Can a poor person be saved?

mmbattlestar said:

My wife and I were fmdiscussing this the other day. We were wondering if the super poor could be saved. Let me explain what I mean. We are saved by a faith that works right? Every Christian will have fruit like Jesus said. But what about the people that are so poor that they're homeless? The people that we as Christians help with our donations. They cannot afford to give to the poor. They cannot spare clothes or food or anything. So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. So they have to have works to be saved. Does that mean that there's no way for the super poor to be saved? What good works could they possibly do? I know that it can't be the case that there's no way they can be saved. They have to be saved somehow. But how?

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It does not take money to lend a kind ear to those in mourning, or stand with those who are bullied, or share a few bites of food. There is a young homeless guy locally, who is always in trouble with the law, often in fights and con games involving faking being hit by cars to get money, filthy, smelly, angry, foul mouthed, broke, and high on drugs and alcohol...yet one time, he gave his last few dollars to pay for a young single mother and her child who needed bus fare.

(ETA: Don’t forget the widow’s mite in Luke 21:1-4...”And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.””)

You've got to be kidding. Who do you think is going to be in charge? A man must be rich towards God not himself.

From Luke 6

20
Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
...
24
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

Be kind to the poor. Those paupers you see now, they may be your Kings tomorrow.

mmbattlestar said:

My wife and I were fmdiscussing this the other day. We were wondering if the super poor could be saved. Let me explain what I mean. We are saved by a faith that works right? Every Christian will have fruit like Jesus said. But what about the people that are so poor that they're homeless? The people that we as Christians help with our donations. They cannot afford to give to the poor. They cannot spare clothes or food or anything. So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. So they have to have works to be saved. Does that mean that there's no way for the super poor to be saved? What good works could they possibly do? I know that it can't be the case that there's no way they can be saved. They have to be saved somehow. But how?

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Just to respond to one part of your questioning, ... homeless persons are often very helpful/kind/sharing with each other ...

God's grace is just that, Grace! It is unmerited favor. :]

mmbattlestar said:

Right. Obviously there has to be some way for the super poor to be saved or else its not really Gods grace right? There has to be hope for both the rich and the poorest of the poor. So there has to be good works for a poor person to do.

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Of course the apostles were not having material things to give to others once they began to follow Christ; instead others shared with them. What could the apostles do? A very great amount of things. There are so many ways to do "love one another", and "So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you", and to tell others of the good news. To share material stuff is only one (good but only one) of many things we can do that fulfill what He said to do. To be friendly. To greet. To welcome. To share time with.

Now the very poor are often not yet saved or in some situations someone having suffered a major setback, like a hurricane or major illness.

mmbattlestar said:

My wife and I were fmdiscussing this the other day. We were wondering if the super poor could be saved. Let me explain what I mean. We are saved by a faith that works right? Every Christian will have fruit like Jesus said. But what about the people that are so poor that they're homeless? The people that we as Christians help with our donations. They cannot afford to give to the poor. They cannot spare clothes or food or anything. So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. So they have to have works to be saved. Does that mean that there's no way for the super poor to be saved? What good works could they possibly do? I know that it can't be the case that there's no way they can be saved. They have to be saved somehow. But how?

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Well Luke 16:14-31 is an example of a poor man who went into paradise. So the poor can be saved. GOD doesn't care about the money He cares about the heart.

Luke 16:14-31 a poor man was brought into paradise. So the poor can be saved. GOD looks upon the heart not money!

mmbattlestar said:

My wife and I were fmdiscussing this the other day. We were wondering if the super poor could be saved. Let me explain what I mean. We are saved by a faith that works right? Every Christian will have fruit like Jesus said. But what about the people that are so poor that they're homeless? The people that we as Christians help with our donations. They cannot afford to give to the poor. They cannot spare clothes or food or anything. So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. So they have to have works to be saved. Does that mean that there's no way for the super poor to be saved? What good works could they possibly do? I know that it can't be the case that there's no way they can be saved. They have to be saved somehow. But how?

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Good works include works of righteousness, IMO. Anyone can obey the Lord, no matter how much money they have.

James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

1am3laine said:

Luke 16:14-31 a poor man was brought into paradise. So the poor can be saved. GOD looks upon the heart not money!

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And "the thief on the cross" was promised Paradise, by Jesus. On that cross, he did not have much.

Not all homeless people are poor innocent suffering victims.

And there is plenty they can do for each other and for others not homeless. God's love makes us creative, using what we've got.

But there are homeless people who only watch out for others they are using. This is not how Jesus says to love > "if you love those who love you, what reward have you?" (in Matthew 5:46)

Faith is what saves us. (so, yes, they are.)
Good works are a way for us to help save others. (like sharing the Word with the very poor, along with the rest of the world's population, and showing love to them - which the very poor can do as well.)

I don't remember discussing that for more than a minute during the movie. Didn't mean to upset or worry you.

mmbattlestar said:

So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. So they have to have works to be saved.

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I suspect you may be confusing cause and effect. We are not saved by works (works don't cause us to be saved). We produce works because we are saved (works are the effect of being saved). And works are not limited to monetary or property donations.

mmbattlestar said:

...We are saved by a faith that works right? Every Christian will have fruit like Jesus said. But what about the people that are so poor that they're homeless? The people that we as Christians help with our donations. They cannot afford to give to the poor. They cannot spare clothes or food or anything. So how can they do good works to be saved? I know that we are ultimately saved by faith in Jesus Christ but its like James said in James 2 faith without works is dead. ...

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If person is faithful to Jesus and God, he remains in their teaching. And if person remains in their teaching, he for example loves his neighbor as himself. That doesn’t necessary mean that he must then donate money or something else. It means for example that if person sees somebody that needs help, he helps if he can. One way to show faithfulness is also to say to God that you are sorry, if you have done something bad. And actually, often it is enough if one doesn’t do anything bad to others.

But if someone thinks that by donating money he can earn salvation or something like that, he is badly wrong. Good works are only evidence of what kind of person is. Righteous person does righteous things and unrighteous person does unrighteous things. Acts are only a sign of persons innermost.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

And even poor person, if righteous, can do good things and love others. For love, it is not necessary to be rich.

No because they can’t afford indulgences

mmbattlestar said:

That's true, I didn't think about that. It's true that we are saved by our faith but aren't we saved by a faith that works? So wouldn't the poor have to do good works to be saved?

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Again, not save BY works. Works are the effect, not the cause.

Ephesians 2:8-10

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.