The Book of Romans : Work vs. Faith part 2

I'll probably write a lot about this topic because it's so confusing!  At least, for me.

Yesterday night, I sat down ready to read a bit of Corinthians before going to bed, but I found myself in the book of Romans reading, once again, about the ongoing debate of works versus faith.

Let's go to the source:
Romans 2: 6-8
For he will repay according to one's deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking, and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury."

Ok, first of all I'm a big fan of context.  Reading the bits of scripture without context is, in my opinion, a dangerous thing.  So let me take a brief moment and set the picture.  Romans was written by Paul, an apostle of God who I'll write about soon, to the Romans.  The 2nd chapter warns against judging others especially when you are carrying the sin on your own shoulders.  God will judge you for judging others.  It also talks a bit about those who hear God's law, but don't follow it and those who have never heard God's word but whose heart's naturally follow the law.  It's pretty interesting stuff.  I highly recommend it.

So back to the work vs. faith.  When I read this chapter, I asked my husband what he thinks.  He was born into the Lutheran church, attended church on a semi-regular basis as a kid, and has always been a Christian (unlike myself).  He said that there are tons of websites that argue both ways and agreed that it's a bit confusing.  We talked for some time about the issue and here is where we ended our talk:

- faith without works simply doesn't work, as I blogged earlier
- if we could "work" our way into heaven, then there would have been no point in Jesus' death.  The whole reason he had to die was so our sins would be forgiven and so we could have a relationship with God
-works are important, and maybe we will have some sort of judgement for them....we can't really know for sure

Again, I don't have all the answers.  I often get confused, but I hold tight to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.  And coming from a Lutheran point of view, I know that nothing I can do is worthy enough to get into heaven.  Doing good has to come from a love of Christ, wanting to show him love, and wanting to spread his love forever.

Oy, my head hurts.  :)

Please let me know what you think!