Justified by Faith, Not of Works

There are verses in the Bible that
plainly teach that justification is of faith and not of works. Yet,
Bible plainly teaches the need of obedience. Are we going to teach that
since salvation is of grace not of works that we can ignore Heb. 5:8-9?
Or do we say we are saved by our obedience and that we work out our
salvation like Philp. 2:12 teaches and therefore we ignore the passages
that speak of God's grace?

Need to be able to put it all together and get the full teaching of the
Bible. Romans 1 Gentiles have sinned. Romans 2 - Jews have sinned.
3:9-18 All have sinned. No one justified by the works of the Law!  Law
brings knowledge of sin. Righteousness of God comes from faith in Christ
Jesus, never in self.

All have sinned, none are justified by their actions. it is a gift of
God that he sent His Son so we can be forgiven in Him. 

Romans 3:20-23 All have sinned, God sent His Son as a gift, none of us
deserved it. It is by the grace of God.

Chp 4 Abraham Justified by faith, not of Works 4:2 If justified by
works, he could boast in himself.

4:4 One justified by Works os one who earns justification. "Works" is
complete obedience by which God owes us salvation.

4:3  Many say that this refers to the justification of Abraham as an
        alien sinner who became saved on the basis of faith alone. He is
        a man who is justified by an obedient faith! 1:5, 16:26

1.God had appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees (Acts 7:2-3) and
commanded him to go into a land which would be shown him, and promised
to bless him, and to make a great nation of him, and to bless all
families through his seed. Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to
Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's
house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I
will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I
will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

2. Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to
the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he
went out, not knowing where he was going.

3. Why this promise and why this worship, if Abraham was then an
unforgiven sinner? Genesis 12:6-7 Abram passed through the land to the
place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the
Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and
said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an
altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

4. Abraham moved on to a mountain between Bethel and Ai and there:
Genesis 12:8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and
he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he
built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

5. After his visit to Egypt: Genesis 13:1-4 Then Abram went up from
Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the
South... And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to
the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and
Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And
there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

6. When he returned from rescuing Lot Genesis 14:18-19 Then Melchizedek
king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most
High.  And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Pos sessor of heaven and earth;

7. After these things... Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the
Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am
your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

After all of this: Genesis 15:4-6 And behold, the word of the Lord came
to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come
from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and
said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to
num ber them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And
he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

The only way one can say this refers to the justification of a sinner is
by totally ignoring the context. 

The argument is that one can be justified without the works of the Law,
not that one can be saved without obedience.  The Jews who wanted to
teach that one had to be circum cised to be justified would have to say
that Abraham was not justified.

If there is no sin counted against a man, he is righteous.  If he never
sinned, he would be righteous by works; if he sins and God forgives him,
and removes his guilt, then he is made righteous by grace or favor. But
the man who becomes righteous by forgiveness has nothing to boast of.
For this reason Abraham had nothing to boast of, for the same reason we
have nothing to boast of.

This goes back to 3:27. If a man is righteous by perfect obedience, he
has something to boast of, but not if he is righteous by the forgiveness
offered by God.

4:4 The reward is reckoned to the person that works, because it is his
due. Paul is not condemning salvation by works in this verse; he is
merely stating a truth. If we ever work so that we live perfect lives
God will pay the debt and give us heaven. But if a man sins once,
salvation can never come to him a s debt.  Such a man can never be
justified by works of law.  He needs forgiveness, and the law does not
forgive; it condemns.

4:5 "Works" must have the same meaning in both cases (vss. 4 & 5). Paul
has not changed the subject. Only perfect works, works without any guilt
of sin, can bring salvation as a debt.

The one "who works" is the one whose works are so perfect that he has no
guilt of sin. The one who does not work is the one who hasn't
successfully obeyed perfectly and nothing is owed to him.

Abraham is an example of this.  God did not owe him heaven.  Abraham was
a sinner saved by the grace of God. The worker can point to perfect
obedience and boast in what he has done. The non-worker has not been
perfect and can only depend on God and boast in Him.
 
Paul did not mean to say that God makes the person righteous who will
not obey him. The person who simply does nothing.  (Heb 5:8-9, Rom 1:5)

He does not have special reference to the salvation of alien sinners.
This can be seen by the context of his quote of Psalms 32. David was
referring to his own forgiveness. He did not have in mind the
forgiveness of alien sinners, but the forgiveness of a servant of God.
(See context of Psalms 32, esp,. 3, 10)

Paul Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something
of which to boast, but not before God. Romans 4:5 But to him who does
not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
accounted for righteousness.

James James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
offered Isaac his son on the altar? James 2:24 You see then that a man
is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Some have tried to make James and Paul to contradict each other. 

The two together show the truth of the "obedience of faith" True faith
is an obedient faith. Without obedience, faith is not real. Rom. 1:5,
167:26

Becoming righteous is not a one time event. a.      Paul applies this to
        Abraham's belief of the promise of a son. (4:19-22). When God
        made a promise, Abraham believed it! b.      James applies it to
        the sacrifice of Isaac. (James 2:21-23) When God told Abraham to
        do something, he did it! c.      Justification is an ongoing
        event as we "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7)

Paul is not teaching that obedience is not necessary! Romans 2:5-9 But
in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to
his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing
good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self
seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness -
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who
does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; Romans 6:16-18 Do you
not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of
obedience to righteousness? (17) But God be thanked that though you were
slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to
which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became
slaves of righteousness.

Grace provided the plan by which sinners are saved, and grace tells us
how to come into possession of that salvation.  

It is a mistake to set the commands of God against the grace of God.
God's grace is in every command He gives. The sinner was lost; God
prepared a way by which he could be saved.  That was grace.

This was not enough.  Man had to learn of this plan, and obey God.  


Wayne Wells wayneliz@twave.net http://users.twave.net/ncc