Chapter 14: Salvation is Not by Works

Chapter 14: Salvation is Not by Works Is salvation God’s work? Or is it man’s? Or could it be that both God and man contribute to it? In other words, on what basis should God forgive us and receive us into heaven?

You may perhaps answer, “I hope to go to heaven because my good works are more numerous than my sins. God will place the evil I’ve performed on one side and my good performance on the other, and I trust the balance will be in my favor. To this end I attend church, pray, take Holy Communion, fast and do penance, contribute to charity and whenever I can I help my neighbor. Such good works merit the grace of eternal life.” The Catholic Church insists that “We can have merit in God’s sight because of God’s free plan to associate man with the work of his grace.” The grace of salvation is the fruit of a joint-effort between God and man: “Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly, to man’s collaboration.”237 A friend of mine explained this teaching in a simpler way. “God did his part. Now it’s up to you to do your part too.” I used to believe this, and did my utmost to “do my part” but never did I find rest and peace for my soul. How could I know whether I’ve done enough? If I die, would I go to heaven or would I go to hell? These doubts held me captive in a gloomy prison cell, and I know many Catholic friends who are in the same predicament.

I thank God, who was pleased to set me free from these uncertainties and fears, and show me the glorious light of His love and mercy. The Lord used the following portion of Scripture as a key to open my prison doors:

“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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”238 Not of Works

According to Scripture, is salvation by God’s grace and our own good works? The Holy Spirit leaves us in no doubt: salvation is “by grace” and “not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Salvation comes from God alone. We can do nothing to deserve it. We cannot contribute anything to earn it. Salvation is “not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Even a little child can understand this simple statement, but how difficult it is for man’s proud heart to accept this truth! Ironically enough, the sinner cannot experience liberty and peace with God unless he first stops depending, even partially, on himself and his own performance. The way to freedom is to trust completely on Someone else, the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, a person receives salvation and justification from God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” 239 Can we perhaps say that we deserve to be saved because we believe? Certainly not, for genuine faith does not lean upon itself but rather upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith resembles the empty hand which gratefully receives the gift of salvation, accomplished by Christ and given freely by God. The Holy Spirit moved Saul of Tarsus to leave it on record that the sinner is not saved at all by what he himself does. At one time Saul too used to trust in himself in order to obtain eternal life. He boasted in his rite of circumcision; he flattered himself for being one of the children of Israel (the covenant people of God); he took note of how zealous for his religion and how obedient he was to the Law. Similarly you too may be found in such a mind-set: you may point out that you are baptized, that you hold membership in the Catholic Church, and lead a devout and obedient life, observing the Ten Commandments and the church’s precepts. As it happened, there came an extraordinary change in Saul’s attitude. He no longer continued to trust in his own works and accomplishments. Rather, he affirmed: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”240 Good works, if performed with the intention of meriting salvation, become a stumbling-block and rubbish (as the apostle describes them), because they hold the sinner back from trusting completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such works, though commendable in themselves, block your way to the Saviour.

Saved by Grace The sinner is delivered from sin by God’s grace. But what does “grace” mean? The apostle Paul explains the exact significance. He writes: “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.”241

Imagine if you were to find a note with your pay-cheque, “This cheque is given to you as a gift, by grace!” I can guess your reaction! “Oh no, I earned the money. I have a right to the cheque; I worked for it. My employer is indebted to me for the service I have rendered. I merit, I deserve, I earned that payment!” So “grace” is the very opposite of “merit” gained by works. Grace is an unmerited favour.

God does not save us because we deserve to be saved on account of our work or cooperation. God is not obliged to give anything to any sinner except punishment, but it pleased God to save sinners, even though they did not deserve it! What sinners really deserve is His wrath and condemnation, but instead they receive eternal life freely on account of Christ. How unsearchable are the riches, love and goodness of God! To my sorrow I notice how many Catholics do not understand what God’s grace really is. They assume that they can “earn grace” by their good deeds or through the intercession of saints. The Catholic Church teaches that “moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.”242 Such statements are self-contradictory. You cannot pay for a favour, for in that very moment when you pay for it, it ceases to be a favour. Salvation and eternal life are gifts of God (please read Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 6:23). A genuine gift is given freely from the heart and not because you have a right to it.

You cannot be saved by grace and by your good deeds at the same time. It’s either by grace or by works. It is certainly not by both, for Scripture declares: “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.”243 His Workmanship As we insist that we are not saved by our good works, by our obedience and by our participation, we should not assume that salvation is cheap and easy. Salvation is a grand accomplishment - a far greater work than the creation of heaven and earth. It is a work that only God could perform. “We,” that is, all those saved by grace, “are His workmanship.” Saved people are God’s work. In no way does salvation originate in man or can be accomplished by man. God alone can provide and apply salvation. “Salvation is of the Lord.”244

Jesus Christ insists upon this truth. When questioned about who would be saved, he answered: “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”245 He did not say, “Salvation is difficult for man.” No, it’s way beyond man. For man it’s impossible! God alone can, and actually did the humanly impossible: in His Son he accomplished salvation for sinners.

You must realize that you have a debit account with God - an infinite one - and you can do nothing to make good for it. Your so-called merits and cooperation avail for nothing. The wages of sin, according to Scripture, is death, not your good deeds. Lost sinners will pay the penalty for their sin by dying the second death, when they will be cast into the lake of fire forever, far away from the comfortable presence of God. Nevertheless, a way of deliverance has been inaugurated for us - Jesus Christ. He became personally responsible for the failures of His people by paying the price Himself, dying on the cross. In Christ “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”246 The sinner is justified (declared right with God) “freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”247 Man does not pay anything, but far be it from us to think that salvation is cheap! Salvation is free for us; but for Christ to obtain it for us, it cost Him His own life! To Do Good Works

What about good works, then? Ephesians 2:8-10 affords us a precise answer. Firstly, it teaches us that we are not saved because of our good deeds (“not of works”). However that does not imply that good works have no place at all in salvation. On the contrary, the apostle Paul insists that we are saved for the very purpose of engaging ourselves wholeheartedly in doing good works - “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” So, we are saved not “of” but “for” good works. Good deeds are not the cause, but rather the result of salvation. The apostle James asks: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”248 Good works are the fruit produced by the branch engrafted in Christ, the true vine. The absence of fruit reveals that the branch in not vitally united to Christ by living faith. So if someone claims to have faith but does not produce good works, it shows that his so-called “faith” is dead and useless.

Good works and obedience to the holy Law of God are the concrete evidence of salvation. Those to whom God granted the forgiveness of sins are the same ones in whom God has inscribed His Law, and wrote it upon their hearts.249 He who says that he has a good relationship with God and yet does not keep His commandments, albeit imperfectly, is a liar. He who boasts that he believes in God and yet his “faith” is barren, producing no good works, is only deceiving himself. A New Song

We are not saved because of our good works. We are saved that we may do good works. It is every Christian’s ambition to live a fruitful life in order to express his gratitude to God. A genuine Christian does not boast in himself; he knows well enough that he did nothing to merit salvation. The Christian’s boast is rather in the cross of Christ, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”250 In heaven a new song is sung to the Lamb, the Lord Jesus: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”251 Who will dare to change such a hymn of praise to Christ, and instead say, “You are worthy, O sinful man, for by your works and by your own efforts you have obtained salvation for yourself”?