Before one can do any “works” that matter to God (Matthew 7 and 25), one must have first done the WORK of God by believing “in the One He sent” (per Jesus) or, per Paul in Galatians, “believing what you heard” (ie. the Good News).
This is not hard at all...until you do it and then begin a new existence of being harassed in extremis by the World, the Flesh, and the Devil until you die, ha!
Those with the impressive resume of Matthew 7 were told they were, in fact, “workers of lawlessness”. We believers need to stop the verse-bound surface skimming and get down to the HEART of what GOD is about in Jesus Christ!
The righteous shall live by faith!
Notice that those who “...gladly received...” (Acts 2:41) the instructions Peter gave in Acts 2:38 were referred to as “...all that believed...” in Acts 2:44 and were said to have been “...added to God’s people (KJV, church)...” in Acts 2:47.
Speaking of “...calling on the Lord,” a good example of what that includes is contained in the actions of Saul recorded in Acts 22:16 and this is said in Acts 9:6 to be something Saul “...MUST do...”
Acts 6:7, Romans 1:5, and Romans 16:26 all speak of “...obedient faith...”
Another case of interest involves the sinful Corinthians who were mentioned in I Corinthians 6;9-10 as having been ‘washed,’ “sanctified,’ and ‘justified.’ What had they done? Acts 18:8 gives the answer.
A great article and comments to cause us each to pause and meditate on the message of New Testament Christianity.
Finally, consider I Thessalonians 1:3-12: “...when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction...”; Matthew 13:41-42: (even out of His Kingdom, the Church) “...things that offend; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth...”.