Works Religion

"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works..."  (Titus 1:16, HCSB).
"Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.'  But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds?  I will show you my faith by my good deeds' ... You see, his faith and his actions worked together.  His actions made his faith complete"  (James 2: 18, 22, NLT).  

There are four contradistinctions:  Works equal salvation (religion); works plus faith equals salvation (legalism); faith equals salvation minus works (antinomianism), and faith equals salvation plus works (Reformed and evangelical theology).  

It is our natural inclination to believe that our works must count for something to gain the approbation of God; however, you never know in a works religion--God doesn't grade on a curve and the only way to be saved is by grace, not merit, which works imply.   The Bible is not against works, just those done in the flesh, for man cannot please God in the flesh (cf. Rom. 8:8).  All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags or useful for nothing (cf. Isa. 64:6).

All of the works of a believer are done by letting Christ live through him and He gets the credit, as we are just vessels of honor (Isa. 26:12).  Paul, himself, would venture to boast of nothing, except what Christ had accomplished through him (cf. Rom. 15:18).  We are not saved by works, but unto works, as Eph. 2:10 says "unto good works."  We are not saved by works, but we are also not saved without them:  Paul would say that he'll show you his works by his faith; while James would tell you that he'll show you his faith by his works.  The two, are distinguished and inseparable, and they cannot be divorced.

All coins have a flip side and can be seen in a twofold manner.  Antinomians believe we are saved by faith, but that works do not necessarily follow, so they say that faith equals salvation minus works.  On the other hand, the Reformers taught that we are indeed saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone--true faith always generates good works as validation.  Having no works is equal to no faith, just like a branch without fruit--YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS (cf. Matt. 7:16).  Faith must have fruit, for this is the reason we are saved, and no fruit means no faith.

Many think that works are a substitute for faith, but they are the evidence of it!   The problem with some sincere people is that they are "incurably addicted to doing something for their salvation," (according to Charles Swindoll), but the work of God is to believe in Christ (cf. John 6:29).  Works are indeed important in their own right because we are judged and rewarded for them, not our faith (cf. Rom.  2:6).  There are two issues concerning do-gooders, or those enamored with good works:  some cannot do enough because they put their faith in their works, not in Christ; while others are too confident in their faith that they think they don't need good works.

The Reformed formula for salvation is that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone; nonproductive or dead faith doesn't save.  James says, "Can that faith save?"  It should be noted that we can only do God's work by God's power, for Christ said, "Apart from me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).  Our good deeds are meant to show our faith and to win over others as Jesus said in Matt. 5:16, ESV: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

The problems encountered with some who do good works are that you can have works without faith--but not faith without works--each must examine himself.  We all need to put our faith into action because the faith you have is the faith you show!   We turn our faith into deeds or translate creeds into deeds, you might say--seeing we are not saved by knowing a creed, but knowing a person.  We are all called into the service of our Lord, and we are not saved by our service, but unto service!  The only true measure of faith is obedience as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."

Living the good life really amounts to abundant life in Christ, doing His will for your life, and serving in whatever capacity you are equipped to do by talent, gift, resources, opportunities, relationships, time, and circumstances.  The whole purpose of good works is that they give proof of our salvation, for without them our faith is suspect.  Theologically, faith and works are distinguished, but not separated--juxtaposed.  But works are the result, and outcome of faith, not the cause of it or part of it; we are not saved by faith and works, which is legalism, but by faith alone, but only a faith that is productive.  We do good works because we want to--not because we have to.

In summation, it boils down to the two viewpoints (Paul's and James's):  Paul teaches that works must spring from faith; James teaches that faith must be proved by works!

THEREFORE, YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY (BECAUSE OF) YOUR GOOD BEHAVIOR, BUT UNTO (FOR THE PURPOSE OF) GOOD BEHAVIOR!  TO BE BLUNT:  TRUE FAITH EXPRESSES ITSELF.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Sin Is "In"

"In Adams fall, we sinned all"  (The New England Primer).   
"God be merciful to me, the sinner"  (cf. Luke 18:13, NASB). 
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief"  (1 Tim. 1:15, NKJ). 
"... 'For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance'"  (Matt. 9:13, NKJV, cf. Luke 5:32).  


We must present the bad news of sin before the good news of Christ!  In other words:  Get them lost first!  The people are enslaved to sin and must be set free, self-help is no help, they need supernatural intervention by God's Spirit on their hearts.  It is sad that people think sin demonstrates their freedom, it only proves and shows their slavery.  We are all in the same boat, lost in sin just like one drowns in 700 feet of water as well as seven feet.  It is not the evangelist's job to convict of sin--that's the prerogative of the Holy Spirit!  Jesus came to save us from our sins (cf. Matt. 1:21) and was not aloof from sinners but reached out to them, getting down and dirty with common men.  

Sin is the way to go if you want popularity or to be cool; being holy is being square, uncool, or naive.  You have to be savoir-faire and know your way around the block, wise to the ways of the world, known as being streetwise or familiar with the game called life.  People nowadays believe that moral principles have evolved and adultery is no longer wrong, but anything goes if you can make up half-baked excuses for it or self-justification or rationalization.  Psychology won't even admit to the existence of sin.  Why?   Because Albert Camus said it best: "The absurd is sin without God!"  Dr. Karl Menninger, America's Freud and a Christian psychologist and psychiatrist, wrote a book entitled Whatever Became of Sin?

Psychology tends to see sin as mere deviance from the so-called norm (which is arbitrary, not absolute).  It seems like sin is creeping back into our vocabulary as we search for the answer:  we have found all the questions, according to G. K. Chesterton, now is the time to find the answers!  I believe we cannot solve our personal problems, and sin is the culprit, but we can manage them and get them under control--there's no such thing as sinless perfection in this life, because all Christians are merely works-in-progress, at varying stages of maturity and development.

Sin is sometimes called by pretty names to make it more palatable:  mistakes, poor judgment, weakness, bad habit, or even falling short of our own standards, not to mention God's, whose standard is the ultimate measure and judgment of sin.  We tend to glamorize sin and are becoming immune to its effect and influence, or even shock value as we see murder, rape, theft, etc., on TV and don't blink an eye because we are used to it and it doesn't offend us anymore--it seems okay to observe sin, but not do it?  The problem we have today in reclassifying sin and in not calling a spade a spade, as it were, is that we get enticed and drawn in unknowingly and become insensitive or immune to its influence.  If you were to take your bottle of rat poison and label it as candy in your cabinet, don't be surprised if your kids eat it--by changing labels and not coming to grips with what it is, we make it all the more dangerous!

Sin is our birthright and no one is immune from it--it's universal and no one can escape its clutches or power except by the grace of God in salvation.  The unbeliever has no power over his sin nature and can only sin, while the Christian has the ability to refrain from sin, as he has the ability to still sin at will.  We have become inoculated from sin, so we are unaware of its full impact.  Sin can be defined as our Declaration of Independence from God and a virus that affects everyone, for the Bible states:  "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"  (cf. Romans 3:23).  The first step to solving a problem with sin is admitting you have one, and the problem with sinners is that they don't see or admit their own personal sin--they justify themselves, which is the normal reaction.

We all have fallen short of God's ideal standard set by Christ in living the perfect life of obedience--the word, hamartia in Koine, or common Greek, means to "miss the mark" and is a marksman's word.  We aren't expected to be as "glorious" as God, for even Adam wasn't, but we miss the standard of the Law of Moses, which sets the precedents for all good and moral behavior and ethics for us to live by.  Sin is indeed a disease and we are all affected, no one is immune: we all have shortcomings, even by our own standards, and no one even lives up to his own expectations.

The command by God is to repent and turn from our wicked ways and follow on to know the Lord; we must renounce and denounce our sin and confess it, or say the same thing about it as God does, not some lame excuse for what we do in self-justification, which is our tendency. Sin has been our downfall:  "... For you have stumbled because of your iniquity"  (Hosea 14:1, NKJV).   We all can admit that there are things we "ought to have done," or have done something that wasn't God's will. 

Remember the words of God to Cain in Gen. 4:7:  "Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it."  Sin is self-destructive and may be seen as a virus that has affected all mankind.  The point in seeing ourselves as sinners is to awaken us to the fact that we cannot save ourselves, we cannot keep God's Law, and we are powerless over it; this ought to make us see our need for salvation, not make us just resolve to do better or take a self-improvement course, as it were, lifting ourselves up by our own bootstraps engaging in a mere do-it-yourself proposition of good works or deeds.

Repentance is more than turning over a new leaf, reforming ourselves, making a resolution, or vowing to do better next time, but a change of heart, mind, and will from the inside out, that results in a change of behavior to prove its reality--that it's not bogus.  The purpose of God laying down the Law was not to show us a way of salvation, but to show us how bad we are and we are bad enough to need salvation; we should be suing God for mercy, not trying to save ourselves by good behavior, morality, ethics, philosophy, religious ritual, or good works or deeds--the essence of religion (works-based, not faith-based).  Pray for a lively sense of sin, says Samuel Rutherford, because the more we get it, the less we sin--gross sinners aren't aware of the degree of their depravity, while saints have a fine-tuned and sensitive conscience, that notices minutiae of sin.

Man is not basically good nor inherently good, but lost this at the Fall of Adam, and is basically and intrinsically evil through and through--if sin or evil would be yellow, we'd be all yellow--and it is affecting his entire being, which needs salvation--mind, heart, and will.  Note that even the will is stubborn and recalcitrant and needs salvaging by God and God must melt the heart and make one willing to believe by His wooing and drawing of the Holy Spirit.   We all "enjoy" our solidarity with Adam--yes, sin is fun and games for a limited time, then new sins must be found; Hebrews 11:25 says that there is pleasure in it for a season.  Theologians have analyzed man's nature and found him wanting:  He is not a sinner because he sins; rather, he sins because he's a sinner--we all born sinners and cannot escape our birthright; i.e., we sin and err from the womb (cf. Psalm 58:3).  Sin made its entree in Adam's fall and we confirm that sin by repeating it ourselves, showing we are no better.

Psychologists tend to blame society and the environment or even one's parents for our sins, but this is a cop-out, and escaping our duty and responsibility.  The first sin was committed in a perfect environment!  We all know better and don't need a lecture to tell us we are sinners:  Ovid said, "I see the better things and approve them, but I follow the worst."  It has been said, though, that we are great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior.  When we see ourselves as real sinners and unworthy in God's sight, we realize Christ is a real Savior.

We all have feet of clay and no can really clean up his act; we don't do any pre-salvation work (however, the work of God is to believe in Christ and this is all God's doing!) and we don't prepare ourselves for salvation, but come as we are in faith for our "healing" to be made whole, and God will do the transforming of our person to be made new in Christ's image. However, this is the catch-22 according to C. S. Lewis:  We must see how bad we are to be good, and we don't know how bad we are till we have tried to be good!  It's like finding out how addicted to cigarettes you are only after trying to quit, and realizing for the first time that you are not in control of your cravings.

No one fools God, for He sees through the veneer and all of us are in the same boat of being called sinners--He has leveled the playing field and demands repentance from all ("... but now God commands men everywhere to repent," according to Acts 17:30, NKJV).  Christians are justified, but still, sinners (cf. Gal. 2:17).   In the last analysis, sin is not just a shortcoming or weakness, but a sign of evil and a direct consequence of Adam's sin, as we have inherited this tendency to sin and cannot escape our birthright, except by the grace of God, who doesn't just whitewash us, but transforms us---a miracle in itself from the inside out.   Soli Deo Gloria!