6. Good Works – Myth: Christians need to get right to work after salvation

My wife and teenage son went to a local restaurant for lunch yesterday. Their waiter was a teenager, probably the same age as my son. Each step of the meal seemed to have a built-in delay. First they waited to be seated in an empty restaurant. Then they waited to get menus. They already knew what they wanted and were ready to order. Instead, the waiter walked away. Ten minutes later he came back with waters. When the meals finally arrived a half hour later the fries were soggy cold, the burgers congealing globs of fat. Dessert was late too, tiny dollops of ice cream no longer frozen but sloppy puddles with fudge swirls and a cherry sunk in the middle. By this time my wife and son would be late for an afternoon appointment. My wife asked the waiter to bring the check with the dessert so things could hurry along. He failed to bring it until another fifteen minutes expired. Rather than pay him directly, my wife took the check to the front cashier. The station was unmanned until who but the waiter appears to ring her up. He meekly apologized for the delay.

I remember my first job as a teen working at fast-food restaurant. I had no idea what to do. The manager was so busy trying to maintain order in the chaos of the grand opening that he had no time to train me or any of the other teens running the store. He didn’t last long as the manager. I didn’t last long as a burger flipper.

I suspect the poor kid at the restaurant experienced the same thing.

The same thing happens when we put newborn Christians to work in God’s kingdom. As they interact with the world and the church, mistakes, delays, and other bad experiences transpire. Experience is not a good teacher. Disciple-makers are God’s commanded teachers.

A newborn is helpless in the kingdom except for one thing. They have an overflowing exhuberance of joy in their salvation. Let them use that to the utmost in witnessing to the power and person of Jesus. They are perfectly suited for that job. But teaching Sunday School? Discipling other believers? Going to the mission field? No. They are not ready. No matter how many degrees they have, what church they grew up in, who their friends are. Newborns need one thing – to satisfy their natural desire to grow on the milk of God’s Word. They need to spend time with Jesus.

A fine-dining experience is extremely satisfying and refreshing. There is no reason a few simple techniques cannot be taught even to teenagers working counter service. But time, teaching, and some travail are necessary in order to produce workers fit for God’s kingdom service. Jesus is our headmaster. He commands us to make disciples. At the same time, we should be under the discipleship of someone else for the duration of our lives.

The worst that can happen is the wreckage of lives we leave behind. My wife and son certainly won’t return to that restaurant soon. Sometimes we get only one chance to sow seed. Let’s make sure the field is ready, the plow is straight, and the seed is pure.

Yo Adrian!

Most mornings driving to work I listen to Adrian Rogers on the radio. This morning his topic was a compare and contrast of faith and works from Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." and James 2. Pastor Rogers wanted to assure us that these two passages are not contradictory. He is correct. His basis for this was pointing out a key to understanding. This key, he claimed, was that Ephesians 2:8-9 speaks of our justification before God (faith) while James 2 speaks of our justification before men (works). To support this claim, we must ask two questions. Why and why?

Why must I be justified before God? That's easy. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Justification cost His blood. That is God's eternal explanation found in Romans 5:9, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Pastor Rogers went on to claim rightly that our faith, our justification, our salvation is indeed based alone on the grace of God - NOT OF WORKS. For how could any man account of his works and declare them sufficient such that he knows he is saved? And what man would accept not knowing, but merely hoping his works were enough, only to find out after death (too late!) that his works were insufficient? What rational man would take on such a religion?

The second question is where we get into trouble. Why must I be justified before men? Pastor Rogers went right to the Scriptures for this one. He pinged Romans 4:2-3, "Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." and James 2:23-24, "And 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. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Somehow at this point Pastor Rogers drew the conclusion that Abraham's works justified him before man. Let's examine that claim.

Genesis 15 offers God's Word about Romans 4:2-3. Genesis 22 (30 years later) offers God's Word about James 2:23-24. Two things jump out immediately as we go back to those two passages in Genesis. First, who was there? If Abraham's works justified his faith before men, then who was there to account for it? Nobody. Nobody was there but Abraham, Isaac, and God. Second, what was God's response?

Genesis 22:12, "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." God then goes on to declare His blessings to Abraham. But the point here is that Abraham's work of offering Isaac elicited a response from God, not man.

Our faithful works before God are for that very purpose - to obtain His response. What response is that? Justification.

Other Bible teachers have explained the difference between the two key texts of this post this way: Ephesians 2:8-9 speaks of our saving faith while James 2 speaks of our living faith. That's the way I have always heard it until this morning.

But before you start to see Pastor Rogers' point and argue, think about these last two facts from his broadcast. He went on to say that there are many people in his congregation and listening to his broadcast who are not saved. They think they are. But they don't know it. He said (and you've heard this illustration hundreds of times) they have missed salvation by eighteen inches. They know the truth in their heads but they have never asked Jesus into their hearts.

Stop right there. That's works! No one can claim salvation by grace alone and then also say that we must "ask Jesus into our heart". By implication that means if we do not ask Him, then we are not saved. That is works.

Second, at the end of the broadcast, his assistant Chris announces a typical benediction, "If you've never prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior...."

Stop right there. That's works too! No one can claim salvation by grace alone and then also say that we must "pray to receive Jesus". By implication that means if we do not pray, then we are not saved. That is works.

These are unBiblical myths propagated by the church today. They leave sinners in hell and many saints confused and out of their daily right in heaven.

Faith without works is dead. Does that mean we lose our salvation? God forbid! It simply means we are asleep. "Awake unto righteousness and sin not," saith the Lord in I Corinthians 15:34. Our works are for the good pleasure of God as we demonstrate our faith. We believe His revealed Word and will and we do it. There is no greater joy on earth or heaven than this.