Word of Salvation – Vol.23 No.26 – March 1977

 

Good Works

 

Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on Ephesians 2:8-10

Scripture Readings: Psalm 26; Ephesians 2:1-10

Psalter Hymnal: 195; 37; 44; 299:5,6; 299:7,8

 

When the seamen of the ancient world approached the Italian Peninsula, they often passed through the strait of Messina.  And that was a great test of the seaman’s skill.  For on the one side lay the great rock called Scylla, and on the other side lay the whirlpool called Charybdis.  The danger was that, in trying to avoid the one, they might so easily encounter the other.  And it is often the same in the quest for eternal life.  Our Lord himself said that the way is narrow which leads unto life.  And how often it is a matter of avoiding the dangers that lie so close at hand  being careful that we do not fall into one error in trying to avoid another.

We have just such a spiritual Scylla and Charybdis in the words of our text.  For on the one hand, says the Apostle “by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”  And then, on the other hand, says the Apostle, do not forget that, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God hath fore-ordained that we should walk in them.”  So there is the danger that men should think that there is such a thing as salvation BY works.  And against this the Apostle warns with all his might.  But as soon as this danger is out of the way, there is immediately the other danger, that men should think that there is such a thing as salvation WITHOUT any works at all.  And against this too, the Apostle raises a solemn warning and protest.

So let us simply consider these two things in order, as we find them in our text.  And so the first thing we must clearly grasp, is that:

A]  WORKS ARE ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY IN ONE WAY –

When the Apostle says, “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,” he makes it just as clear as it possibly could be, that there is a sense in which the works of man are entirely excluded from the plan of salvation.

(1)  You can see this quite clearly from the very word ‘grace’ itself.  For the Bible itself states that grace and works are absolutely antithetical to each other.  For, says the Apostle, if a man is saved “by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.  But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.”  You can no more include works in grace, than you can include light in darkness, or heat in cold.  For they are the direct opposites of one another.  To work for something, is to earn it.  It is to attempt to deserve it.  It is entirely a question of what a man deserves in return for what he has done.  But when grace enters the picture, there is no more room for works.  For grace is expressed in terms of mercy.  It means the free gift of God to them who are not deserving.

(2)  You see it even more clearly from the fact that the text speaks of a man being ‘saved.’  And, while we may not often stop to think about this fact, it is a fact nevertheless that we cannot really say that a man is saved, if we do not completely exclude the works of that man from the picture.  If I am cast into the sea, and by my own strength am able to swim to the shore, then I cannot say that I have been saved!  If I lie unconscious in a burning building and a fireman comes and carries me out, then I can say that I have been saved.  For the very idea of ‘being saved,’ in reality excludes the thought of ‘self-preservation.’

(3)  This becomes even more obvious when we notice that this salvation is received only by faith.  For faith again, by the testimony of the Bible, is the very opposite of works.  As long as a man feels at least some confidence in himself, he cannot really believe according to the Bible.  “But to him that worketh not,’ says the Apostle – to him that says, in other words, I can do nothing – “but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”  In other words, I must either try to do it myself, or else I must rely upon or trust in someone else to do it for me.  If I try to do it myself, then that is works.  But if I come to the conclusion that I just cannot do it myself, and so must depend on Jesus Christ alone, then that is faith.  And you really cannot mix the two together: for as long as I still think that I can do even one little thing by myself, then I cannot really believe that he has done everything that needs to be done for my salvation.

(4)  But perhaps you can guess what many people say to all of this!  They say, ‘Ah, yes, but there is still one thing that even God cannot do to save me: for there is one thing that I must do for myself: for the Bible itself says that I must believe!’  So, down through the whole history of the Church there have always been those who say something like this: ‘Yes, it is by grace that we are saved, and it is indeed by faith; BUT that is just where I can make my boast, for after all it is my own faith!’  Now you notice that Paul evidently knew such people way back in the days of the Apostolic Church.  For he says “by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”  Yes, even the faith that we have – the faith that we must have in in order to be saved by grace – is strictly the gift of God.  For it is God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, who alone regenerates our hearts so that we can believe in him whom he hath sent!

So you see, that when the Apostle says we are saved by grace, he means that we are saved by grace.  When he says that it is “not of works, lest any man should boast,” he means that there is just no room at all, in the gospel method of salvation, for any works of man as a cause of their salvation.  Or, in other words, if we are to have the salvation of which the Bible speaks, we are going to have to completely remove and destroy every last trace of confidence in anything that we ever have done, or even imagine that we can do.  For as long as we even think that we can boast of even one single thing that we have done, or can do, then we really do not know anything at all about the divine method of salvation.

The thing that makes this so hard for some people to accept, I might add, is the all-too obvious fact that we so often do see much that looks good in the lives of sinful men.  You sometimes even hear people say that, when they were sick or in need, their non-Christian neighbours acted in a kindlier spirit than those who profess to believe in Christ.  And there are people who do not believe in the Saviour, who lead morally upright lives in the eyes of other men.  How then can we still maintain that these are utterly worthless in the sight of the all-seeing Lord?  Well, perhaps you have heard the story of a certain ‘ten dollar bill.’  A rich man gave it to a poor widow who used it to buy food for her starving children.  The grocer used it as a payment on his long overdue rent, so he could stay in business.  The landlord used it to pay a big doctor’s bill for his little invalid daughter.  And the doctor donated it to a charity organization that was raising money for a new hospital.  Now that was a pretty good ten-dollar bill, wasn’t it?  Look what it had done for people.  But that didn’t change what happened at the bank, when the man went to deposit it toward the hospital building-fund.  ‘I’m sorry,’ said the teller at the bank, ‘but this money is no good.  We cannot accept it.  You see, it’s counterfeit?’

“But why cannot our good works be the whole or (even a) part of our righteousness before God?” asks the catechism.  And the answer is: “Because the righteousness which can stand before the tribunal of God must be absolutely perfect and wholly conformable to the divine law.”  And the trouble is that “even our (very) best works in this life are all imperfect” and all “defiled with sin.”  You see, it is not necessary to deny that unbelievers do many relatively good things in this world.  In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ himself said that men (“being evil”) still know how to give “good gifts.” But the only kind of works that God will ever accept as a matter of merit – the only kind of works that God will consider as deserving of his reward – are those which are absolutely perfect and wholly conformable to his law.  Anything less than that is completely disqualified so far as having any merit is concerned.  And that is why the holiest men of God have always insisted that even our very righteousness is nothing but filthy rags!  Even the ‘good works’ that these believers did after their conversion to Christ were all imperfect and unworthy in God’s sight!

Now it is just precisely this truth which makes the gospel of Christ a thing of utter foolishness to the heart of the unregenerate man.  For if there is one thing that makes the gospel hard for a sinner to accept it is the fact that he must accept it on the terms of grace alone!  You see, if there is one thing that is dear to the heart of a sinner, it is the idea that there is at least something good in him!  That is why every single religion on the face of the earth – except for one – is based upon the thought that sinners can do something to save themselves.  Some say that they can find salvation by doing works of charity.  Others say that they can find it by going on fasts and pilgrimages.  And still others teach that it is to be done by pious meditation and ascetic detachment from the world.  Yes, and the great tragedy is that the Christian religion also has so often been corrupted by these very same things!

But against all these different variations, of the same primeval error, stand the glorious words of our text.  “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.”  So there is indeed a sense in which the good works of man are absolutely excluded from the divine plan of salvation.

However it is only a half-truth – and a dangerous half-truth – to say that salvation is by grace alone, without any regard for the good works of men.  For the other half of the truth is that there is no salvation without the works of man: for faith without works is really dead.  And the salvation that does not come to expression in the good works of men, is really no salvation at all.

So the second great truth that we find in our text, is that….

B]  WORKS ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY IN ANOTHER WAY

“For we are his workmanship,” says the Apostle, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  And in saying this he makes it just as plain as ever could be, that there never can be a truly saving faith, if it does not lead to good works.

(1)  You can surely see that it must be so from the very fact that “we are (the) workmanship” of God.  “For we are his workmanship,” says the Apostle.  And you only have to stop and ask yourself the question: ‘what kind of workmanship is the workmanship of God.’  Is it the kind of ‘workmanship’ that we sometimes find in this world, in which a carpenter, or a mechanic, or an electrician makes a complete mess of what he is doing, so that when they are finished things are no better than they were before?  Well, to ask the question is to answer it, for every work of the Lord is truly a work of art.  The Bible says that he doeth all things well.  And never is this truth more clearly seen than in the work of God’s grace in the heart and life of a sinner.  For as sure as God does perform his work in the heart of a sinner, so sure it is that that sinner will display that fact in the good works that he does out of faith in the Saviour.

(2)  Again, you can see the necessity for good works in that (“we are created in Christ Jesus”) according to our text.  For “if any man be in Christ,” says the Scripture, “he is a new creature; old things are passed away: and behold, all things are become new.”  And those who are “in Christ Jesus,” says the Apostle, “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  That is what our Lord meant when he said that you make the fruit good by first making the tree good.  For an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, and neither can a good tree fail to bring forth good fruit.  So if a man really has the grace of God which bringeth salvation, says our text in effect, then he cannot possibly be without that inward change of nature which results in the good works of faith.

(3)  Our text even goes so far as to say that this is the great purpose of all of God’s grace.  “For we are…. created…. unto good works,” says the inspired word of God.  And when we stop and think about it, isn’t this obvious?  Why did God devise the great plan of salvation anyway?  Why did he send his only begotten Son into the world?  Well, the Apostle Paul says this: “this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners: of whom I am chief.”  It was because men were sinners, in other words, that God send Jesus to the world.  And it was to save them from being sinners that he did what he did on their behalf!  No wonder the Bible therefore says that “Every one that nameth the name of Christ” must also “depart from iniquity!”  For that is the one great end for which God has done his saving work.

(4)  And that is why our text says that “God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” that is, that we should do these good works as a constant part of our daily walk!  If God has really chosen you to be justified in Christ, then he has also chosen you to be sanctified in Christ.  For “the foundation of God standeth sure,” says the Apostle, “having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  For if you do not depart from iniquity, is the necessary deduction, then neither can you say that you are one of his.  That is why the catechism asks the question, concerning the doctrine of salvation which does not depend upon the righteous works of men.  “But does not this doctrine make men careless and profane?”  And the answer is: “By no means: for it is impossible – and please note that: impossible – that those who are implanted into Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness.”

So you see again, that when the Apostle says that we are saved for good works he means exactly what he says.  When he says that it is “not of works, lest any man should boast” he means that our own good works do not have anything whatever to do with gaining the gift of eternal life.  But when he says that that it is “for good works, which God hath before ordained,” he means that there is no such thing as a sinner saved by God’s grace if he does not bring forth fruits unto the praise and glory of God.  “Let your light so shine before men,” said our Saviour, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

But there is one passage of scripture that has often been quoted against the necessity of good works.  I quote this passage in full, from Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians.

“For other foundation can no man lay,” says the Apostle, “than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved: yet so as by fire.”

Now if the Apostle were discussing the same subject that we find in our text, we would certainly have to say that he contradicted himself.  For he clearly says in our text that good works are an indispensable fruit of faith.  And yet, in the passage in Corinthians, he says that “if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”  Which would certainly be the same as to say that he could be saved without any good works at all!

You will notice, however, if you read the whole of this Chapter that Paul is not talking about the life of the individual believer.  What he is talking about is the building up of God’s kingdom.  “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,” he says, “so then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase…. for we are labourers together with God: and ye (the members of the Church) are God’s husbandry, and God’s building.”  So you see, he is actually talking about the ministry of the gospel.  He is talking about the work that belongs to ministers of the gospel, by which the Church of Jesus Christ is to be built up in the world.  That is why he says, as an Apostle, “as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.”  And that is why he also says “Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.”  “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,” he says, and then he goes on to tell us about the various ways in which men build upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.  “Now if any man build upon this foundation,” he says, you might think that that would be enough.  If men who enter into the ministry believe the greatest thing of all if they believe that there is salvation in no other name but that of Jesus you might think that that will be enough to ensure that they will have a splendid reward.  But Paul says that this is not the case.  No, he says, if they have that foundation then they themselves will be saved, for that means that they themselves have saving faith in the Lord.  But if they do not also, in addition to that, take care to give God’s people only the very best if they are not careful to preach the whole counsel of God – the gold, silver, and precious stones of God’s holy word in all things then they may one day discover that what they have built was not really from God, so much as it was from themselves!  And the very point of it all is to remind the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ that there is just no place in the Church of God for anything that has a merely human origin!  If a minister gives to God’s people only the pure unadulterated word of God, then he shall receive a reward.  But if he only gives the foundation truth of the gospel, along with a lot of wood, hay, and stubble, then he shall suffer loss, even though his personal salvation will stand.

So there really isn’t any contradiction at all.  The individual believer whether he be a minister or not – must indeed have the fruits and evidence of faith.  For “it is impossible,” as the catechism says, “that those who are implanted into Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits” as a consequence.  But those who would be masters and teachers in Israel, have an additional burden to bear.  “My brethren,” says the Apostle James, “be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.  For in many things we offend all.”  And in this case, it is not a question of what a man is, or what a man does, but rather is it a matter of what he says!

To say that no man can truly be saved without at least some manifestation of the fruits of good works, is not, however, to say that true believers can ever take pride in anything that they have done.  “Even our best works…” says the answer of the Catechism, “in this life are all imperfect.”  Even the best works of believers are still “defiled with sin.”  That is why Jesus said to his disciples: “when ye have done all those things which are commanded you, then say: we are unprofitable servants.”  For “verily” as the Psalmist has written “ever man at his very best state is altogether vanity.”  And even the holiest Saint of the Lord will stand before God, at the last day, with nothing whatever between him and the awful condemnation of the Lord – except the imputed righteousness of Christ.  Even then will he say: my best is nothing but a filthy rag!

“What?” asks the catechism: “Do our good works then merit nothing, while God will yet reward them in this and in the future life?”  And how can this possibly be: if not even one of them is really perfect?  Well, the answer is that “this reward – like our very salvation itself – is not of merit but of grace.”  It is, as someone has well said: ‘a reward of trace on top of a fruit of grace.’  God rewards us for having the evidence of the gift he has already given us!  And so it really is true that salvation is altogether of grace and not of works jest any man should boast.  And this is just as true at the end as it is at the beginning.

But it still does not change the important fact: that there is no such thing as salvation which does not produce the good works of faith.  “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.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”