Lots of Christians struggle with the role of faith and works in the life of the believer. Since there are a myriad of positions on this debate, it can become quite confusing to sort through the various views and determine which is right. During my life as a Christian, I have held almost all the various positions at one time or another, but in the last fifteen years or so have settled on a position which seems to make the most sense of most biblical passages surrounding this debate.
One reason I am sharing this now is because a reader submitted the following question:
I am new to the Christian religion. I thought that I was believing correctly and realized that a relationship with Christ is all about faith and not works. I’m not going to lie, I still have doubts about what I believe and am still learning. Every time I read something about Christianity and faith I get a new outlook on it, then I read something else about works, works, works, there is no faith without works and then I get discouraged and fearful.
I have tried to read books and internet to get some clarification of the bible, I think well this person would be good to learn from because they are so knowledgeable about the Bible and then they speak about faith and works and I get so confused all over again.
I came across your website by accident really and I’m hoping to learn more from it. Thanks.
Thank you for reading.
The question you have asked is one of the most fundamental questions that can be asked, and yet at the same time, a question which never seems to get answered.
As you have discovered, there are a thousand different ways people try to answer this question. Some say “faith alone.” Some say, “faith plus works.” Some say, “faith that leads to works.”
The Role of Faith and Works in the Life of the Christian
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I have a position on the role of faith and works which seems to make the most sense out of most of the troubling and difficult passages of Scripture.
Essentially, when it comes to the role of faith and works, it is critical to understand the important distinction between the free gift of eternal life to all who simply believe, and many of the other benefits of the Christian life which can be gained through following Jesus daily.
Not many recognize this distinction, which causes them to read passages about the cost of discipleship as if they were passages about how to receive eternal life. As you can imagine, this causes them to read the passage wrongly and apply it incorrectly.
Here is a little chart which begins to show some of the distinctions between the free gift of eternal life and the life of discipleship as a follower of Jesus.
| Eternal Life | The Abundant Life |
|---|---|
| Free Gift | Prize |
| Received through faith alone | Received through faithful living |
| Once for all time | A daily practice |
| Instant justification | Life-long sanctification |
| Jesus paid the price | The Christian pays the price |
| Believe in Jesus for eternal life | Follow Jesus as Lord of your life |
There are certainly other distinctions that could be made, but these are some of the basic ideas to get you started as you seek to understand the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.
So as you are reading the Bible and seeking to follow Jesus, remember these distinctions, and many of the tough texts will begin to make a lot more sense.
The Role of Faith and Works in the Bible
It is also helpful to understand that probably about 95% (or more) of the Bible is primarily concerned with the right-hand column of the chart above. When you read in the Bible about proclaiming Jesus as Lord, following Jesus, taking up your cross, eternal reward, inheriting the Kingdom, life in the Spirit, faithful living, and on and on and on, the author who wrote that text was primarily thinking of how we should live as followers of Jesus so that we can experience the life God meant for us to live.
Let me put it another way: Most biblical authors assume that their readers have already received eternal life by faith. Most biblical authors assume that their readers want to know how to obey God and follow Jesus better.
The Bible is primarily a book for discipleship. While there are many texts which tell readers how to receive eternal life by faith alone, the vast majority of the Bible is intended to encourage and inspire those who have received eternal life to live in light of the free gift they have already received.
There is a lot of confusion about the role of faith and works
As you have discovered, there is a lot of confusion among Bible teachers, pastors, seminary professors, and Christian authors about the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.
I have no desire to criticize these other teachers and writers, so let me encourage you to go ahead and read and learn from as many of them as you can. As long as you understand the basic distinction I have briefly laid out above, and recognize that most teachers and writers are going to be a little confused on this topic, you can benefit from what they teach and write by making the little mental adjustment in your mind to whatever they are saying.
So, for example, if your hear a pastor saying, “You have to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus in order to go to heaven when you die,” you can look in the text he is preaching from (maybe Matthew 16:24-26 or Luke 9:23-26), and see that Jesus is talking about saving your life (which is NOT the same thing as receiving eternal life) by living in a profitable way here on earth (cf. Luke 9:24-25). You will further see that Jesus is referring to receiving glory, honor, and recognition from Him when He returns (Luke 9:26). Again, this is not eternal life, but is the prize or the reward of living life for Jesus, which has benefits here and now and benefits for all eternity.
One of the key passages which is often debated regarding faith and works is James 2:14-26. I have written previously about James 2, dead faith, and the faith of demons so won’t write about this text here.
Obviously, a lot more could be said on this, and eventually I hope to write a lot more about this important topic. Hopefully this will be enough for now to steer you in the right direction on the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.
By the way, one book I highly recommend on this topic (though it rather expensive) is Joseph Dillow’s Final Destiny. An earlier version of this book was of immense help to me as I learned about the roles of faith and works in the life of the believer, and how to understand most of the tough texts in the Bible on this topic.
So well done, Jeremy. I did a series on this lately: http://edunderwood.com/series/grace-and-good-works/ Mind if I post this as a guest post on my blog?
Thanks for the link! Go ahead and post what you want. I appreciate it!
This will help many people. Good job Jeremy explaining one if those important nuances of scripture that all too often gets “Blended” in doctrine causing great congusion for people.
Thanks, Wendy. It is so important to understand the roles of faith and works in our lives, right?
This leads to the great truth of judgement. For the sinner, his final judgement is about his works-they don’t add up & they are condemned. For the Christian, his works are judge & is rewarded (or loses rewards). The Christian’s sins were judge at the cross-left to die under the blood of Christ. As were the sinners, except he carries his to the final judgement hoping his ‘works’ save him-which is a way of saying ‘I’m my own savior’. Good stuff Jeremy.
Thanks, Tony. Yes, there is something to be said about the Judgment Seat of Christ and the works of the believers for eternal rewards.
Thanks Jeremy for having been reassured of God’s total forgiveness and grace. I truly believe it. Just one question: Is it possible to make such a distinction in 2 columns? Tough Jesus is focusing on the fruit in a believers life, is it possible to live a saved life (eternally) without fruit?
Joh 15:2 He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more.
Keep up the good work!
Two columns may be an oversimplification, to be sure.
But to answer your question, no, all believers will have “fruit” but I would not say that this fruit will be evident to all. We cannot judge others (or ourselves) by the fruit or lack of fruit in their lives. Ultimately, our eternal life is based solely on the promises of God in Scripture.
It is my opinion that you are deceived and confused on a few things here and are unintentionally misleading Christians to a false grace.
Yes, that is the opinion of others as well. But I believe that those who do not teach this radical, outrageous grace are leading people into a legalistic bondage to a religion of good works.
So then that justifies you not speaking the truth of Scripture?
What? I am speaking what I believe to be the truth of Scripture. Scripture teaches the radical, outrageous, shockingly free grace of God.
Jeremy,
A number of things you are saying in this article, are not the complete truth of scripture, (so if it is not complete truth, it is not truth.) Please let me attempt to tackle a couple of them. I hope my thoughts do not get to disjointed.
The works that come from a persons saving faith in Christ is not works of the flesh, it is the work of Christ who lives in them. Yes, God’s grace is radical, outrageous and free. If you have received this grace through repentance of sin, you have an eternal faith relationship with The Lord Christ Jesus, He dwells in you, you die to self, and it is Christ that lives in you, therefore your works are of Christ, and this is an ongoing, daily process.
The way you talk about works is a religion, man doing the work. On your list in the right hand column about “Abundant Life” are not scriptural, they are man’s way to God, man’s works. “Received through faithful living” ie religion man doing the work of faithful living, not the indwelling Spirit do the work. And again in “The Christian pays the price” is religion –
Man doing the work”. The Christian life is lived through the life of Christ living in them by the indwelling Spirit. You have to continually die to the flesh and live by the Spirit.
God’s grace is a free gift, but like any gift you receive, you have to take care of that gift or it can be wrecked, you can even loose track of it by ignoring it, and gets lost. So just because God gives it to you free of cost to you, does not mean you can not ruin or loose it.
You are proof texting and changing the meaning of scripture to suit your idea of grace and works. Scripture clearly marries the two. You do not earn grace by works, but works are produced if you are indwelt by Christ Jesus.
Chris,
I agree with much of what you are saying. I too struggle with how best to explain the role of works in the life of the believer. I too believe that faithfulness is brought about by the indwelling Spirit. I don’t think I said anything contrary to this idea in the article above. I maybe just didn’t state it as clearly as I could have or as you apparently wanted.
Of course, not everything can be said in every post…
As for proof texting, this is an accusation people throw at others when they simply disagree with the person’s views. I firmly believe the texts I reference back up and support my views.
Hello All
The matter is straightforward if we rely on the Holy Spirit, it is not hard. Grace is a free, a gift from God. With this gift comes responsibility. We are Stewarts of this gift. If my father gives me a house it was given freely, for this house to be maintained and kept in good standing I have to do work on it to keep it up. Even though was given to me I have to do work to keep it in good standing. Our Christian life requires daily work to keep living by faith. That faith is trust, trust is action. Because I trust God, I will work for him as he commanded in Mathew 28 to go do and tell of His goodness to all around us.
“As you have discovered, there is a lot of confusion among Bible teachers, pastors, seminary professors, and Christian authors about the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.”
Chris I think you have exemplified exactly what Jeremy stated above. I’m not sure with your explanation exactly where you feel Jeremy is deceiving others. Many, many Christians struggle with the security of their faith, and just how works intertwine with that faith. You have far too many teachers today who over emphasize grace in the believers life to the exclusion of discipleship teaching, and you have many others who want to attach amendments to the free grace doctrine. I think Jeremy has done a wonderful job explaining a very difficult topic in many believers lives in a simple, straight forward manner that will help them to digest both faith, and works in their lives. When your average believer is looking for answers, they don’t want a exhaustive doctrinal thesis, they want something that is approachable and easily digested.
“But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Mark 10:14-15
I am one of those little children who appreciates teachers who are aware of the crowd that follows them, as Jesus did.
Good job as usual Jeremy
Thanks for weighing in, Ward.
You have properly understood the intent of this article. It wasn’t meant to be exhaustive, nor was it meant to cover all the issues or answer all the questions. It was intended to point people in a gracious direction toward a gracious God. With God’s grace, the article will accomplish that.
Sorry Ward, I don’t want to see you deceived. What I wrote is not the same as what Jeremy wrote in this blog.
Hope I am not being redundant here and can be more clear. If what I am saying is not of God, discard. I write this in The Spirit, and in the attitude of brotherly love and correction of The Truth.
Rom. 16:17
Jeremy teaches: on the left hand column – “Grace Only” by means of mental thought and speech and calls that Faith. Also on the right hand column – that Works (by the flesh) earn you “Abundant Life” in heaven.
Scripture teaches: Grace by means of Christ The Lord Indwelling you. Works happen by The Indwelling Life of Christ. Faith and Works are married. They are not separated in two columns. Scripture teaches that they are not separate.
Jeremy’s idea of How Faith and Works play out in the life of a Christ Follower is not Truth from scripture. Jeremy believes in a different Jesus than scripture, a Jesus that gives eternal life to anyone that confesses by mouth to believe. That is it, you are guaranteed eternal life, so if you believe that; You can live like the devil and still have eternal life.
Titus 2:11-15
The whole of Scripture teaches that when you come to believe and it is genuine, you will die to self (the flesh) and live by The Spirit. That is what taking up one’s cross is. Dying to self and serve others. That is works and that goes hand and hand with faith. Faith is a verb, an action. If you have Eternal Faith you will have works, but Works does not earn you God’s Eternal Grace.
When the Lord saved me from the pit and became a believer I realised straight away that I knew nothing about real life, a life in Christ. That massive emptiness demanded to be filled. That was 34 years ago and I’m still filling it from every resource, prayer, scripture, books, conferences, fellowship, Church, and appropriate works.
As I have grown in the gifts as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 Holy Spirit has changed me from the man I was to the man I was made to be. I think most of the time I have plodded through my Christian life with no sense of a destination or purpose as each day has had it’s own agenda and not mine.
All my emotions have come into play through my journey so far, good bad and indifferent from elation to depression, but, I have never felt like going back and after every episode I knew I had moved on. You know the saying “one step forward two steps back” I can honestly say I have never been there.
Works, when it comes to works, I to have tried to figure it and taken on to much or picked up an activity because it sounded good but ended up being a nightmare or fancied doing something at Church which gave me street cread but did not belong to me so I reluctantly had to give it up. When I look back I see that as essential training in understanding what works is about. For me it’s our response to His great love for me and everyone else.
I was once told that suffering is good for the soul, I know what they mean but that’s not from God but from going off on one in our own strength and suffering the consequences. My God offers us only good things and does not push us into bad things to teach us a lesson. My God sheds buckets of tears when I go in the wrong direction. My God says “come Clive, what shall we do today”.
Another comment that some people make is “my life is going to well, something bad is sure to happen sooner or later”, don’t think it or say it, thats like reading your stars in the daily paper. God’s plan for us is always good so enjoy it and be grateful, no there is no cost to being in Christ, but there is one for not being.
A final thing, when you came to belief you immediately received the best friend ever but you also now have an enemy who will try his best to knock you off your high place. Pray constantly for revelation, sanctification and protection. The enemy (the devil) thinks he can win but he does not know he already has lost when Jesus died,rose and ascended to His Father. Death where is your sting?, it went when Jesus died, because He battled and won over the curse of death. Death has no longer any power over us as we who believe have received the gift of eternal life.
Before you go to sleep at night, pray for safety and a good nights sleep, for the morning brings you another day nearer to God and your perfection in Him. Love Clive X
Is there a malfunction with this site or are my postings being censored? Several have “disappeared” after initially showing up.
What are eternal rewards ? Is it like a higher place in heaven ?
No. It is a fuller experience of life, both here and now and in eternity. This may include greater responsibility and position.