A lot of ink has been spilled among Western Christians in the debate concerning Faith vs. Works. What place do works, if any, have in our salvation?
From the Protestant “faith alone” side, it is insisted that works have nothing to do at all with our salvation, we are saved solely by believing in Christ apart from how we live. One of their primary proof texts is, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
From the Roman Catholic side, it has often been said that we cannot be saved without works, we are saved by faith plus works. They point out the deficiency of the “faith alone” argument by using James 2:24, 26 “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
But all the tension in this debate dissipates if we just follow the original Christian teaching concerning faith and works because both of these views are correct and do not contradict each other.
The early Christians saw salvation as a two-step process. For our initial salvation, only faith will do. No works can earn or gain our initial justification. Only by repenting, believing, and being baptized can we become born again. This is beautifully expressed in the verses from Ephesians above, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
But, having been grafted into Christ, we must abide in the Vine. We must combine our faith with loving faithfulness. Our ultimate salvation at the Final Judgment, does depend on what we have done with the gift of salvation, Scripture makes it clear that our final salvation is concerned with our faithfulness in loving works. As St. Paul said in Galatians, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” (Gal. 5:6)
This is further amplified when we add verse 10 to Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted above. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, we are saved in such a way that we cannot boast of anything we have done. But why? For what purpose? For works: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
We can divide salvation into two phases: for our initial salvation, it is faith alone that saves us apart from our works. We are saved purely by grace through faith.
But grace does not stop there! We maintain the free gift of faith through faithfulness, Christ working through us, in the obedience of love.
See how the earliest Christians joined faith and works:
Justin Martyr (c. 160 AD) “Each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his works.”
Clement of Alexandria (c. 195 AD) “When we hear , ‘Your faith has saved you,’ we do not understand him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatsoever will be saved. For works must follow.”
Tertullian (c. 200 AD) “No one is a Christian, but he who perseveres all the way to the end.”
Cyprian (c. 250 AD) “The person who follows Christ is he who continues in his commandments, who walks in the way of his teaching, who follows his footsteps and his ways, and who imitates the things that Christ both did and taught… To put on the name of Christ, and yet not go in the way of Christ- what else is this but a mockery of the divine name! It is a desertion of the way of salvation. For he himself teaches and says that those who keep his commandments will come into life (Mt. 19:17)”
