Faith and works

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Howdy, I saw this comment on the"Teachings that are but rules taught by men" thread, and wanted to throw this out there.

Do you see how that works are a result of our belief in the Way that Jesus preached to be saved? Do you see that without the works, there is no true belief, and there will be no salvation?

So in other words, the only indicator of salvation is if someone has works to point at? Kinda sounds like working your way into heaven, where entrance is based on merit and net worth, not faith.

What about the thief on the cross at Calvary, or a deathbed confession of Christ? If they are unable to accomplish a "work", is their acceptance of Christ null and void?

For my own clarification, I believe that salvation is based soley on faith in Christ. Works are a product of our love of Christ and our desire to serve and obey His commands. To me and my limited understanding, faith without works is dead because it is useless to Christ as it pertains to His will, but it is not an indicator of salvation. Just usefulness to God. But for my part, I'm still working this out in my head. That part of James is a bit tough. ;-)

 

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Nevermind, there's already a thread discussing the topic... :-D