Faith, Works, and Salvation

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

James 2:14-26 could be exegeted in entirety and fill books. My point is about the comparison between these two verses. Those of us who hold justification by faith tend to jump out of our skin when we read "Was not Abraham justified by works?"

Verse 17 shows us that the works mentioned are not just any works, however. They are works that faith has. You might say these works are the works of faith.

There are many acts or states of being through which we are saved, but all of them are under the domain of faith, they are all sub-categories of the life of faith. Works, under faith, do work in our salvation, and this should teach us to consider the nature of faith. It should teach us to consider the events of our lives as acts of faith and in terms of our final and complete salvation.

Note the difference between works of faith and works of man. Both are acts committed by a human being, but the origin or motive factor in each is distinct.

Below are some passages of scriptures that speak of gaining salvation, by name, in terms of something not called faith.

Matthew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:10 With the mouth one confesses and is saved.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation

Philippians 2:12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

2 Thessalonians 2:10 Those who are perishing...refused to love the truth and so be saved.

1 Timothy 4:15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing

1 Timothy 4:16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him (Christ)

1 Peter 3:21 Baptism now saves you

Most of us from evangelical backgrounds are not confused by verses that speak of calling on the name of the Lord or repenting in order to be saved. We feel that these acts are in the nature of faith, and that the writers of scripture are not denying that faith saves but are being more specific about how that faith looks and acts in a human being.

We should take this method of interpretation to the more difficult passages - James 2, 1 Timothy 4:15, 1 Peter 3:21. We should take it to the course of our lives and of the happenings in them.

Just as saving works are governed by the faith was has and produces them, so faith itself falls under the domain of grace, so that it may be true that we are saved by grace alone and not by any works of man. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...

And finally, grace itself is under the domain of the Lord so that it may be most true of all that he saves us and we do not save ourselves. This will be the final, broadest view of salvation when the great work has been completed in us all. Revelation 19:1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God...

A word about the term "salvation." Perhaps it requires a certain amount of literary imagination to grasp this, but I think it is clear that salvation as spoken of in scriptures is the broadest term for the whole "package" of redemption. Words like justification and regeneration are more specific. Scriptures speak of us as having been saved, as being saved, and as looking forward to future salvation. Everything said here should be understood in that light.

Romans 13:11 For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

1 Peter 2:1-3 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Corinthians 2:15 For we (the apostles) are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing

Hebrews 9:28 Christ...will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.