28 Bible Verses about Salvation Not By Works

For it is by God's loving-kindness that you have been saved, through your faith. It is not due to yourselves; the gift is God's. It is not due to obedience to Law, lest any one should boast.

I do not reject the love of God. If righteousness comes through Law, then there was no need for Christ to die!

What Law could not do, in so far as our earthly nature weakened its action, God did, by sending his own Son, with a nature resembling our sinful nature, to atone for sin. He condemned sin in that earthly nature,

So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God's mercy.

But if in love, then no longer as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love.

Understand that I, Paul, myself tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will avail you nothing.

You have severed yourselves from Christ--you who are seeking to be pronounced righteous through Law; you have fallen away from love.

And that, in union with him, every one who believes in him is absolved from every sin from which under the Law of Moses you could not be absolved.

For 'no human being will be pronounced righteous before God' as the result of obedience to Law; for it is Law that shows what sin is. But now, quite apart from Law, the Divine Righteousness stands revealed, and to it the Law and the Prophets bear witness-- The Divine Righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, upon all, without distinction, who believe in him.read more.
For all have sinned, and all fall short of God's glorious ideal, But, in his loving-kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus. For God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed; As a proof, I repeat, at the present time, of his own righteousness, that he might be righteous in our eyes, and might pronounce righteous the man who takes his stand on faith in Jesus. What, then, becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of Law? A Law requiring obedience? No, a Law requiring faith. For we conclude that a man is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law. Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Is not he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is only one God, and he will pronounce those who are circumcised righteous as the result of faith, and also those who are uncircumcised on their showing the same faith.

What then, it may be asked, are we to say about Abraham, the ancestor of our nation? If he was pronounced righteous as the result of obedience, then he has something to boast of. Yes, but not before God. For what are the words of Scripture? 'Abraham had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'read more.
Now wages are regarded as due to the man who works, not as a favor, but as a debt; While, as for the man who does not rely upon his obedience, but has faith in him who can pronounce the godless righteous, his faith is regarded by God as righteousness. In precisely the same way David speaks of the blessing pronounced upon the man who is regarded by God as righteous apart from actions-- 'Blessed are those whose wrong-doings have been forgiven and over whose sins a veil has been drawn!

While Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one. And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over 'the Stumbling-block.'

Though I speak in the 'tongues' of men, or even of angels, yet have not Love, I have become mere echoing brass, or a clanging cymbal! Even though I have the gift of preaching, and fathom all hidden truths and all the depths of knowledge; even though I have such faith as might move mountains, yet have not Love, I am nothing! Even though I dole my substance to the poor, even though I sacrifice my body, that I may boast, yet have not Love, it avails me nothing!

So we placed our faith in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be pronounced righteous, as the result of faith in Christ, and not of obedience to Law; for such obedience 'will not result in even one soul's being pronounced righteous.'

All who rely upon obedience to Law are under a curse, for Scripture says--'Cursed is every one who does not abide by all that is written in the Book of the Law, and do it.' Again, it is evident that no one is pronounced righteous before God through Law, for we read--'Through faith the righteous man shall find Life.' But the Law is not based on faith; no, its words are--'Those who practice these precepts will find Life through them.'

Does that set the Law in opposition to God's promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing Life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law.

But now that you have found God--or, rather, have been found by him--how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves? You are scrupulous in keeping Days and Months and Seasons and Years! You make me fear that the labor which I have spent on you may have been wasted.

If a man is in union with Christ Jesus, neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything, but faith, working through love, is everything.

For neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything; but a new nature is everything.

For it is we who are the circumcised--we whose worship is prompted by the Spirit of God, who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not rely upon external privileges; Though I, if any man, have cause to rely even upon them. If any one thinks he can rely upon external privileges, far more can I! I was circumcised when eight days old; I am an Israelite by race, and of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, and the child of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;read more.
As to zeal, I was a persecutor of the Church; as to such righteousness as is due to Law, I proved myself blameless. But all the things which I once held to be gains I have now, for the Christ's sake, come to count as loss. More than that, I count everything as loss, for the sake of the exceeding value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And for his sake I have lost everything, and count it as refuse, if I may but gain Christ and be found in union with him; Any righteousness that I have being, not the righteousness that results from Law, but the righteousness which comes through faith in Christ--the righteousness which is derived from God and is founded on faith.

Since, with Christ, you became dead to the puerile teaching of this world, why do you submit, as though your life were still that of the world, To such ordinances as 'Do not handle, or taste, or touch'? For all the things referred to in them cease to exist when used. You are following mere human directions and instructions.read more.
Such prohibitions appear reasonable where there is a desire for self-imposed service, and so-called 'humility,' and harsh treatment of the body, but are of no real value against the indulgence of our earthly nature.

It was God who saved us, and from him we received our solemn Call--not as a reward for anything that we had done, but in fulfillment of his own loving purpose. For that love was extended to us, through Christ Jesus, before time began,

But, when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for man were revealed, he saved us, not as the result of any righteous actions that we had done, but in fulfillment of his merciful purposes. He saved us by that Washing which was a New Birth to us, and by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit,

Upon that Rest we who have believed are now entering. As God has said-- 'In my wrath I swore--"They shall never enter upon my Rest;"' Although God's work was finished at the creation of the world; for, in a passage referring to the seventh day, you will find these words-- 'God rested upon the seventh day after all his work.' On the other hand, we read in that passage-- ' They shall never enter upon my Rest.'read more.
Since, then, there is still a promise that some shall enter upon this Rest, and since those who were first told the Good News did not enter upon it, because of their disbelief, again God fixed a day. 'To-day,' he said, speaking after a long interval through the mouth of David, in the passage already quoted-- 'If to-day you hear God's voice harden not your hearts.' Now if Joshua had given 'Rest' to the people, God would not have spoken of another and later day. There is, then, a Sabbath-Rest still awaiting God's People. For he who enters upon God's Rest does himself rest after his work, just as God did.

Therefore, let us leave behind the elementary teaching about the Christ and press on to perfection, not always laying over again a foundation of repentance for a lifeless formality, of faith in God-- teaching concerning baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment.

For a man who has laid the Law, as a whole, to heart, but has failed in one particular, is liable for breaking all its provisions. He who said 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' also said 'Thou shalt not murder.' If, then, you commit murder but not adultery, you are still an offender against the Law.

For 'no human being will be pronounced righteous before God' as the result of obedience to Law; for it is Law that shows what sin is.

Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded every one else with scorn, Jesus told this parable-- "Two men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way--'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men-- thieves, rogues, adulterers--or even like this tax-gatherer.read more.
I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.' Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even 'to raise his eyes to Heaven'; but he kept striking his breast and saying 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, while every one who humbles himself shall be exalted."

Indeed I tell you that, unless your religion is above that of the Teachers of the Law, and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.