On Faith and Works

Frequently, the question of salvation comes down to one of either faith or works. And, by looking into the Bible, it seems to give us both "you are saved by faith alone" and that "faith without works is dead". Now, I have to admit that when I had recently thought about this question, I wasn't quite sure where the truth lay. Thankfully, I've been reading this wonderful book called "Following Christ" by Stephen E. Robinson, and I will be taking sections out of his book in this blog post.

Many Protestants believe that faith is all that is needed for eternal life. Basically, they just say the "sinner's prayer" and then, they are good to go. They don't need to change things in their life, and they don't need to do good works. (Now, I am not saying that all Protestants believe this way, but a good amount do). LDS people, on the other hand, have been accredited with taking too much emphasis on works, some people even asserting that we are trying to save ourselves. Neither of these extremes is a good idea, or what the people in the Bible taught.

Let me compare two passages, one out of Romans and one out of James. Romans 3:28, "A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." James 2:14 and 24, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?...Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone." So, is Paul right, or is James right? In actuality, they are both correct. The one big difference is their definition of the word "faith". 

To quote Stephen E. Robinson, "James defines faith as most modern readers would-as mere belief. Thus he points out that the devils also believe, and tremble. That is, they believe, but they're still going to be damned-mere belief won't do them any good. On the other hand, Paul clearly understands faith to be more than just believing. For him faith still retains its Old Testament meaning of "faithfulness" or commitment to the gospel" (pg 83). This commitment to the gospel means that we need to keep our covenants, keep the commandments, to change our lives, and to follow after Christ. If we only believe, but don't change our attitudes or our actions, I would risk it to say that the person hasn't truly had a change of heart. Now, again as mentioned before, the converse also isn't good. There is no way that we can "earn" our way into heaven. However, by accepting the free gift of salvation that Christ has so willing given to us, we must also do the things that the Lord has required of us. To use a more colloquial phrase, we must both "talk the talk and walk the walk". Walking the walk suggests that we change our minds about things that we may have previously enjoyed, but instead fix our eyes on Christ, and work on developing more Christ-like attributes. Dying to our sinful nature and becoming one with Christ. (I mean, that is the plan since we do use the term 'Christian', right?)

And from page 84 of Robinson's book, "Now, if we use Paul's definition of faith as faithfulness to the gospel covenant, then we find that Paul's formula in Romans 3:28 is correct: Faith alone (commitment to the gospel) will justify us to God, even without living the law of Moses. On the other hand, if we define faith as James does-as mere belief-then James' formula is also correct: Mere belief or affirmation without good behavior is insufficient by itself to justify us before God. If we use James' narrow definition of faith, then James' formula is correct. If we use Paul's broader definition of faith, then Paul's formula is also correct. Both apostles teach the truth. Where we get into trouble is in combining James' definitions with Paul's formula or vice versa." Meaning if we were to say that faith (mere belief) alone will save us, that is incorrect, and also if we were to say that we can do enough good works to earn our place into the kingdom, that is also wrong.

So, what is the point to all of this? The point of this is to understand that we need to have work (service, missionary work, changing lifestyle, etc) alongside with our belief in Jesus Christ, and following his commandments to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, of course it won't always be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

I want to bear my testimony to you, that if you actually strive to follow the commands, to help others out, to study the Scriptures, pray, and attend church, that you will grow closer to Christ. You will start to emulate Him more in your daily activity. This is such a great thing to observe. Just, keep strong, and follow through, and you will succeed.

Elder Beames, Elder King, and I after doing yard work at the Cannons.