Do good deeds/works get you closer to God?

[Katmando]

Does doing good work/deeds get you closer to God? Or does Getting closer to God make you want to good deeds?

Scripture backing yourself up is greatly appretiated.


Thank you <><

 

[Benedicta00]

What good works do is sanctify you. Good works can not save anyone. Even if we did the right thing all the time we still need someone to pay the debt of original sin. Christ paid that debt and we must be born again into Him. That is how we are saved and how we are restored to sanctifying grace but to further ourselves in that grace, we must do works or we will never grow in the Spirit.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Does doing good work/deeds get you closer to God? Or does Getting closer to God make you want to good deeds?

Scripture backing yourself up is greatly appretiated.


Thank you <><

My understanding of the Gospel is that Jesus did everything needed to bring us to the Father as far as "relationship" is concerned. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ:

2Corinthians 5:21
21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Rom 3:22
22 Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

There is really nothing we can do to improve on the righteousness of God.



Fellowship is another matter. Fellowship is entirely dependant on our walking in the light as He is in the light. If we sin we step out of the light and into the darkness.

1 John 1:3-9
3 What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be full.
5 This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness-none at all!
6 If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in the darkness, we are lying and the truth is not in us.
7 But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we do not have any sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we make it our habit to confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us those sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is nothing that we can do to improve our righteousness, which is the righteousness of God. But we must walk in the light if we are to have fellowship with Him on a day by day basis.

Because we are the righteousness of God in Christ, the new nature that is in us will not let us sin if you follow it.

1Jo 3:9
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

If we sin, it is because we walk according to the flesh, and not according to this new man that is born into us. If we walk according to the nature of the new man, we will never sin.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Jesus was also made our sanctification:

1Co 1:30
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

This means that the new man within us is as holy and pure as it is ever going to be. There is nothing you can do to make it any better than it is.

Eph 4:24
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

In the new covenant, we are simply called upon to walk according to the inclinations of this new man. If we follow it, our walk will be holy and pure, if we walk according to the flesh, then we will sin.

It is just that simple.

 

[Mirror]

they get you closer, but not into heaven

 

[Mirror]

as JESUS said " IF YOU LOVE ME DO AS I COMMAND"

 

[12volt_man]

Does doing good work/deeds get you closer to God? Or does Getting closer to God make you want to good deeds?

We don't earn God's favor by good works, but good works are a good way for us to identify with Christ.

 

[DrBubbaLove]

My understanding of the Gospel is that Jesus did everything needed to bring us to the Father as far as "relationship" is concerned. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ:

well u r not alone in that thought. Most of us believe that as well.
Many of us also believe we cannot stay that way without continuous help.

 

[xenia]

Does doing good work/deeds get you closer to God? Or does Getting closer to God make you want to good deeds?

Both.

Doing good works is the same thing as doing things with God. When you do things with God, you grow closer to Him. And the closer you get to Him, the more good works you want to do.

It's like a little girl helping her mom bake cookies. Does the mom need the inept help? No. Yet Mom encourages her daughter to help for the sake of building the mother/daughter relationship. Does helping Mom bake cookies cause the daughter to grow closer to Mom? Absolutely. Will the daughter want to do more things with Mom in the future, thus growing even closer? Yes.

-Xenia

 

[Hadron]

well u r not alone in that thought. Most of us believe that as well.
Many of us also believe we cannot stay that way without continuous help.

Absolutely. And that's where all of you come in

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

and

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

 

[thereselittleflower]

We don't earn God's favor by good works, but good works are a good way for us to identify with Christ.

Why was this thread resurrected FOUR - 4 - MONTHS after it died? And WHY today of all days?

Why are people being so insensitive to our feeilings regarding the fact that our Pope just died and respect that we are in mourning? Why are you trying to draw us into debate at a time such as this?


I would ask that you and all others here at CF respect our feelings and the fact that we are in mourning over the loss of our Pope, and wait until our 9 days of mourning are over before resuming debates and attacks on the pope and the Catholic Church,

This is called exercising Christian love and charity towards others . . . "Love thy neighbor as thyself"

Now . . if you and some others here choose to give evidence of a lack of such Chrsitian love and charity by continuing to attack the Catholic Church, Her beliefs and Her leaders during our time of mourning, then one can only wonder . . . .



Peace

 

[squishy]

doen't the bible called all of us saints?

 

[12volt_man]

Why are people being so insensitive to our feeilings regarding the fact that our Pope just died and respect that we are in mourning? Why are you trying to draw us into debate at a time such as this?

I would ask that you and all others here at CF respect our feelings and the fact that we are in mourning over the loss of our Pope, and wait until our 9 days of mourning are over before resuming debates and attacks on the pope and the Catholic Church,

This is called exercising Christian love and charity towards others . . . "Love thy neighbor as thyself"

Now . . if you and some others here choose to give evidence of a lack of such Chrsitian love and charity by continuing to attack the Catholic Church, Her beliefs and Her leaders during our time of mourning, then one can only wonder . . . .

What in the world are you talking about?

Nobody here has attacked anybody. I don't even see any mention of the Roman Catholic church or the pope.

 

[12volt_man]

doen't the bible called all of us saints?

Yes, many times.

 

[Hadron]

What in the world are you talking about?

Nobody here has attacked anybody. I don't even see any mention of the Roman Catholic church or the pope.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

 

[ZiSunka]

Does doing good work/deeds get you closer to God? Or does Getting closer to God make you want to good deeds?

Scripture backing yourself up is greatly appretiated.


Thank you <><

No, but being obedient to his instructions does. It's impossible to be close to God when you are openly rebelling against the things he told us to do!

 

[ZiSunka]

Why was this thread resurrected FOUR - 4 - MONTHS after it died? And WHY today of all days?

Why are people being so insensitive to our feeilings regarding the fact that our Pope just died and respect that we are in mourning? Why are you trying to draw us into debate at a time such as this?


I would ask that you and all others here at CF respect our feelings and the fact that we are in mourning over the loss of our Pope, and wait until our 9 days of mourning are over before resuming debates and attacks on the pope and the Catholic Church,

This is called exercising Christian love and charity towards others . . . "Love thy neighbor as thyself"

Now . . if you and some others here choose to give evidence of a lack of such Chrsitian love and charity by continuing to attack the Catholic Church, Her beliefs and Her leaders during our time of mourning, then one can only wonder . . . .



Peace

Therese, it's a very difficult day for you, and it's easy to read into things when you're overwrought with grief. Believe it or not, this is a real issue for non-catholics as well, because preachers and books and radio speakers often act like doing good deeds is the key to a good relationship with God even for those who are saved by faith and not sacrements. No one is trying to diss you today. Here's a hug.

 

[thereselittleflower]

What in the world are you talking about?

Nobody here has attacked anybody. I don't even see any mention of the Roman Catholic church or the pope.

Hi

It seems you left out part of my post to you and the rest of the people here . . . the part that explains why I posted in this thread, the part that did not get answered in you response:

Why was this thread resurrected FOUR - 4 - MONTHS after it died?

And WHY today of all days?

​

Can you explain why you did this and why on the day the Pope died?

You had not participated in this thread previously. The last post was December 15, 2004 before your post on the day the Pope died, .

And you are asking me "what in the world are you talking about?"


By the way, did you read what I said? Or did you pick out one piece to respond to? Did you read the part about "trying to draw us into debate", especially on the day our Pope died?




Peace

 

[thereselittleflower]

Therese, it's a very difficult day for you, and it's easy to read into things when you're overwrought with grief. Believe it or not, this is a real issue for non-catholics as well, because preachers and books and radio speakers often act like doing good deeds is the key to a good relationship with God even for those who are saved by faith and not sacrements. No one is trying to diss you today. Here's a hug.

Thank you lambsglove back to you too.

I understand the issue from your perspective . .. however, did a 4 month old thread need, in which there was already a Catholic presence, need to be resurrected in order to have a protestant discusion on this?


Can you see a good reason for resurrecting a thread that has been dead for FOUR MONTHS regarding a quetion that happens directly touch on a key doctrine of the Catholic faith (the old faith vs faith and works issue), to which a Catholic responded (but 12voltman never posted to previously) on the very day our Pope died?


Peace

 

[12volt_man]

It seems you left out part of my post to you and the rest of the people here . . . the part that explains why I posted in this thread, the part that did not get answered in you response:

Why was this thread resurrected FOUR - 4 - MONTHS after it died?

And WHY today of all days?

​

Can you explain why you did this and why on the day the Pope died?

Because it was pouring down rain, nobody's here, I can't leave and I'm bored out of my skull.

I'd never seen this thread, so it was new to me.

That it happened to be on the same day that the pope died is purely coincidental.

You had not participated in this thread previously. The last post was December 15, 2004 before your post on the day the Pope died, .

And you are asking me "what in the world are you talking about?"

Yes, I am asking you what in the world you're talking about.

You're claiming that we're attacking the pope, but the only one who's even mentioned the pope is you.

The pope, the Roman Catholic church, Mary, the designated hitter, the earned income tax credit were the last things on my mind.

I saw a thread that asked, simply, how do works play into our relationship with God. I answered that question.

Don't get mad at me because of something you read into it.

By the way, did you read what I said? Or did you pick out one piece to respond to? Did you read the part about "trying to draw us into debate", especially on the day our Pope died?

OK. Here is the whole of my answer:

We don't earn God's favor by good works, but good works are a good way for us to identify with Christ.

That's it. Nothing more. As you can plainly see, there is nothing there about the pope or even remotely concerning Catholic theology.

I'm at a loss as to how to explain how you came up with the idea that this one sentence, not directed at anyone, except answering the OP's question, is trying to "draw you into debate".

I'm also a little confused at why you would think that this statement is at odds with Catholicism. When I went to Catholic school, this is precisely what we were taught: that good works are a way in which we can identify with Christ.

I've already said several times now, how saddened I am that the pope died and how much respect I had for him, personally, but if we're going to follow your logic to the extreme, then we should just shut down CF, altogether, for a couple of days.