A person could perform good works without faith in Jesus Christ. So good works cannot be a sign of a person’s salvation. Cornelius’s good works were not enough. He still needed to hear the gospel, repent and be baptized to receive eternal life (Acts 10:1-47; 11:18). The sacraments are fundamental to our covenantal relationship with God. Without them, all subsequent works of faith would amount to nothing. Unless a person is baptized into Christ, he still stands condemned because he is still in sin. Unless his feet are washed by Christ, he still has no part with Christ. Unless he partakes of the Lord’s body and blood, he does not have life in him. The good works that he performs may seem to assure him that he is an elect of God, but these good works would not be much different from the works of the law because he has not received the righteousness of Christ.
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