Saved by Works?

I was raised to believe that we are justified through faith alone as stated in Ephesians 2:8:

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

However, in recent months my studies and research has led to quite a new understanding. It is my conclusion that salvation is very much intertwined with works. Here are just a few reasons that I think works are necessary.

First, the current view that Christians are saved by their faith and that simply believing in their hearts will attain salvation is developed out of the western, Lutheristic understanding of faith. It was Luther who first designated that the individual's faith is sufficient to save the soul. Therefore, what that person does in the flesh has no inherent affect on their salvation. Yet, I think it is extremely important to point out that Luther did not consider James part of the canon of Scripture, which as we will see later, has a plethora to say about faith and works. Therefore, I find that this error - faith of the individual alone saves a man - is misled and frankly non-biblical. Thus, it is now pertinent to show salvation from the words of Jesus and the New Testament, with a focus on James. Then I will suggest the view of salvation with the help of Wright and Sanders.

Matthew 25 is one of the leading passages on salvation and judgment. I mentioned this in my previous post, however, I felt this was a good place to explain more. Matthew 25:31-44 states,

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus is quite clear that judgment is based on the actions (works). Jesus states that all the world will be gathered and they will be judged on their works of feeding the hungry, aiding the stranger, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and visiting the prisoner. Jesus demand for those who follow him follow the exact things that Jesus did during his ministry. Jesus was interested in saving the entire person, both body and soul. This story is quite evident that Jesus judges the world by what they do.

Yet, one will argue what Paul said in Ephesians 2:8. That we are saved by faith not by works. This is true, especially in light of our salvation based on Jesus' faith. But, this is where the Epistle of James becomes important. James in chapter 2 says,

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

James is quite clear that faith without works, is dead. His point is the same as Jesus: When you see someone in need and do nothing, you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You works will be evidence of your faith on judgment day. Your faith will be judged by your works. We may not be saved by works, but we are inevitably judged by works. James goes on to say that even the demons believe in God (to have faith and to believe are the same in Greek: "pisteuo"), so what better are you than the demons if you believe. The difference is obedience. As the demons do not obey and will be judged, so also those who do not obey the commands of Jesus will be judged.

It is now quite evident why Luther didn't think that James was canonical. James contradicts the very foundational work of Luther to say that works doesn't matter. The works which Jesus prescribes are necessary for salvation. Therefore, let us no longer preach a gospel which requires a few repeated words, rather, let us preach the Gospel of Jesus which requires full submission and a change in life.

Justification/salvation should be understood with a covenantal understanding. E.P. Sanders, in his book Paul and Palestinian Judaism discusses the covenant. He suggests the idea of "covenant nomism" in which a Jew became a member of the people of God by birth/circumcision and they maintained their membership by the works of the Law. In other words, birth got them into the community and obedience to the Law kept them in the community. In the same way, faith brings one into the community of the Church, and thus the person is saved. Works then maintain their position within the community of the Church. A person is saved by being a part of the Church, not individualistically as Luther would have believed. We are granted salvation initially through Jesus' faith(fulness) which justifies our faith. However, if we disobey by not doing the works Jesus has called us to, then we forfeit our membership in the community of God and thus forfeit our salvation.