“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.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV.
You have probably heard this scripture before.
This is the verse that displays the difference between Christianity and other religions.
Religion mainly promotes the idea of salvation after death, earned by doing good things, while here on earth.
Christianity is the only faith practice, in which, good works cannot earn you a ticket into Heaven.
This is why Christianity is usually referred to as a
relationship with God;
Not a religion.
A religion implies earning your way into heaven.
Christianity is placing your faith in Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior, because of the very fact that people are unable to earn thier way into Heaven.
So, because of the grace that was given to us, through Jesus Christ, we are granted access to Heaven.
Our works can’t buy this ticket, it was given purely by grace through faith.
Grace is undeserved acceptance or favor.
We were given undeserved acceptance, through our faith in Jesus Christ;
that He is the Son of God, who paid the debt that we couldn’t pay.
This debt was accumulated by our disobedient works.
We are unable to pay the fine, so Jesus Christ paid that fine for us, by giving His precious life, as compensation.
It is through our faith in Jesus, that this grace was given.
Grace can’t be earned…
If it was earned it would just be gaining acceptance because you are able to pay for it.
Grace doesn’t need to be shown to one who is able to earn the desired result.
Our works are unable to earn for us, salvation.
However, through faith in Jesus, we have been shown grace; which then gives us access into salvation.
This sounds
AMAZING!
Until you read James 2:20 NKJV.
“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”
So, faith requires works…
I know what you’re thinking, because I struggled with the same question in my faith walk.
Isn’t this a contradiction?
In Ephesians 2, we learn that we are not saved through works, but by grace through faith…
However, in James 2, we learn that
faith without works is dead.
It’s confusing!
Am I saved through works?
This question terrified me as a Christian.
I felt like my whole relationship with God up to this point, was false.
The foundation of my faith was struck by a hit that I didn’t see coming!
I had spent years as a Christian, and my house was already built; so when my foundation took a hit, my whole house was unsteady.
Don’t be afraid.
Let me help you through this!
I prayed and prayed and searched God’s word.
God led me to many good scriptures on this topic, but none settled the panic in my heart.
I begged God for revelation.
I just wanted an answer…
Am I saved purely by faith?
Or, am I saved through my works?
God gave me the answer!
I will now share that answer with you.
This is the scripture that God took me to, that finally confirmed the answer.
Turns out that the answer was not far from where my question began…
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
This is why context is so important!
The verse that terrified me, was part of a chapter that explained clearly the meaning of that verse.
Yet, that was the last place that I looked.
Go figure.
Faith without works is dead.
As a body without a spirit is dead.
Let me break this down.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV.
If faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things that are not visible…
Then faith needs to be the visible component.
Faith is an action word!
Belief remains in your heart.
James 2:19 NKJV, says…
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
Believing is the very beginning
of becoming a Christian.
Belief and faith are NOT the same thing.
The demons believe in Jesus, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they place their faith in Him, as LORD.
Belief is an internal acceptance…
It is unseen.
Belief is invisible!
Faith is the result of belief becoming visible.
Faith is tangible belief.
As our spirit is invisible, yet made visible because of our body, so faith makes our belief visible.
This means that faith is not a feeling, thought or emotion.
Faith is the action that results from a feeling, thought or emotion.
So, faith without action is not faith at all…
It’s just a belief.
This scripture is not telling us that our works are what saves us.
It is defining what faith really is,
knowing that we will confuse belief with faith.
Also consider that we do not use faith, only in regards to spirituality and religion,
But we use faith for almost everything!
Don’t believe me?
Here are some practical examples!
Let’s say that I believed that the key to having enough money to live a desireable life, was to get promoted to a higher paying position at work.
You would be able to see that I believed that, by the faith that I placed on that belief.
If I had faith in this belief, you would see my faith by my works because my actions will naturally support what I have faith in.
For this example, you would see me invest my time and effort into perfecting my skills, because I truly believed that it would benefit me; enough to put my faith in it.
Anything we place our faith in, is made clear through our works.
If I really desired to get promoted and I had faith that my knowledge and skill would get me this promotion,
yet, I never invested my time and energy into perfecting my skills and knowledge… you would question if I truly believed that this promotion would give me the life that I desire.
Let’s make this even more basic!
I could sit at home and believe that my car will start.
It doesn’t help me to simply believe that my car will start, but I can believe that.
I use faith in that belief when I get in the car and try to start the car.
We all know that there are days when your car doesn’t want to start, even though you believed it would.
We all start our car, believing that it will work.
As well, we all use faith when we get up and try and start the car.
Simply believing is dead because,
believing won’t get that car started.
You can believe all day long, but unless you eventually step out in faith, the belief is empty.
If I truly believe that washing my face everyday, will make my skin clearer, and I hope to have clearer skin one day…
Faith naturally follows.
I believe that food will keep my stomach from growling,
I hope to feel satisfaction in my stomach,
So, the only reasonable result that could come from that strong of a belief, is works.
The works would be, in this case, eating something.
If I didn’t believe this very strongly, then I wouldn’t put effort towards feeding myself, because it might not settle the hunger in my stomach.
Because my belief is strong and I hope to see the result of this belief…
I step out in faith towards this belief.
It’s the same principle with God.
If my belief is in God, naturally my works will follow His statutes…
However, if my belief is in things besides God, my works will follow those statutes.
The actions that test a belief…
That’s called faith!
“Faith without works is dead.”
This scripture was not meant to compel us to do more works in order to be saved,
It was meant to help us analyze our faith.
If we know that real faith is seen through action, we are led to address the quality of the belief.
When we know that the quality of our belief is revealed through our actions, we start to look at our actions, and we begin to analyze whether or not we really believe God as much as we say that we do.
If we really believe God’s word and that He is LORD…
And we hope to see God provide, as He promises in His word…
Then our faith would be clear!
Our belief that God is truly LORD over all, would show through our obedience in God’s word!
We follow God’s word, when we truly believe that what He says is true and we hope to experience the benefits of trusting in Him.
However, if we believe more in our own understanding, in the experience of other people or in the fears that the enemy suggests to us…
We will place our faith in that.
It will be obvious that we believe in what the world says more than we believe God, because our works will reveal what we truly believe.
If we have faith that the world can offer us the best results in life…
Our obedience will correspond with the ways of the world.
Our faith will be evident in our works.
The same will happen if we have faith that Jesus is our LORD and savior…
Our faith will be revealed in our works.
Faith is our belief in motion.
So faith without action, really is dead.
Don’t let this scripture make you try and earn salvation by your actions.
Please don’t let it make you strive to do all the right things, in order for you to be approved by God.
Rather, let this scripture remind you to address the quality of your faith in Jesus, by taking a look at what your actions are revealing about your beliefs.
Let your works be used to measure your faith, don’t let your works be your way of earning God’s approval.
Practice this!
Let your works assist you in identifying what you have been placing your faith in…
Then focus on Jesus and remind yourself to trust His word, even in scary times…
Naturally, your works will follow and they will reveal that you truly believe what God says, over what the world says.
We are truly saved by the grace of God,
through the faith that we place in this truth!
For more on faith…
Photo by Kristina Kozlova
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
