What is a "work"?

There is nothing you can do to earn heaven. Heaven is not your wage for living a good life, even a moral life, even a perfect life (as if that could be attained).

You work 40 hours and in exchange for all those seconds of your life, away from your spouse, children, hobbies, etc. you earn a wage. You get paid to spend your few years of life doing something that someone else wants done.

Heaven. Eternity. They don't work like that.

Romans 3 tells us that we cannot "boast that we have done ANYTHING to be accepted by God..." There is no "work" that gains a relationship with God. None. Try all you like, it's not possible to earn your salvation. Give to the poor. Build orphanages in foreign countries. Build a million! It doesn't help you get closer to God. You cannot give, live, fight, talk or even welfare your way to God. He doesn't accept that exchange. You see, His gift of eternal life in Heaven is worth so much that NOTHING we can give or do could even come close to earning us Heaven.

What gets us the promise of eternal life? Faith. Our faith that Jesus sacrificed His life and shed His blood for us (Romans 3:25).

God makes people right with Himself only by faith... so:

1. Without faith there is no point in confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior - so confession is NOT a work because it cannot earn you eternal life by itself.
2. Without faith there is no reason to repent of sin, since it only by faith that you realize what you've done IS sin and would try to not do it anymore - so repentance is NOT a work because it cannot earn you eternal life by itself.
3. Without faith there is no reason to be immersed because immersion (as Rom 6 clearly states) connects us with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and if you don't believe He sacrificed His life and shed His blood why would you do something that so clearly represents that sacrificial death and new life? - so baptism is NOT a work because it cannot earn you eternal life by itself.

Now, before you get angry, look at Romans 4:2,3 Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. It was not the good things he did that got him anywhere with God, but his faith. But does that mean that he stopped doing good? That he stopped obeying? That he stopped working out his salvation? NO! Abraham proved his faith by his actions, but his actions (work) did not EARN him eternal life.

Had Abraham said, "I believe" but I'm not going to obey, follow, speak on your behalf, do you think God would have still used him to become the father of many nations? Heck no!

So why do we think that our obedience in repentance, confession and baptism somehow minimize or take away from our faith? These acts PROVE our belief they do not take the place of it. And if they did... we would not be looking forward to Heaven.

Stepping off the soapbox now. My apologies for even getting up there... just in the mood I guess!