(September 2, 2014 at 10:14 am)Chad32 Wrote: I never understood why someone would think faith being more important than works would be preferable. I think there is a verse where Jesus says works are important, but faith is still more importance. That's why people try to convert others on death row, or on their death beds.
I would expect a just god to judge someone on how they lived their life, rather than who they sucked up to. Let's say you worship Zeus, but you're a great guy who does everything he can to better himself and the world around him. Why would a benevolent deity declare those good works filthy rage, and sentence the guy to hell because he said the wrong name during prayers?
The answer to this lies in the illustrations and examples he made of the pharrisees. In their case they live a life perfect in accordance to the law, and performed every single work perscribed. But, their haerts were far from God. They used the law as a weapon to opress and enslave those who wanted to worship God. The law became a means to place them in a position of power and authority.. Jesus saw this and pointed out their hyprocrisy many many times.
In short God wants your heart. He wants you to want the things of the law more than anything else, but He also knows we are literal slaves to sin and can not follow the law completly. (as Christ completed the Law) So our belief in Him in the attonement He offers is what saves us.. Does this mean we stop following the Law? No. It means if we give our hearts to God then what we will want are the things God wants for us. Meaning we will do the things outlined in the moral law of God, but we will not earn salvation through them.
