Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

I believe that Jesus was attempting to show the man that he could not save himself by what he could do.

The first order of business in converting a man is to bring home to his heart the law of the Lord. For it is a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25, Romans 3:20, Psalms 19:7 (kjv)).

A person must understand that he is unable to save himself by what he does, so that he can come to the end of himself and put his trust in the Saviour.

It is clear from scripture that there is no law that has ever been given that is able to impart life (Galatians 3:21).

The only thing that will impart life is faith in the shed blood and Person of Jesus Christ. If anyone thirsts, let him come to Him and drink. And as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Hobie said:

One day a young ruler came to Jesus and fell on his knees before him. He said, "Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus told him 'if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments' and started quoting the 10 commandments; "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother."

The young man said he had kept them from the time he was a boy. He had lived a good life. But the Bible says that Jesus looked into the man's heart and saw something that was keeping him from becoming a follower.

Jesus told him that he still lacked one thing, he must sell the things he owned and give the money to the poor. Then he would have treasure in heaven, and he could follow Jesus. The young man's face fell and he went away sad because he had great riches that he would not part with.

So what does this mean to us today, what must we do to inherit eternal life?

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"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"

"..... if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

Having eternal life is conditional upon obedience to God's will. This true in both the OT and NT.

Just have faith that God will put His Laws in our minds and write them in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).

Ernest T. Bass said:

Having eternal life is conditional upon obedience to God's will.

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Not.

Obedience translates into works; and the holy scriptures are clear that we are not saved by works:

Rom 4:5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Tit 3:5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Eph 2:8, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9, Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Now we are saved unto good works; so that if good works are absent from a Christian's life, it is questionable as to whether his conversion (by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) is genuine. But the believer is not saved by his works. Rather, he is saved through faith and the change in direction that result in good works in the believer's life.

justbyfaith said:

Not.

Obedience translates into works; and the holy scriptures are clear that we are not saved by works:

Rom 4:5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Tit 3:5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Eph 2:8, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9, Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Now we are saved unto good works; so that if good works are absent from a Christian's life, it is questionable as to whether his conversion (by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) is genuine. But the believer is not saved by his works. Rather, he is saved through faith and the change in direction that result in good works in the believer's life.

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So how are you saved?

justbyfaith said:

Not.

Obedience translates into works; and the holy scriptures are clear that we are not saved by works:

Rom 4:5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Tit 3:5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Eph 2:8, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9, Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Now we are saved unto good works; so that if good works are absent from a Christian's life, it is questionable as to whether his conversion (by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) is genuine. But the believer is not saved by his works. Rather, he is saved through faith and the change in direction that result in good works in the believer's life.

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According to you, the answer Jesus gave the young man was the wrong answer.

As you stated "what must we do to inherit eternal life?"; another of way of saying that is "what will keep us out of Heaven"?

Jesus technically only gave us two commands: 1. Love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. 2. Love thy neighbor

If you abide by those two commands, then supposedly everything else if forgivable (except one clause stating "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable").

So then what's the reason for all of the other teachings? Is it for us to know how to live, how Jesus wants us to live life? Not abiding by the rest of the teachings won't keep us out of Heaven if we keep His commands and don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit, from a technical standpoint, or will they? What other reason(s) would cause Jesus to say to us "Depart from me I never knew you", when many who call Jesus Lord will have this said to them: Matthew 7:21-24 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Hobie said:

So what does this mean to us today, what must we do to inherit eternal life?

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1. When you examine this narrative closely you will find that this young man asked the wrong question, but he was not corrected for it directly. Jesus indirectly showed him that no man can "inherit" eternal life.

2. Eternal life is a GIFT of God's grace (Rom 6:23) so this man really had no clue. Furthermore, he failed to see that Jesus was more than just a good rabbi. That He was God. So Jesus had to correct him on this score also. Unless we believe that Jesus is God, we will die in our sins.

3. Then we see that Jesus mentioned only FIVE of the Ten Commandments. But when He told the man to forsake his wealth, Christ was pointing to the first four and well as the last commandment. The Rich Young Ruler had made wealth his god, and he was also covetous, since he did not want to give it all away. And covetousness is idolatry.

4. So he was in fact breaking five commandments while obeying five. But the Bible says that (a) if you break one commandment you have broken all and (b) righteousness cannot be earned through attempting to obey the commandments. Righteousness is imputed by God's grace to the one who believes God and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

pray for the gift of repentance!! which is the greek word metenoia which is to change ur mind, then ask God 2 conform u 2 the nature of Christ and then endure 2 the end and then you'll be saved!!

logabe said:

So how are you saved?

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by grace through faith, and that not of myself; it is the gift of God; and not of works.

Rom 10:13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Ernest T. Bass said:

According to you, the answer Jesus gave the young man was the wrong answer.

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Jesus gave him the right answer for that moment. He brought the law to bear on his situation. Consider:

Gal 3:21, Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 3:22, But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23, But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25, But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

4Jesus said:

Jesus technically only gave us two commands: 1. Love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. 2. Love thy neighbor

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Even the commandments to love God and neighbor do not have the power to impart life (Galatians 3:21). We need the Holy Spirit to be able to love God and our neighbor the way scripture teaches (Romans 5:5). And we receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14).

justbyfaith said:

by grace through faith, and that not of myself; it is the gift of God; and not of works.

Rom 10:13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.



Jesus gave him the right answer for that moment. He brought the law to bear on his situation. Consider:

Gal 3:21, Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 3:22, But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23, But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25, But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

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THen answer Christ gave has not changed, it took obedience to God's will under the OT law to have eternal life as it does under the NT law. Living in disobedience to God never saved anyone OT or NT.

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Ernest T. Bass said:

THen answer Christ gave has not changed, it took obedience to God's will under the OT law to have eternal life as it does under the NT law. Living in disobedience to God never saved anyone OT or NT.

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

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You have missed the point. It is not obedient acts that save (for that would be salvation by works)...but it is the change of attitude that inclines us toward good works, that saves.

Iow, it is who I am, and not what I do, that saves me.

I am a new creature in Christ; and as a result of this, I do good works. But I am made into a new creature through faith in Him. The works that I do are merely a byproduct of the salvation that He has wrought in me through faith alone.

justbyfaith said:

You have missed the point. It is not obedient acts that save (for that would be salvation by works)...but it is the change of attitude that inclines us toward good works, that saves.

Iow, it is who I am, and not what I do, that saves me.

I am a new creature in Christ; and as a result of this, I do good works. But I am made into a new creature through faith in Him. The works that I do are merely a byproduct of the salvation that He has wrought in me through faith alone.

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It is God that saves, but who does He save and why? God saves those who obey Him, therefore it is the obedient act that saves This is why there are verses that teach "save yourself" (Acts 2:40; 1 Tim 4:16) and "cleanse thyself 1 Cor 7:1. Sine God saves those who obey then in that since those who do obey are saving themselves.

Who you are is determined by what you do. If one does righteousness he is righteous. If one does unrighteousness he is then unrighteous.
No one was ever made righteous by living unrighteously. 1 John 3:10 as long as one continues to not do righteousness one continues to not be of God.

Being a new creature in Christ requires obedience. Again, no one ever was made a new creature in Christ by living in disobedience to Christ's words. 2 Corinthians 5:17 one must conditionally be "in Christ" to be a new creature and it takes obedience in submitting to baptism to be in Christ (Galatians 3:27)....one puts on Christ in baptism therefore is then in Christ. No verse at all say 'faith only' put one in Christ.


You have yet to produce one verse that says one is FIRST saved THEN one obeys. Such an idea has one first saved in his disobedience THEN one can be obedient and no verse says those living in disobedience will be saved then after they are saved they can then obey. The reason you are putting the cart before the horse, putting salvation before obedience is you have been evidently been incorrectly taught that obedience is a work therefore obedience is an attempt to earn salvation. Again, no one here has shown a single example from the Bible that obedience ever earned them God's free gift of grace, free gift of eternal life, free gift of salvation. Obedience cannot ean ma salvation for man;s obedience is not perfect therefore God'd grace is necessary for those times men sins and repents. Therefore salvation is a combination of man's obedience and God's grace. Again, disobedience is serving sin unto death and no one has ever been saved or ever will be saved by serving sin unto death. It is obedience unto righteousness that saves Romans 6:16.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Who you are is determined by what you do. If one does righteousness he is righteous. If one does unrighteousness he is then unrighteous.

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You have it backwards. What you do is determined by who you are. If one is righteous he will do righteousness. If one is unrighteous then he will do unrighteousness.

The behaviour stems from who the person is.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Being a new creature in Christ requires obedience.

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It only requires faith. Obedience comes as the result of having been made a new creature. You are on a "works trip". There is always going to be one more work that you have to do in order to keep saving yourself; you will never have any rest.

I rest in the finished work of the Cross and I love to minister to people. It is fun for me. I do it out of a place of rest. I have ceased from my own works, as God did from His.

Ernest T. Bass said:

You have yet to produce one verse that says one is FIRST saved THEN one obeys.

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I have produced it...Romans 4:5. You think that the Lord leaves a person in the state of being ungodly? We have spoken of how a man is made into a new creature in Christ. But he is saved out of a position of being ungodly.

The Lord calls those things which be not as though they were: He creates a new reality of righteousness when that reality did not exist before; because of faith in the heart of the believer.

I've got one more from that verse...if the Lord calls me righteous, that is evidence to me that I am ungodly; and this is the attitude of humility that the Lord wants of all of us.

Ernest T. Bass said:

The reason you are putting the cart before the horse, putting salvation before obedience

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False teachers speak this way; reversing the truth so that people will listen to them. I once told a man that he was putting the cart before the horse by putting obedience before salvation and he reversed it on me. He was a very bad false teacher. The reality is that we are saved by grace through faith; and that this is unto good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Ernest T. Bass said:

is you have been evidently been incorrectly taught that obedience is a work therefore obedience is an attempt to earn salvation.

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The Holy Spirit gave me this teaching. Obedience translates into works; that should be evident for all to see.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Obedience cannot earn man salvation for man's obedience is not perfect therefore God'd grace is necessary for those times men sins and repents.

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Consider the following:

Gal 3:10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Jas 2:10, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Mat 5:48, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

If anyone desires to mix grace and obedience as the means of salvation, the above verses apply: and you must be perfect from the beginning of your conception into eternity. Because you are trying to save yourself by works and therefore grace does not apply. You either enter in wholly by grace or you enter in wholly by works. They are mutually exclusive:

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Therefore salvation is a combination of man's obedience and God's grace.

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You cannot enter in by both. It is either one or the other; as the scripture directly above teaches.

Jesus never said that if he did not give away everything he owned, that he would not have eternal life.

justbyfaith said:

You have it backwards. What you do is determined by who you are. If one is righteous he will do righteousness. If one is unrighteous then he will do unrighteousness.

The behaviour stems from who the person is.

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THe Bible says he that doeth righteousness is righteous. THose that do unrighteousness are unrighteous. Hence what one does determines what one is. No one is righteous before they do righteous nor is one unrighteous before they do any unrighteousness. Romans 9:11

justbyfaith said:

It only requires faith. Obedience comes as the result of having been made a new creature. You are on a "works trip". There is always going to be one more work that you have to do in order to keep saving yourself; you will never have any rest.

I rest in the finished work of the Cross and I love to minister to people. It is fun for me. I do it out of a place of rest. I have ceased from my own works, as God did from His.

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You have yet to provide a verse that shows those who live in disobedience to God are saved. In EVERY case in the Bible only those who were obedient are the ones who received grace.

On the cross, Christ finished HIS earthly work, man still has to obey Christ Christ to be saved, Heb 5:9.

Hebrews 4:11 "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." THe Christian, when he dies, enters into rest, Revelation 14:13. Yet the Christian while alive has work to do (Ephesians 2:10) to strive to enter heaven Luke 13:24. Hebrews 3:18 disobedience causes one to miss that rest.

justbyfait said:

I have produced it...Romans 4:5. You think that the Lord leaves a person in the state of being ungodly? We have spoken of how a man is made into a new creature in Christ. But he is saved out of a position of being ungodly.

The Lord calls those things which be not as though they were: He creates a new reality of righteousness when that reality did not exist before; because of faith in the heart of the believer.

I've got one more from that verse...if the Lord calls me righteous, that is evidence to me that I am ungodly; and this is the attitude of humility that the Lord wants of all of us.

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Romans 4:5 does not say one is first saved in his disobedience THEN AFTER one is saved he can obey. In the context, Abraham was ungodly, neither he nor David were perfectly sinless God justified them because they obeyed God. Exodus 23:7 God said He would not justify the ungodly. God therefore does not unconditionally justify men at random. It is those that conditionally obey God are the ones justified. Romans 5:1 Paul says "Therefore being justified by faith" meaning the ungodly FIRST must obey by conditionally having faith THEN they are justified. No one was ever unconditionally justified faithlessly.

justbyfaith said:

False teachers speak this way; reversing the truth so that people will listen to them. I once told a man that he was putting the cart before the horse by putting obedience before salvation and he reversed it on me. He was a very bad false teacher. The reality is that we are saved by grace through faith; and that this is unto good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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Again, you have not shown a single example of a person living in rebellion, disobedient to God but justified anyway by God. YOu rewrite scritpure in an attempt to conform scripture to fit Luther's philosophy of faith only.

Rom 5:1 faith justifies
James 2:24 faith only does not justify.

There is an obvious difference between "faith" that does justify and "faith only" that does not justify and that difference is obedience. A faith that saves is one that obeys while faith only is void of obedience to God's will.

justbyfaith said:

The Holy Spirit gave me this teaching. Obedience translates into works; that should be evident for all to see.

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The Holy SPirit teaches men through His inspired word and nowhere in the Spirit's word did man's obedience to God's will earn salvation. THe SPirit shows a difference between obedience and works done to merit salvation. Faith only will not recognize this difference for it exposes the faith only as being false.

justbyfaith said:

Consider the following:

Gal 3:10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Jas 2:10, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Mat 5:48, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

If anyone desires to mix grace and obedience as the means of salvation, the above verses apply: and you must be perfect from the beginning of your conception into eternity. Because you are trying to save yourself by works and therefore grace does not apply. You either enter in wholly by grace or you enter in wholly by works. They are mutually exclusive:

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.



You cannot enter in by both. It is either one or the other; as the scripture directly above teaches.

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THe OT law of Moses required flawless perfect works to be justified. And Paul shows in Galatian those flawless works of the OT law does not jsutifiy for men will sin. YEt nowhere does Paul eliminate obedience from salvation.

As shown you many times before from Romans 6 Paul shows obedience and grace go hand in hand.

Romans 6:16 we each are serving either:
1) sin unto death
or
2) obedience unto righteousness.

Obedience keeps one from serving sin unto death, yet one''s obedience will not be perfect so one will be in need of grace. So when the obedient repents of his sins God graciously forgives. So grace alone cannot save. Faith alone cannot save. It takes both grace and obedient faith.

If one is not being obedient he then is serving sin unto death and continues to serve sin unto death unless, until he decides to obey the will of God. Luther's philosophy of faith only denies "obedience unto righteousness" therefore leaves its adherents serving sin unto death. Again, Paul said obedience UNTO righteousness and not that obeys because he already is righteousness. No example in the BIble of anyone seen as righteous by God BEFORE that person did God's righteousness.

Stan B said:

Jesus never said that if he did not give away everything he owned, that he would not have eternal life.

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Jesus said to the man "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

These words eliminate the idea that the man can be perfect while NOT selling what he had and give to the poor. Jesus commanded the man to "go and sell" how can one be saved by disobeying what Christ says? Luke 6:46.

Ernest T. Bass said:

THe Bible says he that doeth righteousness is righteous.

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John's statement in 1 John 3:7 does not preclude that a man will not do righteousness because he is righteous. In asking the question, "Who is righteous?" the answer is, "the one who does righteousness." This indicates that the outcropping of being righteous is that you will do righteousness. Not that you do righteousness unto becoming righteous; but that God makes you righteous (Romans 5:19) by faith, and that the result is that you will do what is righteous.

Ernest T. Bass said:

You have yet to provide a verse that shows those who live in disobedience to God are saved.

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That is because I believe that people are saved by an obedient and transformational faith. As such, those who have faith will be obedient; because they have faith.

Ernest T. Bass said:

On the cross, Christ finished HIS earthly work, man still has to obey Christ Christ to be saved, Heb 5:9.

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Actually, the context of Hebrews 5:9 is referring to obedience to Melchizedec, so you have a problem. But even if it is referring to obedience to Christ, it is not outside the realm of what Hebrews 5:9 is saying, to believe that I am obedient because of faith in Jesus, and that I am not saved by that obedience but by the faith that produces the obedience.

Ernest T. Bass said:

THe Christian, when he dies, enters into rest,

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Hebrews 4:10 tells me that we can enter into God's rest prior to physical death.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Exodus 23:7 God said He would not justify the ungodly.

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No; for there is a difference between ungodly and wicked. And if there isn't, you have a contradiction between Exodus 23:7 and Romans 4:5. So if you want to insist on the matter, would you care to explain the apparent contradiction?

Ernest T. Bass said:

It is those that conditionally obey God are the ones justified.

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The only condition is faith; and obedience arises out of a living and saving faith.

Ernest T. Bass said:

"Therefore being justified by faith" meaning the ungodly FIRST must obey by conditionally having faith THEN they are justified.

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So you agree with me: faith is the only condition for being justified.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Again, you have not shown a single example of a person living in rebellion, disobedient to God but justified anyway by God.

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Did not Aaron the brother of Moses create a golden calf for the Israelites to worship? Yet, he is called the saint of the LORD in Psalms 106:16.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Rom 5:1 faith justifies
James 2:24 faith only does not justify.

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An obedient and transformational faith justifies all by its lonesome.

If someone comes to a living and saving faith, and dies two minutes later, they had no opportunity to do any good works. Do they go to heaven or hell?

I believe they would go to heaven; but your doctrine would put them in hell.

Ernest T. Bass said:

There is an obvious difference between "faith" that does justify and "faith only" that does not justify and that difference is obedience. A faith that saves is one that obeys while faith only is void of obedience to God's will.

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I agree that saving faith is an obedient faith. I disagree with the notion that the obedience that results out of that faith is in any way salvational.

Ernest T. Bass said:

The Holy SPirit teaches men through His inspired word and nowhere in the Spirit's word did man's obedience to God's will earn salvation.

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Thank you for agreeing with me there.

Ernest T. Bass said:

THe SPirit shows a difference between obedience and works done to merit salvation.

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Perhaps you could devote a singular post into explaining how the Bible declares this difference. I am open to learning from you; and I would like to see where this conversation leads.

Ernest T. Bass said:

As shown you many times before from Romans 6 Paul shows obedience and grace go hand in hand.

Romans 6:16 we each are serving either:
1) sin unto death
or
2) obedience unto righteousness.

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So then, the order of operation is: faith --> obedience --> righteousness.

Ernest T. Bass said:

Obedience keeps one from serving sin unto death,

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No doubt.

Ernest T. Bass said:

yet one''s obedience will not be perfect so one will be in need of grace.

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I will say again that we must be saved wholly by grace or not at all. The alternative is to attempt to be saved by your works to some extent.

However, grace and works are mutually exclusive when it comes to salvation:

Rom 11:5, Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

You have it like we are climbing up a ladder and cannot reach the goal because the ladder is too short; and then an elevator lifts up the floor so that the top of the ladder reaches where you are trying to reach.

I would set it forth as a simple elevator that brings you all the way up to the place where you are trying to reach. There is no self-effort or reaching. The Lord saves you completely by His grace; and you find yourself on an elevation in righteousness that you did not have to climb anything in order to achieve.

But the natural and carnal man wants to be able to say that he did something to achieve the righteousness that God offers to you only as a free gift.

Ernest T. Bass said:

So grace alone cannot save. Faith alone cannot save. It takes both grace and obedient faith.

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I will half agree with you there. It is indeed an obedient faith that saves us. However, the obedience that accompanies it is not salvational; and therefore I would say that it is indeed a grace alone that saves through faith alone. It is "not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:9).

Ernest T. Bass said:

Luther's philosophy of faith only denies "obedience unto righteousness"

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Then I do not fully ascribe to Luther's faith only doctrine; although I do believe that we are saved through faith alone. I qualify it by saying that the only faith that saves is an obedient and transformational faith; but that it alone saves. Again, the order of operation is: faith --> salvation --> obedience --> righteousness.

Ernest T. Bass said:

No example in the BIble of anyone seen as righteous by God BEFORE that person did God's righteousness.

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Again, the generic statement in Romans 4:5 declares that to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

What do you think it means that God justifies the ungodly?

Is it not the case that all of us are ungodly before we come to faith in Jesus Christ?

Most assuredly, He does not leave us in the state of being ungodly.

But you seem to be advocating the concept that a person can be saved through their obedience apart from faith in Jesus Christ.

Do we not become righteous through the obedience of Him (Romans 5:19)? Through faith in His shed blood that sanctifies us (Hebrews 13:12, Hebrews 10:29)?

The things we do for God are the result of sanctification. We are made holy by Him and then we do things that are holy, stemming out of the holy character that God has created in us.