Articles
Not of Works
A centuries-long debate has occurred over one of the most basic issues of salvation. Calvinists assert that no effort whatsoever is required on the part of man to receive forgiveness. Further, the Calvinist holds that it is impossible to respond in any positive way to God because of a defective spirit inherited from Adam. God must do everything in relation to salvation because man cannot do anything.
On the other side of the aisle are the “Arminians” (though we would reject the label and prefer to argue the issue on relevant points of Scripture). Jacobus Arminius (late 16th century) advanced an anti-Calvinistic view that allowed for greater balance between human free will and divine sovereignty.
The Scriptural view is that lost souls, though guilty of and corrupted by sin, are not so depraved that they cannot respond to the truths and conditions of the gospel. That is, it is not necessary for God to “enable” the sinner to respond by a direct action of the Holy Spirit which is done only for the elect and without preconditions. So, when the gospel instructs the sinner to believe the word of God, repent, confess the name of Jesus and be immersed in water in order to have their sins remitted and establish union with Christ, the one with a penitent conscience can do so. Then, and only then, will the atoning blood of Jesus be applied and, as Ananias said to Paul, wash away sins (Ac 22:16).
“SALVATION BY WORKS!!!” accuses the Calvinist, perhaps quoting 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.”
“Not of works.” That’s a pretty strong statement. And it seems bolstered by a further observation from Paul: “But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Rom 4:5). Are the Calvinists right? Is the idea of fulfilling any conditions attached to salvation a matter of human merit and thus a negation of God’s grace? Is a mental action – belief – all that’s required?
As usual, accounting for context will resolve this apparent dilemma. Relative to earning, meriting or obligating God to extend favor based on our own spiritual excellence, fellowship with God is impossible. Paul makes this clear in both Romans and Ephesians. In Romans he previously affirmed that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23), summarizing his charges against both Jew and Gentile in foregoing chapters. In Ephesians Paul already established that Jew and Gentile were “dead in trespasses and sins” and “by nature children of wrath” (2:1, 3).
Sin, committed by all mentally capable people, makes it impossible to regain standing by our own unaided efforts. Consider the problems:
1. The guilt of sin cannot be alleviated by good deeds. Though we are instructed to make restitution where possible for our transgressions, this action does not negate the guilt of the sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23), and God’s law by itself doesn’t allow for acquittal. Without some form of atonement, justice demands the penalty of death for violation of divine law, regardless of one’s desire to “make it right.”
2. The problem of sin is too enormous. How many sins have we committed already in our lifetime? How many can we make up for on our own? And if we have caused irreparable harm (such as murder, rape, abortion, etc.) how exactly would we “make it right”? And if by God’s allowance we live another 20, 30, 40 years or more, how will we identify and correct all future transgressions that we will commit?
3. Further, human beings are incapable of perfect insight in order to identify and remedy every act of sin. In our immaturity we lack the capacity to perfectly evaluate our words, thoughts and actions and may only later learn the sinfulness of a particular behavior. By this time the initial transgression is long-forgotten, buried under layers of psychological callouses and simple forgetfulness. How can we address such things?
4. Further, to trust in our own goodness presupposes that we do more good things than bad and deserve divine favor on that basis. But is this a valid assumption? Not to unduly exaggerate sin, but I personally feel that my untainted accomplishments for the Lord are meager and the occasional triumphs are plagued with offsetting flaws and deficiencies. Unadulterated achievement which glorifies the Lord is, in my opinion, relatively rare.
In addition to these individual shortcomings, mankind in the aggregate was unable to formulate his own remedial scheme to nullify God’s judgments against sin and regain favorable standing. This is why Paul began the Ephesian letter by stressing what God did for us in Christ (1:3-14):
Ø God “blessed us with every spiritual blessing … in Christ.”
Ø God “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ … according to the good pleasure of His will.”
Ø God “made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption.”
Ø God “made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure.”
Ø God gathered “together in one all things in Christ.”
Later in the epistle Paul says that “now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church … according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (3:10-12). Salvation is a result of what was in God’s mind even before He created us; He knew we would abuse our free will and act in rebellion to Him.
“Through faith in Him” introduces a different kind of works developed in these contexts. That is, not all “works” are meritorious; the works of faith are the things we choose to do because we have come to believe in and love God – especially considering what He has done to save us from our own self-inflicted eternal banishment. In order for our response to God to be legitimate, it must “bear fruit” or display compliance with God’s will through respect for Him and a desire to please Him.
To summarize, the grace of God provides salvation that we could not secure for ourselves, and it is appropriated through genuine faith that satisfies conditions for exoneration and continues to promote growth in godliness. This whole process is “the gift of God”; we earn nothing by accepting what He has graciously offered. But in our free will we must choose faith which “comes by hearing … the word of God.”
