Homeschool Mom wrote: <<I am convinced that if it were necessary to do more, Paul would have mentioned it somewhere in these verses.>>   Okay, I guess that's why you have to not isolate any scriptures from the whole Bible in case there is more to it than one section...   <<I’ve always thought that we can’t ever be good enough and only by God’s grace are we able to be with the Lord.>>    Yes of course, I agree with you on that. But we are saved BY grace THROUGH faith and faith is something that people have been made to think of as mere mental assent as though believing that Jesus is who He said He was is enough to get them saved. Many Pharisees in Jesus' day believed that Jesus was who He said he was but they would not "confess" Him because they did not want to be put out of the office of being a Pharisee. Therefore their belief did not save them nor did it give them a place at the Bema Seat for rewards.   Obviously, whatever is meant by "confess" was something that would get you kicked out of Pharisee status. You had to make a choice of Jesus or praise of men. Today, we have a new kind of Christianity that seeks to be saved yet still maintain your "Pharisee" status with this world as well. The cost of discipleship has been played down in favor of a cheaper grace.   I think one of the best descriptions of this that I have come across is that of a man named Howard Pitman, in his article entitled: "Placebo" found here:   http://www.spiritlessons.com/dreams_and_visions/placebo_howard_pittman.htm     Here is an excerpt: (emphasis mine) ---------------------------------- "At the outset, I stated that I would not try to convince anyone of anything I said. However, I would like to offer as evidence the parable of the sower as told by Jesus in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Matthew. If you read this chapter closely, you will notice that three out of every four people who heard the gospel preached, turned it down. That is seventy–five percent anyway you look at it. I am talking about three out of every four people who bothered to hear the gospel, turned it down! The sad part about this is the overwhelming majority of the people that did turn the gospel down, do not know that they have turned it down! They have bought a lie of Satan and have been deceived. They have been led to believe something that is not the truth and they been fooled by Satan into rejecting the gospel! Place the seventy–five percent who turned down the gospel with those in the world who made no pretense of hearing the truth and you have the overwhelming ninety seven and one-half percent of the population today! As I contemplate this fact. I now understand the Lord’s disgust with the Laodicean–type Church. I also clearly understand the verses of scripture in Matthew 7:22-23 that describes how many people will stand before the Throne at the Judgment pleading. “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in they Name? And in thy Name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?” only to have the Lord process to them, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity…” --------------------------------------   It is this kind of situation that causes those like me to say that there is more that we must do than merely believe in Jesus etc. How to communicate this is the problem, because it sounds like we are preaching works of the flesh, which we are not. It is works of faith and adding action to your belief that causes faith to become legitimate.   Jesus only found fruit on the good soil Christians. The other three kinds of soil produce no fruit and are self deceived into thinking that they are saved when they are not. The bad soils were: hardness where Satan steals the word immediately; stony soil, where there is no depth and therefore no root and when persecutions come, they are offended; and soil full of weeds which are the cares of this world that choke the word and it becomes voided to them. Good soil is arrived at by making the effort to change these obstacles and even after that, allow the pruning process that will lead to fruit. Is it "works" and the nullifying of grace to make yourself good soil and allow God to prune your life etc.? I don't know, you tell me...   I guess there are those among us who believe that even though some "Christians" produce no fruit, they are still "saved" and will be at the Bema Seat but will have no reward while others see these fruitless, bad soil ones as not saved. We'll soon see who was right. It is never our intention to sound judgemental but rather even Paul said, "Am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?..."   Barry Amundsen