In the Gospel of John, we are informed that Jesus said: "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:29, NLT) Thus, it is only by believing that Jesus was/is the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and that it is HIS EXERTION/WORK on our behalf which makes us whole and able to stand before Almighty God! Later, in the same Gospel, we read that Christ also said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, NLT) Unfortunately, too many Christians do NOT understand that Jesus of Nazareth is the ONLY thing that enables us to stand before God whole and clean - NO exertion or work of ours can accomplish that for us!
Now, from the evidence of his epistles, it is very probable that Paul understood this earlier and more completely than any of the original apostles. However, the other writings which make up the New Testament canon also make clear that Peter and James also understood this concept. Hence, we are forced to conclude that all of the confusion and arguments associated with grace versus works must have arisen as a consequence of those Jewish Christians who believed that ALL Christians were obligated to continue to observe the tenets of Torah.
For Paul, this was at the heart of the Gospel message. He wrote to the Christians at Rome: "For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'" (Romans 1:16-17, NLT) A little later, in the same epistle, he wrote: "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." (Romans 3:19-22, NLT)
Continuing in Paul's letter to the saints at Rome, we read: "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So, we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law." (Romans 3:25-28, NLT) Notice how Paul reiterates this formula (that we are made right with God by our faith in Christ's work) over and over again.
Later, in the same letter, he turned his attention to his own people, the Jews. He wrote: "Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands...If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved." (Romans 10:1-10, NLT)
Nevertheless, there was an element within the community of Jewish Christians who continued to insist that Christians were obligated to observe the tenets of God's covenant with Israel (Acts 15:1-5). In other words, for these folks, the formula was Jesus + the works of the Law (obedience to Torah) = salvation! Indeed, their persistence in pushing this formula caused Paul to almost come unglued in his letter to the saints of Galatia. He wrote: "Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ." (Galatians 1:4-7, NLT)
He went on to relate how he had to confront the Apostle Peter when he had visited the saints at Antioch because of his efforts to stay on the good side of those Jewish Christians who insisted on Torah observance. He wrote that he had told him: "You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." (Galatians 2:15-16, NLT) He went on to say: "I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die!" (Galatians 2:21, NLT)
A little later, in the same epistle, Paul directly addressed the heresy which had invaded Galatia. He wrote: "Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Galatians 3:1-3, NLT) He went on to reiterate his Gospel message to them: "But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, 'Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.' So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.' This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life." (Galatians 3:10-12, NLT)
"What about James?" some of my Legalistic friends will demand. I would answer that James preached the same Gospel that Christ and Paul preached. After all, James was clearly a part of the Jerusalem Council, and its decision NOT to impose Torah observance on Gentile Christians (see Acts 15:13-21, ESV). Moreover, just as Paul had noted in his epistle to the Galatians, in his own letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, James wrote: "For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, 'You must not commit adultery,' also said, 'You must not murder.' So, if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law." (James 2:10-11, NLT)
"Don't stop there, Lonnie!" my Legalistic friends will insist. So, let's continue. James wrote: "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well'—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So, you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.' But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.'" (James 2:14-18, NLT) So, James is saying that a person who truly has the kind of faith which God commands will give evidence of it in the way that they behave?
Doesn't Paul say exactly the same thing in his letter to the Galatians? He wrote: "So, I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Galatians 5:16-23, NLT)
In other words, these behaviors are evidence of the kind of faith which God demands! They are NOT the consequence of Christians observing the commandments of Torah! Stated yet another way, grace is NOT a license to sin - to engage in bad behaviors! Nevertheless, this is NOT work or exertion - it is a consequence of our FAITH in Christ! Even so, what seems clear to me will appear differently to others - the debate between grace and works will continue!
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