http://www.lampbroadcast.org/faithandworks.pdf
 
Dear Doves, my dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
 
With sincere prayer for enlightenment, the article in the above link can and will shed knowledge and understanding on the subject of salvation and how it is related to faith and to works. The message may be familiar to everyone here by now, but there is never any harm in reviewing it one more time, until the time arrives when we will be living in the truth it contains for our future lives.
 
The message in this article is explained and backed up with Scriptures from the Word of God, and is actually quite simple to summarize once the message is understood.
 
1) We are saved in spirit by faith in Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. That spiritual salvation is finished, and cannot be lost once received by any actions on our part, whatsoever. It is a gift that lasts forever. Period.
 
2) The works we perform come later after the spiritual salvation. As the Holy Spirit comes to reside in our hearts and minds, we will feel moved to reach out to others that He seeks to contact through us for the Kingdom. They may be family members, friends, strangers either close by or in distant places that are routinely visited by the Internet or foreign missionaries.
 
Our works are performed for our sanctification. This long word means the maturation of our new life begun when we first believed. When we accepedt the gift of salvation we became a new creation in Christ. That means we are no longer merely the sinful, doomed mortal being we were before salvation. We now have a new life living in us that is meant for great things in the future.
 
Please read the above article and remember to ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes wide open so that you will hear every word and thought that he wants you to know and understand. As a saved member of God's new creation you are at the pinnacle of God's creation and destined for a close and enduring relationship with your God and His SOn--the lovers of your spirit and soul and eventually your transformed body too.
 
As for those who refuse Jesus' offer of rebirth and do not have the faith that is required, we should say a prayer for them-- but do not let their sorrowful future weigh you down. Follow Jesus and let the dead bury their dead (Matt. 8:22). The spiritual dead can bury their physical dead and we spiritual living beings need to be about our Father's business. Everyone has been given free will to choose their path. With that free will come consequences, for happiness or sorrow.
 
May God richly bless, heal and comfort everyone reading this message. Let His peace fill your being (Isa. 26:3)
 
With love,
 
YBIC,
Robert