Are We Saved by Belief or by Actions?

In my last post where I related a conversation with my daughter concerning the eternal fate of atheists who persist in their belief system, I received a few respectful responses from fellow bloggers of the atheistic worldview.  I decided to place my reply in a post because the commenter asked several good questions and I thought my response was a little long for the comment section.  The gentleman takes issue with the concept of God's judgment being based on belief rather than action.  He asks:

"Are you okay with people being judged on belief rather than actions? Are you comfortable with that? Does it seem just to you?"

My reply follows:

Will Atheists Go to Hell?

Thursday morning I was shaken out of my mundane weekday routine by a surprising question from my teenage daughter on the way to school.  It surprised me for a couple of reasons:

1. In the past my daughter has not been open to conversing about spiritual matters.

2.  None of us are morning people.  No one is usually talkative, much less thinking about deep theological issues at 7:30ish.  I'm certain my children's morning moods are genetically assigned by their dear old dad.  I am not conversant or even pleasant company until around 10:00  most days.

So, imagine my surprise when my daughter blurts out of the blue, "Mom got mad at me the other day."

I only offered a muffled "Mmmph" as a reply: an indication for her to continue the thought.

"I told mom I didn't believe atheists would 'go down there'", she pointed her finger downward ominously.  "She got really mad at me for saying that. What do you think?" 

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Truth For All Time

Title: Truth For All Time: A Brief Outline of the Christian Faith

Author: John Calvin (Translated by Stuart Olyott)

Page Count: 77

Publisher: Banner of Truth

Readability: Easy

Genre: Systematic Theology