It was over the issue of salvation by works versus grace that Martin Luther, the German leader of the Protestant Reformation, nailed his famous 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Door in 1517. He agonized over the doctrine of salvation, finally coming to realize that the Scriptures teach a salvation not based on our works, but solely upon God’s grace.
Of course, this issue is nothing new. Those in the New Testament church also debated the following of the law to be saved, versus salvation by grace. Here’s what the Apostle Peter had to say about it: “Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are” (Acts 15:10-11).
We also see in Hebrews 11 that the Old Testament saints were saved because of their faith—not because of their works. Another confirmation of this is found in Galatians 3:6-9: “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
And even Jonah, after finally repenting for running away from God and his assigned task, said, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.” The passage then continues by saying, “And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jonah 2:8-10).
I believe Jonah understood the difference between “worthless idols” and the grace that comes from the Lord. All of our good works could be considered “worthless idols” in being able to bring us to a place of salvation.
Much of the conflict over grace versus works has come, however, from the apparent contradiction between Paul and James. Paul said in Romans 3:28, “We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law,” while James 2:16-18 says, “If one of you says [to a brother or sister], ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But 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.” He then says in verse 26, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Matthew Henry explains this apparent controversy by pointing out that Paul in Romans 3:28 is speaking of “another sort of work than James, but not another sort of faith.” He felt Paul was speaking of “works done in obedience to the law of Moses” that the people were counting on for their salvation. He then contrasts those works to the ones referred to by James, by saying, “But James speaks of works done in obedience to the gospel, that are the proper and necessary outgrowth of a sound belief in Jesus Christ.” Matthew Henry also wrote that “both are concerned about magnifying the faith of the gospel, as that which alone could save us and justify us; but Paul does so by showing the insufficiency of any works of the law before exercising faith,” while, “James magnifies the same faith by showing the resulting fruit that flows naturally from it.”
Matthew Henry also shows that “Paul is speaking of a different justification from that spoken of by James. Paul speaks of us being justified before God, while James speaks of our faith being justified before men.” To further illustrate this, he says, “Paul speaks of justification in the sight of God, who justifies only those who believe in Jesus, and only through the redemption that is found in Him. Thus we see that we as people are justified before God by faith, but our faith is justified before men by our works.”
We, as finite human beings, can only look at someone’s works to get an indication of what is in his heart. But—“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Matthew Henry seems to be indicating that this thinking is what James had in mind as well. He felt that James is actually confirming what Paul said in other places, such as Titus 3:8, which says, “I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”
Of course, Paul never taught that salvation was obtainable through works. Probably the most familiar passage he wrote on the subject was Ephesians 2:8-9: “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.”
Other passages of the New Testament, such as this beautiful one from John 1:16-17 also contrast law with grace: “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (emphasis mine).
For me, as with Martin Luther, the answer is simple. Salvation comes by GOD’S GRACE ALONE!