John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

For the past 29 years as a believer, I have grown and been stretched along the way.  Over those years my view and understanding of conversion has grown along with me.

We are cautioned to keep in view the whole counsel of God, and as I came across today’s verse in John 3:36 I am reminded again that salvation is not the result of the kind of belief that is in word only.
We do know from Scripture that first of all it is a work of God to draw us and to regenerate our spirit.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” John 6:44.

“We love because he first loved us” 1 John 4:19.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

We don’t get saved through ANYTHING we do, rather in response to what God does we cry out in faith, pray, etc.

However, the age-old argument between faith and works, I believe, is addressed in various places in Scripture-but in John 3:36 – it demonstrates that it is a marriage of both – believing that results in obedience IS the genuine article.  Faith without works (obedience) is dead (fake).

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:17, 26

Blessings,
Diane Hunt