Colossians 1:10

To walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

See under Colossians 1:9 for comments on the unlimited nature of this great Pauline prayer.

In every good work ... Nothing could be plainer in the word of God than the fact of good works being required of those who hope to enter heaven. Furthermore, it is absolutely incorrect to seek the elimination of this requirement by declaring that "Paul attaches high value to good works viewed as the fruit, not the root, of grace."[21] Paul himself emphatically made good works a prior condition of eternal redemption, even for those already saved by the blood of Christ, a truth which is clearly visible in this verse. Paul said:

We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

God will render to every man according to his works: to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life; but to them that are factious and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: for there is no respect of persons with God (Romans 2:6-11).

Reference is here made to the discussion of the above scriptures in the notes in this series of commentaries. See my Commentary on 1,2Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and my Commentary on Romans, Romans 2:6.

Paul did not teach that people, in any sense, earn salvation, or that perfection in keeping all God's commandments must be attained; but despite this, those who work evil will be lost, regardless of how much they profess to "believe" in the Lord.

[21] William Hendriksen, op. cid, p. 58.