Conversion: One Time or Ongoing? Faith or Works?

Since Martin Luther, Protestants have exclaimed Sola Fideles, and painted Catholics as living by works, not faith.  My Confession:  As a Protestant, I have an uneasy relationship with Sola Fideles.

I understand what Luther was driving at - it isn't church attendance, daily prayer, tithing or not transgressing the ten commandments that gets you into heaven - it is faith in Jesus.  But, I sometimes think we Protestants have thrown out Baby Jesus with the bath water, as we have demoted faith to a one-time event.  Say "The Prayer," and that's all you have to until death.

We have eliminated works, which in turn eliminated relationship with and growth through Christ.  Worse, we've eliminated any incentive to obey God's commands.  Why avoid sex before marriage - I prayed The Prayer one day in Bible School.  Why not steal from my employer - I prayed The Prayer in college?

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the story of The Sower.  In it, he points out that some seed falls in the rocks, springs up quickly and then withers.  I worry that with The Prayer idea we have sown solely in the rocks and have reaped nothing.

It is not my decision whether someone who prays The Prayer and then lives life with no other external or internal Christianity gets into heaven.  That will be up to God, and hopefully that will be enough.  But I have to wonder whether a one time prayer with nothing else demonstrates true faith in Jesus (obviously this doesn't get to death bed confessions as there is no time to have works evidence).

I think Sola Fideles has also led people to believe that they can pray The Prayer at the end of life and get into heaven for free.  However, there is no guarantee that there will be time to put faith in Christ, and there is no guarantee that the individual will want to put faith in Christ.

A friend of mine stepped in between two women who were fist fighting at a bar.  For his trouble, he was stabbed by one of them and was taken to the hospital in bad shape.  He knew that the doctors and nurses were very concerned that he was not going to survive the emergency surgery, in part because they sent in a nun to speak with him.  She begged him to repent his sins in case he died before the surgery was over.  He thought about it, but decided that he really wasn't sorry for the "sins" he had committed.  This worried him some later on, but not enough to change.  I'd guess Jesus would say his heart was hard.

I see faith as naturally flowing to works that demonstrate the heart is seeking to be more and more Christlike and to develop a relationship with Christ.  In my own life, I know that there are times I don't want to grow; I'm tired, busy or frustrated with "the church" or "Christians."  I want to take the easy road, not the hard, uphill one.

So then, I want to see evidence of works in the lives of Christians, in addition to faith.  I want to see that the conversion to Christ is real, tangible, and ongoing.

I guess I don't see conversion as a one time thing - I am constantly uprooting sin, bad habits, and idolatry from my heart.  We can never attain perfection until we see Jesus.  Conversion to Jesus takes work.