It’s not surprising that the aspect of Christianity that is most unique is also the most misunderstood. Christianity makes the outrageous claim that God completely pardons sinners and gives them eternal life solely on the basis of their faith and not as a result of anything they have done morally or religiously to deserve it. This is what distinguishes the Christian message from almost every other religion. But it begs the question: What part do good works play in the Christian life? Doesn’t God care how a person lives? Our minds immediately race to movies featuring mafia members in a confessional booth or church service and then hours later committing some shocking crime. Is that what the Bible teaches? Two seemingly contradictory passages of the Bible help clarify the place of good works in a person’s salvation.

Faith + Works ≠ Salvation

The first passage is Ephesians 2:8-9. It says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It says that a person is saved, “by grace … through faith.” In other words, God saves us as a gracious act that we don’t deserve, and we receive that salvation through faith when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. Paul could have stopped there, but it’s such a shocking statement that he restates it in different words so there’s no room for confusion. When he adds, “And this is not your own doing,” he’s countering the idea that there’s something we might contribute to our salvation. Then, in case someone didn’t know what the word “grace” meant, he says more plainly, “it is the gift of God.” Salvation is a gift from God to us. Everybody knows that gifts are given freely not as a reward for good behaviour. Finally, he concludes, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” People won’t be giving each other high fives in heaven, congratulating each other that they made it, because there’s nothing we can do to earn our way there. It’s all God’s gift. And we receive that gift by faith. And so, we conclude that God saves a person through faith alone and not by works. Or more simply, Faith + Works ≠ Salvation.

Faith = Salvation + Works

Just when you thought you understood what the Bible was teaching on this subject, you come to the Book of James and it seems to be saying the opposite of what Paul wrote in Ephesians. James 2:17, for instance, says, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” And verse 26 adds, “faith apart from works is dead.” Are James and Paul contradicting each other? While, at first, we might assume so, a closer look reveals that this isn’t the case. James isn’t saying that we need to add works to faith to earn God’s salvation. He’s talking about the kind of faith which saves a person. He’s contrasting true and false faith. True saving faith inevitably leads a person to do good works. If we’ve truly repented of our sin and put our trust in Jesus Christ, our lives will change for the better. James is warning that if our faith in Jesus doesn’t lead to any change, we should have cause for concern. That’s why he asks in verse 14, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” A person who “says” that they have faith but hasn’t shown any change in their life should question whether they truly have saving faith. Verse 19 speaks of the “faith” of demons. “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Obviously, Satan believes in the existence and reality of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgiven. The way Martin Luther phrased this was, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” True faith leads to good works. In other words, when we put our faith in Jesus, God not only saves us, but He changes us as well. The good works may not be as quick or as dramatic as we’d like, but over time the change in our lives should be clear. So we can say that the faith that saves a person is a faith that leads to good works. Or to go with another equation, Faith = Salvation + Works.

We don’t add good works to faith as a basis of salvation, but when good works result from faith in Jesus, they help show that our faith is real. So the question isn’t whether we should do good works or not. The only question is whether we’re relying on them for salvation or, instead, seeing them as evidence of the genuineness of our faith.

In awe of Him,

Paul