1002. Are Good Works the Evidence of Faith?

Maybe you've seen it in church buildings where it is declared one is saved by grace through faith, not by works ... and then comes the "but." It's what we call the dreaded and confusing Grace-But Ministries. One of the "buts" is that the faith that saves requires good works as proof or evidence that faith is alive and not dead. They will tout that without this outward evidence of works that are designed to be seen by others, then faith is dead (and maybe they were never really saved in the first place ... in spite of their belief and profession of faith in Jesus Christ).

Even the most passionate grace folks can also slip down a legalistic slope without realizing it. As is usually the case, it can be traced back to misunderstanding a few scattered Bible verses without the revelation of a New Covenant context. Watch out when it's grace one minute and "but" the next.

Let's talk about it…

Are works a requirement for faith to come to life or to remain alive? If so, you'll have something to boast about while God owes you a debt for something you've done.

In legalistic camps—and sometimes grace circles—specifics are almost always omitted, leaving you to guess which works are needed and how much.

Works and fruit are often mistaken for the same thing.

Jesus cautioned against performance for the purpose of being seen by others.

Faith is the evidence of what is not seen (that which is eternal). It's more than a mouthful, which is why two mouths are better than one!



   
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850. Old Covenant: Purified Flesh (Dead Works); New Covenant: Purified Conscience

The law of works left people in a state of hopelessness through a system of failed commandment-keeping and repeated animal sacrifices seeking more and more forgiveness. Jesus offered Himself one time to free people from that ministry of condemnation which could only attempt to make the flesh look polished. But the flesh profits nothing and the works were dead. Jesus ushered in a better covenant where His blood sealed the deal—and it all began after His earthly ministry with His death.

Eternal redemption. Eternal Spirit. He did it all.



   
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740. Hebrews 5-6: Obedience and Repentance From Dead Works

The enemy relishes to shoot Bible verses at people that are taken out of context, which can spawn fear and uncertainty into a works-based gospel, rather than a gospel based upon faith. We look at a couple of these verses in an attempt to shed some light on the bigger picture within the proper context. Sometimes the enemy is in our own back yard that we consider to be a safe place.

“Christ is salvation, but only for those who are obedient. You must obey everything Jesus said.” The fear factor: Am I obedient enough and where do I stand with God?

“It’s impossible to renew people to repentance who have fallen away.” The fear factor: Am I still saved?

This entire letter to Hebrew believers was a message of good news and reassurance found in what Jesus did … and not in what we do.



   
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732. Repenting from What God Doesn’t Remember?

Christians are bombarded with repentance missiles from all kinds of Bible teaching which varies by definition from one pulpit to the next. And yet the writer of Hebrews admonished believers to avoid the constant practice of feeling obligated to repeatedly lay down the same foundation of repentance from dead works. Feeling the need to “get right with God again” because of poor choices is not how repentance is defined.

This mindset has left people wallowing in a works-based doctrine and in a state of sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from. Believers are gifted with God’s righteousness, and Jesus doesn’t call the righteous to repent, but rather those identified as sinners who are still born in Adam with a sin condition they are trying to fix through their own efforts — instead of trusting in the work of Christ by faith.



   
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572. The Death of the Testator & Freed from Dead Works

Christ did not enter a place made with human hands, but He entered the more perfect tabernacle, in the Most Holy Place once for all, obtaining eternal redemption with His blood. The writer of Hebrews contrasted this work of Christ with the former ministry of repeated animal sacrifices, and explained how this would be superior to the old way. It would cleanse our conscience from dead works and move us into serving the living God. When did all of this begin? Not with the birth of Christ, but with His death, which would allow for the will or covenant to go into effect.



   

213. Faith, Works and Dead Works

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"Faith without works is dead," says James. We talked about that a little bit last week, and we'll talk about it a little more this week. We'll dig into the idea of how faith and works work together, so to speak, and we'll show how we believe this phrase from James does not mean that we do works in order to "prove" our faith or in order to make our faith genuine. We'll also talk a bit about how "works without faith are dead works!" (See how we cleverly moved the words around a bit). ;)  Anyone, even people without faith, can do good works.  People can be good imitators, and their imitations can appear very close to the real thing, and yet just as an imitation is not the real thing, in the same way people can do works that appear really, really good, but are nevertheless dead works.