Works and Grace

Works Righteousness

“But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all):” Acts 10:35-36

This was Peter’s response to the Gentile, Cornelius, who had requested of him “to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.” In this verse Peter is saying, in effect: okay, the first order of business for anyone to obtain God’s acceptance is to “worketh righteousness.”

What, exactly, does he mean by this? Within the context he can mean nothing other than blessing Israel. In verse 31, the angel which appeared to Cornelius, said, “thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.”

It is obvious that Cornelius feared the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (verses 2,4, 22), and had thus benefacted God’s chosen nation, Israel, in some material way, which qualified him for inclusion into God’s kingdom. As an uncircumcised Gentile (verse 45), this was the only way in for him and his family.

Later on, in his epistle to the “the twelve tribes, scattered abroad,” The apostle James confirms the necessity of works righteousness, when he contends:

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him…faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works…..

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” James 2:14,17-18, 21-24

I can hear all the fundamentalists and spiritual Israelites out there hollering, AMEN, brother! Preach it!

Imputed Righteousness

To them I say, hold on just a minute, bros., because I have a few questions for you concerning this issue. If works (performing an action in response to a command of God) are required for salvation, either to get it, keep it, or prove you actually possess it, please explain the apparent contradiction of this in the following passages from Paul’s epistles:

Rom 3:20

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Rom 4:1-5

“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Rom 6:14

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Rom 11:6

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Eph. 2:8.9

“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.”

Titus 3:5-7

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Ever since Martin Luther declared that James’ letter, because of its obvious contradiction with Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith apart from works, shouldn’t be in the canon of scripture,¹ Protestants have been trying to explain that he didn’t really mean what he said. Here’s a good example:

“Lutherans believe that faith, is understood as trust in God’s steadfast love, and is the only appropriate way for human beings to respond to God’s saving initiative. Thus “salvation by faith alone”, the distinctive and controversial slogan of Lutheranism. Opponents claimed that this position failed to do justice to the Christian responsibility to do good works, but Lutherans have replied that faith must be active in love and that good works follow from faith as a good tree produces good fruit.“²

With all due respect to Dr. Luther and his monumental accomplishments in the Reformation, he did not “get it all right.” In the case of James’ letter, he was right and wrong. He was right in contending that the doctrine concerning justification was a “works” doctrine, and indeed contradicted Paul’s treatment of it in Romans and Galatians. But he was wrong in contending that because of this, it had no place in the canon. If this be the case, that its legalism disqualifies it as Holy Writ, then Matthew, Mark, Luke and John need to go as well, because they are just as legalistic as James. Matthew says that those who desire to be saved must “endure unto the end” (Matt. 24:13; Mk. 13:13), i.e., they must remain unwaveringly faithful (Hebrews 10:23; James 1:6) until their death. The reference to “a good tree produces good fruit,” in the last sentence of the above quote is taken from Matthew 7:18, and is simply saying that a “true” believer will produce works worthy of a his/her belief (Luke 3:8).

Two different gospels for two different dispensations

We may rightly conclude from this that works within the context of these parts of NT scripture were a necessary component of “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23, et. al.) But we must ask, for what purpose? To obtain a righteous position before God? No way. I say that they were expressly for identification purposes. In saying that he would show his faith by his works, James is saying exactly this. In saying that a good tree will produce good fruit, this is clearly saying that a true believer is identified by the works (fruit) he produces. The question begged is is this to be applied, as the writer above insists, to the church, the body of Christ in the present dispensation of grace? (The Mystery)

It has often been said that no mortal human who has ever lived has been justified by his works. Nay, not Abraham, not Moses, not Samuel, not David, not any of the apostles; indeed, not one (Ref. Rom. 3:10). I am in complete agreement with this. However, this does not preclude, as we have seen in the above passages, the requirement of works in the salvation/justification equation under some of God’s programs. The question is is anyone now under any of those programs? The answer is, no. The Lord in the gospels, and Peter, James and John, in their respective epistles, is primarily speaking to a particular group of people, “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, and secondarily to Gentiles who bless Israel, about inheriting an earthly kingdom (Matt. 26:34; Acts 1:6), which had been foretold of in the OT prophetic scriptures.

The reason that Paul’s gospel appears to be different—indeed, works are precluded from the salvation equation in his gospel—is because it is different! The people Paul is writing to, primarily, are Gentiles who are not included in the Abrahamic promise, and thus cannot be a part of Israel’s kingdom program.³  Yet, almost the entire Christian community–Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Evangelicals, et. al.–attempts to blend these two diverse programs into one, unified message. This takes a lot of trimming and filling to accomplish. Indeed, millions of pages of commentary have been written to this end; to make things, as they are written in scripture, the same that are obviously not the same.

This is all so unnecessary—and absolutely wrong. In a multitude of passages, Paul asserts his gospel to be different than that which was given to the 12. The first two chapters of the letter to the Galatians is dedicated to this purpose. Never, anywhere within his thirteen letters, does he even allude to the idea that his gospel is compatible with the kingdom gospel. On the contrary, phrases like, “the gospel which I preached..”(1 Cor. 1:1), “that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles”(Gal. 2:2), “my gospel”( Romans 2:16; 16:25; 2 Tim. 2:8), “this grace” (Rom. 5:2; 2 Cor. 8:7; Eph. 3:8), plainly indicate the exclusive nature of his message.

Finally, in his last letter of instruction to Timothy, he summarily nails the lid shut on the notion that his gospel should be blended with the kingdom gospel, with these declarations:

“Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel…Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2: 7,8,15)

All of the NT portion of the Bible is “the word of truth.” But in order for us to obtain “understanding in all things” pertaining to it, we must look to the Apostle Paul, “rightly dividing” (separating out) his gospel from the kingdom gospel (the gospel given to the 12 disciples to preach to Israel), because it is in his thirteen letters, exclusively, in which are found the instructions for “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26) to the Christian church in the world today.

Those who attempt to mix these two gospels are, in effect, attempting to mix works and grace, and according to Paul, this isn’t possible, and is tantamount to “holding the truth in unrighteousness.”(Rom. 1:18) and placing a burden on folks that they are not empowered to bear. This is most surely going to bring shame at “the judgment seat of Christ”(Rom. 14:10) to these individuals and their followers who are guilty of doing this.

Mike Schroeder

Feel free to re-print this article, and/or distribute it via the internet. All Scripture references and quotations are from the King James Bible. 

Post Script

Are you saved? Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross, has made the way for “everyone that believeth…to be reconciled to God. 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. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Have you done this? If not, why not now?

Notes