Salvation: IS Received By Faith; then Demonstrated By Works; and IT’S ALWAYS By Grace
Romans 4:1-8 1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Listen to these two verses and think to yourself whether or not they contradict each other:
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5).
--And listen as I read this verse in (James 2:17 "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone"
So are we saved by faith or by works?.
I. SALVATION IS RECEIVED BY FAITH according to (Romans 4:1-5).
Paul asks this question about Abraham:
"What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?" (v.1).
In other words, Paul’s question was, “What were Abraham’s experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith.”
verse 2 say’s 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. In other words; if Abraham had done enough good deeds to be justified then he would surely have something to boost about, but God knows that it was not Abraham’s deeds that justified him, it was Abraham’s faith in his God.
Why did Abraham have no basis at all for boosting? Paul gives us the reason in verse 3:"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
Paul was quoting what Moses recorded in Genesis 15:6.about Abraham 6And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.
What does it mean when it says that faith was counted unto Abraham for righteousness? That word “counted” means “to put on one’s account.” So when Abraham believed God, righteousness was placed on his account.
Many people today have a bank account. Let me try and illustrate, just suppose you have a car payment that automatically comes out of your account at the end of each month. But at the end of this month you have only five dollars in your account, and the car payment is four hundred dollars.
So you don’t have enough money to pay for your car. But let’s say someone heard of your need and gave you four hundred dollars to deposit in your account. You now have the necessary amount of money in your account to make your car payment.
The reason why God placed righteousness on Abraham’s account was because Abraham’s righteousness was not enough to save him.
Just like your friend that bailed you out because you didn’t have enough money for your car payment in your account.
For God to place righteousness on a person’s account is justification. Justification is the act of God whereby He acquits a believer of the verdict of condemnation and declares him to be righteous.
Why did God declare Abraham to be righteous?
Paul says it was not the result of Abraham’s works. If that were the case then it would be something he earned and had reason to boast about. Abraham was saved when he believed God. Thus He was saved by faith.
This fact is clearly stated in
verse five:"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
II. SALVATION IS DEMONSTRATED BY WORKS
(James 2:14-26 14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
In order to properly understand this passage, two facts to understand.
1. In verse 14. James does not state that the person “has” faith, but points out that the man only says in does. 14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
This is professing faith but not possessing faith. It is phony and counterfeit.
Paul refers to the same idea when he says in 1 Corinthians 15:2, “. . . unless ye have believed in vain.”
2. The question, “can faith save him?” James is not asking about faith in general, but that type of faith which one has who makes claims without providing evidence with his life that those claims are true.
In other words; “Can that faith save him?”
in other words, if a person simple by saying he has faith, and his actions points in the other direction, can that type of faith save him?
(vv. 15-19)tells us what real faith us not.
1. Real faith is not empty words (vv. 15-1815If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.).
Pious clichés and Christian talk are not the evidence of saving faith.
There must be a vocation to go along with the vocabulary. You can be very pious and say to an individual, “Brother, I will pray for you, and I know the Lord will provide.” But why not do something about your brother’s need and do the providing.
2. Real faith does not merely believe in God. Lip service is not the evidence of saving faith—even the demons believe. 19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
B. Examples of real faith (vv. 21-26).
1. The example of Abraham (vv. 21-24 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.)
Like Paul, James uses the example of Abraham. But does James contradict Paul in verse 21? James writes,
"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?"
Remember that Paul stated,
". . . Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3).
So, Was Abraham justified by faith or by works?
Paul was very clear with his words in Romans 3:20: 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:
A key to understanding this can be found if we look at Paul’s references to God in the book of Romans: “in his sight” (3:20) plus “before God” (4:2).
In Romans, Paul deals with man before God.
God knows whether or not we are truly saved because He knows our heart. Man, however, does not have that ability.
We as individuals sometimes can be fooled by a person’s claim of faith, and that is why James puts an emphasis on works.
James deals with man before other people. The best evidence we can give to others to prove that we are saved is our works.
With this in mind, Abraham’s justification in Romans 4:3 was God’s verdict; while his justification in James 2:21 consisted of man’s verdict.
Further evidence of this can be found if we look back at Genesis 15:5-6.
5And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.
This is the passage that Paul quotes from.
James, though, says that Abraham was justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar. This event is recorded in Genesis 22.
· Notice that Abraham’s justification by faith occurred before his justification by works.
At the time recorded in Genesis 15, Abraham was 85 years old; but in Genesis 22, he was 132. So the two events are separated by 47 years.
In Genesis 15 Abraham was justified before God, and in Genesis 22 others saw evidence that he was justified.
Did Abraham offer his son Isaac? The answer is: No, he didn’t. Then what was Abraham’s work of faith? His faith caused him to lift that knife to do a thing which he did not believe God would ever ask him to do. But since God had asked him, he was willing to do it.
He believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham never actually offered Isaac, because God provided a substitute, but he would have done it if God had not stopped him. Abraham’s actions demonstrated his faith.
2. The example of Rahab (james 2:v.2525Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?)
James writes that Rahab was justified by works when she received the Israelite spies and sent them out another way.
When was Rahab saved? We are given an idea in Joshua 2:10-11:
"For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Ammorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
These were Rahab’s words to the spies before she helped them escape. It would seem from the way she talked about God that she had already put her faith in Him. If so, that would explain why she was willing to help the two spies.
So we see that her justification by faith occurred before her justification by works. Her actions demonstrated her inner faith.
Look at verse 26. 26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
The word “spirit” may also be translated “breath.” As a breathless body shows no indication of life, so faith without works shows nothing more than hypocrisy.
We are not saved by the cooperation of faith and works, but faith will be revealed in works.
Eph. 2:8-10For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
