Grace and Works
By Marsha Iddings
James 2:20-21 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Romans 4:2,4-5 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 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.
I had a conversation with someone this week who was trying to convince me that
1.) He believed we are saved by grace alone
2.) In order to be saved we have to keep the commandments, be baptized, join a particular church and do other good works
Somehow he couldn't get the connection that if you are working for salvation then you are not being saved by grace alone. Romans 4:4 above says that if you are working to be justified before God, then it's not of grace but debt. In other words, God owes you now because you have worked for it. But the catch is, how much does God require and when do you know if you have done enough? I asked my visitor if he knew he would go to be with God when he died. His answer was, "I don' t know. I hope so. I hope I have done enough to go there."
Then his friend brought up James 2:20 as a proof text that we must work toward salvation. I explained to him that James and Romans sound contradictory on this subject. James says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?" and Romans says, "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God...But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So, in James we have Abraham being justified by works, and in Romans we have him being justified by faith. How can that be? The answer is simple.
James is written to believers. Romans is written for unbelievers. In James, Abraham's faith is justified before MEN by his works. Faith before men that is devoid of works is dead. People are not going to believe your faith is real if you don't do something to show it.
In Romans, Abraham is justified before GOD by his faith alone. Justification (salvation) before God must be all of God otherwise man would boast. Romans 4:2 says that if Abraham were justified by his works then he could glory (boast), but not before God. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "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." So we see that James 2:20 is not telling us we must work for our salvation (justification before God) at all because James is written to those who are already saved.
Another verse that was brought up to prove we must work to attain salvation was Philippians 2:12 where it says, "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." First you have to notice that the Apostle Paul is writing to believers. If you read the following verse, you will find that what this means is that we (believers) are to work out the salvation that God has already worked in. It says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." God is the one working salvation in and through those who are saved and we are to work out in our daily lives what He has worked in our life.
Scripture teaches us, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now that's grace! We have much to praise God for. " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." ( 2 Corinthians 9:15)
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