the attitude Christians are to have in pursuing this goal—a healthy fear of offending God through disobedience and an awe and respect for His majesty and holiness. Salvation by works is not being taught here.

Sanctification is very important. We must achieve perfection before we enter heaven:
Revelation 21:26-28

King James Version (KJV)
²⁶And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
²⁷And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Sincerely,

De Maria