Good Works Poll Question

[carlotta]

So in Matthew 25, why does the Lord specifically l ink feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, etc. with being blessed and inheriting the Kingdom, while those who did not do such things are told to depart into everlasting fire?  Were the good works of the first group the result of their faith?
I am not very clear on the difference between the judgment at the moment of bodily death,  and the Last Judgment.

[Soldier4Christ]

Hi carlotta,

I have already answered you on this very subject in another thread but let me present it in another way.

Who that truly has the love of Christ within them could turn away those that are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, etc if they had any means at all to take care of that situation?

Salvation is not dependent on works. Works are a result of salvation, the fruit of the Spirit. This is why we are told that we shall be known by our fruit.

[nChrist]

So in Matthew 25, why does the Lord specifically l ink feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, etc. with being blessed and inheriting the Kingdom, while those who did not do such things are told to depart into everlasting fire?  Were the good works of the first group the result of their faith?
I am not very clear on the difference between the judgment at the moment of bodily death,  and the Last Judgment.

Hello Carlotta,

GOD knows those who belong to HIM right now! It's really a very simple matter. The HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD lives in their hearts, and HE has sealed their hearts - setting them aside as a purchased possession and a pledge of the Eternal Promises of GOD. A Christian dying in this Age of Grace is absent from the body and present with the LORD. There is no condemnation in JESUS CHRIST. The Judgment a Christian waits for is for rewards - NOT damnation. A Christian dying in this Age of Grace appears before the BEMA Seat for rewards. A lost person dying in this Age of Grace waits and appears at the GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT for damnation and punishment. The rewards for a Christian involve more than just Salvation - even though most Christians think of little else than Salvation. A Christian will answer for all of the good and the bad and may lose rewards for the bad, but Salvation will NOT be one of the things lost. Naturally, some Christians will receive many more rewards than others, and they will be Eternal.

Love in Christ,
Tom

2 Corinthians 5:5-8 NASB
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord -- for we walk by faith, not by sight -- we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NASB
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.