Faith and works are two sides of the same coin. There are many people who believe they are being saved by their works. God never said such a thing. In the following passage we see that when we have been born again, our faith will bring about works, but not to gain salvation, as evidence of salvation.
However, works alone are not proof of salvation. Even wicked people do good works to glorify themselves. The proof of salvation is in the fruit of the Spirit.
James 2:18-26
"18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?
21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
This fruit is in every believer who has been changed into a new creation by Christ. Those who are not born again cannot have all the fruit. They can pretend some of these things but they are superficial pretense and not authentic fruit.
The love that comes from the world is not Christ's love, but self-serving love based on performance rather than truth. Those who love this way cannot love others who are not just like them. They must have compliance with their own ideas in order to love others.
God's love is the opposite of this worldly love. God's love is demonstrated even when someone does not measure up to our own ideas. We love others because God first loved us, not because they have earned that love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."
1 John 4:8
"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Colossians 3:14
"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
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