Bible Lesson 45
Faith vs. Works Ephesians 2:8-9, James 2:14-20
In this lesson we want to look to the Bible, the inspired, inerrant Word of God to clarify the connection between Faith and Works. Both of these words (Faith and Works) are connected to our salvation. We are saved by faith, but we evidence our salvation by works. We are saved by faith alone (Sola Fide); however faith is never alone, it always brings with it good works. The problem has been with us since the time of Jesus Christ.
In fact, in the gospel of Mark chapter ten and verse seventeen, where a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked what he must do to have eternal life. Then after Jesus fed the five thousand in John chapter six, the Jews that were there asked Jesus Christ, “what shall we do, that we may work the work of God ?” In the gospel of Luke, we find a lawyer who inquired of the Lord Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
It is the nature of man to want to “do” something to be saved. It is our extreme pride in self that convinces most people that they must work in some way to gain the approval of God. It’s interesting to note what Christ told all of these people who wanted to do something to be saved. He always pointed them back to something that they were supposed to be doing, and that was keeping the law.
Most of these people thought that they had been doing that but they always realized that they lacked something because they were not saved. If we think about our salvation, we have to know that we never got even close to knowing God until we recognized that we have been trying to do something to inherit eternal life in heaven.
There is nothing that any person can “do” to be saved. That is all taken care of by God. God decides who, when, and where, every person who will ever be saved is saved. The initiation of salvation comes when God “quickens” a person who is dead in trespass and sin. (See Ephesians 2:1).
Then God allows that person to see their deplorable condition, and they repent because of a feeling of sorrow that only knowing God can generate, and finally God gives them the gifts of Grace and Faith and brings them to salvation. If you are saved or will ever be saved, it was or will be by “faith”, not by any works that you have or will do. The logical question right here would be, “What is Faith”?
To truly understand faith we must understand the Greek word that was translated faith in our English Bibles. Normally our understanding of faith is a kind of mental assent to what we think we know about Jesus Christ and God and the Bible. The Greek word (and the New Testament was written in Greek) is “Pistis”; and it means a firm persuasion based on hearing and it carries with it the ideas of trust, trustworthiness, assurance, belief, faithfulness, and fidelity and it includes a firm conviction that what the Bible says is God’s Word. Faith involves a personal surrender to God through Christ, and conduct inspired by that surrender. Faith produces fruit, and the fruit of our faith is obedience to God.
We are told in Hebrews 5:8-9, that Jesus Christ died for those who would obey Him. Charles Haddon Spurgeon had this to say about faith, “If I understand aright the faith which saves, it is just this. God has revealed such and such truth, I believe it to be true, and I do believe it to be true that I act upon it. God has said that He has laid sin upon Christ (Isaiah 53:6); I believe He has done so. He tells me that, if I trust Christ, I may be assured that my sin was laid upon Christ. I trust Christ, that is, I rely on Him, and the reliance which springs out of belief is the essence of faith. Faith must lead to obedience. The only trust that saves the soul is that practical trust which obeys Jesus Christ.” Some decades ago, there was a denominational movement that confused the truth about faith and supplanted faith with works.
That caused many reactions from those who know the truth about salvation, and some have pushed the idea that works have nothing whatsoever to do with salvation. That, of course, is wrong. The truth is that we are saved by faith and nothing else, but we have a life to live on this earth after we are saved. We are saved by faith alone but faith is never alone. Faith and works should always be paired. We are saved by faith alone; however, we are saved to evidence our salvation through good works. Look at Ephesians 2:10 and you will find that in our salvation “we are created “in Christ” unto or for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. That settles the confusion about faith and works.
We must not put God’s gift of faith against God’s command for good works. We don’t work to be saved because the Bible tells us that we are saved by God’s grace (undeserved mercy) through faith and that not of ourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Those facts about faith that we have discussed so far I have validated from the word of God, and now we know from God that faith is a gift from Him and that it is all that is required for our salvation, God does it all including giving a willing mind and heart to those who are saved. We have not dwelt so far on good works that God says that He planned for us to perform once we are saved. We will get to that in a short time, but before we leave faith let’s be sure that we understand faith and where it comes from. The Bible tells us that “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Does that mean that if you go to a church and hear that God loves you just the way you are and you just join this or that church by walking the aisle and shaking some preacher’s hand and being baptized that you are saved? Absolutely not, because there is much false preaching going on in our day, most of which is a thrust to gain membership in various churches. what you must hear and I tell you right here is that a personal reading and study of your Bible is the best way; because the only thing that God works His salvation in is the truth of the Word of God. Don’t be fooled by deception, don’t be led astray by half-truths and just flat out lies.
Know the Word of God; because your soul depends upon it. Pray and ask God to save you, agonize over your lost condition and cry out to God for His undeserved mercy. Prayer is good but first faith must come because we are saved by faith, not prayer (John 9:31). Faith is a fruit of the Word of God, but that does not mean that if you have a Bible you will be granted faith. You must not only possess a Bible, but you must also read and study it to show yourself approved unto God a workman that needed not to be ashamed (2nd Timothy 2:15). Saving faith always generates a godly lifestyle. Romans chapter one and verse seventeen tells us that “the just shall live by faith”. The just are those who have been justified by Faith (Romans 5:1-2). Those who have saving faith are counted just in the sight of God and they have peace with God. Do you have peace with God or are you seeking to find that peace that passes understanding? Go to the Word of God and begin to read about Jesus.
I recommend you begin by reading the four gospels first and then moving on to the rest of the New Testament. The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As you learn about Jesus and begin to see what He has done for sinners, you will be more able to find yourself in the view of God. God is looking for people who know His Son Jesus Christ and want to obey Him. Don’t read the Word of God, just to be able to say you have read it, read it to make a difference in your soul. Always attempt to relate scripture to other scriptures because that way you will be able to have an understanding of the will of God.
Treat the Bible as if it is the Word of God because it is. You and I have no other place to go and find the Word and Will of the Almighty God, and in it and nowhere else will you ever find salvation and freedom from the guilt of sin. Always clear your mind and heart of worldly cares before you attempt to read the Word of God. You may, as I had to do, raise your opinions of God and your view of His majesty before you really can take anything away from the Bible. That should not be hard to do because if we look around us at the creation, and its daily organized beauty and functions and we see the World and even consider our bodies how marvelous they are in their functions?. just ask yourself if you and anyone you know could create such things. You will have to come to the decision that only God could and did create all that we know.
We have so far dealt with faith, but we should understand that faith and belief come from the same Greek word. So to have faith is to believe in God, through His Son Jesus Christ. In John chapter 3 and verse 16, we find this much loved but often misquoted and misunderstood verse of Scripture. It says, “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. So many people today who are careless in their Bible study interpret that verse of scripture to say that Christ died to set up some kind of potential at the cross which man can complete when he decides for Christ. They want to believe that Christ went to the cross for every person in the world and that because of that men can decide to be saved and God then writes their names in the book of life.
That kind of thinking puts the All-knowing and all-powerful God in the position of having to wait to see what the creature is going to do. Never make that mistake! If you think that you decided to be saved and God was not in it, then you are still lost and undone and going to hell. You mean nothing at all in the salvation process except that you were one of the elect before the foundation of the world. You were not elect for any other reason than God decided to elect you. Nothing you could have done, or said or thought would have had any impact on whether God would call you out of the world and quicken you and grant you the gifts of His Grace and Faith (See Ephesians 2:1-9). That is the kind of God that we must repent toward, and by repent, I mean that we turn from all sin and turn without reservation or hesitation to God.
Now, am I saying that the only important thing in our salvation is faith? Yes, and no, because you are saved by faith and faith alone; however if we read and understand our Bible, faith is never alone, it comes with good works. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and God grants all of that. We then must live in evidence of that salvation, because it is a command of God that we do so. We have already shown, in Ephesians 2:10, that we are saved for a purpose and that purpose is to manifest good works. Remember Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works that God had predestined or prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. If you are saved then you must work the good works of God that He planned for us to do before the foundation of the world.
We are not saved to sit, we are saved to serve and if you are not serving God by doing those good works, then you best go back and make sure you are saved. Good works are not an option, they are part and parcel of salvation. We must never attempt to put faith against good works. When we think of salvation we should think faith-good works. They go together! In the book of James, we read where God inspired the half brother of Jesus to write to us about works and faith and James writes under the inspiration of God, in verses 14-25 of chapter 2 ?. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”
If we read that in the context of the book of James he means can that kind of faith, (faith without works) save him?” You will find as we explore these verses that James says that that kind of faith cannot save. James goes on in verses 15 and following to say, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things that are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well, Even the demons believe ?.and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. Abraham had saving faith, he believed God; but how did Abraham prove that he had faith?
He did the things (the works) that God gave him to do! We must live as if we believed ?..daily walk in such a way that we prove that we have true faith. In Matthew 7 and verses 21-23, Jesus Christ points this truth out to us as He preaches His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Christ says there, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but He who “does” the will of My Father in heaven.” Jesus went on to say, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” Jesus gave this sad and horrifying reply to those who will stand before Him in the Judgment saying how very much like Christians they had played the game. There will be preachers and Theologians and Evangelists and church leaders who will tell God how much they had done and then Jesus says that He will tell them “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
There you have it, You can work without saving faith and do a lot of things that look good, but God will not accept that. Anything that you do without saving faith is sin. There are many out there today who are building great and grand edifices that they call churches, many are preaching sweet sermons that sound good to simple people and some are even professing to do miracles in God’s name; but God says I don’t know their names. They will go to hell. That’s the reason that I submit this Bible Lesson to you so that you won’t end up in the wrong line at the Judgment. Don’t ever think that God will trust salvation to anyone but Himself, and don’t think that you will ever do enough good works, without saving faith, to get you into heaven.
It takes a faith that will submit and surrender your life to obey God and the working of the good works that God tells us in His Bible that He requires. What are the good works that God requires from His creatures? We have covered some of them, things like providing what we are capable of providing to those in need. Like opening our homes and our pocketbooks to those in need. We are to witness the love of God to those who are in darkness, visit those in the hospitals and prisons, and care for the less fortunate and on and on.
Let me share with you the idea of works that William Wilberforce, the British Evangelical put forth many years ago. “Christians should boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many who bear the name of Christian are ashamed of Him. Let them be active, useful, and generous to others. Let them show moderation and self-denial themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness. Let them withdraw from the competition of vanity and be modest, retiring from ostentation, and not be slaves of fashion.” That would be a good starting place for our good works today. Read your Bible. You will find what Jesus, the God-man did when He walked this old earth. Read your Bible and never attempt to teach it what you want it to say, allow God to speak to you, and then “do it.”
Until next time,
may God bless and keep you
This is Bro. Bob