Two weeks ago Rand of a pattern of sound words wrote a short piece slamming Roman Catholicism. Understandably miffed, Funky Dung of Ales Rarus posted this response. I think it’s important to discuss the issues involved. Therefore, I started a response which has expanded into a full blown series.

Faith And Works

Rand wrote:
Romanism - Jesus saves men by a combination of faith and works of righteousness.
Biblical Christianity - Jesus saves men by faith alone (Ephesians 2: 8-9).

Funky Dung’s response:
“What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. “ - James 2:14-26

It’s no wonder some of the reformers wanted to expunge James from the canon of Scripture. It doesn’t fit with their theology.

First of all, James does meet the criteria of being scripture. I don’t know about some reformers wanting to remove James, but as a Bible Believing Christian, I accept it as part of the cannon of scripture. Therefore, the relationship between both the passage in James which Funky Dung quoted and Ephesians 2 must be clearly understood. In fact, all the scriptures dealing with salvation must be considered.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

(2Tim. 3:16, NASB)

Let‘s start with Ephesians:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

(Eph. 2:8-9, NASB)

Okay, we have an apparent conflict here between James 2:14-26 where works is mentioned as part of salvation and Ephesians 2:8-9 where works have nothing to do with salvation.

The best short explanation I’ve heard of this comparison goes like this, “Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.” In other words, it’s only our faith in the work of Christ on the cross which gives us salvation. That faith, in turn, compels us to act differently than we would have without that faith. Jesus put it more simply when he said:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

(John 14:15, NASB)

The Bible often compares our relationship with God with that of a husband and wife. A strong marriage is based on the love between a husband and wife. You might say that love is the foundation of the marriage. It’s that love which prompts a husband to crawl out of bed three AM to take of the baby so his wife can sleep. It’s her love for her husband that prompts a wife to prepare his lunch each morning. These and thousands of other small, selfless acts of love are not the basis for the marriage. They are the result of the love on which the marriage is based.

Now some loveless marriages do survive, with spouses going through the motions and performing those acts of love. The same is true of those who claim to be Christians. So what is Christ’s response to those who perform religious works without the faith?

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

(Matt. 7:21-23, NASB)

Quite simply, doing good works by themselves will not get anyone into heaven. On the other hand, there are numerous passages which show that faith is the key to salvation:

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

(John 6:40, NASB)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

(John 11:25-26a, NASB)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

(Rom. 10:9-10, NASB)

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”

(Acts 4:12, NASB)

Notice that it’s the name of Christ which produces salvation, not the works done in Christ’s name.

In Acts 15, there was a group that started teaching that Christians must be circumcised and follow the law of Moses in order to be saved. Here is Peter’s answer to this false teaching:

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.  Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

(Acts 15:7-11, NASB)

In short, the law was a burden which men could not bear in the past and through which salvation could not be acheived. Nothing about living under the law has changed. Instead, salvation comes through the grace of Jesus.

Once again, Romans 5:12-21 and Galations 3-4 are appropriate passages. Pay special attention to these verses in Galations:

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

(Gal. 3:10-14, NASB)

In other words, if a person is attempting to gain God’s favor by following the law (works), they have placed themselves under the curse of the law and are required to fulfill every single requirement in order to achieve salvation. On the other hand, Christ’s redemption from the curse is available only through faith.

Finally, in 1 Corinthians, Paul also raises the issue of works.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

(1Cor. 3:11-15, NASB)

We’re now back down to the Foundation again. Jesus Christ is to be the foundation of our relationship with God. As long as we have the foundation, we “shall be saved.” Form that point on, what we do in response to that salvation will either be excellent work (gold, silver, precious stones) or shoddy work (wood, hay, straw). The work we build on that foundation will be tested and the results will matter; I just have no idea what the reward will be. Knowing God, it will be AWESOME!

In any such discussion, I would be remiss to not point out Hebrews chapter 11, which is often called “The Faith Chapter.” In this chapter, the author points out that Old Testament heroes all obtained justification through faith. Even more interesting in the context of this discussion is how their faith prompted their actions. For example:

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

(Heb. 11:7-8, NASB)

It was Noah’s faith in God which prompted him to build the ark. It was Abraham’s faith in God which prompted him to pack up and leave his country when God told him to. And faith even made all the difference in purely “religious” activities. Consider the story of Cain and Abel as discussed in Hebrews 11:

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

(Heb. 11:4, NASB)

Both Cain and Abel made offerings. Abel’s was accepted while Cain’s was rejected. The key difference was Abel’s faith vs. Cain’s lack of faith.

As the author of Hebrews is wrapping up his point, he starts his final sentence of the chapter like this:

And all these, having gained approval through their faith,

(Heb. 11:39a, NASB)

All the Old Testment heroes mentioned performed tremendous feats in God’s name, ranging from overcoming their enemies against impossible to bearing their sufferings with perseverance as true servants of God. Yet those works are not what brought them God’s approval. It was their faith in God which earned His approval, faith which prompted the feats for which they are famous.

There is more to come in part 4…

See also:

• Romanism and Ales Rarus, Part 1
• Romanism and Ales Rarus, Part 2
• Romanism, Ales Rarus and Mary: A Reply
• Romanism, Mary and The Catechism, Part 1
• Romanism, Mary and The Catechism, Part 2