So, you only question if confessing Jesus is a work or not? And if the Bible says our words are also works, then you would accept that confessing Jesus is an accomplished work to be saved with?
Here are some Scriptures to look at:
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Jas 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Matth 12:37For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned…for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Isn't it the case that lying, false witnessing, heresies, profaneness, etc... are works of the flesh, the same as theft, drunkenness, murders, etc...?
I don't believe the proper question is whether words are works, but rather
whose work is being done by confessing the Lord Jesus Christ from the heart. Man's own work, or the Spirit's?
1Co 12:3Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Even as calling Jesus cursed is an accursed work of man, then even more so calling Jesus the Lord is a blessed work of the Spirit of grace.
Vey true. And so who can boast for the act of confessing our faith in the Lord Jesus? Whose work is it?
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Not our own work, but God's by the faith of His Son. And so, where is boasting? Who gets the glory for the confession of faith by grace?
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
By the law of faith, boasting of any work we do through our faith toward God, is excluded, because it is by grace and not by our own will and power alone.
Exactly. True again. And so, with God, His faith and work is not an order of merit and time in our salvation by Himself.
So long as we continue to understand that what we believe and do goes hand in hand with God, then only His Son gets the glory.
You asked.........
".... then you would accept that confessing Jesus is an accomplished work to be saved with?"
If I am understanding your position that our acceptance of Jesus when we confess Him as Lord, is then an act of work on our part that save us...........
Then NO, I would not accept that opinion.
From what I have been taught, and from what I understand, our salvation depends solely upon Jesus Christ and what He did without any help, or assistance from us in any way.
The Bible says that He is our substitute, taking sin’s penalty
in 2 Corinthians 5:21);......
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
The Bible also says that He is our Savior from sin in John 1:29.......
" The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
The Bible also says that He is the author and finisher of our faith in Hebrews 12:2........
"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
So then, in my understanding, "ALL" of the work, necessary to provide salvation was fully accomplished by Jesus Himself, who lived a perfect life, took God’s judgment for sin, and rose again from the dead ...Hebrews 10:12..........
"But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
So the bottom line here for me is that the Bible is quite clear that our own works do not help merit salvation.
We are saved “not because of righteous things we had done” in Titus 3:5......
"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
I personally do not see there in that Scripture a hint, or a suggestion or thought that our acceptance is a work on our part.
Ephesians 2:9
“Not by works, least we should boast".
I personally do not see there in that Scripture a hint, or a suggestion or thought that our acceptance is a work on our part.
Romans 3:10
“There is no one righteous, not even one”.
I personally do not see there in that Scripture a hint, or a suggestion or thought that our acceptance is a work on our part.
What does all of this mean to me. This means that offering sacrifices, keeping the commandments, going to church, being baptized, praying all the time, doing good deeds or any work we can think of are incapable of saving anyone.
No matter how “good” we are, no matter how much we do, no matter how smart we think that we are, we can never measure up to God’s standard of holiness. (
Romans 3:23;
Matt. 19:17, Isaiah 64:6).
