Hell

[Ryft]

Although salvation is contingent on faith in Christ, the Bible clearly teaches that works are just as important.

Works are important, yes, but not because they in any way contribute to your salvation. The apostles Paul and James are bookends on the issue of faith. On the one end, Paul is addressing those who think works are required for salvation; he is telling them that salvation is secured only in the atoning work of Christ, in whom we place our trust for salvation. On the other end, James is addressing those who think a pretense of faith will garner salvation; he is telling them that how a person behaves or conducts himself reveals whether or not they truly have faith. As pastor John Piper summarized the entire spectrum, "We are saved by faith alone, but that faith is not itself alone." It is faith that saves, not works. But saving faith produces works. By their fruit you will recognize them, Jesus said, "fruit" describing the end product that one expects to observe in someone in whom the Holy Spirit has been working (Matt. 7:15-27; cf. Gal. 5:16-25).

According to Matthew 19:17, when Jesus was asked about this matter he replied, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

It is true that one can get to heaven by keeping the commandments. It is also true that no one keeps all the commandments, nor even a specific commandment consistently—which Jesus ends up revealing to the rich young ruler in that very passage, and which the other apostles elaborate upon elsewhere in the New Testament.