One of the best known, most often quoted scriptures in the entire Bible is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Now, on the face of it, taken alone and all by itself without considering any other statement of holy scripture, that verse seems to say that in order to be saved and granted eternal life, there is only ONE THING a person must do – just have faith, or believe. That’s all! But what, or WHO, is it we are to have faith in? Jesus Christ, of course! And what is it we are to believe? Merely believe that He died for our sins PERIOD? That’s it? That’s all God expects or requires of us? Now go about your life whistling “Amazing Grace” and looking forward to spending eternity walking down golden avenues and boulevards?? But what does it really mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? Does it mean we merely believe He lived, died, and rose from the dead? Or does it mean believe that much AND MORE, that we believe what He said and taught and ACT ON or DO what He said?
When Paul says our salvation is “not of works,” does he mean there are no works whatsoever involved in our salvation, or does he mean a certain TYPE of works are not required or necessary? Let’s look at the context by reading the next two verses in the passage quoted above. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God has before ordained (decreed) that we should walk in them (maintain as a matter of daily life). Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision (aliens) by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands (the Jews)…” (Ephesians 2:10-11). Note: All comments in parentheses, single words and phrases, are those of the author.
Notice that Paul here mentions a work performed “by hands.” A work of the flesh, circumcision. This was, of course, performed as a religious ritual by the Jews, and “Christian” Jews – at least some of them from Judea – “taught the brethren, and said, ‘Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED” (See Acts 15:1). And this is the type of works to which Paul refers in Ephesians 2:8-9 when he writes that our salvation is NOT of works.
But what about repentance? Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (See Luke 13:3,5). Jesus taught that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among ALL nations” (See Luke 24:47). Notice how remission of sins is linked with repentance. And this is a work, a work we must do over and beyond just believing Jesus died for us and rose again. The basic Greek word translated by the English word repentance is metanoia (pronounced met-AN’-oy-ah), and means “to regret, to reform, to reverse direction.” But what do we repent of? What do we stop doing and reverse direction? Sin, of course! We repent of sin. Jesus said, “Go, and sin no more” (See John 8:11 and John 5:14). Paul wrote, “Henceforth (after repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior AND LORD) WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN” (See Romans 6:6). And what IS sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law” (See I John 3:4).
So, if we are to repent of sin, to stop sinning, and sin is the transgression of the law (God’s commandments), that would mean we are obligated to start keeping God’s commandments! The apostle John was very clear about the matter, writing, “He that says, ‘I know Him (claiming to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ), and keeps not His commandments, IS A LIAR, and the truth is not in him” (See I John 2:4). Note that John says the truth is not in the person who breaks God’s commandments. John had earlier written how Jesus had said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (See John 14:6). Thus, Jesus is not IN the commandment breaker, the sinner, the one who continues to break God’s commandments, regardless of what that person might believe. John wrote, “He that commits sin (continues to sin) is of the devil” (See I John 3:6). The Greek word translated “commits” (or “committeth” in the King James English) in that verse is the exact same Greek word translated “continue” in James 4:13 and Revelation 13:5, so that I John 3:6 actually says, “He who continues to sin is of the devil!”
Although many, if not most, believers will fall into an occasion of sin from time to time, knowingly and wittingly doing something they know good and well God disapproves of or some scripture injunction forbids, no believer led by the Spirit of God will habitually practice sin in their daily lives. Such behavior would swiftly quench the Spirit and return such a person back into the world of the unbelievers and unredeemed!
Paul urged the carnal believers at Corinth, “Examine yourselves (give yourselves a spiritual “check-up”), whether you be in the faith (try to determine whether you’re truly converted), prove (put to the test) your own selves (stop worrying about the other guy’s spirituality), how that Jesus Christ is IN you, except you be reprobates (false Christians, not really converted at all)” (See 2 Corinthians 13:5). Notice, Paul says if you are truly converted Jesus Christ is IN you by extension of the Holy Spirit. He is expressing Himself in and through you. That is WHY truly converted believers are called the BODY of Christ! (See Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:30-32; I Corinthians 12:12-27).
When Paul told the Ephesians we are “saved through faith…not of works” the context in which he said that showed he meant works of the flesh, ritualistic religious acts, such as circumcision, ritual washings and cleansings, drink offerings, etc. He did NOT mean there are no works accompanying our faith. The works of God MUST accompany our faith. The only time “faith alone” is found in the scriptures it says a man is not justified by faith alone.
James wrote, “Even so faith, if it has not works, IS DEAD, being alone” (See James 2:17). James was not in conflict with Paul. They were just speaking of two different kinds of works! There are works of the flesh, forbidden, and works of the Spirit – COMMANDED! Notice the type of works James speaks of in his letter: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Pure religion, that is true religion, undefiled by false concepts, has accompanying good works. Now notice how Paul fully agrees with James when he writes, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works (of fleshly religious rituals), lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship (Jesus is working IN us), created (a new person) in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (See Ephesians 2:8-10).
The Greek word that is translated “walk” in that 10th verse is peripateo (pronounced per-ee-pat-EH’-o), and literally means “to tread all around, to be occupied with.” It means we are constantly occupied with performing good works. We live a life of good works. It should be said of us, as it was said of our Lord, that we were one of those “who went about doing good” (See Acts 10:38). Compare Philippians 2:12-16.
The good works James describes are practical acts of real helpfulness and kindness: the assisting and helping of widows and orphans (James 1:27), clothing of the naked and feeding of the hungry (James 2:15-17), and obeying God explicitly and without question. (See James 2:20-23). And faith without these works is DEAD, and will not save you. “Ye see then how that by (such) works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). And then James concludes his remarks in this matter by saying, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Friends, a dead faith cannot save you. Faith without obedience to God’s word is an imperfect, or faulty faith. It is only when faith is accompanied with works is it perfected and complete; “See how faith wrought (co-operated, accompanied) with his (Abraham’s) works, and by works was faith made perfect (complete)” (See James 2:22).
In Revelation 14, when we see Jesus Christ standing on Mt. Zion with His faithful followers, we read of them, “Here is the patience (Greek, “endurance”) of the saints: Here are they THAT KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and the faith of Jesus” (verse 12). The two cannot be separated. They go hand-in-hand. True living faith imparted to you by Jesus Christ as a gracious gift will quickly lead you into a lifestyle of keeping God’s commandments. If it doesn’t, you possess imperfect, humanly-generated faith. And I tell you, on the authority of God’s word, you are still in your sins – unsaved!
Satan promised Mother Eve life in disobedience. (See Genesis 3:1-5). He, through his deceived spokesmen (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15), will do the same for you. He will whisper in your ear and shout it from the pulpit, “All you need do to be saved and granted eternal life is believe –nothing else is required of you.” And NOWHERE does the Bible say any such thing. Jesus Christ “became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY Him” (See Hebrews 5:9). In Acts 5:32 we are told that God gives His Holy Spirit “to them that OBEY Him.”
When the Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” they replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. AND THEY (THEN) SPOKE UNTO HIM THE WORD OF THE LORD, and to all that were in his house” (See Acts 16:30-32). To “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is to BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID AND TO ACT ON WHAT HE SAID. That is why that thirty-second verse says they then spoke unto him, and his household, the word of the Lord. And, after hearing what the Lord required, “He…was baptized, he and all his, straightway (immediately)” (See verse 33).
Many who quote from the above text quote only the 31st verse, “And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…’” They then say that Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer that all he had to do to be saved was believe Jesus died for him! But that’s NOT what the text says. They said “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” and they then “spoke unto him the word of the Lord,” telling him what Jesus taught and required of sinful humans if we are to have our sins forgiven and be granted eternal life.
It was the apostle Paul who wrote to the believers at Rome, “that if you shall confess with the mouth THE LORD Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (See Romans 10:9). Note well that Paul says one must confess Jesus Christ as LORD in order to be saved. And He doesn’t mean mere lip service, that we call Him Lord but then live life as we please. To truly confess Jesus Christ as LORD means to agree that He IS the LORD of your life and that you will DO what He says, obeying Him and allowing Him to guide, direct and lead in your life. THAT is confessing with your mouth Jesus as LORD. Anything less than that is mock, or pretend faith, and that kind of faith will save no one.
Jesus said you are a fool if you merely believe on Him without obeying Him: “Not every one that says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven” and then went on to say, “Every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man!” (See Matthew 7:21, 26). Reader, are you a fool???
Saving faith is not the act of a single moment in time. Saving faith is one’s absolute committal to God, a delivering up of self to God: “He that finds his life (maintains personal control over his life) shall lose it (will miss out on eternal life), and he that loses his life for my sake (a total, irrevocable delivering up of one’s self to God) shall find it” (See Matthew 10:39). THIS, and more, is what Paul and Silas would have told the Philippian jailer when it says in Acts 16 that they spoke unto him and all that were in the house the word of the Lord! THAT is rightly dividing the Word of God. Something few preachers do it seems.
There is not a single Bible reference urging anyone to “ask Jesus to come into your heart” for salvation. Salvation is not conditioned upon our “accepting Christ,” but on the obedience of living faith. (See Acts 6:7). We are not saved by the works of the flesh (See Titus 3:4-7 and Ephesians 2:8-9), but by the works commanded by God. (See James 2:14-24). Belief is a work commanded by God (See John 6:27-29). Baptism is NOT a work of human righteousness, but a work commanded by God. (See Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38; Acts 9:6, 17-18; Acts 10:6,47-48; Acts 16:15,32-33; Acts 18:8 and Acts 22:16). Our works commanded by God are belief, repentance, confession, baptism and total, continual obedience to God and His commandments – all commanded by the scriptures of any who would receive salvation as a gift of God.
The blind man spoken of in John Chapter 9 was healed entirely by grace, but still he had to DO exactly what Jesus told him to do in order to receive his sight. Jesus, after anointing the eyes of the blind man with clay, told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam in order to receive his sight. The blind man did so and was healed. Had the blind man thought, “Wait. I am standing in the temple area. The pool of Siloam is a long distance from where I stand, and there are many water pots for purification purposes all around me here. I’ll just wash off the clay in one of those.” Do you think he would have then received his sight? No, he would not have. He received his sight entirely by grace, but still he had to do exactly what Jesus said in order to be healed. So do we, friend.
Read 2 Kings Chapter 5. Naaman, the Syrian, was healed of his leprosy entirely by the grace of God after being told to wash in the Jordan River seven times by the prophet Elisha. At first this command of Elisha was rejected as foolish by Naaman. He thought, “Damascus has two rivers better than all the rivers of Israel! May I not wash in them and be clean?” But his servants reasoned with him that had Elisha told him to do some great thing in order to be healed he probably would have done so. Why not wash in the Jordan? He did so “and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” He was healed of his leprosy entirely by grace. Still, had he not done what was commanded of him by God through His prophet Elisha, he would not have been made whole.
Perhaps you understand more fully now just WHY Jesus said, “Narrow Is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it” (See Matthew 7:14). The way is narrower than many “believers” think or even imagine.
Faith without works of obedience is not the genuine article. Saving faith is LIVING faith, a faith so vital it must find expression through good works and instant obedience to God. Paul described it as “a faith which works by love” – love to God and love to our fellow man. (See Galatians 5:6). Do YOU possess living faith?
The same man who wrote Ephesians 2:8-9 also wrote Romans 8:12-13, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh (we no longer have to give in to our fleshly lusts), for if you (do) live after the flesh, YOU SHALL DIE (the second death, as we ALL die the first death however we might live), but if you through the Spirit (the only way possible) do mortify (put to death, cease) the deeds of the body (giving in to fleshly passions and lusts), you shall (then) live.”
Paul also wrote 2 Corinthians 6:16-18: “And what agreement has the temple of God with Belial (“worthlessness,” an epithet used for satan), or what part has he who believes with an infidel (an unbeliever)? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ (Is God quite obviously dwelling in YOU?) Wherefore, ‘Come out from among them (the people of this world), and be you separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” That goes somewhat beyond just believing, doesn’t it? Does one become a son or daughter of God by merely believing Jesus died for them? Not according to those words penned by the apostle Paul. Read the entirety of Ephesians Chapter 2 and look at the context. He speaks of children of disobedience, who are still dead in their trespasses and sins, who walk and live according to the course of this world, and who fulfill the lusts of the flesh and the mind. Just believing Jesus Christ died for them does NOT make them children of obedience and, thus, children of God. One would remain a child of wrath. True living faith energizes one spiritually, giving them spiritual life, uniting one to God and bringing that repentant believer into the household of God and thereby making that individual “an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
I close with some further words from the pen of the apostle Paul written to the believers in Galatia: “Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing (obeying God), for in due season we shall reap (life everlasting) if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-9).
I fear there are going to be a lot of surprised believers at the judgment, men and women who truly believed they were in Christ, converted, at peace with God, who will find too late that they were merely religious, believing a few undeniable facts and truths of the scripture but not “believing unto righteousness” (See Romans 10:10). One can believe Jesus died for them and not be justified, not be granted God’s Holy Spirit – the power to lead and guide them into living a righteous lifestyle as commanded by God and scripture! I, myself, was of that number for many, many years.
Paul had just written about those who “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (See verse 3, Romans 10). Blinded by Satan from seeing that God’s righteousness is attained by submitting to Jesus Christ in toto, allowing Him to serve as our LORD, they have established their own righteousness in thinking they need only believe Jesus died for them. God’s righteousness is applied in lieu of our guilty past ONLY when we confess with our mouths Jesus is our LORD. God’s righteousness is only worked out in our present and future when we allow Jesus Christ to maintain HIS control over our lives as our LORD! Anything short of that leads to false conversion.
Jesus Christ Himself asked, “Why call ye me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say? (See Luke 6:46). He then went on to say that all those who merely call Him Lord without actually allowing Him to BE the LORD of their lives have built a house without a foundation, a house that will eventually fall into ruin. (See verses 47-49, same chapter).
Yes, it IS by grace that we are saved by faith – but it is LIVING faith that is the gift from God, a vital, life-changing faith, a faith that guides and orders our daily life and existence. Such faith no man can boast of having worked up or produced. It is the kind of faith that gets results. The believers at Rome and in Thessalonica exhibited such faith, causing Paul to write that their faith was spoken of throughout the whole Roman world. It was a faith that changed them, making them truly sons and daughters of God.
Reader, if you are without such faith, you are without Christ. You have no Savior. By the way, do you know how many times Jesus Christ is called “Savior” in the New Testament? Twenty-four times. Do you know how many times He is called “LORD” in the New Testament alone? SEVEN HUNDRED AND THREE TIMES! Do you see where the Holy Spirit placed the emphasis when inspiring the New Testament writers to write what they did? God help you to understand is my prayer.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley