Faith Working Through Love

“But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” [Luk 7:35 NIV]

“Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds (Gk: ergon).” [Mat 11:19b]

“See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” [Deu 4:5-6 ESV]

“And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'” [Job 28:28 ESV]

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works (Gk: ergon) in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” [Jas 3:13-18 ESV]

“And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does (Gk: poieō) the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” [Mat 12:49-50 ESV]

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do (Gk: poieō) what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luk 6:46-49 ESV]

ergon: an act, deed, or thing done.

poieō: to act rightly, to do well; to carry out, to execute.

katapausis: metaph. the heavenly blessedness in which God dwells, and of which he has promised to make persevering believers in Christ partakers after the toils and trials of life on earth are ended.

–Strong’s G4160 and 2041 and G2663 from the Blue Letter Bible

Perhaps it is serendipitous, maybe a little ironic, for me to be writing about work and rest just past our Labor Day holiday weekend here in the United States. This federal holiday was enacted as a response to the action of labor activists who wanted to recognize our workers as making significant contributions to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being. It is a nationwide day off granted as a rest from our great labors.

There is a somewhat similar idea in the Bible called the Sabbath day, which was the seventh day in the Jewish week on which no work was to be performed. It was to be a picture of God’s rest from His work of creation on the seventh day. The Lord commanded it through Moses for the children of Israel to obey as one of the ten commandments. It was a holy day, a day to humble themselves and delight in the Lord, resting from all the cares of business and daily living. Now, those of us who by faith have believed in Jesus are no longer under the Old Testament law to observe the Sabbath on a specific day of the week, but I think it is good to have a day of rest to direct our minds and hearts to reflect on and delight in the Lord. If we do, there is an understanding in the Christian faith that we keep this day as our own conscience directs, and not to judge others who do not have a similar view. For Paul said: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” [Col 2:16-17 NKJV] So, my writing on this subject is not in view of a legalistic understanding of the Sabbath rest, but a spiritual one.

Looking back at Israel’s history of unbelief and disobedience, the writer of Hebrews states: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works (Gk: ergon) as God did from his.” [Heb 4:9-10 ESV] The writer speaks of both Israel and believers having heard the good news, yet Israel continued in unbelief and subsequent disobedience, while those who believe in Jesus enter God’s rest and follow the Lord in obedience. We cease from our own works, those that we think make us righteous and secure us Heaven, and rest in the Lord’s provision, Jesus’ death and resurrection for forgiveness of sin and our salvation. We were clothed in Christ’s righteousness when we believed, are now clothed in it, and will be clothed with it forever in eternity. In Revelation, the Apostle John sees believers in a vision, “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” … Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” [Rev 7:9-10, 13-14 ESV]

Please note to whom our salvation is credited: to our God and to the Lamb! It is not our own works (in the Greek, as cited above, the word is ergon), such as those practiced in the Catholic church and other religions–things like penance, praying the rosary, the “veneration” of Mary, pilgrimages, and so forth–even good things like feeding the poor and fighting social injustice can be misapplied to our own credit, and therefore become our own good works and way of gaining us salvation and right standing with God. I know of some people who are so involved with their works that they do not share the gospel, but only try to comfort the physical problems and teach that a person should be a better Hindu, or Muslim, or whatever other religion is outside of Christ, ignoring their most glaring spiritual problem–their lack of faith in Jesus, the only One who can save! I know of people who believe in medallions of saints and are told that, if worn, they will secure Heaven. This is pure superstition. The fear of being lost or deserving purgatory is not corrected by a ten cent metal charm. It is healed by the blood of Jesus poured out for the sinner and the love of God then being poured out in our hearts:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” [Rom 5:1-5 ESV]

I’m going to go off on a little rabbit trail, so please pardon the length of this post. I want to stop a minute here and point out that faith is primary, then comes obedience. To illustrate, let’s look at the following verses: “Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work (ergon) of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” [Jhn 6:28-29 ESV] Note that Jesus did not tell His Jewish listeners to do anything but a first step, to believe in Him, because He is the only gate for the sheep, the narrow way of salvation, the true bread that came down from Heaven and gives life to the world. The Apostle Paul states it this way:

“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works (ergazomai, the middle voice in Greek of ergon), his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness….” [Rom 4:3-5 ESV]

And again, showing that faith is primary, Paul continues:

“How then was it [righteousness] counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well….” [Rom 4:10-11 ESV]

That obedience follows faith, Paul then writes:

“to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. … No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” [Rom 4:12, 20-22 ESV]

I love this next section of Paul’s. It’s like the last hammer strike that sinks a nail:

“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring…in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” [Rom 4:16-17 ESV]

Beloved, please know that your belief in Jesus is the tiny mustard seed that bears good fruit and is as big and broad as the tree it grows into. You are eternally secure because God is more than able to save you and keep you and bring you safely to your heavenly home. Just as Abraham believed God’s promise of a son and heir despite seemingly impossible circumstances, so too the Lord is able to bring us to complete salvation: “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” [Mat 19:26 ESV] His power brings life to the dead and all of creation into existence out of nothing. His grace offered through the cross brings spiritual life to us, proving His love for us, and His power to raise Jesus from the dead more than proves He is able to save to the uttermost those who believe (Heb 7:25). He is always faithful to His promises! Paul ends this chapter by saying:

“But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” [Rom 4:23-25 ESV]

So, we see that it is true faith that SAVES us, and that our works done in obedience to the Lord do not save us but only PROVE our faith. Our works reflect what God has done in our hearts–we have been born again from above:

“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” [Jhn 3:3-5 ESV]

We are born again when we place our faith in Jesus, and note that at that time we “see” and “enter” the kingdom of God. Since we are born of water and the Spirit, we are a new creation:

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” [2Co 5:14-15, 17 ESV]

Because we are a new creation, having been born of the Spirit, we grow in the Spirit. We then don’t need to fear “losing” our salvation. How can the Spirit who gives us true life somehow fail to complete our growth and maturation in the Lord? How could God’s promise to us go unfulfilled? What He wrought, can man now undo? No, not ever, for the Lord is able to complete His purpose for our life:

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” [Phl 1:6 ESV]

Part II (if you need a break)

Now, does all this conflict with the letter of James, where he states:

“Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works (ergon) when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”–and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” [Jas 2:20-24, 26 ESV]

This seems to, on the surface, contradict Paul. He disliked the passages here so much that Martin Luther went as far as to call James an epistle of straw! However, James is NOT saying we are declared righteous by our works, or even declared righteous by faith AND works. Let’s look at the Greek word for justified–dikaioō. It has two meanings: 1) to render righteous; to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be; 2) to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered. God justifies us (declares us righteous) through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, as in the first meaning. Works justify our faith–they exhibit our righteousness wrought by Christ, as in the second meaning. They show forth the genuine nature of our faith. James is trying to correct those who would separate the two ideas of faith and works. We can look at it both ways, really–those who have works and no faith, and those who have faith and no works–both are wrong. We have to keep in mind that God’s Word not only contains teaching and exhortation to the positive, to encourage us, but also teaching and exhortation to the negative, to keep us from going into the opposite ditch, as did James’ audience. Again, I don’t believe James is arguing against Paul, but rather correcting those people who misunderstood or twisted Paul’s words. Even the Apostle John agrees with James regarding faith and works, connecting them with the motive of love:

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed (Gk: ergon) and in truth.” [1Jo 3:16-18 ESV]

James likewise writes:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works (Gk: ergon)? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” [Jas 2:14-17 ESV]

I think there is also confusion between the works of the Law, i.e. circumcision, which some Jews were insisting that the Gentiles needed to be saved, or any outward appearance of godliness made up by man. Note that Paul is speaking of circumcision and other outward religious rites, while James is stressing the care to be shown to a brother or sister in want of food and clothing. Nowhere in James does he advance the idea that circumcision is to be paired with faith! And obviously, Paul did not mean to infer in his letters that all good deeds were not part and parcel of the authentic Christian walk, for he himself wrote:

“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.” [1Co 7:19 ESV] And, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” [Gal 5:6 ESV]

And I think here that Paul has the key–because we are justified by faith (declared righteous), God pours out His love in our hearts, and we in turn love our brothers and sisters and are prompted to act out of that love–we give evidence of that righteousness worked in us by the power of our God–it drives our behavior–it is faith that has an effectual working through love–not fear, nor pride, nor envy, nor selfishness. The Greek word for “working” in the scripture from Galatians above is energeō, which means “to be operative, be at work, put forth power; to effect.” James was using a word picture to show a parallel relationship between the body and the spirit, and faith and works. He reasons with us that just as the body is dead without our spirit, so also faith without works (ergon) is dead. We could come at this from the positive, too. Just as our body is alive as shown by our spirit and we walk, talk, breath, think, and are animated by it, so also our faith is alive as shown by our works of love prompted by God and expressed toward our fellow believers.

Paul’s wisdom at the beginning of this chapter in Corinthians shows another layer of truth:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. … So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” [1Co 13:1-3, 13 ESV]

Here we have Paul reasoning that speaking in tongues, prophesying, possessing all knowledge, having faith to even remove a mountain, giving away everything you have–even being martyred–counts for naught in the Kingdom of God when done without love. When done without love for God or our fellow man, it is man working. When done with love for God and our fellow man, it is God working: “for it is God who works (energeō, to be operative, to put forth power) in you, both to will and to work (energeō, to be at work ) for his good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:13 ESV] I think we can all agree that love is meant to be expressed toward God and man–if it is merely given lip service, it is an ephemeral and lofty idea we can all muse about that accomplishes nothing. Love’s heart is an action verb! Can anyone imagine telling your child how much you love them but doing nothing to teach, correct, discipline, comfort, clothe, feed, and nurture them? Just as a claim to love them is empty because it lacks evidence, so also any claim to faith is empty without evidence. Just like faith, love can be dead–not authentic.

Perhaps you object, as many have already debated, and ask just how much evidence is needed? This is where wisdom and discernment come in. There are so many factors that play into our evaluations of others, such as physical and spiritual maturity, the person’s attitude toward sin, their circumstances, and so forth. For the sake of length, let’s look at just one criterion with which we should evaluate others. Jesus taught us that a thistle or thorn will not produce edible fruit whatsoever:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

He goes on to teach us that good fruit and bad fruit will determine if the tree is good or bad. “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” [Matthew 7:15-20 NIV]

I have often heard it said we should not be “fruit inspectors,” but is this true? Jesus tells us point blank here that we need to recognize false prophets. It really comes down to our motives. If we have a critical spirit with only a wish to judge and condemn a person, then, yes, our fruit scouring days should be short lived. But if we have a motive to lovingly correct and point a person to fear God and love Him and we have prayed first, or if we are looking to see if a prominent preacher’s or teacher’s life accords with what he or she speaks, then yes, we indeed need to be fruit inspectors, while knowing full well that we ourselves are imperfect fruit-bearers as well. It needs to be done with a heart of compassion: “Mercy triumphs over judgement.” [James 2:13b ESV] This scripture was fulfilled at the cross!

We also need to check our own gardens. Jesus goes on to say:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does (poieō, to carry out) the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” [Matthew 7:21-23 NIV]

It is interesting that Jesus states that only the one who does the will of His Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the will of His Father? First and foremost, it is the desire for all to be saved: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” [1Ti 2:3-4 ESV] If you think your good works are benefitting people but you are not sharing the gospel message, your works are in vain because they focus on only the temporal and corporeal comfort of man, and not the eternal and spiritual good of man. Does it do anyone any good to feed and clothe the homeless without giving them any spiritual food to obtain the white robe of Christ’s righteousness? They will be comforted a day, but spend eternity in hell if they do not hear the gospel and place their faith in Jesus. I have heard people say they do not need to share the gospel to the lost but only be kind and live a good Christian example. What kind of love is this? People are not sponges that soak up knowledge and truth from our supposed good example–they are sinners who need to hear the truth and be saved: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” [Rom 1:16 ESV]

Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t do good for the lost or show them love–we just need to have the gospel message as the foremost purpose in our hearts. We need to do both: “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” [1 Peter 4:11 NIV]

If you think about it, Jesus’ words in the above verses in Matthew include good things: prophesying, casting out evil spirits, and mighty miracles–all in the name of Jesus, mind you. Aren’t these part of God’s will? Yet He calls many of them “workers of lawlessness” (the Greek word here means contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness). These verses are bookended between the passages about the tree and its fruit and the houses built on rock or sand. Jesus wants us to listen and do, not merely concede that His words are right and true. People can practice lots of good works, but if they ignore God’s will for His children to live obedient lives, such a shallow or absent faith can not save us. Doing certain good deeds is not always God’s will, in the sense that they can be what we ourselves deem to be His will. Yes, good deeds can be carnal! They can be done out of competition, jealousy, a desire to “look good” to others, an appetite for attention or recognition, or even in a mindless imitation of other misled Christians. Remember what the Israelites did after they believed the bad report brought back by most of the men who spied out the Promised Land and rebelled? They immediately took it upon themselves to go into a battle to “make up” for their error, and they failed miserably because God had not commanded it at that point. If a person ignores and fails to practice Jesus’ words which express His Father’s will, He warns that He will deny knowing that person. We need to know God’s will as written in His Word, and do it!

Remember when I was talking about rest? Yeah, me neither. My rabbit trail was quite long! Let’s go back to Hebrews, where the writer speaks of the Lord’s rest, His katapausis, the Greek word for the heavenly blessedness promised to us who believe. We enter that rest by our faith, which leads to obedience. Those Israelites who failed to enter God’s rest failed because of unbelief, which led to disobedience. I picture faith like a locomotive pulling our obedient actions behind it. The reverse is also true. If the locomotive is unbelief, our disobedient actions will follow:

“Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.'” Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. … And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” [Heb 3:10-12, 18-19 ESV]

Note again that our living faith can lead us to obedience, or, in this case, a dead faith can lead people to disobedience.

In summary then, God’s grace and the gift of eternal life are given to those who have faith, those who trust the Lord to do exactly what He promises, and He promises eternal life to those who believe:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” [Jhn 5:24 ESV]

I urge all who read this, who doubt any of the promises of God, even salvation, that they “Be not afraid, only believe.” [Mar 5:36 KJV] If we take an honest look at our lives and don’t see fruit of any sort, repent and believe the gospel. If we take an honest look our lives and see both obedience and disobedience, repent of the disobedience and trust your Lord’s love in His correction. Many times we need to shift our focus off of ourselves and look up to our Heavenly Father, whose utter faithfulness to us was put on display at the cross, and utter power toward us was proven at the empty tomb. His integrity and holiness can not be surpassed:

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” [Eph 1:15-23 ESV]

Amen.

Photo by Balazs Busznyak via Unsplash