The Gospel Truth

This article on Faith & Works builds upon our article on Salvation.

Life’s Purpose

Ephesians 2:1-10

The essence of the good news of salvation has been summarized by Saint Paul in his letter to the believers in Ephesus: though man lived in sin and deserved nothing less than God’s wrath, God showed mercy and redeemed man out of love so that man could share God’s abundant grace with others. Like faith — and with faith — acts of love are a vital response to God’s gracious gift of redemption. This message is so important that Paul states it a second time: man’s redemption was a free gift from God and not earned, and now man can fulfill the purpose of his creation, to perform the good works prepared by God in advance, indeed from the foundation of the world. A failure or refusal to live out the reason for our creation — to deny our purpose — is rebellious disobedience against the will of God. This teaching is so very clear, and yet the necessity of performing good in the world by people of God has divided Christians for centuries.

Sin Revisited

Genesis 3:1-7

The story is so familiar to us that we seldom pause to appreciate the nuances of the first sin. When the serpent asked the woman about the forbidden fruit, the first thing she did was acknowledge that it had indeed been forbidden to them by God. Thus, she recognized the authority of God and that disobedience would have consequences. Appealing to reason, the serpent imputed to God the emotion of jealousy, implying that God was selfishly keeping for himself the secret of divine power. The pain that accompanies betrayal — even though she was actually being deceived by the serpent — was not lost on the woman, and she must have felt some entitlement to the divine life, for her fear of God subsided and she ate the fruit. Notice too how the fruit appealed to her senses. When she gave the fruit to the man, she convinced him that the fruit was both tasty and beneficial. Thus did man and woman — one flesh — sin so completely, by the senses and by the intellect, free will executed with action. Therefore, having been redeemed and given a second chance by God, it is only fitting that man responds to his grace completely, with both body and soul — with both works and faith.

Works of the Law

Galatians 2,3,5

Skepticism regarding the necessity of good works for salvation arises from the stern and repeated warnings by New Testament writers against contemporary teachings that it was necessary for Gentile Christians to live according to the Law and Jewish customs. Such advocates of the Law have come to be called Judaizers. Gentile believers belonging to the churches in the region of Galatia, for example, had been persuaded by Judaizers to be circumcised, thereby placing themselves under the covenant of the Law. Saint Paul explains in his letter how he and his companions resisted some Judaizers who had infiltrated their group so that this error would not become integrated into their preaching of the good news of redemption.

In Antioch, Paul had witnessed Peter succumb to error, conversing and eating with Gentiles openly and then drawing away from them when visited by a group of Jewish converts out of fear. Paul corrected him sternly, for Peter was giving rise to scandal by inadvertently supporting those who wished to Judaize the faith. He recounts this incident as a lesson in the faith, that man is not justified before God through obedience to the Law, but by committing to be a living instrument of Christ in the world, driven by trust in God and his ancient promise to Abraham. Paul even calls the Law a curse to those who put it ahead of the promise of faith, and explicitly states that those Galatians who first believed and were then circumcised into the Law had fallen from the grace of God!

Once justified, man must live up to that commitment. Paul professed that only faith expressed through love counts for anything. It is a faith made complete through acts of love toward one another, the very fulfillment of man’s purpose.

Works of Love

Matthew 22:34-40  †  John 15:9-17  †  Philippians 2:1-16
James 1:19-27  †  James 2:14-26  †  James 4:17  †  1 Corinthians 13:1-3

What are these works of love on which Paul places all reliance? Of course, there is no exhaustive list. The world presents man with many varied challenges and his response should always be an expression of God’s love. Jesus gave comprehensive guidance: love God and neighbor. He also taught that the greatest expression of love is total self-sacrifice. Indeed, martyrs die for the faith in explicit and often violent acts, but all who make even the smallest of sacrifices out of love lose a part of themselves so that they may be used as conduits leading from the ultimate source of love. After all, emptying oneself — becoming a humble servant — is the way of God.

James the Apostle warned that only they who actively participate in God’s work can refrain from turning their vision inward to themselves in conceit. He goes on to say that the practice of religion is worthless unless the believer both loves others and avoids sin. Challenging the notion that simple belief in the redemption of man awards to him the promise of salvation, James teaches explicitly that faith is brought to completion by the performance of good deeds. What’s more, to know what is right but refusing to do it is sin.

Paul wrote that no work — even the work of a mighty faith — merits anything unless it is wrought by love.

Works of Light

1 John 1:5-2:11  †  John 3:19-21  †  Ephesians 5:8-17  †  John 9:1-5  †  Matthew 5:14-16

A helpful way to understand the importance of man’s actions is to consider the metaphor of light. God is light, pure and complete, so there is no darkness in him. They who do good deeds are not ashamed and move toward the light so that their deeds are visible, but those who perform evil move away from light — away from God — for they do not want their deeds exposed. It is no small thing, then, to be called the light of the world, able to do such great deeds that the whole world would glorify God at the sight of them! At every opportunity, man should move toward the light, and because all motion is predicated on action, man cannot hope to move forward by living in passivity. Indeed, man is not at all static, but moves — for good or for ill — steadily through time.

Judgment & Salvation

Matthew 5:13  †  Matthew 19:16-30  †  Matthew 25:14-28  †  Matthew 25:31-46

The necessity of good works for salvation comes directly from the teachings of Jesus. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus uses several metaphors to underscore the necessity of good works. He likens believers to salt for which, if it loses its taste, there is no reason to save and it is thrown out. Continuing to use light as a metaphor, he taught that the purpose of a lamp is to give light, not to be hidden but to be seen. Making manifest God’s love in the world is man’s mission and purpose.

When asked what is required to obtain eternal life, Jesus instructed the rich young man to keep the commandments, adding that, to be perfect, the man must put others ahead of himself completely. Though the man had faith, the love of God had not been perfected in him, for he loved his wealth far more than he loved his fellow man.

Jesus told a parable about a man who entrusted a portion of his wealth to his servants. Those servants who invested the gold for gain were rewarded, but the servant who hid the gold, returning only the amount given to him, was stripped of the gold and cast out. The gold represents God’s love that, if invested in others, will increase to the merit of the servant entrusted with it; however, to hide God’s love away, to bury it until a day of reckoning, earns only an eternal punishment, the loss of God’s love altogether and exile into darkness, away from the light of God’s presence.

Immediately after imparting the parable of the bags of gold, Jesus prophesied the final judgment of man at the end of the age using the imagery of a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. Those who performed good for others for the love of God will receive their inheritance in the kingdom prepared for them at the creation of the world, but those who failed or refused to do good will be punished eternally. This teaching is explicit and is probably the most compelling testimony that participation in God’s work is required for eternal salvation.

The examples above are taken from Matthew’s account, but the message is the same throughout the New Testament:

• Matthew 7:21-23 Many may put their trust in God’s promise of salvation, but only they who act based on this trust will be saved.
• John 5:28-30 When Jesus’ earthly mission is complete, he will judge those already dead based on their works.
• Acts 10:34-35 Those who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to him.
• 2 Corinthians 5:10 All are judged and receive justly based on works, good and bad.
• Galatians 6:7-10 Man reaps what he sows, so don’t be weary of doing good, but seize the opportunity of this life to do so.
• Philippians 2:12-13 God graciously moves man to will and act, to have faith and to work, to fulfill his purpose, the salvation of man.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8-11 God will punish those who do not both know him (assent of the intellect) and obey him (assent of the will).
• Hebrews 6:7-12 God’s love and grace rain upon man. Man’s work and perseverance in faith to the end are rewarded with salvation.
• Hebrews 11:5-6 Only the faithful can please God and be saved at the end of earthly existence.
• Revelation 20:11-15 At the end of the age, all are judged by what they have done.

Love Perfected

John 15:1-8  †  1 John 4:7-21  †  Hebrews 11:39-40  †  James 1:2-4
1 Corinthians 3:1-3  †  1 Peter 1:13-2:3  †  1 Corinthians 13
Galatians 2:19-20  †  1 Corinthians 15:9-10  †  Philippians 3:10-21

Note what Jesus told the rich young man: to be perfect he must detach himself from worldly goods and put the needs of others before his own. The word “perfect” means “complete”, so for man to be complete he must love completely, with his whole self. Jesus taught that for man to do anything out of love, man must stay in his friendship, but the only way for man to exhibit that he is a friend and disciple of Jesus is through his love-driven actions. This is not circular logic, but an upward spiral. As the idiom goes, love begets love, and the first cause of love is God. So, God’s love is perfected in man when man pours out loves on others, for man’s purpose is not simply to be loved, but to manifest God’s love in the world. And this is not just the mission of man as an individual, but of the corporate body of all the faithful, the mystical Body of Christ, including those of Old Testament times who were commended for their faith.

The perfection of love in a person is a process of spiritual maturity. As man faces trials in this world, he chooses right actions so to set himself aside for God — being holy because God is holy — fulfilling that commitment to be God’s instrument. Love does not allow for self-righteousness, and though Paul recognized spiritual maturity in himself, he acknowledged that his works were also the works of Christ who was working through him. Paul did not presume that he was already complete, for he pressed on, imitating Christ that he might reach his goal, eternal life with God in Heaven.

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