The Proper Relationship between Faith and Works

Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and teachers are instructing their students, that the law of God has been changed or abrogated; and those who regard its requirements as still valid (to be literally obeyed), are thought to be deserving only of ridicule or contempt. In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of the Law-giver.

No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the authority of Heaven, none is more directly opposed to the dictates of reason, none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern doctrine, so rapidly gaining ground, that God's law is no longer binding upon men. Every nation has its laws, which command respect and obedience; no government could exist without them; and can it be conceived that the Creator of the heavens and the earth has no law to govern the beings He has made? Suppose that prominent ministers were publicly to teach that the statutes which govern their land and protect the rights of its citizens were not obligatory--that they restricted the liberties of the people, and therefore ought not to be obeyed; how long would such men be tolerated in the pulpit? But is it a graver offense to disregard the laws of states and nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are the foundation of all government?

It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes, and permit the people to do as they please, than for the Ruler of the universe to annul His law, and leave the world without a standard to condemn the guilty or justify the obedient. Would we know the result of making void the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Terrible were the scenes enacted in France when atheism became the controlling power. It was then demonstrated to the world that to throw off the restraints which God has imposed is to accept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants. When the standard of righteousness is set aside, the way is open for the prince of evil to establish his power in the earth.

Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the requirements of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions of the world. Those who teach the people to regard lightly the commandments of God sow disobedience to reap disobedience. Let the restraint imposed by the divine law be wholly cast aside, and man-made laws would soon be disregarded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding, men are ready to trample upon His statutes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity; but the results of banishing these precepts would be such as they do not anticipate.

If the law were not binding, why should any fear to transgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men would obtain their neighbor's possessions by violence, and the strongest would become richest. Life itself would not be respected. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the family. He who had the power, would, if he desired, take his neighbor's wife by violence. The fifth commandment would be set aside with the fourth. Children would not shrink from taking the life of their parents if by so doing they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest, and happiness would be banished from the earth.

Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God's requirements has weakened the force of righteous obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, the adversary is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of God's principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is given to their character and crimes. The press publishes the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and murder; and the world exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14.

The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures; but where is to be found the cause of the widespread infidelity, the rejection of the law of God, and the consequent corruption, under the full blaze of gospel light in an age of religious freedom? Now that the adversary can no longer keep the world under his control by withholding the Scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplish the same object. To destroy faith in the Bible serves his purpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself. By introducing the belief that God's law is not binding, he as effectually leads men to transgress as if they were wholly ignorant of its precepts. And now, as in former ages, he has worked through the church to further his designs. The religious organizations of the day have refused to listen to unpopular truths plainly brought to view in the Scriptures, and in combating them they have adopted interpretations and taken positions which have sown broadcast the seeds of skepticism.

Clinging to the papal error of natural immortality and man's consciousness in death, they have rejected the only defense against the delusions of spiritualism. The doctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible. And as the claims of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, it is found that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as the only way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling to perform, many popular teachers declare that the law of God is no longer binding. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together. The teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to infidelity, to spiritualism, and to contempt for God's holy law; and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world.

The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and are determined to unite in one body. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.

It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the world. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of God; and the Lord will do just what He has declared that He would--He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing others to do the same.

Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God.

Grace is not the Opposite of Law

Here is a quote which reflects how most people just want enough to slip into heaven, but not enough to cramp their lifestyle.

Three Dollars Worth: "I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my peace; just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man, or pick beets with a migrant; I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb; not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy about three dollars worth of God, please." Wilbur Reese.

Many people say, "We're under Grace, not the Law." But my answer to them is that they are lying. They're hypocrites. Because they obey man's law, but won't obey God's Law. They say "Jesus is Lord of lord's and King of kings," yet they don't obey the Laws of the King! They place the will of man above the will of God.

If you live under grace and not under the law, then what about when you're following the ways of the world? Are you under grace and not under the law there? No, it's exactly the opposite. You live under their law and submit to their law, and that is where the hypocricy is. "Well, we don't really have any duties to God, but we have duties to Caesar." But we must remember that the world teaches everything backwards.

Some so magnify grace in order to get their consciences at ease respecting the claims of holiness, and vindicate for themselves a liberty to sin that grace may abound – or, which is even worse, deny that anything they do can have the character of sin, because they are through grace released from the demands of the law, and so cannot sin.

One absolute, unchanging God means one absolute unchanging law. To speak of the law as “for Israel” but not for Christians is not only to abandon the law but also to abandon the God of the law. Since there is only one true Giod, and His Law is the expression of His unchanging nature and righteousness, then to abandon the scriptural law for another law-system is to change gods. The moral collapse of Christendom is a product of this current process of changing gods.

So what is grace? Grace is like a governors pardon to a prisoner; it forgives him, but does not give him freedom to break the law. Likewise, the Lord is our Governor (Psalms 22:28), and his grace forgives us, but does not give us freedom to break His Law.

The proper relationship between faith and works can be best illustrated by the example of the apple tree. The apple tree does not produce apples so it can be an apple tree but produces apples because it is an apple tree. A follower of Christ will do good works because he is, and not so he can be, one. When Christ dwells in your heart, your actions will show that He is changing you on the inside. You will become like a light on a hill in a dark world (Matthew 5:16).

Grace is not the opposite of God's Law, because the giving of the Law by God was itself an act of Grace, for God did not have to tell us what sin is. The real opposite of Grace is Gracelessness, and the real opposite of Law is Lawlessness. God's Law is an act of God's Grace. Therefore, for us to obey God's Law is synonymous with God's Grace saving us. His Law and Wisdom saves us from sinning. To set Grace against the Law is a contradiction of God's nature, because God never contradicts himself.

With this ignorant view of the law, it is no wonder that Christians are being led like lambs to the slaughter by lawless governments that Christians themselves have allowed to come to power.

Everybody wants a Saviour, but most people want a Saviour on their terms, and not God's. They want to live their life without God interfering in their life. So they create a Saviour in their own mind, and only accept the parts of scripture that don't contradict their views of their Saviour. People who believe they are not under God's Law believe there are no laws at all except their own, and that's how every man appoints himself as his own god (Genesis 3:5). The Ten Commandments, unlike the temporary sacrificial Old Testament laws, are a reflection of God's Character. It is His image. We are to reflect God's image. His Law is His way of telling us how to be conformed to His image (Romans 12:2).

Shall we "test" out adultery to see if it is really destructive or not, and judge the Law by what our "conscience" or "feelings" tell us? Shall we do the same with murder, coveting, etc.? Believe it or not, this is what is happening in the Christian world. Once you make your religion existentialistic, then there are no laws at all except your own, and that, friend, is new age doctrine. In short, every man appoints himself as his own god. This line of reasoning may seem extreme but sometimes we need to see the consequences of taking our position to its logical conclusion before we see the folly of our own personal theologies.

Examples

Let's go to the book of Jonah. Nineveh was a wicked city, and God sent Jonah to tell them that He was going to overthrow that city. So, Jonah goes into the city and starts preaching, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).After Jonah preaches this message, look what happened:

Jonah 3:5-8, "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:" and listen to what he says, "yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands."

Now, Nineveh believed in God. And they did the godly work of repenting and turning from their wickedness. And because of this, God did not destroy Nineveh. If they didn't repent, God would have destroyed them (Jonah 3). Now, let me ask you a question, dear reader. Was Nineveh saved by their godly works? Or were they saved by God's grace? Think about this before reading further.

The answer is...both! Why? Because they are not opposites. Look at what God's Word says is the reason why he did not destroy Nineveh: Read this carefully:

Jeremiah 18:8, "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them."

You see, the nation of Nineveh repented, and turned from their evil. And because of this, God's grace saved them!!! God pronounced evil upon Nineveh, and they repented, and God saved them. His Law, in Jeremiah 18:8, states this as the reason! He says IF that nation repents (conditional), THEN, and only then, will God be gracious to them.

It does not say how long after Nineveh "believed," and repented before God decided not to destroy them; it could have been one minute. Even though they did not do any "godly work" up to that point, just like Abraham might not have done a "godly work" up until the time he "believed," the following fact remains:

As soon as they "believed," they gave up their own will to seek God's Will.

This is very important. As soon as they "believed," they set their heart to become obedient to God. You see, usually before one obeys God, they must first hear His Word and "believe" in him before they put their faith in Him (Romans 10:17). So, in this sense, we are saved by "believing in God." Yes. However, this goes right along side of obeying him. You cannot separate the two. Once you "believe", you will be moved to "obey" Him as well.

If one truly "believes" in God, they will then obey his commandments. If one "claims" to believe in God, but does not seek God's Will, then his works bear witness that he is not of God, and this "belief" will not be counted as righteousness.

You see, those people who say God's grace saves us are correct. Those who say our works save us are also correct. But they are both full of half truths if they say God's grace is the ONLY thing that saves us, or if works are the only thing that saves us. You see, they go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. They compliment each other, they do not contradict each other.

The primary reason God said he was going down to Sodom and Gomorrah was because of the violence that it was filled with (Genesis13:13), but Lot found grace (Genesis 19:18-19), because he was a righteous man (Genesis 19:1). The reason he destroyed the earth in the time of Noah was because of the violence it was filled with (Genesis 6:13), but Noah "found grace" (Genesis 6:8), because he was a righteous man (Genesis 7:1). And here he is into Nineveh and the Ninevites knew that they needed to repent of their evil doings, and specifically turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger, so that they don't perish. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways, and God repented of the evil that he said he would do to them, and he did it not.

God did not show grace to Sodom and Gomorrah because they did not do the godly work of repenting and turning from their evil. God did not show grace to those during Noah's time, because they did not do the godly work of repenting and turning from their evil. God shows grace to those who have a heart that seeks after God. He does not show grace to those who do not seek after Him.

Obedience

Today, the meaning of the word "believe" (and "faith") has been weakened. In the eyes of most, it has become a mere acknowledgment of a certain fact. To many, it has nothing to do with obedience. But in 1 Peter 2:7, the words "believe" and "disobedient" are represented as opposites.

1 Peter 2:7, "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient..."

In other words, to believe is to be obedient, while unbelief is synonymous with disobedience. The Scriptures exhort "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

As a result of the way we view the words "faith" and "belief", many think that all they are required to do is believe that Jesus existed and died at Calvary, and they are in good standing with God. If this were the only requirement, the demons would be in good standing with Him (James 2:19). But there is no salvation for them! "Faith" is Greek word #4102, pistis. This word comes directly from a primary verb (#3982 peitho), so is itself ACTIVE. "Believe" is the same, as it comes directly from pistis. Faith and belief is some action based on God's word of promise.

1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith [Action]"

Here, Paul expresses "faith" as an action, as something we are to fight for. Here is another verse which describes "faith" as a "fruit," or as a godly work:

Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance…"

As you can see, scripture defines "faith" as a fruit. Scripture places "faith" in the same category as godly works. Therefore, if godly works is a verification of being a child of God, faith is also an evidence of being a child of God.

Those who say we are saved by faith only are full of half truths. Look at these passages:

James 2:24, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." James 2:17, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

In other words, the relationship between faith and works is so close that in fact they are one entity.

James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Legalism?

I find it interesting that so many Christians call me a "legalist" because I follow God's Law. But I try to explain to them that everyone is a legalist, everyone is a slave to someone's will, whether it is God's, Caesar's, or their own. For example, the very ones who say I'm a legalist, are themselves legalists to every code, rule, and regulation that Caesar passes. They obey Caesar's will without taking any thought as to whether it is right or wrong in God's eyes. They do it blindly, and that's blind faith in a false Saviour.

Let me ask you a question, who will God be more pleased with? Those who are legalists to man's law, or those who are "legalists" to God's Law? I think the scripture is clear. If we are to walk as Jesus walked, and reflect HIS image, and Jesus, according to these people, was himself a legalist, then I believe God will be much more pleased with those who walk in His Commandments, like Jesus did, rather than man's commandments, like the Pharisees did.

The scripture nowhere condemns anyone for following God's Law, and it never calls someone who follows God's Law a "legalist." On the contrary, God's Word encourages people to follow God's Will. The ones who are condemned in scripture are those who place the commandments of men above the commandments of God (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7, Titus 1:14).

Many claim "We are under grace, not the law," and use that as an excuse to forsake God's Law and do their own will. But ask them, "If this means we are not under God's Law, why is it that you are under man's law?" They will readily admit that they are under man's law. Ask them "Why?" They will say, "Because God's Law says to obey the government." Then point out to them that they just said they were not under God's Law! Why are they still under that part of God's Law that says to obey man, but not under God's Law that says to obey God? Did God intend for man's law to replace God's Law? Did God intend to replace obedience to God with obedience to secular man?

Many an unbeliever is willing to go God's way if God goes his way, many a professing believer ends up going his own way and making it look like God's way. Are you going you're own way and making it look like God's way, or are you going God's way even if it hurts?

We are to place ourselves under His jurisdiction, living in His kingdom. And we're not going to be perfect, we may fall and do wrong, but we are to check everything that we're doing. And if we do something that's against God's Word, we repent immediately to renew our mind. That's how we renew our mind, by repenting to the King and saying, "I'm sorry. I did not want to do that. It's a habit, it's the way that I learned in the world. Help break me of that." And He does help us if our heart is truly after Him. And if you don't repent, he has the natural man right there as a rod of correction for you, and that's what man's codes, rules and regulations are all about.