Works versus grace has been a long-held debate among people inside the walls of church buildings. Such a discussion is supremely important, because it strikes at the heart of our union and relationship with God. Are we saved by works which we perform, or is salvation purely an act of God’s grace? Or is salvation some kind of synergy between our God’s grace mixed with our works?

Your response to this question will change absolutely everything about your relationship with God, how you interact with Him, and what you can expect from Him.

Today we will be exploring the most important aspect of our relationship with God, salvation, to answer the question of whether salvation is earned by our works, or is received as a gift from God.

Salvation, Who Accomplishes It?

For a discussion such as this, there are two main questions that must be answered regarding salvation:

What exactly is salvation?

…and…

Who accomplishes salvation?

If we can answer these two questions, then we will have a solid foundation upon which to build.

So, let’s start with the first question: what is salvation? Most of us think we know what salvation is already, however, when you research the the word salvation you might be surprised at what you find. The words for “salvation” in both the Hebrew and Greek languages of scripture, are more rich and broad than we typically assume.

Salvation in Greek is σωτηρία (pronounced sōtēria) and it is a very rich word with a meaning that includes deliverance, preservation, protection, and provision.

Likewise, salvation in Hebrew is יְשׁוּעָה‬ (pronounced yəšhûʿāh), and is as affluent of a word as its Greek counterpart, including within it such things as deliverance, welfare, prosperity, and victory.

Do you often associate these blessings with salvation itself? If we are being honest, oftentimes we relegate things such as safety, security, and especially protection and prosperity off into the corner, far off in the distance. But as we understand the word itself, we can begin to see that there truly is no such separation in the scriptures.

As we meditate on this truth about how great salvation truly is, it will begin to inform our thinking regarding the second of our two main questions: who accomplishes salvation?

Considering this question in conjunction with what we’ve learned about the definition of salvation, leads to an important crossroad that each of us must address: Do we have the ability to affect our own deliverance, preservation, protection or prosperity as described in scripture? Can we earn our own righteous through our performance or not?

Did Jesus Need to Die?

Such questions cut to the very heart of the topic of salvation, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Scriptures such as Galatians 2:21 make it clear that righteousness does not come by the law, because if it did, then Christ’s death was meaningless and empty.

 

“ ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

There’s more to the above statement than we typically see at first glance. In the literal Greek text, “the law” is simply law in Galatians 2:21. Therefore the point being made in this verse is not exclusively to the old covenant law of Moses, but all works of law; i.e. any work of your flesh, strength of your arm, or merit of yourself.

The essence of a works mindset revolves around trying to perform well in order to receive something in return. Such as trying not to sin in order to receive blessings, and this carries over into the greatest blessing of all: salvation itself.

All throughout the scriptures, we can see a clear contrast between those trying to bring about their own salvation, and those who trusted in Jesus for salvation. That may seem overly blunt, but such a statement cuts to the core of the issue – because there is no middle ground here. Each of us will need to make a choice between standing in our own righteous, or standing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We will either build our house on the shifting sand of ourselves, or the solid rock of Christ.

Your Hands, or His Hands?

Proverbs 14:1 tells us something relevant to this discussion:

“ ¹ Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands.”

Now if you have a keen eye and are paying attention, you may have noticed a peculiar detail in this verse. The wise woman builds her house (that’s simple enough), however, the foolish woman plucks it down with her hands!

The implication here is that the foolish person destroys their house with their own hands, their works are self-destructive. And I know that right now you might be tempted to think “Of course, but Jim, that’s the foolish woman. I’m not a foolish person, so I’m okay!”

But my dear friend, don’t slide down that very slippery slope, because the scriptural truth is that all of our self-works are destructive and worthless! This is why Paul says in Romans 7:18 that in his flesh (his own strength, effort and performance) dwells nothing good. Paul didn’t say that there was “some good” or “a little good” in his flesh, he very clearly admitted that there was nothing good; not one bit.

Such sentiments are repeated often in scripture in various ways, all designed to show us that if given the choice between our hands or Jesus’ hands, there’s no real choice at all!

Jeremiah 17:5 says it very clearly:

“ ⁵ Thus said the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.”

As with our previous verse in Proverbs, I invite you to notice the details here with me. Cursed is the man who trust in man and makes flesh his arm. The scripture doesn’t say that such as person is merely a little worse off, it says that anyone who trusts in man (the creation instead of the Creator) is cursed! You are the creation, so if you are trusting in yourself, if your arm of strenth is your own effort, performance, or will, then as the end of the verse says: your heart has already departed from the LORD.

Now that’s a very curious thing to say. There’s a real correlation between trusting in works, and your heart departing from the LORD.

The Quality of the Sacrifice

When we start to think of salvation as being a synergistic work, it highlights something about our perspective of Christ. Did Jesus do a complete, finished, and sufficient work, or do we need to finish it for Him? Was the quality of His sacrifice enough of a payment to save us, or did He merely go halfsies and split the bill with us, and we need to cover the rest?

It almost sounds silly when we put the question in those terms, but you may be surprised how common these questions actually are. So just how good and complete was Jesus’ sacrifice?

If we think that we need to add something to the work that He did, then we are already beginning to estimate His value to be lower than what the scriptures value Him as. Which is why our verse in Jeremiah 17:5 mentioned the position of our heart in connection with trusting our works.

Such a mindset demonstrates an obvious devaluation of Christ either in-part, or in whole. When we try to join our works with Jesus’ work as if He somehow left the work incomplete, then we are back where we started, trusting ourselves all over again.

The Galatians were falling into this same trap, in Galatians 3:1-3:

“ 1 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

2 This only would I learn of you, Received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?”

The Galatians had begun to slip back into a works and performance mindset. After hearing the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and His perfect sacrifice for them, the lure of their works began to creep in.

Verse 3 describes what their mindset and thinking was: the Galatians began to believe that though they had begun their new life in the Spirit, but that they were being made perfect by the flesh (that is, by their works)

 

Paul continues on for the next two chapters to explain in fantastic detail, how salvation comes by faith in Christ and not by works, and how we are built up and grow in Christ, not by mere behavior modification. We’ve done entire studies on that singular topic in the past.

 

Jesus Plus Nothing

There are numerous people today who believe exactly as the Galatians did, that they began their Christian life as an act of pure grace through faith, but now they must move on to perfection by their own efforts and works. However the scriptural truth is that Christ has already perfected you forever through His sacrifice. Hebrews 10:14 leaves no room for doubt here:

 

“ ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

My friend, the simple truth is that you cannot add anything to perfection. Jesus has done a complete and perfect work. Trying to improve on divine perfection is just at best silly, and at worst massively arrogant! In both cases trying to improve on what Christ did will lead to frustration and death.

The one offering which has saved you, sanctified you, and perfected you is Jesus Christ. He alone gets the glory for your salvation. As Romans chapters 3 and 4 says, there is no reason to boast, because salvation is not of works, but through faith in Christ alone.

I’m giving you all of these scripture references for you to read and meditate on in your own study time during the week. Because we all need daily reminders of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us – it is so very easy to slip back into a works mindset, and begin to forget the simple truth of grace.

With that in-mind, let us end today’s study with one final scripture, which drives home the truth about salvation, Acts 4:10-12:

“ ¹⁰ Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole.

¹¹ This is the stone which was set at nothing by you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

¹² Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

 

Jesus Christ, is the only name by which we must be saved. Your name doesn’t cut it. Your works and efforts are insufficient. And so are mine – I’ve tried in the past, I know the pain it caused, and shared some of it previously with you.

I encourage you today, build your house on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, and don’t tear your house down with your hands, by trying to add your own works into the mix.

 

Jesus did a complete, sufficient, and perfect work. You don’t need to add to it, and you aren’t capable of doing so anyway. (John 15:5)

 

Simply receive and rest in what Christ has accomplished. And I look forward to thriving with you again next week.

 

Be blessed.