In the 5th century AD, a British monk named Pelagius, renowned for his piety and austerity, developed this doctrine of salvation. According to Pelagius, though human beings have succumbed to the influences of Adam*s "original sin," the possibility of overcoming human sinfulness still existed. Pelagius basically believed that all humans possessed the ability not to sin, and the role of the commandments in the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament was to show us how to live sinless lives. Further, if we wanted to receive God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness, and if we wanted therefore to receive salvation, we had to earn this through living a life that was in accord with Biblical teachings.

A series of Church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries condemned this view as heresy. Though no major Christian denomination endorses this view today, this "heresy" still exists in more subtle ways in the theology of many Christians, both Catholic and Protestant. Today, Pelagianism is often referred to as a salvation of works -- if we do enough good deeds, God will love us, forgive us, and save us.

Key Texts:

Matthew 25:31-46
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The sheep are saved, the goats are not. Notice that Jesus doesn’t ask them, "Have you made a personal decision for me as Lord and Savior?". Instead, he "saves" the sheep because they helped the poor, fed the hungry, and showed hospitality to the strangers. He doesn’t "save" the goats because they neglected to these things.

Mark 10:17-22
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ " 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

The man asks Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, and notice that Jesus does not respond by saying, "Make a personal decision for me as your Lord and Savior. Instead, he tells him to follow the 10 Commandments. When the man says that he has, Jesus then commands him to sell all of his possessions. This is obviously a different way to salvation than we are used to hearing.

James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

James asks, "Can faith save you?," and then he basically answers the question with a resounding "No." He’s quite upset that there are lots of people claiming to have faith in Jesus Christ, then these same people would go out and neglect those who were poor and suffering. What we believe is not to be distinguished from how we live.