The
subject of good works and the Christian faith has been very topical throughout
the Christian history. Some have swung to the extreme end of the pendulum by
claiming that in the absence of good works no one can be saved whilst others
have swung to the other extreme end of claiming that good works have absolutely
nothing to do with the Christian faith or salvation.
Those
on the first end of the pendulum believe that without good works or some form
of self-inflicted punishment salvation will not be complete. This is believed
to be the source of indulgences in the medieval ages. People then believed that
the performance of good deeds or the purchase of indulgences had the capacity
to cut short the period of suffering after death.In this group resides also those who are convinced that the sign of real Christians is good works. Everyone who is Christian must prove it through good works.
The interesting issue is that the Bible is very clear on the subject of salvation and good works. The epistle to the Ephesians in chapter 2 from verse 8 reads, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
This scripture brings to the fore very crucial information in relation to our salvation particularly the Gentile Christian. Firstly, the Gentile was far removed from God. This can be proved by the meaningless and useless gods that the Gentile used to worship. In Europe and some middle eastern territories men actually carved statues they would then bow to in worship. Imagine such level of stupidity.
In other parts different people used to worship various spirits which had absolutely no link with the one true God. Others worshipped trees, animals, long departed relative and other objects of worship such gods of this and that. The Gentile did not know YHW and were lost. In fact, Jesus once said, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22
In a nutshell, Gentiles were strangers and foreigners to God. They were a bunch of lost nations. In Acts 17:22 Paul said of the Gentiles, “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” In other words, Gentiles, though in a way they were religious, they were a pious people which reverenced spirits or some false gods. They did not worship the true God although he had set people’s national boundaries so “that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; ……, For we are also his offspring.” Acts 17:27-28
Without men performing anything good or spectacular, Christ brought salvation to everyone, Gentiles included. Man did not merit salvation but God brought the salvation because of his own Grace. Paul writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is therefore a free gift from God. Nobody can perform any work to obtain salvation. Therefore, works do not produce salvation.
In a nutshell, we are not saved by our works and our good deeds cannot be a condition for eternal life because salvation is an unconditional gift by the free grace of the living and sovereign God. However, our good works may someday prove to be the evidence of this great salvation as well as some form of assurance in our bid to be pleasing to the great and mighty God who unconditionally saved us.
Secondly, salvation is a result of God’s grace and we grasp it through faith. Whilst grace brought us salvation it is important to realise that without faith in Christ it is very possible to miss the entire gift in a disappointing manner. The writer to the Hebrews once wrote, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Faith without grace equally is of no use because what brings the salvation is the grace of God. The apostle James, in verse 19 of his 2nd chapter wrote, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” However, it is interesting to note that in spite of such great faith not a single demon will receive salvation because the grace which brings salvation was directed to humans and not to any other creature. Hence it is apparent salvation is by grace through faith.
Now if it is not of works does it then mean that works are of no effect at all? The apostle James writes, “” 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?”” James 2:18-20. In total agreement, the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10 writes, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Here the two apostles are in agreement that good works form a great equation in the life of a Christian.
In my book Saints Made Merchandise: An Analysis of Tithes, Alms & Offerings I write, “When Paul points out in Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 10 that although works did not save us but that we are saved by grace through faith, that we were elected before the creation of the world to do good works for which we are called, the message becomes clearer. So when we walk by this faith we will naturally perform good works of which alms are a part. I believe that is why alms deeds aid our prayers. It is not because the deeds are magical but because they are propelled by faith and in acting in response to our prayers the Lord will be responding to our faith. We do alms because of the faith of Christ in us and it is this faith, which cause our prayers to be answered. We thus live daily by faith.
The foregoing brings me to yet another observation concerning alms deeds. Alms deeds are good works and as Paul puts it, we were saved by grace through faith and are called to do good works, which God foreordained us to do before this world was founded. These good works are numerous and alms are just some of them. Paul expands what he wrote in Ephesians 2:10 by writing the following in Titus 2:11 to 14, ‘For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous unto good works.’ Can you see that the grace of God that brings salvation actually teaches us to be passionate about good works? I therefore can now say that if we indeed have been saved by the grace of God through faith, alms deeds and all other good works have now become our eagerness. James 2:24 can now be seen to be in great and sound harmony with the Pauline doctrine on justification by faith. Those who live by faith just find themselves involved in alms deeds because when they first believed the grace of God taught them wonderful things.”
The above quotation points out to my earlier assertion that our good works may someday prove to be the evidence of our salvation. It is wrong to disassociate good works from salvation. It is true that salvation is a result of the grace of God and not of works. However, good works are a result of salvation. In Matthew 3:8 John the Baptist once said, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” In Matthew 5:14-16 the Lord himself said, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
In Act 9:36 the bible reports that “At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.” It appears throughout the bible that salvation always resulted in good works. In fact, one of the early apostles once remarked, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Jas 1:27. It is interesting that to note that when the Lord spoke of rewards and judgement he linked both to works. In Matthew 25 he said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
As you can see, works play a very significant part in a Cristian’s life. The New testament church valued works very much. Even the Lord himself, gave a lot of regard to the application of works. To the seven churches of Asia Minor he mentioned works to all of them. Rev 2:2,9,13;3:1,8,15. In Rev 2:19 he said, “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first” which is a clear indication that faith, love and works are in the same class. It further indicates that it is desirable that works must improve with time. The later works must be better than the earlier one. Regarding the grand finale, the Lord says, “… behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Rev. 22:12’13.
In my next post I will further elaborate on the requirement of works in the Christian Faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment