We Are Not Saved by Our Own Works
by Dave Brown
Return to Doctrinal Purity Landing Page
The title of this article can have many different meanings. Some have taken it to the extreme to try to show that we sin when we do exactly what God commands us. Please recognize that most any truism can be taken to such an extreme as to make it false. An example of taking a good thing too far occurred at Corinth when Paul commanded them to discipline the Christian man who was committing fornication (“having his father’s wife” – See the entire chapter, 1 Cor. 5). They obeyed this command, and the man repented. But then, they did not forgive him and stop their discipline. This is recorded in 2 Cor. 2:6-11, which ends with this statement: “… that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” It is a device of Satan to have Christians take the truth way beyond where it was intended to apply. Let none of us be so deceived – for this is a deception that those who are righteous are particularly vulnerable to.
The title above is consistent with biblical teaching, as we shall see below. We will cover a lot of ground in this article, but I plead with you, bear with me. If you are sincerely interested in learning about God’s plan of salvation, you will study your bible in a comprehensive way to find out all that it has to say on a given subject before jumping to a conclusion based on just one or a few verses. Much of the effort in this regard will not be in this article, so we urge you to finish the study on your own.
The topic of works is not trivial – do not think that it can be resolved by quoting two or three verses. The word “works” occurs 127 times throughout the New Testament, in all but about three of the books. If we only needed two or three verses to understand all that God says about works, then there would only be two of three such verses in the New Testament. Remember Matthew 4:4 – we need all of God’s word, not just a cherry-picked couple of verses. “We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices” (2 Cor. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:16).
To do a comprehensive study of “works,” we urge you to get a concordance and quickly but systematically read the passages that deal with works one right after the next. (It is easy if you have a bible concordance on your computer.) Even if you do not have a complete concordance, it will not take you long to get a very good understanding for how God views works (both good and bad). You will also be able to either verify or dispute the validity of this article, and we encourage you to check it out scripturally. If you show me my error, I will count you as one of my dearest friends.
As you read the verses on works you will see very quickly that those works that are consistent with the God’s commands are called “good works” – and you will not find one place where anyone was condemned or even criticized for doing good works. How could anyone ever think that it could be evil to humbly do God’s will? But there have always been those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
In most cases you will find the Holy Spirit through the human writers urging those who love God to engage in good works, and in some cases there is even an indication that we will be judged by our works. For example,
Romans 2:5-11
5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 who will render to every man according to his works:
7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:
8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, (shall be) wrath and indignation,
9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;
10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:
11 for there is no respect of persons with God.
Rev 20:12-13
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is (the book) of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
This is not talking about God doling out different degrees of rewards (if indeed there is such a thing); but rather, the judgment is whether or not we will have a home in heaven throughout eternity. If in doubt about this, please read the context, which makes this very clear.
With all of the positive things about good works that you will (or have already) read in your personal study, and with passages like the two above, how can I say “we are not saved by our works?”
I say it because the bible says it in at least 12 places, which we will discuss below. (I mention the numbers, which may be off by one or two, so that you realize that we are not just basing our teaching on one or a few passages that could easily be misconstrued .)
So we see about 100 times where good works are encouraged or commanded, and bad works are condemned; but now we are saying that there are at least 12 places where it says we are not saved by our own works. Does this mean that our salvation is totally independent of anything that we do? The answer lies in a precise definition of what the phrase “our own works” means.
Since we know the bible never contradicts itself, the word “works” must be referring to something quite different when it says “we are judged by our works” than when it says that “we are not saved by works.” We all know that many English (and Greek) words can have different meanings in different contexts. So, let us try to understand the different ways that the word “works” is used in the different contexts in which it appears. The places where the New Testament emphasizes that we are not saved by works can be subdivided into two categories: (1) works of the Old Testament law, and (2) works of our own righteousness (a phrase that we will define further below).
WORKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW
The context of a passage will clearly show when the writer is using the word “works” to refer to obedience to the Old Testament law. The following is a good example:
Romans 3:19-20:
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:
20 because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law (cometh) the knowledge of sin.
To see that this “law” was the Old Testament law that the Jews were under before Jesus died on the cross, we need to go all the way back to Romans 2:17: “But if thou bear the name of a Jew, and rest upon the law, and glory in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, …” Please finish this chapter and read up to verse 19 in chapter 3 to assure that Rom. 3:19-20 is still talking about the Old Testament law. It is dishonest to apply this to anything else.
Since Paul was talking about was the Old Testament law, the “works” would be those commanded by this law (e.g., circumcision). Please verify also that the word “works” is similarly referring to the works of the Old Testament law in the following passages: Romans 3:27-28; 4:2, 6; 9:11, 32; 11:6; Galatians 2:16; 3:5, and 10. As shown above, in some cases it is necessary to read the entire chapter or the previous chapter to determine from the context that Paul is referring to the works of the Old Testament law.
The Old Testament is perfectly true, and it was God’s law to the Jews prior to Jesus dying on the cross – read Hebrews 1. However, when it comes to our salvation, we are no longer under it – today God has spoken to us through His Son (Heb. 1). The entire book of Hebrews makes this very clear. Paul also addresses it in many of his letters. In fact, the list of passages given above in bold are largely on this subject. For a more comprehensive review of the difference between the Old and New Testaments, click here.
Since we know that we are not saved by keeping the Old Testament law, what is the point? The point is that some have tried to make the above verses apply to all acts of righteousness in general – all laws and commands of God, and all conditions of salvation. Please correct them when they do this. Works of the Old Testament law are not the conditions of salvation given to us by Jesus. It is quite understandable why Paul would be upset with them for going back to the Old Testament and binding laws like circumcision. If we could be saved by the works of the Old Testament, then Jesus did not have to die on the cross, and his death would have been for nothing (Galatians 2:21). Those who went back to the Old Testament after having been saved by the blood of Jesus were said to be fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).
WORKS OF OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS
But let us not write off all passages that state we are “not saved by works” as referring the Old Testament law. There are at least three that are not in the context of talking about obedience to the Old Testament law. Let us look at all three of them first and then we can discuss them collectively, since all three have basically the same intent. As you read them recognize that these works could be referring to the most righteous works of obedience that any man might ever be able to come up with. We say this to emphasize that the point here is not that we are imperfect (although we are), but that no amount of effort on our part can justify us before God separate from our sins being forgiven by the blood of Jesus. The debt that we have incurred is impossible for us to repay by good works.
Eph 2:1-10
2:1 And you (did he make alive,) when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest: —
4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly (places), in Christ Jesus:
7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, (it is) the gift of God;
9 not of works , that no man should glory.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
2 Tim 1:8-11
8 Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God;
9 who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
10 but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher.
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
5 not by works (done) in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Please re-read these passages and answer the question: are these verses trying to encourage or discourage us from doing good works? All I ask is that you be honest with yourself.
If this is the case the, to what type of works do the bold-marked portions of all three of these passages refer? Our subtitle above was “works of our own righteousness,” and as you read the passages above, do you not agree that these are the type of works that it is talking about. But let us be more precise – specifically, what do we mean by works of our own righteousness?
Our meaning is: a system of works that we invented ourselves as opposed to that created by God. In other words, our system of righteousness as opposed to God’s system of righteousness. Which one would you say we are saved by? Ours or God’s?
If you said God’s, then you are consistent with the answer Paul gives in Romans 1:16-17. Please read it carefully:
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.
Verse 17 could not possibly be saying that the gospel reveals the fact that God is righteous. Who are we to evaluate God’s righteousness? God is the standard of righteousness; He is by definition perfectly righteous; so this is not be what Paul is trying to say that the gospel reveals.
The term “righteousness of God” is used several times in the book of Romans to refer to God’s revealed system of righteousness. Please read Romans 3:21-22; and 10:3, and you will see that it is not talking about God being righteous (which goes without saying), it is talking about a system of righteousness that God has revealed in the gospel. A system of faith by which man can become righteous by the forgiveness of his sins.
Since we cannot save ourselves no matter how righteous our works are, our righteousness must be “of God” and not “of man.” Our salvation comes by having faith in Jesus and His Way, i.e., accepting and living by the message and the teachings of the gospel (Jn. 14:6; Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22).
The gospel reveals this “righteousness of God,” i.e., this system of faith (beliefs) that is the “power of God unto salvation” that makes men righteous. Can we be saved if we remain ignorant of it? Can we be saved if we have no regard for it? or if we declare that it is not essential to our salvation? or even go to the point of declaring that conforming our life to it is a sinful attempt to be earning our salvation?
No amount of works alone on our part, no matter how good they might be, can possibly save us, for this is trusting in ourselves, in our own system of righteousness – something that we invented. That is why our salvation is:
· not of works , that no man should glory (Eph. 2:9);
· not according to our works (2 Tim. 1:9); and
· not by works (done) in righteousness, which we did ourselves (Titus 3:5).
Do you see how the idea of man-invented works fits all three of these passages?
So, when we find conditions of salvation given to us in the gospel, and we seek to please God by conforming our lives to them, are we guilty of teaching and practicing salvation by works? When we are born again (Jn. 3:5,7) and arise to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-7), and when we seek after God to do His will (Heb. 11:6), are we trying to be saved by works? I do not know of anyone striving to obey God who would even entertain the thought. We know that we cannot save ourselves!
Yet, trusting in the gospel to be “the power of God unto salvation” is what some would have us believe is condemned by the verses given above. But a knowledge of the truth is sufficient to defeat any such diversion from our service to God (Jn. 8:32). There is nothing we can do to merit our salvation; and obedience to God’s word should never be viewed as an attempt to earn our salvation. But, it can never be wrong to humbly submit ourselves to God’s will – when people teach that obedience to God is a sin, you know it has to be Satan talking … recall him saying: “You shall not surely die.”
James 2:18: “…show me thy faith apart from (thy) works, and I by my works will show thee (my) faith.” Does this not say that saving faith must produce visible works of God in us, and that if it does not then it cannot be called saving faith? This is the essence of what it means that we will be judged by our works. If we have faith in Jesus Christ it will be obvious to all that are around us. Read the rest of James 2, since this question of how faith and works relate to each other seems to have been a problem in the first century just as it is now.
A FINAL ANALOGY
If someone said: “I started the car” there would be no issue in our understanding what he did. However, literally, he did not start the car. He merely turned the key (or in some vehicles today, pushed the button). If in fact, the car had a hand crank as many did back in the 1930s, and he struggled with turning that crank until it started, then the statement “I started the car” would be literally true. Today it is starter motors that actually starts our cars. But we do not quibble at this use of figurative language – it works well. The combined figures of speech of accommodative language and synecdoche are being used here. We hardly expect our friends to totally explain every aspect of what started the car. Saying “I started the car” gets the message across quite well.
And so it is in the New Testament when many passages say that certain actions on our part result in our salvation. There is no implication that these actions alone accomplish salvation separate and apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. Please read these examples of actions on our part that are stated to result in salvation: works (James 2:24); enduring to the end (Mt. 10:22); confessing the name of Jesus Christ (Mt. 10:32); being born again (Jn. 3:5,7); calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21); receiving his word (Acts 2:41); baptism (1 Pet. 3:21); loving the truth (2 Thes. 2:10); drawing near to God (Heb. 7:25); working out our own salvation (Phil. 2:12-13); and even faith (Rom. 5:1; Gal. 3:24).
When the New Testament says that any one of these actions on our part brings about our salvation it is quite similar to the man saying: “I started the car.” All of these things together are literally nothing compared to what God has done for us in sending His Son to die for our sins. All we are doing is turning the key, and it is God who gave us both the strength and the understanding to do that – we can hardly take credit for that. We are exercising our free will to accept the free gift of God that has been given to us, but all the glory goes to God.
The astute reader will recognize that the list of actions given in bold above are all talking about the same thing – they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, you cannot have one of them without having all of them. Each one of these actions is used to represent (by synecdoche) a life dedicated to the loving service of our Lord. Can we take any one of them and claim that we can use it to earn our salvation? Of course not. Metaphorically, we can say that all we are doing is turning the key; it is God who has given us the gospel, and it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation – nothing that we do can in any way compare to that.
Luke 17:10: “Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.” And being God’s servants, doing His commands should give us exceedingly great pleasure, satisfaction, and the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7).
So, how can we say that salvation is a free gift?
Mark 10:29-30
29 Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake,
30 but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
If you receive 100 times back for the effort you put in and the sacrifices you make, is it not clear that salvation has to be a free gift? May God's grace enable us to understand all that He has done for us, and the privileges of serving Him.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Return to Doctrinal Purity Landing Page
The title above is consistent with biblical teaching, as we shall see below. We will cover a lot of ground in this article, but I plead with you, bear with me. If you are sincerely interested in learning about God’s plan of salvation, you will study your bible in a comprehensive way to find out all that it has to say on a given subject before jumping to a conclusion based on just one or a few verses. Much of the effort in this regard will not be in this article, so we urge you to finish the study on your own.
The topic of works is not trivial – do not think that it can be resolved by quoting two or three verses. The word “works” occurs 127 times throughout the New Testament, in all but about three of the books. If we only needed two or three verses to understand all that God says about works, then there would only be two of three such verses in the New Testament. Remember Matthew 4:4 – we need all of God’s word, not just a cherry-picked couple of verses. “We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices” (2 Cor. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:16).
To do a comprehensive study of “works,” we urge you to get a concordance and quickly but systematically read the passages that deal with works one right after the next. (It is easy if you have a bible concordance on your computer.) Even if you do not have a complete concordance, it will not take you long to get a very good understanding for how God views works (both good and bad). You will also be able to either verify or dispute the validity of this article, and we encourage you to check it out scripturally. If you show me my error, I will count you as one of my dearest friends.
As you read the verses on works you will see very quickly that those works that are consistent with the God’s commands are called “good works” – and you will not find one place where anyone was condemned or even criticized for doing good works. How could anyone ever think that it could be evil to humbly do God’s will? But there have always been those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
In most cases you will find the Holy Spirit through the human writers urging those who love God to engage in good works, and in some cases there is even an indication that we will be judged by our works. For example,
Romans 2:5-11
5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 who will render to every man according to his works:
7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:
8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, (shall be) wrath and indignation,
9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;
10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:
11 for there is no respect of persons with God.
Rev 20:12-13
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is (the book) of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
This is not talking about God doling out different degrees of rewards (if indeed there is such a thing); but rather, the judgment is whether or not we will have a home in heaven throughout eternity. If in doubt about this, please read the context, which makes this very clear.
With all of the positive things about good works that you will (or have already) read in your personal study, and with passages like the two above, how can I say “we are not saved by our works?”
I say it because the bible says it in at least 12 places, which we will discuss below. (I mention the numbers, which may be off by one or two, so that you realize that we are not just basing our teaching on one or a few passages that could easily be misconstrued .)
So we see about 100 times where good works are encouraged or commanded, and bad works are condemned; but now we are saying that there are at least 12 places where it says we are not saved by our own works. Does this mean that our salvation is totally independent of anything that we do? The answer lies in a precise definition of what the phrase “our own works” means.
Since we know the bible never contradicts itself, the word “works” must be referring to something quite different when it says “we are judged by our works” than when it says that “we are not saved by works.” We all know that many English (and Greek) words can have different meanings in different contexts. So, let us try to understand the different ways that the word “works” is used in the different contexts in which it appears. The places where the New Testament emphasizes that we are not saved by works can be subdivided into two categories: (1) works of the Old Testament law, and (2) works of our own righteousness (a phrase that we will define further below).
WORKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW
The context of a passage will clearly show when the writer is using the word “works” to refer to obedience to the Old Testament law. The following is a good example:
Romans 3:19-20:
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:
20 because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law (cometh) the knowledge of sin.
To see that this “law” was the Old Testament law that the Jews were under before Jesus died on the cross, we need to go all the way back to Romans 2:17: “But if thou bear the name of a Jew, and rest upon the law, and glory in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, …” Please finish this chapter and read up to verse 19 in chapter 3 to assure that Rom. 3:19-20 is still talking about the Old Testament law. It is dishonest to apply this to anything else.
Since Paul was talking about was the Old Testament law, the “works” would be those commanded by this law (e.g., circumcision). Please verify also that the word “works” is similarly referring to the works of the Old Testament law in the following passages: Romans 3:27-28; 4:2, 6; 9:11, 32; 11:6; Galatians 2:16; 3:5, and 10. As shown above, in some cases it is necessary to read the entire chapter or the previous chapter to determine from the context that Paul is referring to the works of the Old Testament law.
The Old Testament is perfectly true, and it was God’s law to the Jews prior to Jesus dying on the cross – read Hebrews 1. However, when it comes to our salvation, we are no longer under it – today God has spoken to us through His Son (Heb. 1). The entire book of Hebrews makes this very clear. Paul also addresses it in many of his letters. In fact, the list of passages given above in bold are largely on this subject. For a more comprehensive review of the difference between the Old and New Testaments, click here.
Since we know that we are not saved by keeping the Old Testament law, what is the point? The point is that some have tried to make the above verses apply to all acts of righteousness in general – all laws and commands of God, and all conditions of salvation. Please correct them when they do this. Works of the Old Testament law are not the conditions of salvation given to us by Jesus. It is quite understandable why Paul would be upset with them for going back to the Old Testament and binding laws like circumcision. If we could be saved by the works of the Old Testament, then Jesus did not have to die on the cross, and his death would have been for nothing (Galatians 2:21). Those who went back to the Old Testament after having been saved by the blood of Jesus were said to be fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).
WORKS OF OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS
But let us not write off all passages that state we are “not saved by works” as referring the Old Testament law. There are at least three that are not in the context of talking about obedience to the Old Testament law. Let us look at all three of them first and then we can discuss them collectively, since all three have basically the same intent. As you read them recognize that these works could be referring to the most righteous works of obedience that any man might ever be able to come up with. We say this to emphasize that the point here is not that we are imperfect (although we are), but that no amount of effort on our part can justify us before God separate from our sins being forgiven by the blood of Jesus. The debt that we have incurred is impossible for us to repay by good works.
Eph 2:1-10
2:1 And you (did he make alive,) when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest: —
4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly (places), in Christ Jesus:
7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, (it is) the gift of God;
9 not of works , that no man should glory.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
2 Tim 1:8-11
8 Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God;
9 who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
10 but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher.
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
5 not by works (done) in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Please re-read these passages and answer the question: are these verses trying to encourage or discourage us from doing good works? All I ask is that you be honest with yourself.
If this is the case the, to what type of works do the bold-marked portions of all three of these passages refer? Our subtitle above was “works of our own righteousness,” and as you read the passages above, do you not agree that these are the type of works that it is talking about. But let us be more precise – specifically, what do we mean by works of our own righteousness?
Our meaning is: a system of works that we invented ourselves as opposed to that created by God. In other words, our system of righteousness as opposed to God’s system of righteousness. Which one would you say we are saved by? Ours or God’s?
If you said God’s, then you are consistent with the answer Paul gives in Romans 1:16-17. Please read it carefully:
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.
Verse 17 could not possibly be saying that the gospel reveals the fact that God is righteous. Who are we to evaluate God’s righteousness? God is the standard of righteousness; He is by definition perfectly righteous; so this is not be what Paul is trying to say that the gospel reveals.
The term “righteousness of God” is used several times in the book of Romans to refer to God’s revealed system of righteousness. Please read Romans 3:21-22; and 10:3, and you will see that it is not talking about God being righteous (which goes without saying), it is talking about a system of righteousness that God has revealed in the gospel. A system of faith by which man can become righteous by the forgiveness of his sins.
Since we cannot save ourselves no matter how righteous our works are, our righteousness must be “of God” and not “of man.” Our salvation comes by having faith in Jesus and His Way, i.e., accepting and living by the message and the teachings of the gospel (Jn. 14:6; Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22).
The gospel reveals this “righteousness of God,” i.e., this system of faith (beliefs) that is the “power of God unto salvation” that makes men righteous. Can we be saved if we remain ignorant of it? Can we be saved if we have no regard for it? or if we declare that it is not essential to our salvation? or even go to the point of declaring that conforming our life to it is a sinful attempt to be earning our salvation?
No amount of works alone on our part, no matter how good they might be, can possibly save us, for this is trusting in ourselves, in our own system of righteousness – something that we invented. That is why our salvation is:
· not of works , that no man should glory (Eph. 2:9);
· not according to our works (2 Tim. 1:9); and
· not by works (done) in righteousness, which we did ourselves (Titus 3:5).
Do you see how the idea of man-invented works fits all three of these passages?
So, when we find conditions of salvation given to us in the gospel, and we seek to please God by conforming our lives to them, are we guilty of teaching and practicing salvation by works? When we are born again (Jn. 3:5,7) and arise to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-7), and when we seek after God to do His will (Heb. 11:6), are we trying to be saved by works? I do not know of anyone striving to obey God who would even entertain the thought. We know that we cannot save ourselves!
Yet, trusting in the gospel to be “the power of God unto salvation” is what some would have us believe is condemned by the verses given above. But a knowledge of the truth is sufficient to defeat any such diversion from our service to God (Jn. 8:32). There is nothing we can do to merit our salvation; and obedience to God’s word should never be viewed as an attempt to earn our salvation. But, it can never be wrong to humbly submit ourselves to God’s will – when people teach that obedience to God is a sin, you know it has to be Satan talking … recall him saying: “You shall not surely die.”
James 2:18: “…show me thy faith apart from (thy) works, and I by my works will show thee (my) faith.” Does this not say that saving faith must produce visible works of God in us, and that if it does not then it cannot be called saving faith? This is the essence of what it means that we will be judged by our works. If we have faith in Jesus Christ it will be obvious to all that are around us. Read the rest of James 2, since this question of how faith and works relate to each other seems to have been a problem in the first century just as it is now.
A FINAL ANALOGY
If someone said: “I started the car” there would be no issue in our understanding what he did. However, literally, he did not start the car. He merely turned the key (or in some vehicles today, pushed the button). If in fact, the car had a hand crank as many did back in the 1930s, and he struggled with turning that crank until it started, then the statement “I started the car” would be literally true. Today it is starter motors that actually starts our cars. But we do not quibble at this use of figurative language – it works well. The combined figures of speech of accommodative language and synecdoche are being used here. We hardly expect our friends to totally explain every aspect of what started the car. Saying “I started the car” gets the message across quite well.
And so it is in the New Testament when many passages say that certain actions on our part result in our salvation. There is no implication that these actions alone accomplish salvation separate and apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. Please read these examples of actions on our part that are stated to result in salvation: works (James 2:24); enduring to the end (Mt. 10:22); confessing the name of Jesus Christ (Mt. 10:32); being born again (Jn. 3:5,7); calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21); receiving his word (Acts 2:41); baptism (1 Pet. 3:21); loving the truth (2 Thes. 2:10); drawing near to God (Heb. 7:25); working out our own salvation (Phil. 2:12-13); and even faith (Rom. 5:1; Gal. 3:24).
When the New Testament says that any one of these actions on our part brings about our salvation it is quite similar to the man saying: “I started the car.” All of these things together are literally nothing compared to what God has done for us in sending His Son to die for our sins. All we are doing is turning the key, and it is God who gave us both the strength and the understanding to do that – we can hardly take credit for that. We are exercising our free will to accept the free gift of God that has been given to us, but all the glory goes to God.
The astute reader will recognize that the list of actions given in bold above are all talking about the same thing – they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, you cannot have one of them without having all of them. Each one of these actions is used to represent (by synecdoche) a life dedicated to the loving service of our Lord. Can we take any one of them and claim that we can use it to earn our salvation? Of course not. Metaphorically, we can say that all we are doing is turning the key; it is God who has given us the gospel, and it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation – nothing that we do can in any way compare to that.
Luke 17:10: “Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.” And being God’s servants, doing His commands should give us exceedingly great pleasure, satisfaction, and the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7).
So, how can we say that salvation is a free gift?
Mark 10:29-30
29 Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake,
30 but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
If you receive 100 times back for the effort you put in and the sacrifices you make, is it not clear that salvation has to be a free gift? May God's grace enable us to understand all that He has done for us, and the privileges of serving Him.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
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