Saved by grace not by our works 07 July 2021
Key verses Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
There are thousands of religions in the world today, and many are based on a man’s or woman’s works. On the individual’s ability to achieve a higher and desired spiritual state rests upon their own ability to do specific works and to follow the rules without breaking them. Christianity differs from all other religions in that salvation is not of our own doing and the works that we do have no bearing on securing that salvation, but they are the result of our salvation. Before being born again by saving grace and faith in Jesus Christ, any works and deeds that we performed were in our own strength, we may even have viewed ourselves as good, honest and upright, but the word of God tells us that none of us are righteous and even in our own perception of personal righteousness, it is as rags before God Isaiah 64:6 tells us “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” and Romans 3:20 says that no human being will be justified by works of the law because knowledge of sin comes through the law, it is only by believing in Jesus Christ and in His death, burial, and resurrection that we can be saved from our sin and are justified before God. We have been saved by grace through faith alone v8-9, and this is the gift of God rather than by our own works, which would cause us to boast if that were the case. v10 goes on to help us understand about good works in the life of the believer, saying “we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
God’s goal in saving us was not just to rescue us from hell, but also that we should reflect His character and goodness to the world. We are new creations in Christ, and the desires we once had living for ourselves and in the ways of the world all change. Instead of pleasing the self, we now live to please God and to glorify Him. We are not saved by our works, but we are saved for good works. There is only one work, which guarantees our salvation, and that is the finished work by Jesus Christ on the cross taking away all our sin. Being born again, is more than just simply praying a prayer or even a verbal confession there should also be evidence in our lives of a change that only God can bring. This change will be seen in the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-25, as well as what Jesus tells us in John 15:5 about abiding in the vine and producing fruit bearing witness “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Theologian John Tweeddale beautifully states this correlation between Jesus Christ, salvation and good works, “Christ is the ground of our salvation, faith is the instrument of our salvation, and works are the fruit of our salvation.”
When we understand that our salvation is not based on our works but that our works are a product of our salvation then we are empowered to do more. We certainly should not carry out works as Christians to remain in God’s good graces or because we have to, and thinking this can lead to a misunderstanding of works with regards to our Christian faith, particularly when looking at James 2:14-26 in contrast to statements made by Paul. There may seem to be a contradiction between what these two men said, but this could not be further from the truth. I was listening to a sermon the other day by Steven Cole (Baptist Minister in Arizona) talking about works and he said that both James and Paul were essentially saying the same thing but speaking to different audiences saying “Paul was attacking the Pharisaic idea that our good works will commend us to God, arguing that no one can even be good enough to earn salvation. God justifies guilty sinners through faith in Christ alone. But James was attacking the view that saving faith does not necessarily result in good works, showing rather that a genuine faith always produces good works.” Highlighting what I said earlier that our faith in Jesus Christ is trusting in His work on our behalf, and in Him alone in the completed work of the cross because His work cannot fail in providing salvation. God gets all the glory for His salvation work, and because of that good works naturally follow as the Holy Spirit works in our lives because they are done not for self but for Jesus Christ.
In yielding to the word of God and to His instructions, the works that follow are glorifying the Lord, because in His workmanship we are made for good works, so we can serve others while glorifying God. Jesus tells us in John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” Paul says “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” See also Colossians 3:17 and we should encourage each other to good deeds that glorify Christ, Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds”. In everything we do we are to “Show yourself in all respects a model of good works” Titus 2:7 because as the body of Christ, we are made for good works, which will testify of God as well as glorify Him.