On Faith, Law and Works
There still are Christian denominations that profess that the right to eternal life in Heavens is awarded to believers that fulfill two requisites:
1. Believe in Christ Jesus - His sacrifice and resurrection – and accept Him as our personal propitiator, redeemer and savior; and
2. Execute good works while in this life on earth.
Paul the apostle explained this issue very objectively in his letter to the Galatians. The believers of Southern Galatia (Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, all part of present Turkey) were unstable, as demonstrated in Lystra, where the same audience that tried to worship the apostle in the morning, later on on that same evening attempted to stone him (Acts 14:6-21). After Paul left Galatia in his first missionary trip, Jews from Jerusalem came to the region and started to preach that works of the Law were necessary for Christians to earn and keep their salvation. To establish their reputation with the audience, these Jew preachers emphasized the fact that they were from Jerusalem, one of the first Christian churches, and the base for most of the apostles. In response to this false doctrine, Paul explained various points that provide the doctrinal foundation for the Galatians, and to all Christians:
1. What gives the believer salvation and eternal life is faith in Christ Jesus, and faith alone (Gal 3:1-5);
2. Faith has always been the essential element for salvation, even in the Old Testament: “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gal 3:6 NASB, see also Heb 11:8-10); we should also remember that Abraham lived approximately 450 years before the Law was given to Moses;
3. The objective of the Law was never to save, to make us right with God: “For the law made nothing perfect…” (Heb 7:19 NASB, see also Gal 3:11, Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Heb 10:38);
4. The Law was given to bring people to Christ. It worked as a tutor, while we waited for adulthood and faith available to both Jews and Gentiles through Abraham’s seed, Christ Jesus (Gal 3:15-29);
5. No human being can please the Lord (thus obtain or maintain salvation) by works of the Law; the flesh has a sinful nature and can only be controlled by the Spirit of God in those that truly believed; and, most importantly:
6. If salvation and eternal life were to be achieved by works of the Law, then the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would be done in vain.
For these reasons, those that preach that salvation is even partially earned or maintained by works – also called legalists - are preaching a different gospel, a distorted gospel (KJV mentions “perverted”), and the preacher is accursed (Gal 1:7-9). Furthermore, if the preachers in Galatia based their reputation on their Jerusalem origins, Paul received the testimony and Grace from Jesus Christ himself on the way to Damascus (Gal 1:12, Acts 9).
Some Christians may at this point propose that this doctrinal point would provide believers the freedom to dwell in sin, and live a life that would not produce good fruits. This conclusion simply denies the effectiveness of the work of the Holy Spirit.
People that indeed believed and accepted the Lord as their Savior will produce fruits of honor and glory to Him. The same Holy Spirit that brought the gift of faith and grace to one’s life will also transform one’s life and will provide the conditions to produce fruits worthy of glory to God. These fruits are produced not by the force of the Law, but by the love that resides in those that really believed.
For the ones that may disagree with the apostle Paul, and still believe that the more “good works” we produce, the higher the probability of earning eternal life, the Lord Jesus himself left us the parable that – once again – denies this false doctrine: Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard explains clearly that the reward will not be based on the amount of work. To the workers that were upset with the landowner because all received the same reward even if they worked different number of hours, the lord replied: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” (Mat 20:15, NASB).
Next time you hear a preacher exhorting that “…we need to make an effort to reach eternal life in heavens…” be a good brother and explain to him the serious error of that message. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, print a copy of this topic, and in the love of the Lord, hand it to him…..