Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
How can sinful man be given grace? After all the atrocities committed in this world, the hatred, violence, selfishness, lust…how could God not bring such wrath? Many people try to justify themselves, but their sin is still before them.
The very idea that someone can prove themself to earn God’s grace places them in a quagmire. The biblical definition of grace has traditionally been defined as unmerited favor. If someone were to earn unmerited favor, a conflict would occur.
Grace isn’t earned, it is given.
Works Based Theology
A ‘work’ is any attempt at earning God’s favor by doing something that a person believes will please God. The trouble begins with a need to understand what pleases God and what doesn’t? Works based theology struggles with the principle of God’s blessing. A person has to get creative in defining what not only qualifies as works but how much blessing they might incur when they perform something they think qualifies.
False religious systems that incorporate the Bible into their doctrine have to weave their way around scriptures such as Ephesians 2:8,9 (It is by grace you’ve been saved), as well as a number of other verses that make it very clear on how God feels about works.
2 Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.”
Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”
If we adopt a system that attempts to justify our lives by our behavior, we begin to place God into a position He never gave. God has firmly established Himself in history so to change God’s behavior would require extra-scriptural beliefs. If a religion adopts another doctrine and places a person’s own doctrine on the same level as God’s or as one hearing directly from God, they bring judgement upon themselves if they are wrong.
To claim God’s Word falsely is to blaspheme God.
Types of Works
It’s not uncommon to misrepresent God’s works, it’s found in nearly every false religion. For those who strive to incorporate the Bible or parts of the Bible into their doctrine, the book of James is a popular place to start.
James 2:24 “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
This scripture, taken by itself might present a false impression of doing good works. A good steward of the Bible will read the surrounding scripture so as to gain some insight into the context of the message.
James 2:14-17 “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Upon closer examination of the text, we see a pattern of where it becomes evident that James is not saying works makes people righteous before God; instead, he is making it clear that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works.
The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in willful disobedience to Christ has a false or “dead” faith and is not saved. James is making a contrast between two different types of faith—true faith that saves and false faith that is dead.
LDS (Mormon church)
“For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23)
LDS church (Mormons)
It is statements like this that causes much confusion. Using terminology that sounds right but is interpreted differently can lead someone down a path they never realized they were on. The differences in terminology can be very subtle and makes the follower throw the full weight of their trust in the lap of a teacher who sounds convincing.
Jehovah’s Witness
Within the scope of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church, the doctrine of God’s Word conflicts with their founder, Charles Russell, so they reinterpreted the original greek and hebrew language to fit their church’s doctrine and called their Bible the New World Translation. JW’s believe salvation is earned through a combination of faith plus good works – specifically, taking in knowledge of Jehovah and Jesus; obeying God’s laws; belonging to and serving with God’s true organization (The Watch Tower Society); and being loyal to God’s organization.
The drive for people to exalt the church over seeking God’s Truth has led many toward being excommunicated from the JW church.
Roman Catholicism
Within the Roman Catholic Church, the theology insists that good works are good merits of the faithful believer, and by these works one can preserve and increase the initial righteousness received in baptism and finally attain eternal life (canons 24 and 32) of the Council of Trent. Without a doubt, the official documents of the Roman Catholic Church teach justification by works.
Whether it is a requirement to go out on a mission sabbatical as a right of passage, go door to door and prove your worth, or proving your innocence by reciting a liturgy and hoping you have reduced your sentence in purgatory, the ways to implement works is endless.
A final thought regarding works makes me consider the anxiety of holding such a position. If I were to believe I had to prove myself to receive God’s grace then I would be second guessing myself on every action I’ve taken. I would be continually wondering if I’d done enough good works to be recognized by God.
If God measured my every step I took and judged whether I was worthy of His grace, my view of God would be greatly lowered.
Psalm 19:12 “Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.”
David himself realized the difficulty of evaluating every action and hoping there wasn’t an error he might of overlooked.
A wayward thought, a slip of a tongue, any misstep and who knows how much God is going to punish us. These thoughts might lead someone to do something rash, like going to a confessional and asking forgiveness for everything they can think, otherwise they might miss something and the threat of suffering in the afterlife would be a real possibility.
True Grace
Proverbs 17:3 “A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.”
How does God give grace?
Does God measure our worth based off our actions? Does He watch what church we attend and determine our level of grace by how many times we attend? What about the number of times you pray each day, or do a good deed for others?
The questions can be endless in regards to how we might evaluate works.
You know what a simple solution is for the myriad of doctrines and religions teaching works?
Go to the source.
Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
At the heart of God’s evaluation is His perception of the heart.
It is by the intent of the heart actions are measured and it is by the intent of our hearts devotion, our faith is revealed. We cannot measure our hearts intent nor can others, that is God’s territory and He holds that alone.
*God expresses His love toward us because of His grace and as someone responds in their heart with love reciprocated back toward God, a union occurs that is one for the ages. Like a husband who is conjoined with his wife through an expression of commitment, believers spiritually do the same in Christ. God knows when love is real and when actions ultimately reveal a heart toward God. There is no performance that justifies a person before God that earns His grace, grace is given to the humble and contrite of spirit.
I feel sorry for those who think they need to earn God’s love. It was never given for that purpose and for those who have laid that weight upon so many people, the judgement will be severe.
Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Walk in the freedom of God’s love and don’t be burdened by the chains of expectation. If you love the Lord, your love will be expressed in the way you live—you will want to be obedient!
And who knows, you might just want to love those He loves, and your joy will be made complete as you trust in Him.
U.T. 