Works by Faith

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). Before going to an explanation of this passage, let’s look at some scripture that appears to contradict it. James the brother of Jesus, in his epistle presents a weighty question to us: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” (Jas. 2:14). James clearly shows with the remainder of that chapter that if a person’s faith is not backed up by works which truly demonstrate his faith, then his faith is futile, and for naught; as he pointedly states here: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (Jas. 2:17). So James says that faith cannot save us unless it is proven by righteous works, and Paul says that we are not saved by “works of righteousness that we have done” (Tit. 3:5). Since we know that God is not the author of confusion, the scriptures cannot contradict one another. That means that there has to be a scriptural explanation for this seeming contradiction, and there is. If we go back to Eph. 2, and follow Paul’s train of thought in his writing, we will see that the ‘works’ that he was talking about that cannot save anyone, are the ceremonial ordinances of the law; which he spent so much time writing about in the context that these 'works’ cannot justify or save. We left off in verse 9, and in verse 11 he begins to explain more clearly that he is talking about the division between Jew and Gentile being broken down, and that division being the ceremonial works, or ordinances of the old covenant: “For he is our peace, who hath made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity [between Jew and Gentile], even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man [one body], so making peace;” (Eph.2:14,15).

Sometimes Paul referred to the old covenant ceremonies as works, sometimes as deeds, and sometimes as ordinances (Gal. 2:16; Gal. 3:2; Rom.3:20,28; Col. 2:20; Heb. 9:10). But in any event he was continually trying to impress upon the congregations that he established in Christ, that the “works of the law” could not justify those who were under them during the old covenant; and that certainly they could not put anyone into right standing with God under the new covenant: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16). That leads us to the explanation about the “boasting” of works, mentioned in Eph. 2:9: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (Rom. 3:27). This great apostle who was sent by God to be the teacher of the Gentiles, had to stay on this message because errant Jewish men in the body of Christ were going about teaching the Gentiles that they too had to be partakers of the ceremonial laws of the old covenant in order to be saved (Acts 15:1; Gal. 3:1-5; Philip. 3:2,3 Col. 2:16,17; etc.). But on the other hand, the works that James spoke of are the deeds of our lives, meaning the way we live. James was just assuring us that true faith in Christ always produces godly living and true demonstration of faith by means of the works, or deeds of our lives. The same is true for love: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (I Jn. 5:2,3).

John drives home the point in I Jn. 3:7: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth (works) righteousness is righteous, even as he [Christ] is righteous.” In fact the entire Bible, including the new testament, is replete with the absolute fact that we will all stand before God in the day of judgment and be judged according to our works, meaning the way we lived: “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” (I Pet. 1:17). And once more for good measure: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (II Cor. 5:10). So in this we see the reason for the commandment to “work out (our) salvation with fear and trembling” (Philip. 2:12). The need to remain open, honest, and repentant before God is also evident: “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (I Tim. 5:24). Finally, speaking of the grace of God and the hope of salvation to come, we see the same things confirmed to us: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should LIVE soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of GOOD WORKS” (Titus 2:11-14). So the evident scriptural conclusion is that there is no contradiction within the Bible on the topic of 'works,’ even as there is no contradiction in the scriptures on ANY subject, when it is understood by means of God’s “Spirit of truth” (Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:27; Rev. 2:7). Amen.