Faith or Works?

A common question discussed amongst Christians is; “are we saved by faith or works?” Many become confused over this subject, whilst others end up in heated debates with one another.

Some argue that all is required is faith and belief in Yeshua alone (a belief known as “Sola Fide” and “Free Grace”), with no works or obedience whatsoever. On the other end of the spectrum, some will argue that we must “earn our salvation”, and that God will judge us based upon our life choices, be they good or bad.

The root of this commotion can be found at two or three major scriptures:

• “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 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. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead“. – James 2:18-26
• “For example: Consider our fleshly ancestor Abraham. If [God] had called Abraham ‘righteous’ because of the things that he did, [Abraham] might have had a reason to boast [about himself], and not to God. What do the Scriptures say? ‘Abraham was counted as righteous because he believed in God.’ Remember that when a man works [for a living], his getting paid isn’t thought of as a kindness, it’s something that he’s owed! However, those who don’t actually do anything –other than just believe in the One who calls the ungodly ones ‘righteous’— are still counted as righteous because of their faith!” – Romans 4:1-5
• “For by grace (loving kindness) 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”. – Ephesians 2:8-9

As we can see, on the surface, these two writers appear to be contradicting one another. Apostle James tells us “faith without works is dead”, whilst Apostle Paul tells us “faith saves us, not works” and is a “free gift of God”. It would even seem that James and Paul are ‘directly’ referring to one another in their letters, by addressing the very same themes and scriptural references, particularly of citations regarding Abraham.

If you’re confused, or believe that these two Apostles might be enemies of one another, you wouldn’t be the first to feel that way in regard to these verses.

To understand and put this apparent discrepancy to rest, we must examine the context of these verses, and we must also read them all in a harmonised and wholistic way, in accordance to the writings of the authors and Bible message as a whole.

The Faith

In the scriptures, we are told that faith in Yeshua’s sacrifice, the free gift that Yah has given mankind, is what saves us from condemnation to sin, and not the good deeds we do. The reason being, is that good deeds on our part, though approved by God, cannot pay off the “ransom”, or debt of sin which was given to all of us by our ancient forefather, the first man, Adam.

Paul explains, that through Adam’s sin, we as his children have been cut off from God, our natural family line disowned, and have inherited his corrupted nature for through Adam, all men have sinned, and sin results in death (Romans 5:12).

In order to escape this, we must accept the New Covenant, the contract of Yeshua, by means of having faith that he is the Son of God who died for our sins in order to pay the debt we could not. And through him, becoming reconciled as adopted children of God, with Yeshua becoming the “new Adam”, in that we inherit ‘his’ fate, the reward of everlasting life, and not Adam’s fate of everlasting destruction.

This is a universal Christian teaching, from Yeshua himself and the various Apostles:

• “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28
• “For as in Adam all die, so in [the] Anointed all will be made alive… It’s written that the first man (Adam) became a living being. However, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.“. – 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45
• “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua [the] Anointed our Lord.” – Romans 5:19-21
• “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man, [the] Anointed Yeshua, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time”. – 1 Timothy 2:5-6
• “He himself bore our sins in his body on the timber, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’”. – 1 Peter 2:24
• “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” – 1 John 2:2

This is the meaning of Paul’s words, that faith saves us, and not our own works or deeds, thus, “no one can boast” that they were able to save him or herself alone, without the need of the Anointed one, Yeshua.

A “salvation of works” is believing that “good deeds” can save us from sin, as opposed to faith in Yeshua’s sacrifice through genuine repentance. To save ourselves through works is to believe our “good deeds” can somehow “erase our bad deeds” and so we just have to do more good things than bad things in order to offset the “scales” of judgement. And this is the folly of seeking such a means of salvation, for just one sin, will kill us, even if we do one-thousand righteous deeds.

• “But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die…. I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares YHWH God”. – Ezekiel 18:21-24

This is why we cannot save ourselves, we ‘need’ faith in Yeshua as our saviour, the one who died and paid for the sins of all humankind and now eternally mediates on our behalf (Hebrews 8:6, 1 John 2:1), and not reliance upon our own works, which can ‘never’ earn us such a thing.

In this respect, Yeshua is the greater and permanant fulfilliment of the Mosaic Law system, of which required obedience, but it had a sacrifical system for those who fell into sin and broke its laws.

The shedding of sacrifical blood in the Law, symbolised the forgiveness of sins, and sacrifices were also performed as consecreation of the firstborn to belonging to God, that the descendants might be redeemed to him, all of which was also intrinsically linked to the festivals and reminders of the Passover, when God freed Israel from slavery and rescued them from death (Exodus 12:3, 7-8, 13-15, 13:1-2, 3, 6-9, 13-14, 1 Corinthians 5:7).

That sacrifical system acted as a shadow of the greater perfect sacrifice which was our Lord Yeshua, which operates in the same way. The main difference being that Yeshua’s sacrifice is eternal for all sins and thus gives us eternal life with our attiude of repentance with faith in his name, as opposed to animal sacrifices that could not give eternal forgivenss for sins or eternal life as a result (Hebrews 10:1-3).

• “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of YHWH’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to YHWH for a sin offering. He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before YHWH and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the YHWH“. - Leviticus 4:1-4
• “For since the Law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins…. But when the Anointed One had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified“. – Hebrews 10:1-3, 12-14

The Works

However, with the acceptance of Yeshua as our Lord and Saviour, just as it was with the precepts of the Torah, we are in turn required to follow his commandments, which were spoken by him and written down by his Apostles (Matthew 7:24-27, John 14:15).

Thus, we come to understand what James speaks of, the “works of faith”, just as Paul himself did in many of his following letters (Romans 2:13, Romans 6:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:2, 15:34), instructing that we not only “believe” in God and the Son, for as James said, “even the demons believe”, but to also obey what God and Yeshua ask of us:

• “…if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the enemies. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” – Hebrews 10:26-29
•  “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” – Romans 6:1-2
• “Wake up from your drunken stupor as to what is right, and stop sinning“. – 1 Corinthians 15:34
• “[I Paul] declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing works in keeping with their repentance“. – Acts 26:20
• “Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God“. – 1 John 3:9
• “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance“. – Matthew 3:8
• …if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live… Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit“. – Ezekiel 18:21-22, 30-31
• “’What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?’ says YHWH… Bring your worthless offerings no more… I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly… Wash and cleanse yourselves! Remove your evil deeds from My sight! Stop doing evil!“. – Isaiah 1:11, 13-16

If we do not obey Yah and his Son, then our “faith” or “belief” is dead, meaningless and non-beneficial to us. There is “no longer any sacrifice for sins”, meaning, it may as well be as if Yeshua hasn’t even died for us.

This being in line with the principle of the Torah which he came to fulfill, a sacrifice for “unintentional” (or in other words repentant) sins (Leviticus 4:2-3, Isaiah 1:11, 13, 16-20). Without repentance, the sins remain “intentional”, and thereby the Law of sacrifices – of which Yeshua himself was sacrificed in ‘accordance’ to, decrees the sacrifice provided for us as ineffectual – hence, the warning for us in Hebrews that “willful unrepentant sinners”, even if they are believers in Yeshua, have “no sacrifice” for their sins.

So in essence, faith in Yeshua’s sacrifice ‘affords’ for us to be able to go on living and have eternal life, even if we ‘do’ commit sins, but only if those sins are ‘unintentional’ or are ‘repented’ of. Faith in the sacrifice of Yeshua fulfills the part which our works can never achieve, for good works do not outweigh or pay off bad works, yet faith in sacrifice alone without the active effort of obdience is invalid (Isaiah 1:11, 13-16, 1 Samuel 15:22, Proverbs 15:8, Hebrews 10:26-29).

Parable of a Cancer Patient

To help better explain the difference between faith and works by means of a parable:

A cancer patient is dying. The doctor tells him that to be cured, he must receive chemotherapy… however, a friend of the patient comes by and tells them; “you don’t need chemotherapy, you just need to eat a healthy diet!”.

Whilst the doctor agrees that a healthy diet would be beneficial, he insists it will not save the patient, but they must receive the chemotherapy. The patient then decides to have the therapy, and his life is saved. However… he then afterward refuses to eat healthy food, instead, he drinks alcohol heavily, and eats nothing but junk food. Slowly, he becomes more and more unhealthy, until eventually dying of an organ failure.

In our case, we are the patient, the doctor is God, the sickness is sin, the cure is faith in Yeshua, whilst our good works and deeds are our healthy diet.

We may believe in God and his Son, express faith in the ransom sacrifice to be cured of our death dealing sin, but if we do not do the “works”, that is, obeying the commands of God and Yeshua to retain their approval, then we will still die, but the cause of our death will be different.

A person cannot control cancer without intervention, but one can control their diet. Both, if left untreated, will lead to death, but a person cannot choose one over the other and expect to keep on living, both must be abided by. So is it with our faith and works.

We cannot boast that our works have saved us from the cancer of sin, yet we must do the works of faith of and righteousness in order that our cure of sin has not been for nothing. It is not “faith alone”, nor “works alone”, but it is “faith with the works of faith”. Our belief and our obedience to live in righteousness both, in that we attain and keep our salvation.

Conclusion

To conclude with an overview.

We see that Paul and James are not in disagreement, but are speaking of two sides of a single coin. Whilst Paul was concerned with those who were trying to impossibly “save themselves” through works, James was likely concerned with believers who might have misunderstood Paul’s meaning to freely live in sin, and may have wrote to address such misunderstandings.

Both of them however, we see in multiple letters, agree that we should not live in sin, but obey God’s commands.

Faith alone in Yeshua’s sacrifice, saves us from our inherited curse and debt of sin from Adam, and from the sins we ourselves commit – of that, no ammount of good works on our part can save us from the condemntation of, that is the “cancer” which only Yeshua’s sacrifice cures.

However, doing the works of his commandments and not ‘willingly and unrepentantly’ living sin is part of the “contract” or “covenant” we are bound to under the Lord Yeshua, in that that his sacrifice on our behalf is not invalidated.

If we do make mistakes and fall into sin however, then the sacrifice of Yeshua is always in effect for us, so long as we are genuinly and authentically repentant. Only being in the state of “sinning against the spirit” is unforgivable. It is not the “perfection” of our righteousness (of which we can never achieve by ourselves), but the “effort” to be perfectly righteous which counts as our obedience to him.

• 2 John 1:8-9 – “Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of [the] Anointed does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son”.
• 2 Peter 2:20-21 – “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Yeshua [the] Anointed, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, their final state has become worse for them than it was at first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them“.
• Romans 2:13: “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law who will be declared righteous”.
• 1 Corinthians 9:27, 10:1-6: “…I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Now I want you to know, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea  and all got baptized into Moses by means of the cloud and of the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food  and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they used to drink from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock meant the Anointed.  Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.  Now these things became examples for us, in order for us not to desire injurious things, as they desired them“.
• Colossians 3:1-12, 23-25: “If, however, you were raised up with the Anointed, go on seeking the things above, where the Anointed is seated at the right hand of God.  Keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things on the earth.  For you died, and your life has been hidden with the Anointed in union with God.  When the Anointed, our life, is made manifest, then you also will be made manifest with him in glory.  Deaden, therefore, your body members that are on the earth as respects sexual immorality, uncleanness, uncontrolled sexual passion, hurtful desire, and greediness, which is idolatry.  On account of those things the wrath of God is coming. That is how you too used to conduct yourselves in your former way of life.  But now you must put them all away from you: wrath, anger, badness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythʹian, slave, or freeman; but [the] Anointed is all things and in all. Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves … Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as for the Lord, and not for men, for you know that it is from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as a reward. Slave for the Master, [the] Anointed. Certainly the one who does wrong will be repaid for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality”.
• 1 John 1:6-9, 2:1: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Yeshua his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness… My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua [the] Anointed, the righteous.”
• 1 John 2:3-6: “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him: the one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked“.
• 1 Corinthians 15:2, 15:34: “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain… Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning“.
• John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments“.
• Matthew 7:21-27: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’  “Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock.  Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”