Does Being Saved Mean One Will Automatically Produce Good Works?

“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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10)

Most folks who call themselves Christians would answer this question with an emphatic, absolutely!, basing this response on the last verse in the above passage of Scripture. After all, they say, if God ordains it, then it surely must come to pass, else he wouldn’t be God.

This is strongly reinforced by the teachings of church “fathers” like John Calvin, who in his magnum opus, “The Institutes of the Christian Religion,” pontificates:

“And the only meaning which can be given to our Saviour’s words, ‘Every man, therefore, that has heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me,’ (John 6: 45,) is that the grace of God is effectual in itself. And from the words of John, (6: 44) he infers it to be an incontrovertible fact, that the hearts of believers are so effectually governed from above, that
with undeviating affection.”

But if this is, indeed, the case, that good works will invariably follow true believers, wouldn’t this also mean that because God said he “would have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth,” (1 Tim. 2:4) that ALL men, without distinction, and regardless of what they believe, will be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth?

I dare say that the same people who said yes to the first question, would just as emphatically say no to the second, claiming that this would be teaching universal salvation.

While I agree that 1 Tim. 2:4 does not prove universal salvation, I have to disagree with the idea that good works will necessarily follow “them that believe.”

Here’s why.

Salvation, under grace, does not give the believer a “new nature,” as many want to claim. It is true that Scripture says of the saved, that we are “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” (Cor 5:17) but please notice that this is prefaced with, “if any man be in Christ.” We are new creatures… in Christ, not in our flesh, for the Apostle says that; “in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing...(Rom. 7:18) This has to mean that Christ is not dwelling in our “flesh,” and that the flesh, and its evil nature, is still fully intact in saved folks. Thus, good works are not automatic, for “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (Gal. 5:18)

Some astute Bible student will be quick to point out as proof that, according to 2 Peter 1:4, the saved do, indeed, possess a new nature:

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

The question is: who is “us” referring to in this passage? The church the body of Christ? No, because Peter never mentions it, but refers to the folks he is writing to as “a royal priesthood…an holy nation..,” (1 Peter 2:9) which must be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Exodus 19:6, which says: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” The “ye” is “the children of Israel.”

Moreover, the body of Christ is part of Paul’s mystery, which was not revealed in the prophetic scriptures.  (Ref. Rom. 16:25; Col. 1:26)  John says of this very same royal priesthood, that they are “born of God,” and will do works of righteousness (Ref. 1 John 3:9,10) This, in fact, is the area of scripture from which Calvin developed his doctrine of “effectual perseverance,” (Ref. “Institutes of the Christian Religion”) which certainly applies to those John and Peter are writing their respective letters to, but just as certainly cannot apply to the body of Christ.

Those of the Catholic and Reformed persuasions who are reading this will quickly point out that the body of Christ is the New Testament church, and thus is the “true” Israel of God. According to Catholic and Protestant theology, all the references to Israel in prophecy are actually referring to the body of Christ. There is a difference in the Catholic and Protestant treatment of exactly “who” represents the priesthood. According to the Dogmatic Constitution of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican Council II, the “episcopate” (clergy) are the only members of the priesthood, and thus it is them alone who comprise the true “church.” Martin Luther, in his treatise, The Christian Nobility of the German People, established that all believers were part of this “royal priesthood” Peter spoke of in his second epistle. Calvin confirmed this belief when he wrote: “Christ … once for all offered a sacrifice of eternal expiation and reconciliation; now, having also entered the sanctuary of heaven, he intercedes for us. In him we are all priests.”

As I’ve heretofore pointed out, the body of Christ cannot be revealed in prophecy if it is a part of Paul’s mystery, which he said was “given to me… for you Gentiles.” (Eph. 3:1,2; Col. 1:25-27) These Gentiles Paul is addressing, if anything, are considered enemies of Israel, not allies (Eph. 2:12; Rom. 11:28). Furthermore, Paul never, not once, refers to the body of Christ as “true” Israel, or “spiritual” Israel.

This identifying the body of Christ as NT Israel, as do so many of the other extra-scriptural inventions of Catholic and Protestant theology, is the driving force behind the idea that members of Christ’s body, if indeed they are members, will automatically do the right thing. Of course, in practice these religions, by requiring members to confess their sins in accord with 1 John 1:9, give the lie to this contention. If they actually believed the doctrine, this would not be necessary, for 1 John 3:9 says, “whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin.” This invariably brings on the nonsense that it is the “spirit” man who doth not commit sin, not the actual man.

These inventions will be rendered completely unnecessary when one comes to an understanding that Paul’s revelation is something wholly apart from what was given to the Lord’s disciples. In the first place, the twelve disciples were given a message, “the gospel of the Kingdom,” (Matt. 4:23) and told to take it only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel;” in fact he told them, “go not in the way of the Gentiles.” (Matt. 10:5,6) In Matthew chapter 7, he said, “by their fruits ye shall know them,”  (verse 20) clearly establishing that works are for identification purposes, and these works are very specific. True believers will not transgress the law, for as John says, “sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4) They will sell all that they have and have nothing other than the clothes on their backs. (Matt. 10:9,10; 19:21) They will “cast out devils… speak with new tongues…take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them…lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Matt. 10:8; Mark 16:17,18)

This simply cannot be explained away with the glib statement: “well, of course, we know the Lord doesn’t mean for these passages to be taken literally.” But once we understand that none of this is written to the church of the present dispensation, (Eph. 3:2) the only entity through which God is presently operating, then we aren’t forced into spiritualizing these passages of scripture that are meant to be taken literally.

Indeed, the present church in the world, which is a purely Gentile church that has nothing to do with the nation Israel or its promises and commandments, is not identified by any works. Members of the body of Christ are identified by their testimony, that is, that they have believed and trusted in something, viz., “..Christ died for our sins…was buried… and rose again the third day …for our justification.”(1 Cor. 15:3,4; Rom. 4:25) Those who have trusted in this have Christ’s righteousness imputed to their heavenly account (Rom 4:11,24), and are “sealed by that holy Spirit of promise…unto the day of redemption.” (Eph. 1:14; 4:30) Once you have this seal on you, no amount of sin or bad works or lack of good works can take it away from you, because it says, “..where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”(Rom. 5:20)

The apostle Paul wrote these words, often quoted in churches and included in their statements of faith, in his second letter to Timothy:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Tim 3:16)

What is not quoted very often, if ever, are these words in that same letter:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15)

These are companion verses that go hand in glove, and should NEVER be applied apart from each other. Indeed, ALL scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is by inspiration of God, and is profitable to us (Ref. Rom. 15:4) but it is certainly not all written to us for our obedience. If we are to know who we are, and where our promises and marching orders are, then we must employ the second of these two inseparable passages. If we do this, we will discover that our apostle is Paul, and that within his 13 epistles are our identity, promises, and commandments “for the obedience of faith.”
“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” (Rom 16:25-27)

Mike Schroeder

All Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible. Feel free to distribute this essay as you see fit.

Will you be in the number who are caught up on that day that the Lord descends from heaven with a shout? Only the saved, those who have believed on Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross having paid for all their sins, will be going on that ride. History has shown that whatever peace man has achieved in the world can only be temporary. The Bible says that individual men and women can know, beyond a doubt, that they are saved and bound for heaven, and therefore have absolute and permanent peace, regardless of what is going on in the world, by trusting Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their eternal salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Have you done this? If not, why not now?