Jesus said that the people who are truly saved are those who do the will of God. In Matthew 12:50 Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus didn’t say, “Whoever believes in their heart is my brother or sister or mother, no matter what they do because they are saved by my unconditional grace”. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say anything of the sort.

On the contrary, Jesus states plainly that whoever “does the Will of my Father in heaven” should be called his family. Jesus here is clearly speaking of the family of God, the ones who will be part of the eternal family where we an call Jesus our brother and our family, and God our Father. Jesus is talking about the people who have achieved eternal salvation.

Jesus gives a very qualifying statement that sharply contrasts the modern doctrine of unconditional grace as well as Total Depravity. Here again, Calvinism is turned on its head and outright refuted by the very words of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus told us that the people who perform works here on earth by following the will of God and the law of the Bible, will be the only ones who get to heaven.

Again, just like Romans 10:9, Jesus doesn’t say “all you have to do is do good works”. This is the same issue as Romans 10:9, there is no implicit condition that this is the “only” condition of salvation. No, this is only one of the many conditions of salvation! This was the fallacy of the Pharisees, and the fallacy of the Catholic church, that they focused too much on works and not enough on the heart.

However, in the same way, this is the same fallacy on the other side of the coin, which Calvinism and the modern church neglects. Jesus said that works are a condition of salvation. Just like Matthew 12:50 says that works are a condition of salvation, but is not the “only” condition, this is the same thing as Romans 10:9 which says that believing in your heart is a condition, but most certainly not the “only” condition.

Both Romans 10:9 and Matthew 12:50 give one of the many conditions of salvation. Matthew 12:50 requires works here on earth as a condition of salvation, and Romans 10:9 gives belief in your heart as another condition of salvation. Both are just as important, as is the condition of forgiving others in order to receive forgiveness and subsequently salvation, as Jesus stated in Matthew 6:15.

As a closing reference with regards to this second condition of salvation, let us reference Philippians 2:12, “as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” For what reason is there to “work out” salvation that is magically forgiven unconditionally? The answer is plain. Living a holy life here on Earth is a condition of salvation; it is most certainly not unconditional.