The Bible declares that the just shall live by faith (Galatians 3:11), and also that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). That means that the works we do are the works of believing, the works of faith. This also means the primary work of the believer is believing in God. Anyone that believes in God and does His will has eternal life.
The Scriptures say “…we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Our justification is by faith. It’s not by giving to the poor or making self-efforts to be good. You cannot succeed at trying to be good all by yourself. You can’t make any efforts to have eternal life. All you need to do is believe in your heart and confess the Lordship of Christ Jesus with your mouth. That’s how you receive the God-kind of life, and the only way to continue in that life is to live by faith.
When you have the life of God in you, you can’t continue to live by your works. If you live by your works, you could go to God and tell Him, “Lord, You know I give alms to the poor, I don’t criticize anybody, I’m honest, I don’t steal...” You’d try to justify yourself and use all your works in the flesh as a basis for asking God to do something for you. But God wouldn’t accept that because He expects you to live by faith in Him and His Word. By our works of the flesh we can do nothing but by the working of our faith, we can do all things, Hallelujah!
