Grace, Faith, and Works

“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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Even though the topic of salvation is shown to be of fundamental importance in the Scriptures, there is sharp disagreement between brethren and the religious world about it – particularly about the role that grace, faith, and works play in our salvation. Many in the religious world believe that we are saved by grace through faith without any works on our part. In other words, they believe salvation is unconditional (unless they count faith as a condition, but that would be the only one). The passage above is often cited to defend this idea. Yet as we will see from the Scriptures, all three of these – grace, faith, and works – are necessary for our salvation.

Understanding the truth on the topic of salvation is beneficial for three reasons:

To appreciate our salvation – If we are saved by grace, then we cannot do anything to earn our salvation on our own.
To provoke us to action – If works are involved, then we must be busy doing what God wants us to do.
To help us teach others – Most of the “Christian” religious world misunderstands the roles of grace, faith, and works in salvation. We need to understand this topic not just for our own benefit, but so that we can explain it to others.

Leading up to the verses in our text above, Paul began the chapter by reminding these brethren of their past and how God had saved them:

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. […] But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:1-5).

We were in the same condition as the Christians in Ephesus. Yet God made salvation available to us just as He did to them – “by grace…through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). Let us now take a closer look at grace, faith, and works.

Grace

Grace is God’s gift of salvation. It includes everything that God has done to make salvation possible for us. As we consider the grace of God, it is important that we remember our own unworthiness with regard to salvation. Notice what Paul wrote:

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

When Jesus died for us on the cross, it was not because we deserved it. He did not owe us anything. He died as “the just for the unjust” (1 Peter 3:18).

Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we would have no hope. Man can do nothing on his own to remedy the problem of sin and direct himself to eternal life. The prophet Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Without the Lord, people are “like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). If it were not for Jesus’ sacrifice, our condition would be “helpless” (Romans 5:6).

God’s grace includes His love for us (Ephesians 2:4-5) which led Him to send Jesus to die on the cross for us. In one of the most familiar statements in the Bible, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Not only does God’s grace include His love for us and the desire to save us, but the execution of that plan was also an act of grace. Notice the following passages:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11).

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).

“This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless man and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23).

By the grace of God, Jesus suffered death on the cross. This sacrifice was part of God’s plan and was for everyone.

The grace of God also includes teaching. Not only did Paul describe his message as “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), he also called the gospel “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). Because of this, he was “eager to preach the gospel” (Romans 1:15). God’s grace has appeared and “[instructs] us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace is not just about what God has done, but includes what God expects us to do.

Faith

Faith is more than just a belief in God. We know that based upon James’ statement about the demons: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19). They believed, but they did not have faith. More than just a belief in the existence of God, faith involves trust in who God is and in what He has said.

Furthermore, faith is not something that is miraculously given to us. In other words, it is not the “gift” that Paul mentioned in his letter to Ephesus – the gift is grace (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is something that we can obtain if we go to the proper source – the Scriptures. Notice what Paul wrote to the Romans:

“For ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful and the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:13-17).

Paul explained that salvation was possible through the preaching of the gospel because faith is derived from the word of God. He told the brethren in Corinth, “The gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). The gospel produces faith which leads to salvation.

The Hebrew writer said, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, we cannot obtain the reward that God has promised. The reward of faith is eternal life. Peter said, “The outcome of [our] faith [is] the salvation of [our] souls” (1 Peter 1:9).

Works

Are works necessary for salvation? Many in the religious world will adamantly say that they are not. They will cite part of our opening text as “proof”: “Not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9). However, the claim that works play no part in our salvation presents a problem when we get to the next verse: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). How can works be unnecessary on one hand but, on the other hand, God expects us to do certain “good works”?

If we properly interpret these verses, there is no contradiction. So what is the proper interpretation? The “works” of which we “may boast” (Ephesians 2:9) are those works that we invent that we believe will save us or cause us to earn a place in heaven. Paul said we are not saved by these kinds of works. The “good works” are the ones that God has given and He expects us to “walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). They are the works we must be doing in order to please the Lord. We find these works in the Scriptures. Notice what Paul wrote to Timothy:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

If we want to know if something is a “good work” that God expects us to do, we simply need to look into His word.

To practice these “good works” does not mean we are attempting to “earn” salvation. Instead, these “good works” are a demonstration of our faith. James made this abundantly clear in his letter:

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17-18).

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:21-24).

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

This is what the Ephesians did. They obeyed God in faith and, as a result, God saved them. When Luke recorded the gospel going to Ephesus, he emphasized their repentance and baptism (Acts 19:1-7, 17-19) – works that demonstrated their faith.

Remember how Paul described them in his letter – dead in transgressions, but made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). He used a similar analogy of going from being dead to being alive in his letter to the Romans, but with a slight twist. Instead of being dead in sin, Paul wrote to the Romans about being dead to sin.

“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:8-11).

What was involved in the Romans becoming dead to sin and alive in Christ? Repentance (Romans 6:6-7, 11) and baptism (Romans 6:3-4). Just like the Ephesians, these were the works they did to demonstrate their faith that caused them to go from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life.

Conclusion

Salvation is open to all (Ephesians 2:16; Titus 2:11). When grace, faith, and works (not just any works, but the “good works” that God has given to us in His word) are put together, the outcome is salvation. If we remove any of those, we fall short. We must rely on the grace of God, put our complete faith and trust in Him, and do what He has instructed us to do in His word. Then we should also instruct others to do the same.