Is Faith a Work?

 

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Is Faith a Work?

    I have heard people say that to have faith or to believe in Jesus is a work because the act of having faith or to believe is a work. These people assert that one must do works as well as have faith in Jesus to be saved. So, they assert that to have faith is a work, therefore one must work to be saved. This was confusing until I realized that a gift is not a gift if you work for it. In Ephesians 2:8-10, Paul states, it is “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not 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, that we should walk in them.” If anyone believes that their faith is a work, then the “gift of God” is no longer a gift because they are doing something to receive something. Paul separates faith from works by stating that grace is a “gift of God” and that salvation, which comes from God’s grace, is “not your own doing” and that it is “not a result of works.” Our salvation and our works are separate. Faith is not a work.

    This is important to understand because Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-22, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” These are people who believe, but they are also declaring their works as a reason to enter into the kingdom of heaven. They are declaring their works to Jesus as evidence of their faith and that they should enter the kingdom of heaven. Their “lawlessness” comes from not following the Father’s will. Jesus tells us the will of the Father, which is, “the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). We are saved by grace through faith in the Son, not by any other means, or by our works, or by any other work, or by any other definition.

    Paul states, “you have been saved by grace through faith. And this is not your own doing.” Grace is undeserved favor. We don’t deserve God’s grace, but God gives it freely to anyone who chooses to have faith in his son, Jesus. Our choice to have faith is entering into the work Jesus has already done for us. It is not our work. We cannot add to Jesus’ work. By having faith, we are entering into Jesus’ work. That is why our salvation is “not [our] own doing.” Our salvation depends on the work of Jesus, not the “result of [our] works, so that no one may boast.” No one can save themselves by adding works to their salvation. The sinner cannot save the sinner. If salvation depended on the sinner, then no one could be saved. Without God’s grace, there is no salvation. Without Jesus’ work, there is no salvation. We cannot add our sin to a Holy and Perfect God.

    Paul states that followers of Jesus are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Once you choose to believe, God works in you that you may become like his Son, and the works that you will do have already been “prepared beforehand” by God. These works have nothing to do with earning grace or salvation, but everything to do with discipleship and becoming God’s “workmanship.” In Matthew 5:16, Jesus states, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Our works are our “good deeds” and our “good deeds” are meant for each other, which glorifies the “Father in heaven.” We glorify the Father by making him known to others by the way we live our lives following Jesus. Our “good deeds” are not for salvation. Our “good deeds” are for us to “walk in them.” Our “good deeds” don’t earn anything, but are good and helpful to one another. This means praying, going to church, giving to the poor, baptism, helping someone in need, studying the bible, loving those who do not love you, forgiving one another, witnessing, cutting off your old way of life, and all other “good deeds” are for us to “walk in them” to become the “workmanship” of God and to do for each other to make the Father known. There is a relationship between us and God, by our “good deeds” that we “walk in them,” so that others may see them and benefit from them and this glorifies God. We are not adding glory to God. We cannot add anything to God, but we are glorifying God by making him known to others that they may know him.