Why saved by faith alone?

Hey. This might be a little different from what I usually study the Bible. So if I’m wrong bare with me and point it out. But I say this that while I was reading this passage, a thought came across my mind. Why are we as Christians saved and go to heaven by faith alone as this passage and many others point out? Why doesn’t God make it a point to save us with faith and good works?

“Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”

Romans 3:27-28

Hcsb Bible

There are several reasons for this. One of them being that because Jesus was perfect, he was the ultimate sacrifice and so therefore we didn’t need any others. That’s the answer but since he is God and in charge, he very well could have told us that we need to have faith and still do good works for others and God. He has that right.

So I believe there might be two reasons. One being that he wanted to make us different than every other religion on earth. You see, every other religion on earth that I’ve known has required some kind of works regularly for you to either be saved or be considered one of its followers. In Islam, you need to do more good works than bad to get into heaven or you have to wage jihad(holy war) and die in Allahs name to go to heaven. In Buddhism, one has to let go of all your earthly attachment to reach nirvana and if anyone has ever done a fast or gave up something for a month, you know that’s a hard work to do.

A lot of other religions require sacrifice after sacrifice in order to appease their so called gods as well. So being saved by faith alone definitely makes Christianity a very unique religion in the world. It’s so different that some people still feel guilty after they’ve asked forgiveness and go back to old religion to feel good because it requires work on their part and they feel like they’ve earned their spot instead of it being given to them.

The second reason is because he wants to show his loving kindness to us and not require anything else. That’s it.

And the third reason in my thinking could be that he did it this way so that when we do good works, we did it out of genuine love and compassion and not out of a sense of duty or a stair step way to heaven. This is the same reason why someone that may be rich, may choose not to flaunt his wealth. He does it so that anyone who chooses to be his friend does it because they genuinely want to be his friend and not because they have an ulterior motive.

God does the same thing with us and wants what we do to be genuine and showing his selfless love and compassion to others. Matthew 5:16 points out that our good works should glorify our father in heaven. If it wasn’t selfless works then it would give glory to us and not to God. It would point to our pride and not to Gods love and goodness. If our works were motivated for heaven, it would make us cocky and look down on others.

Of course he could have just wanted to make a way to let us into heaven with him and these are benefits of that action. In any case, it’s really neat to think about.

So those are just a few of my thoughts on why God made it to where we only have to have faith in Jesus Christ to get to heaven. So I have to ask you, are your good works genuine or do they have other motives? Be that be getting to heaven, impressing others, or building up your pride. In any case, I hope you have a great day and learn more about God today.