Why is it wrong to believe you must work for your salvation?
Scripture presents salvation as a gift of God's grace, not wages earned by human effort. A gift is undeserved, unmerited, and not worked for; it comes from the giver's goodness. Trying to work for salvation therefore contradicts the Book and rejects what God has freely provided through Jesus Christ.
Les Feldick explains that those who think they must work for salvation are flying in the face of the Book. He argues that if you have to do something for salvation, it will not fit, because salvation is a gift. By definition, a gift is not deserved, worked for, or merited; it is something someone does for you out of the goodness of their heart. That is what God has done for the human race: out of the goodness of His heart He gave it as a gift. When people turn around and say they will work for it, He won't stand for it. The context ties this to the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, and has abounded unto many. So salvation is received as a gift, not earned by works.