Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation

One of the great dangers we all face in Bible study is taking a passage, isolating it from all the rest of scripture, and making it teach a doctrine it was never meant to teach.  One such passage is Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (NKJV)  We read that and immediately conclude that works are not essential for Christian salvation.  The only problem with that is that it is incorrect.

There is a vast difference between saying we are not saved by works (which is true as stated in the passage--one cannot earn his way to heaven) and saying works are not essential to salvation (saying one can sit back in his easy chair, sip tea, never raise a finger of obedience, and be saved).  The very next verse coming after the Eph. 2:8-9 passage, verse 10, reads, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (NKJV)

The individual who takes Eph. 2:8-9 as eliminating the need for good works is saying that even though we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works" we do not need to do them.  God will save us without them.  That is like saying in the parable of the vine and the branches (John 15) that one can be a branch that does not bear fruit and still be saved yet Jesus said, "every branch in me that does not bear fruit he (God--DS) takes away." (John 15:2 NKJV)  It is like saying in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) that one need not use his talent for God will not "cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness" (Matt. 25:30 NKJV) contrary to what Jesus said.

I was recently reading Matt. 25 talking about the judgment scene to come on the last day, the Day of Judgment.  The reading begins in Matt. 25:31 and continues through verse 46, the end of the chapter.  While it is too long to quote here I will summarize it for you.  Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous.  What are the criteria being used to make the judgment?  Works!

Did you feed the hungry?  Did you give a drink to the thirsty?  Did you take in the stranger who needed a place to go?  Did you clothe the naked?  Did you visit the sick and the imprisoned?  The righteous did these things and entered into eternal life.  The unrighteous did not do these works and their place of abode is described as "everlasting punishment" (Matt. 25:46 NKJV).  They are called "cursed" and told to depart "into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matt. 25:41 NKJV)

In the book of Romans, a book that talks much about justification by faith, we are told that on the Day of Judgment God "'will render to each one according to his deeds':  eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality." (Rom. 2:6-7 NKJV)  "Glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good." (Rom. 2:10 NKJV)  Are works involved in one's salvation?  Sounds like it to me.

James says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26 NKJV)  Is a man saved, can a man be saved by dead faith?  To ask is to answer.

Has God not given us works to do?  Was Jesus the only one required to work the works of God?  Peter said while at Cornelius' house, "In every nation whoever fears him (God--DS) and works righteousness is accepted by him." (Acts 10:35 NKJV)  Christianity is not just what you believe but also what you do and/or fail to do as the case may be.

In Matt. 7 we have Jesus speaking and making a contrast between the one who "hears these sayings of mine and does them" (Matt. 7:24 NKJV) and the one or ones "who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them" (Matt. 7:26 NKJV).  The difference is between a house that stands and one that falls, "And great was its fall." (Matt. 7:27 NKJV)  The difference between standing versus a great fall was doing.

Christianity is not just about what one believes.  Many have been led astray, swallowed false doctrine, and have become convinced that salvation is all about what they believe and very little about what they do or don't do.  Obedience is called into question by some as being salvation by works.  They are convinced they can disobey God or ignore his commands without consequence and receive salvation as long as they mentally believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

What James wrote ought to dispel that notion, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2:24 NKJV)  James goes so far as to say, "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:17 NKJV)  Sin is the thing that condemns us and keeps us out of heaven.  To do good (James 4:17) is to do works.  The faith that saves is a very active faith involved in the continual doing of good.  It is by works that faith is made perfect (James 2:22).  "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17 NKJV)

The faith that saves is the faith that avails which is “faith working through love.” (Gal. 5:6 NKJV)  Are Christians to be servants?  If so does that involve service or works?  Do you think a Christian who will not serve or be a servant will be saved? 

We all know we cannot work our way to heaven, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration (baptism--DS) and renewing of the Holy Spirit," (Titus 3:5 NKJV) but when the faith we hold is a faith that leads us to disobedience rather than to obedience we ought to realize this is not the same faith held by Peter, James, John, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament.

It is possible to "have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." (Rom. 10:2 NKJV)  A person who believes he can and will be saved by faith alone, pure mental assent alone, with no need to concern oneself with obeying commandments, is just as deeply in error as the man who believes he can do enough good works and obey perfectly enough to be saved.  Both hold and believe error.

I know as well as you that we are saved by the grace of God, the blood of Jesus, by faith, by gospel obedience, etc., but I also know we cannot be saved without works, works of obedience.  If so, if we can, Jesus was unjust in his judgment of those in Matthew 25 who failed to provide food, drink, clothing, etc. for those in need.  If one can be saved without works then Jesus did not judge justly in Matthew 25 and James is a false teacher.  It is really that simple.

I close with this, Jesus is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)  We cannot obey him without doing the works he set out for us to do.  

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Saved By Faith Alone in Acts 2

What is required to become a Christian and be saved from one’s sins?  The Protestant world seems to have convinced itself that salvation comes to a person by faith alone without any further actions on an individual's part.  It is especially adamant in its stand that baptism has no part in salvation.   It is hard to understand but it is without any doubt the majority position of the Protestant world.

They use passage after passage that teach we are saved by faith which no one doubts but they add the word “alone.”  And yet the only time the phrase “faith alone” is used in the Bible the text says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24 ESV, see also the CSB, NAS, NET, NIV, and the NLT)  The King James Version and the New King James Version reads “not by faith only.”

One has to remember faith has to be defined.  When the Bible speaks of us being saved by faith is it speaking of a dead faith or a living faith?  If it is a living faith it does not stop at mental assent but is moving and active.  To stop is to be dead in its tracks.

Let me ask a question.  In Acts 2 we read of the first gospel sermon ever preached.  Were those people in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost who responded to Peter’s gospel preaching saved by faith?  Certainly!  They were but they were saved with a living faith that responded to Peter’s preaching by believing and obeying it, by repenting and being baptized; Peter said for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38).  Peter’s command was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:38 KJV)

Now make no mistake about it, the faith-only or faith-alone crowd would have those saved that day saved before obedience to Peter’s preaching, saved at the point of faith; based on what they teach their doctrine demands it.  They would deny that but only in part.  They would say you must repent but to do that you have to split Peter’s preaching in half taking part of it, repentance, while rejecting the other, baptism.  One wonders what good conjunctions are in grammar if you can do that to a sentence or in this case to Peter’s oral command.  Or, should we say the Holy Spirit’s oral command?  Yes, we should.

But, if they include repentance in their faith alone doctrine then they ought to quit referring to it as “faith alone” for that it would not be.    

It is plain enough that this crowd on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 had not repented but had developed faith.  We know they had come to faith for the text says “they were cut to the heart” by Peter’s preaching and ask Peter and the apostles “what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)  We know Peter’s response.  Why command people to repent who have already repented?  Peter commanded them to repent thus they had not done so even though they had faith.

Repentance is not just sorrow for sin.  These people were clearly sorry about crucifying Jesus when they asked what shall we do.  The text says they were cut to the heart.  Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Cor. 7:10) but it is not repentance.  To repent one must turn from sin to righteousness.  It is a state of mind and will.  It is a determination to cease sinning and live righteously.  One may be sorry about a thing for a number of reasons without any determination to change his/her ways; this is the sorrow of the world that leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10).

Peter’s preaching that day had produced faith.  The question to be answered was whether it would produce repentance and baptism.  Some of the faith-only people like to say repentance is inherent in faith, that faith is a synecdoche.  Yes, I believe that is true at times but when used that way it includes not just repentance but baptism also.  That they will not accept.  However, in Acts 2 faith is clearly not a synecdoche.  The question they must answer in Acts 2 is exactly when those people were saved.  The only options are (1) at the point of faith, (2) at the point of faith and repentance, (3) at the point of faith, repentance, and baptism.  

In the past, some have argued that the word “for” in the passage means “because,” because of the remission of sins.  There is no truth in it but for the sake of argument let us pursue the thought.  If that was so then you have forgiveness of sins before repentance of sins.  You can be forgiven without repentance.  If you repent and are baptized because your sins were already forgiven, forgiven by faith, then you were saved before you repented of your sins.  Saved without repentance.  Now it is easy to see that will not work.

I suppose another question, in due order, would be good to ask the faith-only people.  Had you been in the crowd that day on the Day of Pentecost and heard Peter’s preaching being subject to it yourself, one of the guilty ones, could you have walked away from it having believed it and repented and been saved without obeying Peter’s command to be baptized?  Their doctrine demands that if they are consistent.  And, in such a scenario could it truly be said you believed Peter’s preaching if you refused baptism?

Jesus said in a disputed passage, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NKJV)  It is disputed because the ending of Mark is disputed.  But, in an undisputed passage Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NKJV)  You cannot go to heaven without baptism. 

Finally, the faith-only position belittles the Great Commission for in it Jesus commanded baptism.  “Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20 NKJV)

Can you disobey Jesus and be saved?  He is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV) 

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Work Out Your Own Salvation

As I was thinking about doing an article on this famous passage from the book of Philippians (Phil. 2:12-13) I first did a little Google research to see if anyone else had done so and if so to see what they were saying.  I did find a couple of authors whose work I took a look at.  It seemed to me like both had worked themselves almost into a frenzy trying to deny what the passage clearly states; a person must work out his/her own salvation.  One denied the Greek was correctly translated and made his argument on that basis.

Let me quote the Philippians passage to you so we will have it before us and know what it says. 

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13 NKJV)

Is this a correct translation of the Greek text?  It is according to the American Standard Version of 1901, the English Standard Version, the Holman Christian Standard, the Christian Standard, the International Standard Version, the New International Version, the King James, the New King James, the New American Standard, the New American Standard Update, the NET, and the Revised Standard Version.  There were a vast number of Greek scholars behind these translations so I think the question as to whether or not the text has been correctly translated has been answered.  An argument based on the idea of a mistranslation holds no water.

The other man I was reading after based his argument on verse 13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.” (NKJV)  His idea seemed to be that it is not  us working out our salvation but rather God; it is God working, him moving us.  Well, as the kids would say, “Duh!”  How does that negate us working out our own salvation?

Of course, God is working in us to work, to will to do his will, and to do his pleasure.  That is the way it works and always has.  How does he do it?  He does it through his word.  We hear his word and it moves us to obey.  The Spirit of God gave the word, there is power in the word of God (Heb. 4:12), the word is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), it (the word) is the tool the Spirit uses to move us. 

Take the word of God away and there is no work of faith for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17), there is no obedience for there is nothing to obey without the word, there is no works of righteousness (“all your commandments are righteousness”--Psalm 119:172 NKJV), there is no man who works righteousness (obeys God’s commands).  Man is to walk uprightly and work righteousness (Psalm 15:2) if he is to abide in the tabernacle of the Lord according to the Psalmist.

To say that a man is to work righteousness, which means only that he is to obey God’s commands, is a vast cry from saying that man is saved by works or that he is working his way to heaven or trying to get there by works apart from grace.  Man has his choice.  He can either work righteousness or he can work unrighteousness and he will do one or the other as there is no third option.  A man is either going to try and obey (try to be righteous) or else he is going to be disobedient (unrighteous).  It is an either-or matter.

Which of these two men do you think will get to heaven?  Which is going down the difficult way Jesus spoke of that leads to life?  “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14 NKJV)  Is it the man who is unconcerned about righteousness or the man who is very concerned about it?  It is easy to be a sinner; it is difficult to live a holy, righteous life, an obedient life.

Let us take a look at the larger context of our passage (Phil. 2:12-13) starting in Philippians 2:8 where the text is speaking of Jesus and says, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (NKJV)  The next verse, verse 9, starts with the word “therefore” meaning it ties back to verse 8, “Therefore” (because of this act of obedience by Jesus--DS) God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name.” (Phil. 2:9 NKJV)

But, now note how verse 12, the first verse of our text (Phil. 2:12-13) begins.  It begins with our word “therefore” again meaning all of this has been tied in together thus the broader context within which Philippians 2:12-13 is found.  Jesus was obedient to death (verse 8).  Paul says the Philippians “have always obeyed” (Philippians 2:12).  His admonition then, taken in context, to “work out your own salvation” is an admonition to continue to obey God’s commands in his absence as they always had in his presence.  And, that is what Jesus had always done – obey God’s commands.

But, one must remember this was a choice they could make--to do or not to do.  God was working in them toward this end (via his word) but the admonition has no meaning if God was forcing them to do it.  That is the position they put themselves in who say we are not under any obligation to work out our own salvation--when they say salvation is totally in God’s hands and man has no role to play in it.  The admonition of Paul in our passage is meaningless if it is all left up to God.

God’s word can never be destroyed.  James' statement in James 2:24 will stand for eternity.  “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” (NKJV)  That has always been true and always will be.  Man has things he must do if he is to be saved.  The responsibility is not all on God and God alone. 

“He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)  Obedience is to righteousness. (Rom. 6:16)  Jesus says we will be judged by his word (John 12:48).  Are there any commandments in his word?  “He who does not love me does not keep my words.” (John 14:24 NKJV)  Can you go to heaven not loving Jesus?  “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.” (1 Cor. 16:22 NKJV)  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3 NKJV)

Peter in quoting Moses’ prophecy regarding Christ in Acts 3 says in verse 23, “And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” (NKJV)  That makes it clear to me.  “Utterly destroyed” are the words.  Who will be utterly destroyed--those who will not hear (meaning heed or obey) his words.  Remember the entire New Testament is the words of Jesus for Jesus himself said of the Holy Spirit who inspired men to write, “He will not speak on his own authority … he will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14 NKJV) 

How men can say we are not to work out our own salvation I simply do not understand.  Obedience does matter and you cannot go to heaven without it.  However, you can be “utterly destroyed” from among the people without it. 

For those convinced that what I have said makes us work our way to heaven hear Jesus.  “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants.  We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:10 NKJV)  If you are an unprofitable servant then certainly you are saved by grace for if you are unprofitable you are also unworthy.   

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