"Nevertheless, the Firm Foundation of God stands, having this seal:
1.) 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and,
2.) 'Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.'" 2 Timothy 2:19
Evangelicals have been so spoon fed and thoroughly programmed to regurgitate the mantra that we are "justified by faith" and "not of works" like a parrot that it is no wonder an animosity toward works has resulted. As I have demonstrated several times prior, when Evangelicals proof text such verses, they deliberately misquote them and ignore where it says (or alludes to) "works of the Law." Evangelicals have been fed this lie for so long that it is no wonder they find it nearly impossible to actually obey the Lord Jesus.
What do the Scriptures—God's Holy Word—actually teach us concerning works?
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Paul gives four uses for the Scriptures, but all these uses have a single goal in mind: "that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." Ponder that promptly. The purpose of Scripture is to equip followers of Jesus to do good works.
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." Titus 2:11-14
Jesus died to redeem us from iniquity so that He might own "a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." One of the purposes of Jesus' death was to produce a people for Himself who would be zealous for good works. The grace of God is central for producing such people. Grace teaches us to live sensible, godly, and righteous lives.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
Evangelicals are taught to focus on verses 8-9, however, after we have been saved and re-created in Christ Jesus apart from works, our purpose is to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do.
"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Good deeds are the fruit—the product of—"remaining" in Jesus (John 15:1-11). The only way we can do good works is if we "walk after" (Rom. 8:4), "walk by" (Gal. 5:16), and "sow to" (Gal. 6:8). the Holy Spirit. After all, apart from Jesus we "can do nothing" (John 15:5). "Those who [believe in] God will be careful to engage in good deeds" (Titus 3:8). In other words, we are not sitting around waiting expectantly for something to happen, we are actively applying ourselves to doing good! This includes Philippians 2:13, but does not exclude Philippians 2:12. If you were not required to put forth any effort into works, then please explain how you could possibly "lose heart" and "grow weary" in doing good (see Gal. 6:8-9).
"...and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25
The purpose of assembling ourselves together as a congregation is to "stimulate one another to love and good deeds." This is done by "encouraging one another." This is envisioned by 1 Corinthians 14:26.
You have just witnessed six purposes that lead to good deeds. Would you care to try and argue the ignorant and godless theology that tells you that you need only "believe" and do nothing else and you will be good to go? I assure you, Scripture has a drastically different message from the one that you have been fed via Easy Believism. It is about time you started to read your Bible, pay attention to what it actually says, and ignore the chapters and verses that lead to proof text methodology (ripping random isolated verses out of their immediate context and forcing them to say what you want them to say). Read the following passage and think carefully about what it is saying:
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'" Matthew 25:31-46
The idea that one can be a Christian and not obey Jesus was not only rejected by Jesus and His apostles, but James 2:14-26 specifically addressed this problem. Paul identified such people as "[professing] to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed" (Titus 1:16). Jesus addressed it in Luke 6:46. If Jesus is truly your King, then you will obey His every command and teaching. There are no if's, and's, or but's about this. Either you believe Jesus, or you believe theological dogma. Which is it going to be?
If you believe that obeying the commandments and teachings of Jesus is difficult, then I direct you to The Shepherd of Hermas. It consists of three books: one of visions, one of commandments, and one of similes. The book of commandments contains twelve commandments, at the end of which Hermas states:
"Sir, these commandments are great, and good, and glorious, and fitted to gladden the heart of the man who can perform them. But I do not know if these commandments can be kept by man, because they are exceeding hard."
An "Angel of Repentance" replies by telling him:
"If you lay it down as certain that they can be kept, then you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard."
This agrees with Paul's commands in Romans to "reckon yourselves" and "present yourselves." If you lay it down as certain that you have been crucified with Christ Jesus, having died to sin, and are indeed dead to sin, then it will not be hard for you to live a holy life separated from sin. This, of course, does not refer to "sinless perfection," but to a Spirit-filled person who recognizes sin, repents when he/she has sinned, and presses forward, becoming more and more holy by relying on the grace of God that teaches us to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts" (Titus 2:11-12). We should be growing in virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Pet. 1:5-8), but "if anyone sins," we have a Helper with the Father, not a wrathful Judge (1 John 2:2). The angel continues:
"O fool, senseless and doubting, do you not perceive how great is the glory of God, and how strong and marvellous, in that He created the world for the sake of man, and subjected all creation to him, and gave him power to rule over everything under heaven? If, then, man is lord of the creatures of God, and rules over all, is he not able to be lord also of these commandments?"
According to Scripture, the answer here is a resounding, "Yes!" The angel continues:
"For ... the man who has the Lord in his heart can also be lord of all, and of every one of these commandments. But to those who have the Lord only on their lips, but their hearts hardened, and who are far from the Lord, the commandments are hard and difficult."
Again, the Scriptures are in complete agreement, as are the first three centuries of Christians.
Scripture explicitly warns us against thinking we will receive eternal life without good deeds. If you doubt me, please allow me to put those Scriptures front and center for you to wrestle with and (hopefully, if you are humble) submit to.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:7-9
"But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them." Ephesians 5:3-7
"Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe." Jude 1:3-5
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
"Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." 1 John 3:7-10
John is not teaching that those born of God never commit a single sin, but rather that their life is marked by habitual obedience—not by habitual sin. Again, either you believe Jesus, or you believe something else (e.g., theological dogma). Which is it going to be? Choose this day whom you will obey!