Probably WAY too long for my first official post

I’ve been thinking lately about the relationship between grace, faith, and works. The kick start of this recent process was probably a chapter in Timothy Stoner’s “The God Who Smokes,” about the interaction and mutually dependency of Righteousness and Justice. The chapter really made me reconsider the parable about the sheep and the goats—highlighting that when Jesus judged men He did so on the basis of what they had done, rather than what they said. This is a bit problematic for the particular strain of Protestantism I’ve been most familiar with over the years, one which minimizes the necessity of good works or actions of any kind in getting someone to heaven. This tradition sometimes explains away James 2 as saying that works are simply evidence of a saving faith…even though the passage clearly says that faith without works is, in fact, dead. Really, this tradition seems to be fairly central to Protestantism, as one issue Protested against was the Roman Catholic over-emphasis on works and penance and performing sacraments. But taken to extremes the Sola Fide doctrine can be misconstrued as implying that yes, doing good things, obedient things, is important because Christ said to…not because they are in fact an irremovable part of salvation. The following words suffer from a lot of repetition, this whole writing could be summarized quite concisely. But concise is not what I’m going for…I go over the same concept again and again to make it as clear as possible to both myself and whomever might read this.

However, it seems to me there has been, for apparently quite some time, an improper dichotomy created between faith and works. This is to the detriment of an appropriate appreciation for God’s part in salvation. The verses most central to this issue is a very familiar one: Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

A quick summary of the main points of these verses are that we are saved by God’s Grace, not by something good or worthwhile done by us—we have no room for pride; also, of course, after stating it is not by works that we are saved, Paul reminds us that we are in fact created to do good works. Some this distinction between God’s Grace and our works has been twisted to imply something along the lines of “instead of works, we have been saved by faith,” as if the two are not irrevocably united. Read the equally familiar Hebrews 11—faith and action go together (look especially at the cases of Abel, Noah, and Abraham…obedience goes hand in hand with faith). Paul stresses the distinction is to be made not between faith and works, but between grace and works.

James 2:17, 22, & 24, mentioned above, fits into this latter interpretation, but not the former—“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead…You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did…You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. If Ephesians 2 suggested that we are saved by faith instead of works, James 2 couldn’t be true. But, as we are saved by grace, through a faith that is not of ourselves but rather dependent upon that grace, James 2 works fine. In light of James 2, Ephesians 2 seems to indicate that the central truth of salvation is God’s Grace; as a result of that Grace, God produces a faith that, leading to the good works that we are created for, reconciles us to Him.

I think that’s what “through faith” means; the Greek preposition dia, which simply means “through” or “on account of,” seems to hold no real complication. It does not mean by, it does not imply that we are saved as a result of faith; we are saved as a result of the gift of God that is Grace, and He simply chooses a faith accompanied with good works to be the context or method of the path of sanctification. There is also the verse earlier in James: (v. 1:27) “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” There’s something about what we do (that flows without exception from what we are made into by God’s grace) that is vital...this verse doesn’t mention belief, but rather action.

Back to the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25 which started this train of thought. The people referred to in this parable are not divided by what they profess or believe—but by what they did. (v.34-36) “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” The line is drawn not based on belief, but action. It is not action that saves, but Jesus’ sheep do obey Him and do bear good fruit, do look after widows and orphans, and do act differently than those who do not belong to Him. It seems that our inheritance comes as much from “works” as “faith”…simply because neither in fact save, but are responses of saving Grace. Faith is more an evidence of grace than works are evidence of faith.

Sola Fide is not the way to the Father…but rather, Sola Gratia. For it is BY Grace that we are saved—manifested through a faith that obeys and takes action. Faith is never meant to be set against works, as many of us in the Reformed Tradition assume…the counterpoint of “works” is “Grace,” not “faith.” Through encouraging a false dichotomy between works and faith, we have perhaps missed much. We have sterilized our faith, removed it from the context of works within which it was first articulated. Think of Jesus’ healing of the paralytic in Mark 2…when the man’s friends lowered him through a hole in the roof, “Jesus saw their faith” and responded. Did He see their belief? No, He saw their actions, their desperation, which He understood was inextricably tied to their trust of God.

When Jesus reinstated Peter, where was His emphasis? On Peter’s love for Him, certainly, but in a tangible sense the emphasis was on what Peter did, or would do…“Feed My Sheep.” For, as Jesus said earlier, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). Branches aren’t pruned because of lack of belief, but rather because of unfruitfulness: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19). Jesus doesn’t emphasize action only a few times; He makes what we do (not just what we believe…even the demons believe the right things) the litmus test. This is found both in the aforementioned Parable of the Sheep and Goats, and elsewhere…such as this time when Jesus confronts the Pharisees (John 8: 39, 41): “If you were Abrahams children then you would do the things Abraham did…you are doing the things your own father does.” For just a few verses earlier He made the claim “If you hold to my teaching, you are really My disciples.” It’s not sufficient to agree with Jesus’ teaching…to be set free, one must do what He teaches. This is, once again, perhaps best expressed in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

There are other examples of Jesus or His disciples maintaining the junction between faith and works (John 14:12 comes to mind: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing,” as does Romans 1:5). It is only His later followers who fashioned such a great divide between the two. Yet it seems clear that the point was never to emphasize faith at the sake of works, of obedience. The method espoused as our Justification is God’s Grace, and it is this Grace that is set against our works. That’s where the line is…between God-initiated Grace (embodied in the Sacrifice of His Son) and man-initiated attempts at salvation, self-adoration, and independence. Faith can even become a “work” (for willful choice, desperate surrender, and even intellectual assent have an element of action in them), and it is certainly integrated with action-oriented obedience (see Deuteronomy 11:13—“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul;” we obey through faith, our faith is nourished through obedience…). How else can we demand (or even advise) that someone “have faith,” “believe and be set free,” “put your faith in Him,” unless there is an element of choice (i.e., action) tied up in faith?

We are saved by Grace rather than works so that no man may boast…but men can just as easily boast in their faith. Many religious and spiritual problems come, I think, from an undue arrogance about our faith that goes something like this: “I believe and trust in the Truth, therefore I’m better than those who don’t believe.” Better off, certainly, but better? Only on account of God’s Grace, not your faith. If I place my trust in anyone or anything, I have acted, chosen, performed a work of the will. Faith in God is no different; the great Mystery comes in our being able to and willing to perform that act of faith (that paradoxical willful surrender of the will)…and this is by Grace. God enables us to have faith; He says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). It is God’s Grace that enables us to approach him through faith, demonstrating works as we go, boasting in neither our actions nor our beliefs but only in the Lord, Who stooped down to lift us up.

I am not bound to God because I “chose” to believe or surrender (while surrender can be chosen, can one ever choose what to believe? Or only what to do with the beliefs one has?); I am bound to God by the integrity of Christ’s Blood washed over me by God’s choice. I believe there is a false strain in Protestant theological understanding…not an over-emphasis on faith, certainly, although perhaps an under-emphasis on works—yet, most importantly, an under-emphasis on Grace, placing it, as it were, side by side with faith when it belongs above both faith and works. For Grace is God’s domain stretched out to us—and both faith and works are Man’s domain stretched out to God; only one of these efforts have any saving potency.

Some of this may seem to imply or suggest a rather Calvinist picture of God’s will and choices being all that matters. That’s not my intention; I mean to say nothing about whether or not man’s will enters at all into salvation, whether grace is in fact irresistible or not. That’s a whole different discussion, and one which I think is far less clear. All I claim is the well-established truth that God initiates salvation, and this is by His Grace alone. Whatever the relationship between faith and works, they exist on the same plane, one subject to and inferior to the position of grace. Whatever role faith and works have in salvation, that salvation owes its process first and foremost to grace. Also…whatever our beliefs, however strongly we profess our faith, we are not excused from good works. We cannot earn our salvation, neither by what we do or what we claim to believe; it is ever and always an unearned gift of God that far outweighs any response we can make. Sola Fide is a fine cry…but Sola Gratia gives credit where credit is due.

Another attempt at blogging

So, I've just created this new blog; I had a blogspot page from years ago, but in general i failed at actually posting stuff. Then I had a myspace page, which I used pretty much exclusively for the blog on it...even that became out of date. The moral of the story: I've been affected yet again with a desire to have an online journal/blog sort of thing, and instead of bringing my myspace up to date I decided to actually use a page intended for blogging. This decision was perhaps encouraged by me forgetting my myspace password, and not caring enough to figure it out.

Anyway, I may try to retroactively post some of my previous blog entries from myspace, just to consolidate...plus, I have this subtle impulse towards thoroughness. It's perhaps why I don't really finish a lot of things. Even if I don't do that...this will be where I'll post my probably infrequent written musings.