For you are not under law but under grace, what does it mean? Are good works bad? What Does it Mean to be Justified? Part 2

By John Foll, written 04/04/2019 to 04/05/2019, 4/12/2019 – 4/13/2019, 9/21/2019- 9/26/2019.
© Copyright 2019 John Foll

If you have not read our first article in this series: “What Does it Mean to Be Justified? Part 1”, we recommend that you read it first before reading this article.

To recap what we learned from Part 1:

For not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

The just man is the one who does the law.

To be just means to be righteous.

The just or righteous person does the law.

Therefore to justify someone is to make them a doer of the law.

Therefore to justify someone is to make them righteous.

But who is the one who justifies a person to make them a doer of the law? Is it those who try really hard to obey? Or is it God alone? No it cannot be the ones who just try really hard to obey God, who haven’t given themselves to Him all the way yet and let His Spirit fill them, who are the ones who can obey Him! Because we discovered in Part 1, God is the only one who can make us righteous, because there is no one who is good but God alone. Matthew 19:16, Mark 10:18. So if you want to be good, you must get help from God to do so!

And as we discovered in Part 1:
Those who have faith in God will be made righteous by Him.

In Part 1 we pulled in Galatians 2:16, because it appeared by some to contradict Romans 2:13.

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Galatians 2:16 KJV.

We have already addressed this apparent issue in Part 1, but we need to address other issues that may have arisen in your mind regarding this passage.

The thought that many have is that since ‘by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified,’ then it must follow that doing good works is bad. We want to see if it is really true that doing good works is bad or not, and if God still expects us to obey Him (if we are under grace and not under the Law). We want to find out if bad is really good and good is bad, which is the natural conclusion of what some people teach. Whether bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. Isaiah 5:20. Is this really true? Keep reading and find out.

So we will continue our topic of what it means when God justifies us – of being justified – of being made a doer of the law. In this article we will focus on some of the counter ideas which many teach that contradict the Bible.

Are “good works” really bad?

The belief that good works are bad is contradicted by Paul who declared that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 NASB. If God is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure, then these good works are acceptable to Him. Philippians 2:13. Notice that Paul said that ‘God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ What is he talking about here? God has prepared ahead of time that we should walk in good works. This really goes against what many people are teaching nowadays! How can it be that all good works are bad, if God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them? This contradicts what many believe doesn’t it? God prepared beforehand a way that you and I can have good works! How did God prepare ahead of time? By Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins – to make atonement for them, and by providing the Holy Spirit to write His Law of love in our heart and help us obey Him. John 3:3,5,16-17;  2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 5:8-11; 1 John 2:1-2; 4:10; Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 11:18-20; 36:25-30; Deuteronomy Acts 2; and Joel 2; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2:37-39; John 7:37-39; Matthew 22:35-40.

Are we to continue in sin so that grace may more abound?

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:1-14 NASB.

Let us review again what brother Paul declared above: Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

Are we to continue in sin so that grace may more abound? God forbid! May it NEVER BE! Many people miss this point and simply pick up part of the phrase after it: “you are not under law but under grace,” while ignoring the rest of this passage - which contradicts their view. Let us not take Paul out of context here. Paul continues: If you died with Jesus (i.e. if you were buried with Him in baptism) and were resurrected with Him - your old self should have been crucified with Him, and you should have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life – this should have made you free. Dear reader, are you free? Have you died with Christ in the likeness of His death? Have you been resurrected with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, walking in the newness of life yet? If you have, you should not be a slave to sin anymore, and you should have the power to be a better, kinder and gentler person; you should be walking in newness of life. Are you walking in newness of life now? Are you dead to sin yet? If you have died to sin you will be freed from the slavery of sin, or else you have not fully died with Jesus yet. If you have died to sin, the body of your sin has been done away with as Paul declared.

If you have died to sin, you will have been raised up in the likeness of Jesus’ resurrection to walk in newness of life, as Paul declared.
Yes, we repeated it again, because we want you to get it.

What did Paul really mean when he said that ‘you are not under law but under grace?’

If the idea that ‘you are not under law but under grace’ means that you do not need to obey God, then why is it that Paul stated ‘for sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace?’ This indicates that if you are under grace, sin shall not be master over you! Don’t miss this point! To ignore this is to not understand what Paul wrote. ‘Why did Paul write: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness’? The idea that some have is that since we are not under the law but under grace that this means we don’t need to obey God. This contradicts what Paul wrote. He said no such thing. Paul clearly states that we are not to let sin reign in our bodies, i.e. we are not to give ourself over to sin, or be caught up in repeated sinful addictions. If you are under grace, sin will not have the mastery over you. Paul does not mean that you are free from the need to obey the Law, ‘for the Law is good’ (1 Timothy 1:8 NASB), for you were created in Christ Jesus for good works! Ephesians 2:10.

So we see here that there is another meaning to being ‘under grace’. We learned from Paul above that God’s grace is not only forgiveness for your sins that you do not deserve. But we also learned from Paul above that:

If you choose to be ‘under grace’ (from God), sin will not have the mastery over you.

If you choose to be ‘under grace’ (from God), you will not have sinful addictions that you cannot break by His power.

If you choose to be ‘under God’s grace’, God will free you from sin and addictions.

Those who are not under grace or do not have the power of the Holy Spirit fully in their life cannot have true self-control over every aspect of their life, and will eventually be caught up in sin or addictions of some kind.

But Grace is both the power and the forgiveness of God! Note what Paul declared here: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 KJV. Now what is the gospel of Christ? It is the ‘power of God unto salvation’. To whom is this salvation given? ‘To every one that believeth’. Who else? No one else. The gospel of Christ is only the power of God unto salvation to those who believe. It is for no one else. Now what is salvation? Salvation is to be saved from sin. In a prophecy given by the angel of the Lord about Jesus in a dream to Joseph (Mary’s husband) he said, “And she [Mary] shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 KJV. Jesus’ mission was and is to save ‘his people from their sins’, as the angel of the Lord plainly declared. And the apostle John plainly declared: “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 KJV. From this we get that Jesus’ mission was to destroy the works of the devil, which is sin. And John the Baptist also declared: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29 KJV. Now what does this mean: the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? It means that Jesus came to take away the sins of the world like John plainly declared! Amen! Hallelujah! Jesus came to take away your sins in the past and in the present by forgiveness, and to take away your sins in the future, if you let Him, by helping you to overcome. John 16:33; 1 John 4:4; 5:4; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7. Jesus came for this purpose – ‘to take away the sins of the world’ – literally! (For those who let Him.) He came to destroy the works of the devil which is sin. Amen! Hallelujah! Amen!

Without yielding to and obeying the Holy Spirit, no one can have complete self-control over every bad thought, word and deed in their life. Thus it is necessary for those wanting to be saved to keep their heart humble and contrite before God. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 RSV. Those who have not kept humbling themselves before God, kept confessing their sins to Him (1 John 1:9), or are living a careless life of indifference to His requirements, or trying to be good by themselves, have not died with Jesus in His death and have not been raised with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. They will not stay under grace or be under grace unless they repent. Those who don’t repent will come under the curse of the law, which is the penalty of death. But “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE’ -- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14 NASB. The law condemns sin, but Jesus came to free you from your shackles to it.

What does the phrase ‘you are not under law but under grace’ mean?

That is the question. Some people have taught that all people will be saved, since we are now ‘under grace’. By this it is implied that all people good or bad after Jesus’ death will be saved automatically. This is universalism. Others teach that once we have our initial conversion and are baptized - from then on we are under grace. This is once-saved-always-saved. Then they teach that from then on we will remain ‘under grace’, implying that there is no more need of confession, humbling our heart before God, giving our heart to Him again every day, dying daily to sin (1 Corinthians 15:31), or for repentance - that we are automatically saved after this – regardless. There are a surprising number of people who believe one or the other of these two propositions or something suspiciously close to it. (They may deny it if you ask them whether they believe this.)

We learned from Galatians 3:13 above that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. What is the curse of the law? Death. Paul declares: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 KJV. When do we come under the curse or the penalty of the law? Do we come under the curse of the law: 1) every time we sin, 2) every time we sin before we gave our heart to the Lord and were baptized but after that never again, or 3) never since everyone is under grace, because of Jesus death on the cross?

3) Do we come under the curse of the law anymore since everyone is under grace?
This is Universalism. This belief ultimately leads to the idea that there is no more sin, since Jesus died on the cross for us over 2000 years ago. Or it leads people to think that God is giving people a free pass on sin - that all will be saved whether they asked God for mercy and repented or not. (Because some say that we are now under grace.) This contradicts the Bible in too many places to mention. If there were no more sin and wrong or if everyone was given a free pass on sin, there would be no point in worrying about whether we are doing what is right or not. Are people still locked up in prison in our day for murder, theft and other crimes? Yes. Then sin and wrong are still with us in this world today. Are there still wars and atrocities being committed in various parts of the world? Yes. Then sin and wrong are still with us in this world today. Where would be the justice if the governments of this world held their citizens to a higher standard than God does? How could anybody believe that God will save everyone when there is so much sin and wrong in this world? Therefore the law still condemns all sin and wrong in the world, because God’s standard is infinitely higher than man’s.

2) Do we come under the curse of the law only when we sinned before we gave our heart to the Lord, but never again afterwards?

This leads to the two extreme ideas that Christians can no longer sin or that God now gives Christians a free pass on sin after they give their heart to Him.

Are Christians sinless after they give their heart to the Lord and are baptized? No! There have been “Christians” in jail or on death row for their crimes and some have turned their back on God and never returned to Him. The apostle John declares: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 KJV. So Christians are not without sin. If Christians are not without sin, then they will come under the law again after they sin, until they confess to God and repent again.

Do Christians get a free pass on sin after they give their heart to the Lord? No. If someone believes this they can stop trying to do the right thing and wait until the judgement comes, to see if God really gives them a free pass on sin or not... But this is a dangerous thing to do! This is once-saved-always-saved.

1) Do we come under the curse of the law every time we sin?
Yes - we come under the penalty of death every time we sin, because the law condemns sin! Every time you sin you come under the curse of the law again, unless you are forgiven by God. The law makes no distinction whether someone professes to be a Christian or not. Because ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23) and because sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4 KJV), it is plain enough that whether someone claims to be a Christian or not, if they sin, they earn the wages of sin whenever they break God’s law. This is because sin is the transgression of the law and the law condemns sin, not just for the unbeliever. The governments of this world don’t give their citizens a free pass on breaking their laws, so why would God give them a pass on sin? Much of what is written in the Bible would make no sense, if someone didn’t have to be concerned about going back to their old ways once they became a Christian.

You earn the wages of sin whenever you sin.

That is why it is a wage, because you earn it or deserve it. Whenever you sin you earn death. But the gift of God is eternal life.

Can Christians fall from grace after they give their heart to the Lord and are baptized?

Yes. We know that there are some who teach that after we give our heart to the Lord, that we can’t be lost afterwards because God is so strong – but this removes our power of choice. A related question is: Can someone stop believing in Jesus after they give their heart to Him? There are those who strongly assert that you can know if you are saved and that you cannot lose your salvation once you get it. But if you bring up the fact that there are Christians who have done very bad things or completely walked away from their faith - they will admit this can happen, but quickly add that those people who did that were never really saved. This leads to the question: How can someone know if they are saved, since a Christian can leave their faith never to return? (By their own admission.) Using their logic, the only way that someone could know for sure if they are saved or not is when they enter the kingdom of Heaven. But this contradicts their first proposition that someone can know if they are saved! This robs people of the comforting personal assurance of their salvation that God wants to give them. Did any of the people who left the church believe that they were saved? We think that many of them did. And did any of these people who left the church, who thought that they were saved, also believe in once-saved-always-saved? Yes, we think so. It’s hard to believe that none of the people who back slid from God, who were a Christian at one time, never had the belief that they were being saved before they back slid. So if someone believes in once-saved-always-saved, then they really hold a confusing belief, if they really think about it, - that they really don’t know if they are saved or not. Or they simply believe that they are saved, but this may not in fact be the case, since some Christians have left the faith (by their own admission meaning that they were never saved). They are not on the solid ground that they think they are on, and hold contradictory beliefs. This leads us to the question:

Can a Christian backslide from the truth and leave God?

The very term “back slider” indicates that someone fell from the truth or the faith! How could they backslide from the truth or the faith if they never had it? Doesn’t make sense. You can’t lose what you don’t have! There are examples of people in the Bible who were doing what was right, who later turned their back on God. And we have read about and have known some people who had a walk with Jesus, who backslid from the faith. We know without a doubt that at least one of them had the Holy Spirit in full! We can tell that by their writings – their writings were so wonderful and full of beautiful truth that touched our soul and many other people! But something terrible happened to them (persecution) and they fell and as far as we know they never returned to God before they died – only God knows. The writings they wrote before they fell had a profound effect on me! They helped me give my heart to God all-the-way and get the Holy Spirit! What? How could someone who was never really converted or saved help me or anyone else get the Holy Spirit? Spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV) – it is impossible for an unconverted person to impart the Holy Spirit to anyone else – they can’t give what they don’t have. Jeremiah 2:13; Matthew 13:12; 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 1:12. To say that all of these people who left the faith never had a relationship with Jesus and were never saved is ridiculous and untrue. And we gave you our testimony of some people who were saved, who were most likely lost later.

There were times in my own life after my baptism as a boy, where I was doing my own thing and not living right all the way, and was drifting from God. But God brought me back. I know that I had a choice to repent and do what God was asking me to do, or go my own way. No one can convince me that I had no choice in repenting from my sins and asking God to help me be good again. That was my choice. God never forced me to return to Him, but He did not give up on me either. But He worked on my heart, and I wanted to be forgiven, and He changed my life again. God will not remove your choice either as long as you live: whether you are good or bad, righteous or wicked, young or old. The only one who can take your salvation away from you is yourself by your choice. But not choosing is also a choice.

Formula: Believe in Jesus = being saved

What does John 3:16 say? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 KJV.

1) Do you believe that Jesus can save you? Have you asked Him to save you?
2) Do you still believe (after many years since you were baptized) whether Jesus can save you? Have you asked Him to save you?
Yes. Then you are being saved right now!
See how easy it is to know for sure if you are being saved right now?

The soul that sinneth it shall die. The only way you can have eternal life is if your sin is taken away. Jesus has to die for your sins and you must accept His death for your sins. God declared, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4 KJV.

The formula is: Soul sins = soul dies: (Or Jesus death must be substituted by faith for the life of the sinner.)

If you stop believing that Jesus and His Father can save you from your sins, then you are no longer saved, unless you believe again and repent. This is because your salvation is conditional on believing whether Jesus can save you or not. John 3:16. God never removes your power of choice. It will always be your choice. If you do not want to be saved you will not be saved or go to Heaven – it is as simple as that. God will not make you be saved. If God removed your power of choice at any time, that would be unfair; that would not be real love. Real love depends on a mutual exchange of love and affection; the choice to love the other by both parties involved. Real love is only based on choice. When choice is removed, there can be no more love. 1^st John 4:8 says that God is love. God would never remove your power of choice, no never! He holds this sacred. Your salvation depends on whether you believe and continue to believe in Jesus. But Christ is well able to help you to continue to believe in Him so as to be saved. Philippians 4:13. You still have the power of choice. But as to why someone would choose to be lost after they gave their heart to God all the way, we cannot tell. It is a mystery that cannot be really understood.

Romans 6 Revisited and Expanded

The remedy for the curse of the law must be applied every time you fall. It will help you to read more of our passage from Romans 6 to get the full meaning: “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:20-23 KJV. When someone sins they need to confess, repent and forsake their sins again – because Jesus wants to make them free from sin, become a servant of God and have the fruit of holiness in their life – which leads to everlasting life. Jesus was your sin offering. He became sin in order to take away your sins. The curse of the Law is the penalty of breaking it – the wages of sin is death. Jesus wants to remove the curse of the Law by removing your sin, and by forgiving you, and helping you to overcome temptation, if you will allow Him to do this for you. Therefore Jesus came to free you from sin and from the transgression of the Law. Are you a servant of righteousness or free from righteousness? Are you a servant of sin or a servant of righteousness? Do you have the fruit of holiness in your life?

If you let Jesus make you free, you shall be free indeed.

Jesus Himself plainly declared, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 KJV. This is freedom! Jesus gives freedom to the believer who wants to be truly free, who hungers and thirsts after His righteousness, they are no longer a slave to sin when He frees them. How do we know that Jesus didn’t mean that we were free to keep sinning, no worries, and that we don’t need to be freed from sin? Because He also declared just before this: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ John 8:34-36 KJV. So those who are in bondage to sin and addictions are NOT free. It is impossible for someone to be freed by Jesus and be in bondage to sin at the same time! There are only two choices here: 1) To be a servant or a slave of sin, or 2) To be made free by Jesus – free indeed – not a slave of sin anymore.

Dear reader are you still a slave to sin?

Jesus came to free you from this slavery and bondage of sin. He came to free you from the lusts of the flesh and slavery and help you to obey Him! Do you long to be free and want to be free? It is yours if you want it! You will be so happy if you make this choice for yourself, Jesus will take away all of your shame, and you will be able to look yourself in the mirror again and be happy that He loves you and died to save you and is saving you! You have been freed by what Jesus already did for you at the cross. It is only a matter for you to claim this freedom that Jesus bought for you, if you would have it. Jesus didn’t just die to save you so that you can go to Heaven and live forever, He also died to save you now, so that you can be happy and have all of your guilt gone, buried in the depths of the sea, never to be remembered anymore. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12 KJV. Is that what you want? To be free, guilt free? It is yours, Jesus bought it for you and wants to give it to you! So take it up! And take up the joy and peace of your salvation! Amen.

There is no reason for you to go around anymore with guilt, or to be a slave to sin or bad habits anymore, because Jesus came to make you free.

Do you believe that Jesus can make you free indeed like He promised?

Free from all sinful habits and addictions? Do you believe that He has the power to do this? Do you believe that all power was given to Jesus in Heaven and on Earth like He declared in Matthew 28:18? Do you believe that it follows that justifying someone makes them just (or righteous), which makes them a doer of the law? Do you believe that Jesus can make you righteous and a doer of the Law? Or do you think there is no help for you while you are living on this earth, and that Jesus can’t help you and that you are bound to an endless round of sinning and addictions? Do you believe that Paul taught that you were created in Christ Jesus for good works, ‘so that you would no longer be a slave to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin’? We hope so, because this is the blessed truth of the Gospel! This is our prayer for you. The other teachings that contradict this are ‘another Gospel’ and an anathema to the true believer.

Jesus came to free you from the guilt and shame of sin. It is your destiny, so take it up, and take up the joy of your salvation! It is yours to take up because Jesus died on the cross for your sins. Let Him have all of your sins, let Him take them all away and make you free indeed! What need do you have of any of these sins? Why not let Him take them all away from you?

To sum it all up:

Good works are not bad, and bad works are not good. You earn the wages of sin which is death whenever you sin, not just when you sinned before you gave your heart to the Lord. You come under the law whenever you sin, but under grace whenever you have received Jesus’ forgiveness. After you give your heart to the Lord, you must continue to humble your heart before Him, continue to confess your sins to Him and continue to give your heart to Him each day, dying daily to self. You must continue to believe that only Jesus and His Father can save you; you must continue to want their forgiveness and the eternal life that They want to give you, if you wish to be saved. When you are under grace you will allow Him to change you and help you to be good. God ordained ahead of time that you should walk in the path of good works, for you were created in Christ Jesus for good works. If you died with Jesus in the likeness of His death and were raised up with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, sin should not have the mastery over you; you should not be in bondage to sin anymore, because Jesus came to free you from that; He came to free you from sin and the transgression of His law of love. Are you under grace? Then sin will not have the mastery over you. If you have the forgiveness of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in your heart all-the-way, sin will not have the mastery over you. Are you a servant of righteousness or free from righteousness? Are you a servant of righteousness or a servant of sin? Do you have the fruit of holiness in your life? All who are justified by Jesus are made righteous by Him and will be righteous, as long as they allow Him to justify them; as long as they allow Him to make them righteous! Wow! This is intense! Wow! This is powerful! All those who are justified by Jesus have been freed by Him from their slavery to sin and gladly obey Him. They have died with Him and have been raised up with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, to walk with Him in newness of life. They don’t come under the curse of the law, which is its condemnation of death, because He has forgiven them and is helping them to keep His law of love. And if they sin they confess it and give themselves back to Him again. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 KJV.

May the grace of God be with you all! May you be justified by Jesus’ blood; may you allow Him to make you righteous! May you have and do good works for Him. May His name be forever praised! Amen.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow!

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow!

Amen!

* From the Hymn: Jesus Paid it All, by Elvina M. Hall.

Listen to this hymn on YouTube.

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#Believe #Under #Grace #Justify #Righteous #Law #Good #Works #Servant #Slave #Free #Mastery #Sin #Humble #Holy #Spirit #New #Life #Saved #Curse

What Does it Mean to be Justified? Part 1

By John Foll, written 04/04/2019 to 04/05/2019, 4/12/2019.
© Copyright 2019 John Foll

"Justification has to do with the law. The term means making just. Now in Romans 2:13 we are told who the just ones are: 'For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.' The just man, therefore, is the one who does the law. To be just means to be righteous. Therefore since the just man is the one who does the law, it follows that to justify a man, that is, to make him just, is to make him a doer of the law."

- E. J. Waggoner, from the book: Living by Faith, Chapter: Being Justified. This book was written by both E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones.

Let’s state these propositions again:

For not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

The just man is the one who does the law.

To be just means to be righteous.

The just or righteous person does the law.

Therefore to justify someone is to make them a doer of the law.

To justify someone is to make them righteous.

The term justification by faith is used many places in the Bible, so we need to understand what it really means. It is important since it is used so many times. True faith takes the Bible as it reads and accepts it as the truth, because it is the word of God. Those with true faith believe and trust God and take Him at His word. Therefore the first step in order to get righteousness by faith is to believe the word of God, the Bible. Without the belief that the Bible is the word of God, no one can have the faith that is needed, which Abraham had, to be made righteous by God and be saved. The condition of salvation is to believe – to believe that Jesus and His Father can save you. John 3:16-17. You must also believe their word, the Bible. God doesn’t make mistakes, and you can trust His word, the Bible. This is what we are doing here, taking the Bible as it reads.

Jesus advocated believing the Bible as it reads. Note what He said here: “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And He [Jesus] said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’” Luke 10:25-26 NASB. Jesus answered the lawyer with a simple question, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’ What Jesus said here is actually quite profound! Is it really that easy to understand the Bible? Is it really just that simple? Surely it can’t be that easy, is it? Yes, you bet it is! How come so many other people have trouble understanding it, with different people teaching this and different people teaching that? It is not hard to understand the Bible if you simply read it and believe it as it reads. It is really just that simple. This is where many of the problems come, because many cannot believe it as it reads - without someone interpreting it with a meaning other than its apparent plain meaning. Jesus’ tells you how you can know what the Bible means, and how you can have eternal life: Read the law - how does it read to you? (And the rest of the Bible too.) Read it with prayer and you can understand what it means. It is really just that simple!

* Note there are places in the Bible that are highly symbolic – in these places you must prayerfully study them, allowing the Bible to interpret itself, and it will if you want to understand it.

Why then do so many people get confused about what the Bible means or want to argue about it? Because many people are used to hearing humanistic explanations of the Bible. Whenever they find texts that trouble them, because it brings them guilt or because it is something they don’t want to do, they may ask their trusted pastor or teacher to explain it to them. This is because they don’t want to accept the plain teaching of the Bible or they don’t want to do it, and there are teachers who will give them their own erroneous ideas on what it means - to calm their fears and quiet their conscience. Or they have tried many times and failed at doing what the text says, so they conclude that it is not possible to obey God or be good. But the truth doesn’t contradict itself. If you read the Bible, after praying and asking the Holy Spirit to give you an understanding of it, wanting to obey God, then you will have no problem understanding it - especially for the things you need to hear the most, when you need to hear them. Pray for understanding and then believe the Bible as it reads.

Now that we have the proper method of understanding what the Bible means, let us go back to our proposition again:

To be justified is to be made a doer of the Law.

To be justified is to be made righteous.

Wow! Many people who believe that we are saved by grace alone, which is righteousness by faith, believe that when God justifies someone, that it is purely symbolic - they believe that they are made righteous only in the eyes of God. I.e. they are only righteous in the record books of Heaven. They are not wrong in believing that they are saved by grace or righteousness by faith. But many of them believe that no change is made or needed on the part of the sinner, allowing the person who is "justified" to be stuck in an endless round of sinning and bad habits, or they teach that it is not necessary or even that it is bad to try to be good, saying that this is "works." This is not the gospel message at all, but ‘another gospel.’ Works are bad when they are self-righteous acts, done to earn favor with God or man, without God's help - for those who try to earn their salvation by themselves. But it is clear that to justify someone is to make them righteous as Waggoner stated. Another way of stating this proposition is that only those who are made righteous by God or just are the doers of the Law – only these are just before God.

If you have faith you will be made righteous.

If you have faith you will have peace:

Let us take this quote from Paul and run with it:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:1 NASB. What does this tell us? If we have been made righteous by faith, then we will have peace. We added the new understanding of what being justified means to bring out its complete meaning.

Does our theme text of Romans 2:13, which Waggoner interprets as meaning that the one who is justified is made a doer of the law, contradict Paul’s other teachings?

Some have argued that Romans 2:13 contradicts Galatians 2:16, but is this true?

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Galatians 2:16 KJV. 

This text on the surface appears to contradict Romans 2:13. But let’s break this down to understand why they are not contradictions of each other.

We have the testimony of Peter that agrees perfectly with Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:13, that it is not the hearers of the Law but the doers of the Law who will be justified: Listen now to Peter’s testimony: “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." Acts 5:32 NASB. Here Peter plainly teaches that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God – this is how we become born again or born by the Spirit, by obeying God. See John 3:3, 5. Here is the testimony of Jesus regarding this: ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’ John 14:23 NASB. It is clear that if someone loves Jesus, they will keep His word (which is to obey Him), and He and the Father will dwell in them through the presence of the Holy Spirit – This is how you become born again. This agrees perfectly with Romans 2:13, because it is only those who obey God (or those who want to obey Him) and Jesus, who will receive the Holy Spirit and be born again. John 3:3, 5. There is more to this subject, but we will not deal with all of it here. We have already covered many of these concepts in our previous articles and books that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and helps us to obey God (if we want Him too). Only those who choose to obey God (who want to obey Him), will be given the Holy Spirit and be made righteous. But they have not the power to make this choice to obey God, unless the Holy Spirit first convicts them of sin and they want to obey Him. Jesus declared, “And He, when He [the  Helper or the Holy Spirit] comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me;” John 16:8-10 NASB.

When the Bible says that by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified - what are we to make of it? When we try to do good works or to keep the law we are unable to do it in our own strength, so we cannot be justified or made right by ourselves, because we are never perfectly right or just by ourselves, and never can be by ourselves. – Because Jesus said there is only one who is good: God alone! Matthew 19:16. The second stanza in the song Rock of Ages states this so eloquently: “Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no languor know? These for sin can not atone. Thou must save and thou alone.” We cannot atone for any of our sins that we have made! No never! But if we are made ‘just’ or ‘righteous’ by God, then we are righteous indeed! This is wholly the work of God, not us.

The answer is that Galatians 2:16 does not contradict Romans 2:13.

Galatians 2:16 is talking about those who are trying to keep the law in their own strength (no one is good but God alone - Mark 10:18), while Romans 2:13 is talking about someone who wants to obey God, who makes a choice to want to obey Him, they ask God to give them the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and God gives them the power to obey Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:32. Thus only those who have faith that God can make them righteous, will be made righteous by Him through the Holy Spirit! So both Galatians 2:16 and Romans 2:13 are about being made righteous by God.

When the prophet Habakkuk and the apostle Paul wrote: ‘The just shall live by faith,’ what did they mean? See Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 8:36; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 4:2.

Habakkuk and Paul meant that those who have faith will live by it and thus will be made righteous.

To sum up what we have learned here:

Those who have faith will be made righteous, because they will be given the desire and the ability of making the choice to obey God, and thus receiving the Holy Spirit, because no one is good but God alone. It means that those who have faith will get the Holy Spirit! – It is the Holy Spirit alone who can make anyone righteous. And they must want to obey God to get the Holy Spirit in full. Acts 5:32. And they must be born again to be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven, John 3:3, 5, which is to be born of the Holy Spirit. So the only way you can be righteous and saved and enter Heaven, is if you want to obey God and are filled with His precious Holy Spirit! Wow!

You may think that we are reasoning here in a loop, but this is how it is laid out in the Bible. Which comes first? The chicken or the egg? We are putting together texts from the Bible here that you have probably never heard used together before. Have you? We are exhorted by the Bible to put the lines of truth together to get a greater gestalt or a better understanding of it. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” Isaiah 28:10 KJV. This is what we are doing.

Conclusion:

The just shall live by faith.
The righteous shall live by faith.
Those who have faith in God will be just.
Those who have faith in God will be righteous.
Those who have faith in God will be made just.
Those who have faith in God will be made righteous.
Those who have faith in God will have the Holy Spirit.
Those who have faith in God will be doers of the Law.
Those who have faith in God will obey Him.
Those who have faith in God will please Him!
Those who have faith in God will have peace.
Those who have been made righteous by faith will have peace.
Those who have faith in God will be saved!
Those who have faith in God will be born again!
Those who have faith in God will enter the kingdom of Heaven!

Salvation is from the Lord! He alone can save. He must save, and Him alone. So why not trust Him?

Wow! These are powerful concepts here! Think about all of this again and again – let it sink in until you get it! These are most wonderful truths! Fresh! Full of life, love and joy and power! They will impart to you eternal life if you accept and do them.

May the faith of Abraham, the grace of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen.

Now for the song for today:

Rock of Ages

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Lessons on Faith: Part 13 of 14: Faith That Works By Love

By A. T. Jones

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"In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love."  Gal. 5:6.

With those who were in mind when this scripture was originally written, circumcision was everything, and it was everything simply because of what it represented.

And what circumcision represented to those people was works and works only. It was the greatest of all works -- greater than creation itself -- because, as the rabbis put it, "So great is circumcision, that but for it the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have created the world." "It is as great as all the other commandments," "equivalent to all the commandments of the law." -- Farrar's "Life of Paul," chapter 22, para. 5, note; chapter 35, para 4, note.

Yet this which to them was so great, the Lord sweeps away, as with a blast, in the words, "Circumcision is nothing," and in Christ Jesus, circumcision avails nothing. And, in view of what circumcision meant to them, this was simply to say that works are nothing and in Christ Jesus works avail nothing.

Then to all the others who, in view of this, might be inclined to boast in their lack of works and thus excuse sin, the word is given with equal force: "And uncircumcision is nothing." "In Jesus Christ neither . . . uncircumcision availeth anything," which, in its connection, was simply to say that the absence of works is nothing and in Christ Jesus the absence of works avails nothing.

So then works are nothing and the absence of works is nothing. In Christ Jesus neither works nor the lack of works avails anything.

This word of the Lord, therefore, utterly and forever excludes both classes from all merit and from all ground of merit in themselves or in anything they ever did or did not do. 

And this is all as true today as ever. Today, whether persons are out of Christ or in Christ, neither works nor no works avail anything. For it is written: "Are you in Christ? Not if you do not acknowledge yourselves erring, helpless, condemned sinners. . . . Your birth, your reputation, your wealth, your talents, your virtues, your piety, your philanthropy, or anything else in you or connected with you, will not form a bond of union between your soul and Christ."  -- Testimony for the Church, No. 31, pages 44, 45.

What then? Is everybody left in utter emptiness? No, no! Thank the Lord there is something which avails for all and avails forever. Though it be the everlasting truth that "in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, neither works nor no works avail anything; yet it is also the eternal truth that "in Jesus Christ . . . FAITH WHICH WORKETH" does avail.

Notice that it is not faith and works that avail; it is "faith WHICH worketh." It is faith which itself is able to work and does work -- it is this and this alone that avails for anybody anywhere at any time.

Faith is only of God and working; it works only the works of God. Thus he who, in Christ Jesus, has the "faith which worketh," has that which avails to show God manifest in the flesh, working the works of God. And thus "this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

And so, while you are in Christ, "if there is any good in you, it is wholly attributable to the mercy of the compassionate Saviour. . . . Your connection with the church, the manner in which your brethren regard you, will be of no avail unless you believe in Christ. It is not enough to believe about Him; you must believe in Him. You must rely wholly upon His saving grace."  -- Id., pages 44, 45.

"Hast thou faith?" Have the faith of God. "Here are they that keep . . . the faith of Jesus."

RH Mar. 28, 1899 

By A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald periodical in 1899.


Blog Edited by John Foll.

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He is Faithful!

By John Foll
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 KJV.

The key here is that ‘He is faithful’. Who is faithful? God is faithful. Our salvation and all the good things now and forever depend on the love and faithfulness of God to keep His promises to us, to forgive us and to help cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to provide all the other gifts that He wants to give us. Yes, God is faithful and can be trusted to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we confess our sins! It does not depend on us, because we are not faithful by ourselves. Only God can help us to be faithful. But if we will just confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and will save us, as long as we continue to allow Him to work in our life! Yes, He is faithful! God alone is faithful and righteous. And you can have all the blessings of love and eternal life, if you will just choose to confess your sins, because He will take care of you, if you will do this and continue with Him. God always keeps His promises!

This is taken from my book: Love of God, God’s Plan To Save You – How to Have Righteousness By Faith, in the Chapter: Become White as Snow: Confession and Forgiveness. In this book we show how to get closer to God, how to get the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit. We will show you in this book how to have righteousness by faith. We think that you would be blessed if you would read this book. http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/love-of-god-part-1

May the grace of God be with you.

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Lessons on Faith: Part 12 of 14: The Righteousness of God is Revealed to Faith

By A. T. Jones

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The righteousness of God is revealed to faith. Rom. 1:17.

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God, expecting that word to do what the word itself says. Is there, then, righteousness spoken by the word of God, so that people can depend completely upon that word, that the word shall accomplish what the word says?

There is. Indeed, that is the very object of the gift of Christ. For him "God hath set forth . . . to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Rom. 3:25.

Seeing then that God hath set forth Christ expressly to declare, to speak, the righteousness of God, it is certain that the word of God has been spoken, upon which there can be complete dependence, expecting that word to do what that word says. In other words, there is righteousness that can be received by faith.

Wherein is this word spoken? It is spoken in the word "forgiveness." "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins"; "there is forgiveness with thee."

Now what is the meaning of “forgive"? The word "forgive" is composed of "for" and "give," which otherwise is give for. To forgive, therefore, is simply to give for. For the Lord to forgive sin is to give for sin. But what does the Lord give for sin? He declares "his righteousness for the remission of sins."

Therefore when the Lord forgives--gives for--sin, He gives righteousness for sin. And as the only righteousness that the Lord has is his own, it follows that the only righteousness that God gives, or can give, for sin is the righteousness of God.

This is the righteousness of God as a gift. As all men have only sinned and if they are ever clear must have forgiveness entirely free, and as the forgiveness of sin -- the righteousness of God given for sin -- is entirely free -- this is the righteousness of God as a free gift "upon all men unto justification of life." Rom. 5:18.

Every soul, therefore, who ever asks God for forgiveness of sin, in that very thing asks God to give him righteousness for sin. Every soul who asks God for forgiveness asks it solely upon the word of God, which speaks forgiveness. And faith is entire dependence upon the word for what the word speaks. Thus righteousness is altogether of faith.

"Every one that asketh receiveth." You have asked the Lord many a time to forgive your sins; that is, you have asked him to give for your sin. But when you ask the Lord to give for your sin, in that you ask him to give the only thing that He does or can give for sin, which is righteousness. That is what it is to ask forgiveness of the Lord.

And He does forgive -- He does give for -- your sins when you ask Him. He says He does, and He does. "He is faithful" -- that is, He will never fail -- "and just to forgive us our sins." And the only thing He gives for sins is His righteousness.

Then why not thank Him for the righteousness that He freely gives for your sins when you ask Him to? Do you not see that righteousness by faith is just as plain and simple as the asking God for forgiveness of sin? Indeed, it is just that.

To believe that righteousness is given for your sin, when you ask forgiveness, and thankfully to receive that righteousness as the gift of God -- this is what it is to exercise faith. 

Yet how true it is that "we suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief and of our ignorance of how to exercise faith." 

"Hast thou faith?" Have the faith of God. "Here are they that keep . . . the faith of Jesus." 

RH Mar. 14, 1899

By A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald periodical in 1899.

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For We are His Workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus For Good Works

“For by grace 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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB. Not only are we saved by grace, but we were also created in Christ Jesus for good works. According to Paul it’s not one way or the other it’s both: We are saved by grace AND created in Christ Jesus for good works.

'Wait a minute', you may say, ‘I heard that works are bad from a preacher or a book’. Are they really? Many of those who say good works are bad and think that Paul teaches this, apparently have not read the entire passage of Ephesians 2:8-10. To deny that we do not need to have good works is to deny what Paul is declaring here! Are we saying that you can be saved by your good works? Absolutely not. We have all alike sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), all we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6) and are unable to save ourselves. It is the gift of God as Paul says above. But Paul also said that ‘we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works’. The key to what Paul is saying here is that ‘we are His workmanship’. Unless we have allowed God to fully recreate us, we are not yet fully ‘created in Christ Jesus for good works.’ Unless we are renewed by God’s grace and saved through faith, we can never consistently produce good works that are free from the taint of human pride, boasting, and selfishness that are true goodness. Some works may appear to be good to us, we can only see the outside of others, and sometimes we don’t fully comprehend the problems within ourselves as well, but God looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7. Only God can perfectly weigh both the actions, words, thoughts, and motives. “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:10 KJV. Unless someone has a vital connection with Jesus they can do nothing that is good. Jesus said, ‘Without me ye can do nothing’. John 15:5 KJV.

Let’s now focus on the last part of what Paul said in our theme text:  ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 NASB. Walk in what? God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in the path of good works. Much difficulty and error would be avoided by God’s people if they would read the Bible in context, taking the meaning as it reads, and not taking an interpretation that contradicts other Bible passages, especially when they are clear. The Bible explains itself. How has God prepared beforehand ‘that we should walk in’ [good works]? By the death of His Son Jesus for our sins, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us live holy lives and perform good works, with unselfish motives. This is the very heart of Christianity, the basics! To be a Christian is to confess your sins (1 John 1:9), believe in Jesus (John 3:16-17), and become born again. John 3:3, 5. Every Christian should know these things and do them; it is what is taught by the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, by Jesus in the Gospels and by the Apostles from Acts to Revelation. There shouldn’t be any question about this in Christianity. But Christianity in many cases has drifted far from the pure and holy teaching of the Apostles in the book of Acts and the teaching of Jesus, and need to be taught again the fundamentals of the truth. We believe that many in their heart who have read the Bible know the truth of this, but have allowed the voice of error to drown out this simple truth that is taught by the Bible. If people would just listen to the voice of God in the Bible, instead of listening to the clamor of men, then they would know the truth and not be deceived. Paul also said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV. So the scriptures help you to become perfect and thoroughly furnished with the power and the gifts to perform good works, if you believe what you read and ask God for the power to be His son or daughter! What Paul is teaching here contradicts what is taught and believed by many people today. If you want to be furnished for all good works, believe what the Bible says and study it, and put what it teaches into practice, by God’s power. As you learn to love God more and more, and yield to His love, studying and performing all of His commands in the Bible will become a delight to you, and all of the Bible will then be joyous words of life to your soul, that you will greatly treasure above everything else in this life, because they are the words of God, whom you adore. God’s messages in the Bible will be a well of water inside of you springing up unto eternal life! John 4:14.

The truth is that doing good works can never be wrong, if you have given yourself to God, and have His Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart; this is the way you should live. Having good works in your life (that God helps you to do) is necessary for you to have, it shows God’s power in your life and brings honor and glory to His name; good works can only be done by you if you have Him dwelling in your heart. He helps you to carry out His will for your life and to serve Him and to help others to the kingdom too. You are saved by the merits of Jesus, but you must cooperate with God and allow Him to change you, then it becomes natural for you to do good works; as long as He dwells in you. The attempt to do good works by yourself will never save you, and it is utterly impossible that you can do good works without Him, without any taint of sin or selfishness, etc. But if someone doesn’t have good works in their life, that means they haven’t allowed God to change them and give them this power yet; this is an indicator that something is wrong in that person’s life or they haven’t learned enough of His love yet, or are still growing in grace, only God knows for sure. God gives us time to repent and yield ourselves to Him, that is what this life is for.

Some may think that we are contradicting ‘sound doctrine’ here that some teachers have supposedly ‘proven’ from the Bible. But any teaching that ignores parts (especially large parts of the Bible) is wrong. The fact that Paul’s says above in Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved by grace (or as some say by grace alone) in no way contradicts what we have stated in this article. But the belief that ‘all attempts to try to do good works’, and ‘obeying God is wrong’ are not. The belief that we have no part to play in our salvation is a lie. They say ‘by Christ alone’, and yes it is by Christ alone, but they fail to realize that it is also by ‘Christ alone’ that any can live a good Christian life. Their understanding of ‘by Christ alone’ completely ignores very many clear passages in many places of the Bible. It is by ‘Christ alone’ that we can be forgiven, and it is by ‘Christ alone’ that we can do good works. Some say it is not faith + works, it is by faith alone. This argument seems good on the surface but is not completely correct, it is omitting the truth if it is taken too far and used to put down or alter other clear truths in the Bible. The argument we are making is not ‘your faith in God’ + ‘your works’ equals being saved, not true. Our argument is that your salvation from beginning to end is from God: Your faith is from God, as well as your good works are from God. If it has any element of your human nature in it, it is unfit to be called totally good.

Some people’s idea of faith is really works. They have too much faith in themselves or in their own ability and willpower to do what is right, but it is worthless, human, self-righteousness and “filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6 KJV. Faith can be from God or from yourself. True faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23. If you haven’t been born from above, you cannot have true faith in its fullness, but if you decide to believe what God is telling you and it develops into true faith in God, you are becoming born again. You can bring nothing good into being by yourself, and since faith is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and allows you to get answers to your prayers and the victory, you can have none of these good things apart from God or apart from the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11 KJV. So the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin and righteousness. We would not even know that we needed to change if it wasn’t for His voice whispering to our heart!

Some people’s idea of faith is really just belief, the belief that demons have that fear and tremble. James says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:19-20 KJV. If you tremble because of your guilt, perhaps brought on by an endless cycle of sinning and feeling bad about it, then your faith is the same ‘belief’ that the devils have. If you have love for God and are clear before Him you will not have guilt or be afraid of Him. What you need is ‘saving faith’. See Hebrews 11:7 KJV for an example of saving faith. As a Christian you should not have any guilt, because God has made provision for it, all you have to do to get rid of the guilt is to humble your heart before God and confess yours sins to Him, then you will be cleared of them. And if you let God cleanse you from all unrighteousness, then He will help you break that cycle of endless sinning and feeling bad about it. (You may have to make something right in addition to confessing your sins.) If you have saving faith, you will have the power from God to overcome your sins, and He will help you break out of that endless cycle of sinning and sinful habits and give you a better attitude and take away your tendency to sin. The only part that you play is your choice to have faith, and your choice to love and obey God, but God supplies the power and the ability, by giving you the Holy Spirit. When you learn to love God all the way, and learn to trust Him completely to guide your life and protect you from all harm, this is saving faith! God will never violate your choice, but He may allow circumstances to happen to you, troubles and trials, to help you decide whether you will Have His salvation or not. If you will humble your heart before Him and repent from your sins, salvation will be yours.

The real truth does not contradict any portion of the Bible. The fact that Paul stated that we are saved by grace alone, and not by works, in no way negates any other passage of the Bible. The teachings of Jesus are the very pinnacle of what the Bible teaches, not some people’s misunderstanding of what Paul taught. There cannot be any authority higher than Jesus on this earth. Any idea that people think the Bible teaches which disagrees with anything Jesus clearly taught cannot be right. Later in this article we will share some of the statements of Jesus that clearly contradict the idea that you do not need to have good works to be saved, and that you can live a bad life and be saved without anything done by you on your part. Paul’s writings, when they are perfectly understood, read in their context, reading the whole verse and the whole section, not just one verse or one word, perfectly agrees with the rest of the Bible. You need to read everything Paul has to say on what you think he is teaching to understand what he really means, and compare it carefully with the rest of the Bible. His writings can help all know the important truths of God’s grace perhaps more clearly than some other places in the Bible. Paul’s writings can also help you to understand other parts of the Bible, when they are put together. There is a real harmony between all of the Bible, if people would only see it. Paul himself in Ephesians 2:8-10 contradicts this idea that people cannot be saved if they have good works, he says that we are created for good works, which means we should have good works – this is the path that God has laid out for His people. You need to read the whole passage in its context.

Our faith in God is necessary because it shows our choice to believe that God will save us. Our good works that we do, by living righteously and treating God and others with love can never be done in our own strength and power.

What are good works? What are bad works?
Good works are doing the right thing at the right time; living by all of the words of God in the Bible. I.e. righteousness. Bad works are works of sin, selfishness, or doing or saying any hurtful things to yourself, others or God; these are all violations of God’s Law of Love. Or trying to do ‘good works’ without completely consecrating yourself to God and allowing the Holy Spirit to produce these good works within you. Being good and doing good works are a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and proof that God is dwelling in your heart. Good works equals righteousness.

John gives us an important clue to the righteousness that God wants us to have: “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:7-8 NASB. Those who “practice” righteousness are righteous. Those whose ‘custom’ or ‘habit’ is to do the right thing are righteous. Those who ‘practice’ unrighteousness or sin are unrighteous. Those whose ‘custom’ or ‘habit’ is to do the wrong thing are unrighteous. Paul tells us: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 KJV. We all were unrighteous and sinners before we met God, but if we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and cleansed from all unrighteousness, then we are now sanctified for God’s glory and are being saved by Him.

The deacon Stephen also gives us a definition of bad works: “At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.” Acts 7:41 NASB. Those who set up idols in their heart, or think that they are able to take care of themselves or feed themselves by the work of their hands apart from God, or put anything before God are doing bad works. But Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, so He wants to help you to practice good works, if you will let Him. The prophet Jeremiah gives us a message from God that we should not worship other gods or the works of our hands. God told His people: “And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.” Jeremiah 25:6-7 KJV. So if you are setting up idols of your own ability to help yourself, or idols of sin, you are hurting God and are hurting yourself, because this will eventually cut you off from eternal life if you continue doing this. But why hurt yourself when God wants to help you and give you eternal life?

How can you do good works? “Then said they unto Him [Jesus], ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.’” John 6:28-29 KJV. The answer to how you can do good works is by believing in Jesus and His Father. You must believe in Jesus and His Father. See also John 3:16, 17 which teaches that you can only be saved if you believe in Jesus. What Paul said about good works fits perfectly with what Jesus said. It is by God alone that you can be forgiven and saved! It is by God alone that you can truly perform good works! (With pure, unselfish motives.) Being good or doing good is not within your ability to do; it is outside of your ability. Solomon also declared this truth when he said, “Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3 NASB. So it is only by God that you can have good works! So commit your plans, ways, dreams and life to Him and salvation will be yours!

Your good works cannot save you, but you will be lost without them:
Paul tells us that those who do the works of the flesh shall not inherit the kingdom of God: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery [or witchcraft in the KJV], enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 NASB. Paul also tells us that the end of the wicked will be according to their works: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 KJV. The end of the wicked will be according to their works as Paul declared, but the salvation of the saved will be by the works of God; they will have good works. Jesus said, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.” Matthew 16:27 KJV. Everyone will be rewarded according to their works, as Jesus plainly stated. Jesus also said, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 7:16-19 NASB. What makes someone’s works good or bad depends on which spirit is dwelling in them. If they have the Spirit of God, then their tree will be good and their works will be good, but if they haven’t given themselves totally to God, if at all, then their tree will be bad and their works will be bad. Jesus plainly declares here that all who do not bear good fruit for God will be cut down and thrown into the fire. This is pretty serious. Jesus also declares in Matthew that all the stumbling blocks, i.e. those that have bad works and mislead others will be lost: “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:40-42 NASB.

Therefore the only question that remains is whether you or I will be a stumbling block or a tare? Or will we bear good fruit for the Master? See also Revelation 2:19, 23; 3:1-2 for more texts on the importance of works in our salvation, as given by Jesus.

Still believe that you can be saved and not have any good works?
Jesus said in Matthew 7:16-19 that you can only bear good fruit if your tree is good. A bad tree bears bad fruit and a good tree bears good fruit. Jesus also tells us that ‘only God is good.’ Jesus said, ‘No one is good except God alone.’ Luke 11:18 NASB. Therefore no one can have good works unless God gives it to them. We also know from a statement by Jesus that the Father wants to give us good gifts (Matthew 7:11) – He wants to give us the Holy Spirit, if we will ask! Luke 11:13. And under the power of the Holy Spirit we will gain the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), which enable us to bear good fruit for God! God really does supply all of our needs! “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 KJV. He will not only forgive you, but enable you to live a righteous life for Him, and have all the good works that you need, if you will continue to go to Him to get a fresh supply of His grace every day!

So do not believe preachers or others who try to tell you that you don’t need to have good works to be saved or that it is wrong to do good works. This is a lie! The very fact that it is necessary to write on this subject is ridiculous, considering that it should be common sense what we are writing about. But some have been so deceived nowadays that they seem to have lost all common sense about right and wrong. But if you ask some in the world, especially those that left the church, many will tell you why they left, ‘because of the hypocrites.’ So the devil deceives people into thinking that the way they live doesn’t matter, and then when they get totally discouraged, get tired and disgusted with it all, they leave the church, and start to say that the church is filled with hypocrites. But wisdom is vindicated by her children. Luke 7:35 NASB. They should have thought about themselves as being hypocrites before they left the church, then there would have been hope for them, because then they could have turned and repented, instead of being blind to their sins. And then they would have stopped being a stumbling block to others. There is no harm in admitting to God and to yourself that you are a hypocrite and have not always done what is right! Probably everyone has been a hypocrite at one time in their life. When you find out that you are a hypocrite, just turn to God and beg for mercy, and He will heal you. God will always listen to you if you admit that you are a sinner, confess, and plead with Him for His mercy!

Jesus dispels all these myths that you don’t need to be good or to do good works when He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 KJV. If Jesus is your Master, you will be the salt of the earth and let your light shine for the world to see, to glorify His Father! Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Matthew 5:13-15 KJV. Likewise, if Jesus is your Master, you can’t help but love Him and let your light shine for all the world to see; you will be unable to hide the light that He has given you, and will joyously declare His and His Father’s love to a dying world!

How many good things must you do to be saved? This is the wrong question to ask. You are saved by grace as Paul declares in our theme text, not by any of your good works or anything you have done. If you truly love Jesus your heart will be overflowing with His love and joy, and will long to do everything that you can to help people make their way to the kingdom, or to help them with their needs, and will not ask how much you need to do to be saved, for we are saved by grace, not by works. But the desire to do good things for God and others is a change that only God can bring about when you cooperate with Him, and it will be only natural, once His love takes possession of your heart, to lay everything on the alter and serve Him with all of your heart, and mind and soul! It will be no burden to you to do this! It will bring you much joy! Amen!

Let’s close with a blessing that God pronounces on all who rest from their labours, whose good works follow them to Heaven:

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Revelation 14:13 KJV.

My prayer for you dear reader is that you will consecrate and devote yourself completely to God; that your works will follow you on your way to Heaven, that your life will be a pleasing aroma to God. ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works’ Ephesians 2: 10 NASB. Amen.

May the grace of God be with you all!

By John Foll, finished 7/9/2017 to 7/16/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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