Works

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The previous post on July 19, 2014 talks about the law being either carnal or spiritual.  And on July 5 and May 24 the posts talk about two laws in the bible, the Law of Faith and Law of Works. See these previous posts as needed.

Here in Romans 3:20 it specifies that doing deeds of the law do not justify or make you good. In other words, efforts to follow a law does not justify you or make you righteous.

James 2:24-25 ”Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sentthem out another way?

But James 2:24-25 says that by works is a man justified or made good. So why does it appear that these two scriptures are contradictory? Romans says works does not justify and James says that works do justify (make righteous).  So which is it?

There is a subtle difference or maybe it is not so subtle once you see it.  Rahab was NOT performing the works of the carnal law when she helped the messengers.  Her works were not deeds of the law, but rather acting out her faith. Her deeds proved her faith and therefore the proving of her faith justified her.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

The scriptures say we are justified (made righteous) by faith.  So Rahab in acting out her faith, proved her faith was true, and therefore was justified by her works only because they solidified her faith.

Performing deeds of the law does show our fleshly ability to follow a law, but that ability does not in any way prove righteousness before God. Ability to follow the deeds of the law does not justify us or make us righteous according to scripture.  Only faith will justify us, and our actions and deeds that prove that faith will solidify that faith EVEN if those actions are not even close to being deeds of the carnal law (i.e Abraham and Rahab actions)

Romans 4:3-5 “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Romans 4:3-5 says that Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and that was his righteousness. And when he believed what was promised (that everything would work out as it should), he “acted” in a way that proved his faith, even though it was against all common knowledge and against the carnal law itself.  Those actions where his “works”, which were not deeds of the carnally understood law. Those works proved his belief, and that was his righteousness or justification.

So as he believed, and that belief was counted as righteousness.  But when one truly believes something they act (work) in such a way that shows it.   And as a bonus, if one truly has faith and believes God, they will naturally act out that belief. It is simply evidence of that faith. And again those actions do not necessarily reflect what the carnal law proclaims we should do. For each of us that action is different and there is power in that action as long as it is based on faith.

Therefore according to scriptures, righteousness comes through acting out what we truly believe and not acting out what some carnal law has told us is right or wrong.

James 2:18 “Yea, a man may say, Thou hastfaith, and I haveworks: shew me thyfaith without thyworks, and I will shew thee myfaith by my works.” 

Here in James 2, it is restating that true faith is shown and proclaimed by works. But again these works are not the deeds of the law, but actions that proclaim that belief (i.e. Rahab the harlot did not perform deeds of the law, but her actions showed she was listening to God and believed him)

1John 1:8-9 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive usour sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But just because we believe God and show that belief through our actions, does not mean we are sinless and without “fault”. The sin itself is not the problem, it is ourselves trying to fix and cover that sin that breeds issues. Remember we are not justified by deeds of the law.

But once we hear the law we cannot escape it unless it is transformed. So what do we do when we witness ourselves sinning? Do we condemn ourselves as sinners, pretend that our sins are justified because we have faith, or condemn and guilt ourselves because of our sins? There are probably many other things we may do to ourselves when we think we do something wrong.  This is inevitable because simply the knowledge of the carnal law breeds condemnation [of ourselves and others].  It is the beginning of understanding our weaknesses. See previous posts on the carnal law.

Romans 4:19 “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:”

Abraham did not even consider himself and his own abilities.  He already knew he could not do it himself, but yet he did not condemn himself either, he simply believed the promise of God anyways (not being weak in faith). All his natural means of producing what was promised were dead. Abraham acknowledged that and THAT is what allowed God to do it.

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

2Corinthians 12:9-10 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's.”

When we acknowledge our weaknesses, when we confess our issues, when we realize we are not going to fix any of our faults by our own means or own power and that is ok, we then allow our own carnal efforts to “perform” the works of righteousness to die. The Law of Works does not justify, does not correct, and only lessens the ability of the Law of Faith. When we are weak in ourselves it allows the grace of God to step in and work.  When we know we cannot do it, we surrender to God and his abilities which are much greater anyway.  The strength of God, which is better than our natural abilities, becomes available when we acknowledge our weaknesses in our trials. ONLY in our weakness can God become strong. So we learn to appreciate our trials and weakness because we are then more able to witness his grace.

Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

The concept is somewhat counterintuitive.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “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.”

2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and calledus with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”

James 2:20 “But wilt thou know, O vain man, thatfaith without works is dead?”

Again, remember that it is not works of righteousness that makes a difference.  But when we carry out our faith through our actions it keeps our faith alive, and our faith is made perfect through the actions that carry out and proclaim our faith.

When we surrender ourselves it is an action of our faith.  Regardless of our works, our faith is our understanding that there is nothing we can do, only our surrender, which gives way for the grace of God in our lives. And the grace of God is according to his purpose for us, not what we show him we can do through our own power. He has a perfect plan through our surrender to that plan. It is there our true purpose becomes, not by our power but God’s, who is already there in us already waiting to be awakened.

Colossians 1:27-29 “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known whatis the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

1Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghostwhich is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove whatis that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

There is a spirit that lives in us that is part of what is God. And when our minds are altered to understand this concept it opens our understanding up to grasp the mysteries of God and how he functions in our lives.

Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

It is a concept that is against our natural understanding of the control we may have over our own lives.

All of these concepts of scripture lean our understanding towards belief (faith) rather than deeds as a means to God's promise.

Additional commentary:

James 2:19-20 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead.”

Here is says, if you do not act in such a way that is in line with your supposed faith then that faith is dead (not producing any fruit which shows your belief to be true).  In other words, your actions reflect what you truly believe. If you don’t act in such a way that shows faith and trust in God, you don’t really have that faith. When you have faith which reflects trust in God, you produce actions which show that faith. Devils also “believe” and their belief makes them afraid and tremble.  So that means even the devils know the truth and believe it and tremble at their understanding. Even they have works (actions) which are as simple as trembling.  They tremble because they truly believe. Their true belief in the ONE GOD causes them to tremble. If they did not have that belief they would not tremble, they would do as they wanted and there would be not works associated with their faith.  This is an example of how true faith works. When you believe, you act on that belief, and if you do not act on that belief or faith, it is really not there (dead).

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved withfear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

Noah moved with FEAR because he really believed what God told him.

1Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: andbe ready always togive an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

When we have faith we act in a manner that is subjective to and in line with the laws of God.