Is Salvation Free or Not?
This passage seems to go against my intuition that you don't have to work for salvation but it is a free gift. I suppose we must first accept the gift of salvation but afterwards there should be fruit showing that we have accepted the gift. There is a parable or illustration that Jesus gives us in John 15 where He explains that the Father is the vine dresser and that He cuts off the branches that do not produce any fruit. Also there is a passage in Matthew 25 where Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats at the judgment. The goats are the ones who have not done specific actions like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or those in prison. Though they have done spiritual great things like casting out demons, yet Jesus will say, "I never knew you, away from me to the eternal fire prepared for sally and his angels.
