Do Our Deeds Matter?

Perhaps it is by nature that we tend towards extremes. This may in some way explain the polarization that's prevalent in every social sphere today. For instance, here at home, some blindly and unapologetically believe the NRM government has only ever done good. Others, in similar spirit think this government has done no good whatsoever. Being in Christ, we like to think we have left this aspect of our fallenness behind. More likely however, it has translated into taking extreme - and sometimes unreasonably illogical - positions on certain scriptural doctrines. Best believe we would be the grumbling recipients of a scathing letter from Paul if there were a heavenly mail service to deliver it.

Now, having come to the knowledge of God's gracious saving of savages through Christ - not my words - we might be tempted to think we can go about life willy-nilly. After all, we may think, it is not our deeds that justify us before God.

Once we have declared by the gospel that what saves us is Christ alone, the wickedness of our hearts may tempt us to think that provided we believe in Christ, God shall not care about what we do.

This is the devil's deceit! Should such a thought so much as peep into your mind, arrest it, cuff it in shackles, and cast it where it belongs; with its author in the abyss. The TRUTH tells us that God truly cares about our deeds even though He does not base our salvation on them.

Let's expound, shall we? In determining the part of works in salvation, we must consider the doctrine of justification. Justification, in the Christian sense, can be understood simply as one of two states of our legal standing before God. One is either guilty before God, or acquitted of all charges and therefore upright/holy before God. Whoever stands before God in the latter state stands justified.

How then does one become justified?

This is no trivial question. It is one on which many a battle has been fought. Some read Paul's epistle to the Romans and conclude that by faith alone in Christ are we justified. Others consider the epistle of James and conclude that by our faith in Christ, and our deeds, we are justified. On the answer to this question is based the whole posture of the Christian. Now, believing, as I hope you do, that God's word is inerrant, we must wonder why there are two seemingly exclusive positions within Scripture; or, we wonder why two exclusive positions have been arrived at by the body of Christ. As the LORD wills, and as His Spirit leads, I'll attempt, together with many before me, to reconcile these two positions.

When reading any literary works, it is a good practice to ponder upon the principal question the author is addressing. When we do this for the Apostles' epistles, the controversy between them may cease; for they each appear to have different questions in mind. Another helpful thing when reading Scripture is to as ourselves, 'In whose perspective is the communication made?' For, it has been my observation that there are inevitably two primary perspectives from which the word of God is given to us. The first is the perspective of God, the second is the perspective of man. Knowing this has been of much help in reconciling many seemingly irreconcilable differences in Scripture.

When the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans regarding their salvation, he generally addresses the issues as they are seen by God. Recall 2 Timothy 3:16-17; though it is the Apostle who writes, the words are not his alone. Then, what has the LORD spoken through him regarding justification? 'But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:' (Rom. 4:5)

What is the LORD saying here? In essence He says to us, 'Before me, you are not acquitted because you have done good works. You are counted righteous, you are acquitted, on account of a faith which I require.' How does the just God acquit sinners? By faith! It must be noted that the acquittal we get from God is not the kind we know in law. For one to be acquitted in law, it means one did not commit the crime with which one was charged. Yet here, though we were acquitted, the fact remains that we are guilty. Where is justice in all this? Recall that mercy is not justice, nor is it injustice. Mercy is mercy! Yet God's uncompromising justice demands wrath for sinners. I need not address the mechanics of this here; it was the central focus of the last two posts.

To the world, Christ was in this moment falling and failing. Yet truly, He was purchasing the salvation of mankind. In the sight of God, it was a victory that Christ would suffer these things.

Why hasn't He left us to work out our salvation basing on works to count us righteous? First, justification done this way indicates the righteousness of God. Secondly, we find something interesting in the Prophet Ezekiel. After describing His redemptive work, the LORD says, 'Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. I am not doing this for your sake.' (Eze. 36:31-32) He will open our eyes to our past iniquity and when that veil that confounded us is removed, we shall realise how unfaithful we were to God. Yet, if we had been justified by works, we might think, 'Well, though we did all that evil; we managed to turn back to Him. There is good in us.' Man is unbearably proud and vain! So the LORD says through His Apostle, 'Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.' (Rom. 3:27-28)

You may wonder of which law the Apostle is speaking. It is that law which was given to the Jews through Moses. If justification was by the law of works (the Mosaic Law), then every Christian today would have to live as the Jews did; from circumcision to observing every feast day - in a sense, an honorary Jew. Yet this would be self-contradicting. For, among the laws given to the Jews was one prohibiting them from 'fraternizing' with non-Jews. (Deut. 7:3-4) Do you see then that by the Mosaic law only the Jews would be saved? Yet even they fell miserably short! So the Apostle Paul writes, 'Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.' (Rom. 3:29-30) This then, is another reason that justification must be by faith apart from works [of the Law]. For salvation to be open to all - that is, not the Jews alone - the old covenant had to be replaced with the new. Righteousness by works had to be replaced with righteousness by and through faith.

Getting back to our question today; 'do our works matter'? We shall shortly consider the epistle of the Apostle James. Remember the perspectives of which I spoke. God spoke through the Apostle Paul and showed us justification as it is; that is, as it actually works. Justification is by faith alone.

God looks upon the presence of faith to count anyone righteous.

Yet, how are you to know which faith actually justifies; the kind that saves. Faith lies within the heart; God knows our hearts. But we are incapable of understanding even our own hearts. (Jer. 17:9) How then shall we know that the faith which we have is the kind which justifies us. Well, a faith which justifies is never alone; it is always accompanied by fruits. So He has said, 'So then, you will know them by their fruits.' (Mt. 7:20) If you look upon yourself, or upon another, and do not see certain fruits, then your faith does not justify you. The fruits manifest through works. So, without works, the faith which you have is a dead faith.

What fruits are these of which we speak? They are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. What has the Holy Spirit to do with any of this? We briefly retrace our steps to the word of God in Ezekiel, 'I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.' (Eze. 36:27) For us to obey the LORD, we need His Spirit within us as our enabler. And so He has said, 'For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.' (Rom. 8:6-9)

Do you see that you can only have a saving faith if you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you; that third person of the Triune God must indwell you for your faith to justify you before God. When you have Him in you, you shall be able to please God. You shall have those important fruits of '... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;' (Gal. 5:22-23) - it is these fruits, together with that of obedience, that attach to a saving faith.

Short of that you'll have a dead faith. It is a faith manufactured by man; an imperfect faith. True faith comes from God, it is not worked out by man. 'For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.' (Eph. 2:8-9) How does God extend this gift to us? By His word. 'In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,' (Eph. 1:13)

So, the LORD God has determined that by hearing the message, His elect will believe. (Acts 13:48)

This faith is a seed planted in the heart by God Himself; so from the heart the faith springs.

Once you have such a faith, you have the Spirit of God within you; with the Spirit in you, certain things are expected. Recall His promise regarding the purpose of His Spirit, '...and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.' Therefore, true faith results in obedience to the LORD. Thus, disobedience to Him implies an absence of saving faith.

How then shall we know that we, or others who profess, are truly saved? This is the purpose of works in salvation; good works are the stamp of approval of faith. We search, within ourselves and even in others, for the fruits of the Spirit, which are those things that indicate obedience to the LORD. And we know that to obey the LORD is to love Him; and those who obey Him are loved by Him. (Jn. 14:15, 21)

It is important to appreciate that fruits cannot be pointed to. They are qualities within a person that cannot be identified in and of themselves. How then shall one know the fruits in oneself or another? This is the question that the Apostle James is answering. Do you see that it is all together a different question from that which the Apostle Paul is addressing. So the Apostle James asks us, 'What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?' (James 2:14) Then he says, 'But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?' (James 2:20) By directing us to works, the Apostle in essence tells us that one who has a saving faith, that which bears good fruits, will have good works. Without works, whatever faith you may say you have is the faith of evil; that which knows that God is one but results in rebellion and disobedience.

It would seem that having perceived the above, the epistles are reconciled. They would be, but for this; 'You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.' (James 2:24) Now, has God contradicted Himself here? By no means! It is prudent to seek an understanding of something in its entirety. James alone does not form the canon. However, his epistle forms the canon together with all other epistles, the gospel, the law, as well as the prophets. We must therefore read verse 24 above in the context of the rest of Scripture. All through the prophets and the gospel, we see that justification is not by the works of man. However, such works must inevitably follow from the faith which justifies; without them, one may know that one's faith has not justified.

Unlike mankind, God does not contradict Himself. If we find ourselves reading Scripture into contradicting positions, we may want to start being honest with ourselves. 

There may be another way of understanding these epistles unto inerrancy. One may want to say that the Apostle Paul spoke only of the works of the Law; so that the reconciliation lies in the kind of works of which they speak. Perhaps! We may concede that the Apostle Paul did not mean to say that we are justified by faith alone. Rather, we may say he meant that we are justified by faith apart from works of the Law. In this sense, the works of which the Apostle James is speaking would be those which are a result of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's indwelling of the believer; but not the works of the Law. This way, God justifies those who have faith, and works which are the result of the fruits of the Spirit. If we understand the Apostle Paul to mean works of the Law when he speaks of works, we all together eliminate the controversy. Indeed, it was commonly believed by the Jews that it was their observance of the Law of Moses, apart from faith in Christ, that would save them. Thus, it may be said that the Apostle Paul is not attempting to negate justification by faith and works, but he seeks to counter the doctrine of justification by works of the Law. Truly, this would sweetly settle the question and ably reconcile the two epistles.

In all things however, it is prudent to arrive at a conclusion that does not confound a matter. The reasoning in the preceding paragraph creates yet another challenge. If God truly needs to see works before justifying His sheep, it would mean that God is not God. Perhaps that's a tad too dramatic for your palates. However, it would mean that the one who searches the hearts, cannot truly know whether the faith in a person's heart is true. Such is an unbiblical understanding of Scripture. Is God not omniscient? Does He need to see works to know which are His sheep? Truly not! Before you have done any works, He knows what is in your heart, from where your faith stems. If we hold that God is omniscient, then we must hold that He does not need to see works to be certain of one's character. He will know a true disciple from a false one who does seemingly good deeds.

God does not need works to justify you. He requires only a faith which He gives; and He knows those who have the true faith without having to look to their works. Recall that justification is not about us, rather, it is about God. Having understood these things, it becomes illogical to say that God needs works to justify us. No! It is we who need to see works to know who is justified.

For, Christ did not say, 'I will know them by their fruits,' did He? No! Rather He said, '... you will know them by their fruits.'

Returning therefore, to our question; do our deeds matter? Yes they do. Although they do not save you, their absence should worry you. Good deeds are the marker of a saving faith. And so we are told that in addition to searching our hearts - for the faith - He awards each man in accordance with his ways; 'according to the results of his deeds.' (Jer. 17:10) It is impossible for one who has true faith not to have the deeds which the LORD requires. Therefore, our good deeds, which are not done in the flesh but in the Spirit, shall be a basis for God to reward us. However, they are not a basis for God to justify us. As some reformers have said, 'You are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.' And others have said, 'You are not saved by good works, but you are saved for good works.'

Remember always that Christian doctrine is not understood by the wisdom of man. What we require is God whose wisdom is given to all that ask; and far exceeds any understanding of our own. He has said, 'But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.' (James 1:5) Christ Himself said, 'It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught of God." Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.' (Jn. 6:45) Let there be no fear among us, therefore, if these things seem out of reach. They are not. We need only submit to God, cast aside all pride and vanity and in humility turn to Him for understanding. Let us call on His Spirit to reveal to us these things; as we are instructed, 'As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.' (1 Jn. 2:27) Therefore, never cease praying for being taught of God.

Finally, forget not to '...take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with TRUTH, and having put on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of FAITH with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of SALVATION, and the sword of the SPIRIT, which is the WORD OF GOD.' (Eph. 6:13-17)