Good Works

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Can someone explain to me what are good works and deeds that we must do to help us to get to heaven. Is living a good, clean life enought? Must we interact with other?

Pat

-- Pat (pahusch@sbcglobal.net), January 13, 2005

Answers



-- (bump@bump.bump), January 13, 2005.

The closing verses of Matthew 25 answer that question pretty clearly ...

"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 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)

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 14, 2005.


In addition to the above, praying for others (souls in Purgatory, living people who need prayers, conversion of sinners, etc.) counts as a good work, since it is an act of charity.

This can be done in private, if that is what you are concerned about.

(Praying for the souls in Purgatory is something everyone should do every day. The beauty part is that once these souls are released into Heaven, they intercede on behalf of those who prayed for them!)

-- JJ (nospam@nospam.com), January 14, 2005.


But keep in mind, Pat, the most basic thing is to have a relationship of faith and love with Christ. Apart from his grace, our works are valueless. But with him in our lives, our works of love are truly a treasure. And of course this means caring for other human beings, just as Jesus our Lord did.

-- Michael (edwardsronning@prodigy.net), January 15, 2005.

Works int hemselves dotn save you, the only acitosn you must take is to suibmit to God, confess your sins, repent, and be Baptised.

After hius your sduty is to obey the Gospel message and live in harmony with God's will.

This is all you need to do. But salvaiton is by Grace through Faith, so the good works themselves dotn sdave you, but rather the good works are used to mould your inner charecter, and it is THIS inner charecter thats judged.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), January 15, 2005.



That's right Zarove. And therefore the logical progression which follows from your final statement is ...

If your "inner character" is judged, and found to be lacking, because it has not been properly "molded", because you have neglected the good works that would have molded it, you will not be saved. Therefore, while you are absolutely correct in stating that "the good works themselves don't save you", it is equally correct and equally important to understand that "you won't be saved in the absence of good works", or to paraphrase, "good works are essential for salvation".

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 16, 2005.


but doing good works just that you can be saved is also nothing....

-- sdqa (sdqa@sdqa.com), January 16, 2005.

but doing good works just that you can be saved is also nothing....

yeah, thats why the catholic church doesnt teach that.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), January 16, 2005.


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