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Works of Faith
by Pastor Bill Pevlor

It is spiritual suicide for a Christian to neglect fully reading and intently studying the Bible. The apostle Paul told Timothy “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) How are you going to be “thoroughly equipped” if you don’t study the Bible. Skimping on scripture can make you more dangerous than effective.

For example, say you were reading the second chapter of Ephesian. Verses 8 and 9 says “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” You would know salvation is by the grace (a gift) of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is clear from this scripture that salvation is “not by works” (following all the rules) so, it would be easy to reason, why work at all?

On the other hand, let’s say you read James 2:14 and 17: “What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? “...faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action (or “works”), is dead.” Now, if that were all you read, you could easily believe the only way to heaven is to work your way there; the only way to measure up is to buckle down. After all, what good is it if you don’t have any works? Faith by itself is dead, right?

These, and other seemingly opposing scriptures, must be brought together to provide proper balance. It is impossible to know God’s true, intended meaning in either of these scriptures without the balance of the others.

Reading chapters four, five and six in the book of Romans would bring a greater understanding of God’s grace. All through the book of Romans Paul points out how “works of the Law,” those things we do to try to fulfill the “rules” of the Bible, will not save us. No matter how “religious” we try to be, we fail. All of us have broken the rules. Only one man in history has ever obeyed all the rules; Jesus Christ. So, trying to work our way to heaven is not a good plan. We must have faith in the grace God provides for us through Jesus.

Well then, if salvation is purely an act of God’s grace, it doesn’t matter how we live, right? Hold on, there. Let’s look at more scripture. The apostle John wrote “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says ‘I know him’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

We seem to be going in circles, don’t we? It might help if we acknowledged two different types of “works” in these scriptures; “works of the law” and “works of faith.”

Let me try to give an example. Let’s say I announced “I will be the friend of anyone who (here comes the law) will faithfully mow my lawn once a week.” If you mowed my lawn in order to earn my friendship you would be doing “works of the law.” If you forget one week, or don’t do it to my approval I wouldn’t be your friend.

On the other hand, let’s say I said, “I really like you, I want you to be my friend. You don’t have to do a thing, I like you because you’re you.” If you believed I really like you (there’s the faith) and were so happy I extended my friendship that you were inspired to do something nice for me, like mow my lawn, that would be “works of faith.”

With either method the results might seem the same; the lawn gets mowed, but for the person performing the work, the motivation is decidedly different. This important difference in motivation is recognized by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. He said “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted; by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Thessalonians were not “resting” in God’s grace, they were working. Yet, they were not working to secure God’s grace they were working as a response to having received it. Their work was “produced by faith” not by a fear of displeasing God or not living up to His standards. Their labor was “prompted by love” not by law. Their endurance was “inspired by hope” not by “have to.”

Receive the free gift God has given you, through grace, by faith, believing in His Son, Jesus. Then demonstrate your belief (the belief that God has extended His grace toward you) by your works (or actions) of faith.

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Victorious Faith Ministries
219 State Street, Algoma, WI 54201
Phone: 920-487-5775