Hi Doves, Paul writes, "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." This is probably one of Paul's most misunderstood statements! Let me give you the correct idea of what Paul is saying. The gift of God in the above verse is the confession with our lips that Jesus is our Lord and God. This confession is a gift because it is freely given by the Holy Spirit. After the first confession is made, subsequent confessions made from the Word, are also gifts from the Holy Spirit. All these confessions originate from the Lord Himself, through His Holy Spirit, Who takes up permanent residence in us. His ultimate aim is to produce good deeds, which are also called fruits, in us. Because these good deeds are produced by the Holy Spirit, they are gifts from God, freely given to use. Because they are from God, they have eternal life in them. It's the eternal life in the good deeds we do day in day out that will make it possible for the Lord to translate us on the Day of the rapture. Also the good deeds done by all those who have died in Christ, will enable Him to raise them up from the dead. This is why the Lord said, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of Life." (John 5:28,29) Because all the good deeds done by the Spirit filled believer are gifts, he has no reason to boast. He humbly acknowledges that every good deed is received, and is a manifestation of the grace of God upon him. The person who does not believe in Jesus as Lord,and has not received the Holy Spirit,can only do what appears to be good deeds. They are actually dead works because they originate in the flesh and will die with the flesh. This is why the Lord told the scribes and Pharisees, "...if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:24) The scribes and Pharisees were relying on good deeds apart from the Lord to get them in to Heaven. They were not prepared to believe that the Person speaking to them was Lord and God of Heaven and earth. By rejecting Him they also were rejecting the Holy Spirit that proceeds from Him, as a result, if they were to die, in-spite of all there good deeds, they would end up in hell. Having faith without works is like having a tree with many leaves, but without any fruit. Nobody plants a tree expecting fruit, only to end up with leaves! The Lord wants fruit from the trees He is planting. He is coming only for those who are bearing fruit. Those who are not will have to go into the Great Tribulation. The good deeds I am talking about here are every day things. A Husband loving his wife. A wife loving her husband, parents loving there children. These are all within reach of most people. These good deeds are what create and build up the spiritual man within. The spiritual man strives with our evil flesh every day to do good works. He will continue to do so until the Day of the rapture!!! Now you can understand why Paul went on to say, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Eph.2:10) Do remain blessed.   Ola.