Who Says “I’m Saved by Works” Anyway?

Are people saved by works or by faith in Jesus Christ?

The obvious and more reasonable answer, of course, is:

PEOPLE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS BUT BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.  

Not only is this statement found in the Bible (Gal. 2:16), answering the question the other way by saying, “People are saved by works and not by faith in Jesus Christ” is also apparently and utterly false, and no one’s saying it anyway.

I mean, who would purposely approach a fellow Christian to say in his face, “We are saved by works and not by faith in Jesus Christ”?

In other words, we all agree to what St. Paul wrote in Galatians 2:16. We are definitely not saved by our own works.

Yet the topic is often debated and I think there's some confusion on the kind of words used when people look into this issue.

As you read this, I will ask you to pay attention to four specific words – judged, saved, deeds (done) and works – so you'll get my point.

I just read an article by Gabriel Ansley where he mentioned John 5:28-29. It is actually what prompted me to make the blog and write this post, because I figured it would be difficult to explain what's in my head by commenting. Gabriel quoted the Lord Jesus as saying:

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Gabriel follows up with his point:

There is a God, you will be judged by Him, and if you made a willful choice to DO GOOD (obey His 10 Love Commandments) you will go to heaven, but if you made a willful choice to DO EVIL (disobey His 10 Love Commandments) you will go to hell.  None of this should make you marvel! 

But I challenge you, say this fact to a modern day churchgoer and watch their reaction. You will very likely hear them angrily retort … “We’re not saved by works!” Huh? What do they mean by that? Who taught them to lash out like that to the above truth? Why does the simple truth of Jesus’ words above now seem to offend them?

Just a little backgrounder, Gabriel is a former musician who wrote a book called Undeniable Biblical Proof Jesus Christ Will Return To Planet Earth Exactly 2,000 Years After The Year Of His Death! I had read this book and I would say I agree with a lot of the things that he said in it, though not with a lot of things that he says in his blog posts. But I agree with him in this one. The Lord could not have been more explicit in saying that we are going to be judged (saved or damned) and what we have done while we were on earth matters.

But my main concern is about a comment made by a person named Lynda:

Then how did the thief on the cross get to heaven... He could not come down to do any good... Jesus told him He would see him in heaven that very same day and what about ... saved by faith not of works lest any many should boast... I am not saying it is ok for sinning it up but we all sin and fall short that is why Jesus died on the cross because He knew we could not not sin... And no one can snatch us out of His hands .. once we are saved. We at the moment of salvation become perfect righteousness & justice in God's eyes...

So here, on one side, is someone (Gabriel) who’s saying that we are going to be JUDGED based on what we have DONE in our life, good or bad, and on the other side, one (Lynda) who’s saying that we are not SAVED by WORKS but by faith alone in our Lord.

Looking closely, the first statement is actually different in the sense that it is broader than the second one, so while the two seem to be contradictory (rendering one or the other false) both are actually true and should not be used to refute each other.

In short, what I mean is, “We shall be judged based on what we have done” does not contradict “We are not saved by works” because “JUDGED” and “DONE” in the first statement are not necessarily the same concepts as “SAVED” and “WORKS” in the second.

You see, if there's something in the Bible that says, “We are not judged by what we have done” then we have a case.

But instead it says, “We are not saved by works.”

While Gabriel was talking about a broad fact, Lynda was talking about a narrower portion of that fact. By insisting on the statement that “We are not saved by works,” she (and many, many other Christians who hold the same idea) was only talking about the “SAVED” portion of “JUDGED” while assuming at the same time that what the person has “DONE” in his life is of the same breadth and context as “WORKS,” when the fact is that “works” is only a portion of what’s “done” by the person.

In other words, she disregards in her argument the DAMNED part of JUDGMENT and the NON-WORKS part of what the person has DONE.

So,

My first point:  Gabriel was talking about judgment while she was only talking about being saved.

Second point:  A lot of what people do everyday, like smoking, partying, visiting one’s grandparents, good habits, bad habits, etc., are not what we can call “works”. Again, she’s talking about a different idea.

So while it is true that we are not saved by works, it does not follow that we are not going to be damned because of our deeds (what we do, think and say).

Thus, it is possible that we can be damned because of what we do, think or say, especially as the Bible mentioned it, although Lynda didn't say anything about it because she doesn't look at the whole picture.

But if she agrees that it's true, then the opposite must be true too, because it’s the other half of what Jesus said in John 5:29.

If we can be damned because of what we do, think or say, it's highly likely that we can, on the other hand, also be saved because of what we do, think and say.

What if Jesus said something to that effect? What's there to disagree about?

What if like Jesus said in John 21:22, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” he also says, “They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life (John 5:29),” what is that to us?

Can we do anything if he says He’ll judge us based on what we have done, good or bad?

I just think that some people who use “We are not saved by works” often misuse it by applying it in the wrong context. Either that or we are just confused with the word “works.”

If you think about it, “works” does not exactly equate to “what we do, think or say,” so while Galatians 2:16 is saying one thing (works), John 5:29 is talking about another (deeds), one which is broader in scope.

So we cannot use “We are not saved by works” to refute what Jesus himself said, that “they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” because they pertain to two different points -- one to answer, “Who really saved us if we are saved?” and the other, “On what basis are we going to be damned or saved?”

So the thief on the cross, on the basis of what he did, thought and said, was saved through faith. But God already planned to save him so it was not the thief who saved himself but God.

In Lynda’s argument, she seems to define “they that have done good” in John 5:29 as “they that have helped others” or “they that put an effort to do good to others” – in other words the proverbial meaning of “works” -- because she said, “Then how did the thief on the cross get to heaven... He could not come down to do any good.” She discounts what the man did on the cross because she’s looking for “works”.

But you’re not judged based on “works” per se, you see. You're judged based on what you have done. And if God willed that He’ll blot out the sins of this thief because he repented at the last moment, what is that to us?

True, faith in Jesus saved the man, but he must do, think or say something to exercise that faith, and he did.

Obviously the other thief didn't repent and if the first one didn't too, none of them would have been saved, wouldn't you agree? So being saved or being damned is based on what they have done while they were still alive.

And what good thing this fellow has done (repent) can neither be classified as a "good work" nor "effort," but it became the basis for him being saved.

But who gave the grace to cause the saved one to do it? God up there. You can't be saved unless it's given to you by God. Your faith on the front end is a manifestation of God's work at the back end.

Therefore, I can take Jesus’ words to heart when He was asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” and He answered, “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,” -- I can take that to heart and at the same time keep my faith in Him and acknowledge that it's He who saves, not I.

It's better than having faith while disregarding what He said.