Short Answer
You are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by works—but true faith results in a life of obedience. The Holy Spirit leads believers to live in ways that are good, right, and pleasing to God.
The Overview
Salvation is not earned by doing good things; it is a gift of God received through faith in Jesus Christ. This means no list of actions can secure a place in heaven. However, salvation does not leave a person unchanged. When someone truly trusts in Christ, God gives them His Spirit, who begins to transform their heart and guide their life.
This transformation results in a new way of living. Believers are called to pursue what is good, right, and true, as defined by Scripture. Instead of following sinful patterns, they begin to align their actions, words, and attitudes with God’s standards. This includes rejecting sin, speaking truthfully, helping others, and living with integrity.
The Christian life is also about ongoing discernment. Each day involves seeking to understand what pleases God and choosing accordingly. This is not about perfection, but about direction—growing in obedience over time. The Bible serves as the guide for understanding what God desires, while the Holy Spirit provides the inner motivation and conviction.
Ultimately, good works are not the cause of salvation but the result of it. They are evidence that a person belongs to Christ and is being shaped by Him. A life of faith will naturally produce actions that reflect God’s character and purposes.
Key Takeaways
- Salvation Is by Grace Through Faith
It cannot be earned by works. - The Holy Spirit Transforms Believers
He guides and empowers a new way of living. - Live What Is Good, Right, and True
Align life with biblical standards. - Reject Sin and Pursue Righteousness
Turn away from harmful behaviors. - Seek to Please God Daily
Discern His will through Scripture. - Good Works Are Evidence, Not the Cause
They flow from a genuine relationship with Christ.
Transcript
[00:00:00 – 00:01:05] So, let’s go to the phones now. Don, you’re on the air with Mike Fabaris. How can I help? >> Yes. I wanted to find out from you. First of all, can you hear me? Are you getting any feedback? >> No, I’m I’m hearing you just fine, Don. Perfect. >> Perfect. Okay. So, my question to you is this. What specifically are we supposed to be doing um in order to make it to heaven? Because through no works of our own can we make it to heaven. Through the grace of God we make it through heaven. But I
[00:00:32 – 00:01:37] know there are specific things that we should be doing. I have studied with other religions. People tell say their own whatevers. And um I always come back to certain scriptures. I can’t call them off the top of my head right now. Typical senior can’t remember. And I just wanted to know if you gave me a bullet point of the things that you know for a fact, these are the things we should definitely be doing. This is where our hearts should be at. Go. >> Okay. Uh the promise of the new covenant
[00:01:05 – 00:02:12] age that we’re living in now where God has asked us to put our trust in the Messiah will come with the promised giving of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says and looking forward to that in Ezekiel 38 27 that he’s going to put his spirit within us and he will cause us to walk in God’s statutes and it’ll make us careful to obey his rules. So all the moral law of God, God himself within us is going to prompt us and convict us to keep his moral law. So the Bible’s very clear throughout the New Testament that
[00:01:38 – 00:02:38] we ought to do whatever is moral and righteous. We ought to do those things. We’re we’re saved by grace. And you know that through faith. That’s not our own doing. It’s the gift of God, not the result of works. But the next verse says there in Ephesians 2:10, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. His preparation for you, Don, and me, Mike, is to walk in all the good works that he has providentially laid out for us. And
[00:02:08 – 00:03:04] his spirit within us is going to prompt us to do it. I was the kid who sat in the back row, didn’t want to raise my hand, didn’t want to talk. I would ditch school when it was time for an oral report. And here I am behind a microphone on a radio on at least six stations today uh talking about God. This was not my plan and this was not anything anyone would think Mike Fabar is naturally inclined to do. But the good works of God through me are to do the things that God is prompting me to to do and gifting me to do. And so I do
[00:02:36 – 00:03:35] those things and I have to weigh them against is this what the Bible says is good. Later in that very same book in Ephesians chapter 5, he says this about how we are supposed to live. He says, “Walk as children of light for the fruit of light, right? We’re children of light now is found in all that is good and right and true and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord, but take no part in unfruitful works of darkness.” So, I know I’m supposed to avoid sin and I’m supposed to figure out as I sit down
[00:03:05 – 00:03:57] and pray, God, what would you have me do that is good and right and true. That’s a great passage for you to memorize. And then the next verse, verse 10 of Ephesians 5, try to discern what’s pleasing to the Lord. And and all I have to do is open the book that he wrote and start to figure that out. And even in this book, if I’m a thief, I stop stealing and I start doing things with my hands. I work hard so that I’m able to share with others. If I’m saying things that are that are uh wrong, if
[00:03:31 – 00:04:20] I’m making uh you know toddry jokes, if I’m speaking in some kind of coarse gesting, I’m supposed to get rid of all that and start saying things that build up. I’m supposed to speak the truth in love. I’m supposed to help people by the words that I say. If I’m angry, I’m not supposed to sin. I’m not supposed to let the sun go down on my anger. There’s so much great work just in the book of Ephesians alone that’s going to help us to know what it means to try and say
[00:03:56 – 00:04:53] every morning, God, what’s the good that you want me to do in this world today? All the things that would fall under the categories of good and right and true as is biblically defined. And the great news of the new covenant promise from Ezekiel 36 is he’s going to dispatch his Holy Spirit into our lives to prompt us and move us and cause us to keep those statutes. Right? And the ceremonial law is gone, right? We we no longer have the Sabbath days and the dietary restrictions and the ironic priesthood
[00:04:25 – 00:05:15] and the sacrifice and the incense altar and the showbread. All that’s gone. That was the tuxedo and and the veil and the flowers. Now we’re really married. We have a real relationship with God through Christ because our faith is in him. We’re saved because he is saving us by his grace. But now we say, “Okay, what are the good works you want us to walk in?” And that’s all over the New Testament. And that’s why you and I, Don, need to be in it every day, feeding on the word of God to help us understand
[00:04:50 – 00:05:51] what it means to walk as children of light, all that is good and right and true. That would be my answer, Don. Does that help? >> That helps. You know, because most of the times whenever I’m going through the life that what what you said is pretty much my prayer every morning. Correct. Guide me. >> And then um when and when I’m walking through life, I have one song in my head that comes from my childhood. whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers. >> That’s the one song that has guided me
[00:05:21 – 00:06:18] through life. >> That’s great because I can’t give God a bottle of water. I can’t give God, you know, a helping hand. I can’t give God, you know, some kind of encouraging word as he goes through a trial. All I can do that for is people. So, I’m I’m reaching out to people and I’m serving people. But the thing that I want to emphasize, Don, is you can’t know very clearly what those things are that God would help us choose. Not just between right and wrong, because you’re not going to
[00:05:49 – 00:06:42] decide to rob a bank today. You’re going to try to do good, but we’ve got to decide between better and best. And that’s where I think time in the word every morning will help you as you pray that prayer. How can I serve you today? Now, let’s open the Bible and see how that looks. What what do we find in God’s word? What did Jesus do? What did Paul do? What did the apostles do? What did what did uh what do we see in scripture that Ananas and Safh did that we’re not supposed to do? Right? How can
[00:06:15 – 00:07:08] I be like Lydia in scripture or Dorcis in scripture? I want to be like these people that do what is good and right and true. And that’s going to be found in the template that God has revealed to us in his word. So, keep studying the word, keep praying that prayer, Don, and I think you’re going to be you’re going to be doing just fine as it relates to living out the Christian life. But make sure your faith is in Christ alone because we’re not going to get saved by doing good works. We’re going to be
[00:06:41 – 00:07:03] saved by trusting fully in Jesus Christ. >> In Jesus. Amen. >> Okay, Don. Love the call. Love the question. And I love your prayer. That’s super important.
