How both Catholics and Protestants misunderstand the doctrine of grace & sanctification.

Will “failed” Christians go to Heaven?

Grace: one of the most misunderstood doctrines in the Church today.

Do you ever feel confused with how good works play a role in the life of a believer?
Do good works play a part in salvation or it is that they are part of growing in grace?
Will the true grace of God allow a person to remain unproductive after authentic Holy Spirit conversion?
Who’s right, the Apostle Paul or was James right? Or were both of them saying the same thing?

Can you look into His eyes and say, “My life is a SPIRIT FILLED demonstration of love for you oh my God and Savior”? Those in the Lamb’s Book of Life will never see the second death according to the Holy Scriptures or be judged at the White Throne Judgment. We are saved by grace but we nonetheless will one day bow before Him at the Bema Seat of Judgment [ II Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15] where all of us believers will be judged for our works, not for our salvation but our deeds will be examined to see if they were fit to bring glory to God. The Scripture seems to say our works that were performed from bad motives will be burned up in smoke like kindling wood but the good deeds we do in the Spirit unselfishly to help, witness, serve, give to missions or family, the use of our spiritual gifts and the demonstration of the fruits of the Spirit will be rewarded like bright gold, silver or precious stone so we may shine and glorify God with praise forever and ever. [I Corinthians 15:40-44] I am NOT referring to a “purgatory” of “holy suffering” which is not needed for salvation or taught in the Bible. Ours works will however be judged not our souls. I do not know all the works I have done that could have hidden fleshly motives on a daily basis but God does. Any sins I am of aware of I have confessed directly to my one and only High Priest, Jesus Christ.
And just because my conscience is clear does not mean I have not sinned. We are to love God with all of our hearts and minds and strength; I have not fully done that as yet. Anything less to love God completely is a sin. So all of us need a Savior that will save us and keep us by grace and mercy; Jesus and He alone is qualified to be Savior, NO ONE else on earth, no one. Read carefully I John 1:7, 9 and 2:1-2. So I am not to judge the motive of your works nor or you to judge mine. We are however to test the fruit of one another to see if it complies with the Spirit of Christ and Holy Scripture. The way you live and love others and the way you look at the Word of God and reflect what it says by your life will determine your position in Heaven for ALL of eternity! See I Corinthians 15.

This is a warning of LOVE FOR US NOT TO LOSE reward and eternal stature in Heaven not for fear of losing one’s salvation. WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS BUT YOUR WORKS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO GOD as part of YOUR UPWARD CALL, ETERNAL POSITON AND DESTINY IN CHRIST JESUS. See Titus 2:1-14 and 3:4
In the end true LOVE is all that matters; no joking, no fooling, no hiding your real motives. So I say let us
say no to the old selfish Adamic nature and ask God to fill and empower us by the Holy Spirit to live in the New
Nature given to us at the New Birth when we believed and trusted our Savior. The New Nature is crafted in the
likeness of God’s character, holy, loving, kind, not quick to judge others, generous, joyful, eager to do what is right, patient with others less fortunate, faithful to God, to the Body of Christ, praying for Israel and the Jewish
people to receive their promised Kingdom, praying for all nations and people to find salvation
and peace with God through our Savior and our God, JESUS Christ, Yeshua Ha Mashiach Adonai.
Loving is to serve and to serve Him is to Love Him. All service no matter how great or
how small is very important to Yahushua (GOD my Savior) and will be rewarded. Starting with the way you love your family!

I am truly humbled by godly fear and respect for the love of God and realize how much I have failed at times and fall short of everything I just said that God wants me to be but I do not want my sense of feeling helpless and “my smallness” to be used by the devil to give me a sense of “false” guilt to give up and not to serve and love the people of God or lost sinners. Put on the whole armor of God the Apostle Paul says, and the breastplate of His righteousness and the devil’s accusations mean nothing!
God loves and accepts me the way I am and He is slowly changing me through trial for the better and he knows
me by name and He cares for me and wants me to just try and do the best I can by yielding to the Spirit to live a life honoring and pleasing to HIM. As I grow I will understand more but I do not want my lack of knowledge to stop me now because God and people depend on me to love and serve in my eternal call and vocation given to me by my Creator.
We are saved and kept by grace but we are also called and empowered to walk as God’s very
special people before the foundations of the world to do special works preordained by the Father.
Carefully read Ephesians 2:8-10. We are a holy priesthood; do you know what that means? I Peter 2:7-10
[Don’t confuse this with the Catholic church; all believers are priests and there is no laity subordinate to clergy in the New Testament of
Holy Scripture, that in my opinion is the sin of the Nicolaitans that the Apostle John warned of in the Revelation. I am not denying there are many saved, born again Catholics who have trusted in Christ as Savior. They are my family but they are not superior to the rest of the Body of Christ.
I do not agree with the Council of Trent or the dogmas of Vatican I and II that make salvation owned and issued through ROME. At the same time however
I have met beautiful Catholics that love JESUS CHRIST as Savior and do not hold to all of those dogmas. We must be careful not to injure the wheat that belongs in God’s storehouse by ripping away too vigorously at the tares of ecclesiastical atrocities over the centuries of which many parishioners are not even aware. We are ambassadors not crusaders! As believer priests we are called as Yeshua [Jesus in Hebrew] was to meditate on conforming to the will of God and to stand in the gap of this rebellious hateful planet
with prayer and the knowledge of God’s love, reality of His salvation and His Kingdom to come. We are ambassadors and citizens of Heaven and one day we will be called home before the war begins in the days of tribulation. We are to pray and witness to the lost and to love and feed and support God’s sheep, all of them!
As I become aware of where I fall short I must change my mind and repent and correct my path and seek the inner strength of the Holy Spirit that He is willing to give me to change to conform to His Word and His Person. The apostle Paul said this was a life long process, we are NEVER just saved but we are saved and placed in
a new dynamic of living by dying to the Old Self daily and placing our will and goals into the New Man fashioned after Christ; it is a life long process of GRACE. And if you are truly born again and fail God’s calling in this life are you saved and still going to heaven? Yes! But why in Heaven’s name would you want to fail and go before Him empty handed? Did you hear what I said, Why in Heaven’s name would you want to fail and go before Him empty handed? Our salvation is complete by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He also intercedes by His precious blood for us in Heaven as our High Priest but our works of praise and thanksgiving have just begun and will extend into eternity. However this is our one and only chance in this life to live by faith on earth a life that can glorify God so let’s do it in the Name of the LORD and for His glory! Amen

[Danger-those who claim to be Christians in name only but have never repented from trusting in themselves or religious authorities to be saved and have not declared that Christ alone is their Savior calling on the Name of the LORD are still living in their sins EVEN if they go to a church. If any of you want the Scripture texts that proclaim these truths I will gladly send them to you. The above is NOT my opinion nor is it a denominational teaching. It is however a summary of what the Bible teaches on grace and good works as they relate to the Christian walk AFTER spiritual regeneration that we refer to as salvation. See Titus chapter 2: 11"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. And Titus chapter 3: 3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone."

No religious deed no matter how important the symbolism will give you, add too or keep your salvation. That being said, after your are born again your good deeds mean something of terrific importance but the motive to serve God is different than being religious. God gives us a new heart and a new nature to walk with Him in relationship!
Like a train with a steam engine that can carry a hundred railway cars so too this is a great metaphor for the believer that first gets saved and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We were once like a box car with no direction or engine of our own to serve God. We are transformed and given the power of the Holy Spirit to pull our own load of good works. It is not part of salvation but it is the very nature of a born again child of God to live a life of good deeds to serve and glorify the Savior. Year by year day by day we find new ways to serve the Lord Jesus to honor Him. So the “steam engine” must be first in line in order to pull all of those cars. If you have no desire to live a life of good deeds and you have no love or desire for the Word of God you may want to check if you ever really have with a repentant heart asked Christ to come in your life in the first place. No religious ritual is a substitute to call on the name of the LORD. Rom 10:13. This is what I believe the Apostle James was eluding to when he declared that good works are the natural fruit of the new birth. These works do not wash away your sins but demonstrate that in fact your sins have been washed away by the grace of God and the new birth is at work for men to see.

If you are not sure you are spiritually reborn and going to heaven say a prayer like this from your heart, “Dear God I call out to you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thank you for dying for ALL of my sins that caused you to suffer and shed your blood but you also placed those sins of mine and misdeeds against me by nailing them to the cross taking away Satan’s authority to accuse me, yes LORD I believe that God the Father raised you from the dead and I want to invite you now into my life. Hear my prayer now and thank you now for placing me into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. I praise you and I will praise you forever with all of my family in Heaven when we are united one day soon. Amen. Lead me now by the power and strength of your Holy Spirit to live my life full of good deeds out of joy not guilt to honor you with thanksgiving for your salvation, full and free!”

[Saying a prayer does not save you but it is the faith you place in the LORD in the state of a repentant heart that God will honor. Repentance does not mean penance; it means to change your mind about seeing things God’s way as revealed in His Word. God desires a true personal relationship with you…He’s waiting.]

John V Saputo, Bible believer, student of the Holy Scriptures and life’s experiences.
Your brother in Jesus Christ,
PS Just one more thing. God is LOVE, that is His nature. God loves us from an infinite deph of mercy and lovingkindness. All the works in the world will NOT bring you closer to God or make Him love you more. However as you love God and honor Him I find my perspective of God's love for me becomes more enlightened but it does not make me more deserving of His love. Wow what freedom there is in Christ. God loves all of us perfectly.