We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. There is no passage that brings out this truth more clearly than the words of Paul in Ephesians 2:4-10.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.Ephesians 2:8-9

There is no place for our own works in salvation.

One might think that Paul had said enough to make it clear that merit of fallen man does not enter into salvation, but he goes on to make one more decisive and glorious affirmation: 'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works' (verse 10). There is a distinct reference here to the first creation which was 'all of God' and was a display of his workmanship (Psalm 19:1). Man did not make himself.

Those who boast of having any merit, says John Calvin, 'presuppose that they were their own creators'. Self-creation is a patent contradiction in terms.

The new creation which is the Church, like the old, is 'all of God', but equally it is 'all for the glory of God'. This is where good works come in. The Church reflects the glory of God and will do so throughout the ages to come, as Paul declares in Ephesians 3:10. Adam was created in the image and likeness of God 'in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures' (Shorter Catechism, Q. and A. 10) and reflected the glory of God.

The first creation came about through the Word: 'All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made' (John 1:3). The re-creation is being brought into being through the incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. 'If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation' (2 Cor. 5:17). That new creation is designed to reflect the glory of God – 'created in Christ Jesus for good works'.

The Source of Good Works⤒🔗

Paul's teaching in this passage reveals to us the source of good works. It is 'in Christ' that the transformation takes place. By nature we 'were dead in trespasses and sins' (Eph. 2:1). There was no spiritual life in us, and we could not do anything acceptable to God. It was when we were 'made alive together with Christ' (Eph.2:5) that our relationship to God changed in status (justification) and in life (regeneration and sanctification). The image of God was restored in our souls. We were made 'partakers of the divine nature'. That promise of the new covenant became ours, 'I will put My laws into their mind and write them on their hearts' (Heb. 8:10). There is now a correspondence between our new desires and the external law of God that governs our duties.

The obligation to render love and obedience to God rests upon all rational creatures. The natural man cannot fulfil the obligation, because he is at enmity with God and has no power to do it. The Christian, being united to Christ and 'accepted in the beloved', is able to render an obedience which is acceptable, and, although not perfect, is real and true. The moral character of an act is determined by the moral principle that prompts it. Faith and love in the heart are the essential elements of all true obedience. As John Owen said, 'The gospel grafts all duties of moral obedience on this stock of faith in Christ Jesus.'

The Obligation of Good Works←⤒🔗

The performance of duties or good works that should result from our regeneration is that which is required of us by our Creator. In what at first sight might appear to be a paradox, Paul exhorts the believers at Philippi to 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure' (Phil. 2:12, 13). Salvation is a process in which the Christian, far from remaining passive or dormant, takes a very active part. The verb implies that we are to 'continue to work out'. We must strive to produce in our lives all the fruits of the Spirit. According to John Owen,

The work of holiness in its beginning is but like seed cast into the earth, namely the seed of God, whereby we are born again. It is small at first, but being received in good and honest hearts, made so by the Spirit of God, and thereby nourished and cherished, it takes root and brings forth fruit.

Yet sanctification is no more really spontaneous than is the growth of a tree. The tree must be watered from above, or it will not thrive and grow by virtue of its own seminal power (Ps. 1:3).

We note that it is in the Pastoral Epistles particularly that Paul puts great emphasis on the doing of good works. 'Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work' (Titus 3:1). 'This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works' (Titus 3:8). 'And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful' (Titus 3:14). Indeed he goes as far as to say that the whole end of the giving of the God-breathed Scripture is that 'the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work' (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

What Good Works Accomplish←⤒🔗

What then is the place of good works in the scheme of redemption? It can be summarized under the three aspects.

1. Good Works Glorify God←↰⤒🔗

They glorify God because they all come from his hand. It is said in Hosea: 'From me is thy fruit found' (Hos. 14:8). Again in Isaiah: 'Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us' (Isa. 26:12). They are also his works in their con­tinuance: 'God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work' (2 Cor. 9:8).

Above, all, good works reflect God's 'excellencies'. Peter informs his readers that they are 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession', in order that 'you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light' (1 Pet. 2:9). Christians are to declare all God's excellencies, the perfections of his being. In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord said: 'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven' (Matt. 5:16). The purpose, of letting our light shine and of revealing our good works is not to bring attention and praise to ourselves but to God. The way we live should lead those around us to glorify the heavenly Father. 'Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples' (John 15:8); 'Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God' (Phil.1:11).

2. Good Works give us Assurance of Our Salvation←↰⤒🔗

The Westminster Confession of Faith outlines three grounds of assurance of salvation: i. the divine truth of the promise of the gospel; ii. the inward evidences of those graces unto which the promises are made; and iii. the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God. Although the early Reformers tended to emphasize the promises of the gospel as the primary ground, even Calvin acknowledged that good works strengthen faith and are the evidence of election. The Puritans were aware of the danger of a mere intellectual or historical faith and how easy it was to be deceived.

This is the great concern of the apostle James in his epistle. How can we be sure our faith is a saving faith? (James 2:14). By the works that are produced from it. A faith with no results is a demonic and bare affirmation (James 2:19). Works prove the living reality of faith and bring assurance that the believer has entered into the benefits promised. Peter, in speaking of the characteristics of the Christian in 2 Peter 1:5-7, says that 'if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ'. As Jesus told his hearers 'the tree is known by its fruit' (Matt. 12:33). 'Even so every good tree bears good fruit; but a bad tree bears bad fruit ... wherefore by their fruits you will know them' (Matt. 7:16-20).

3. Good Works Adorn our Profession of the Gospel←↰⤒🔗

Paul urges the Christians at Ephesus: 'I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called' (Eph. 4:1). Henry Scougal, in The Life of God in the Soul of Man, said: 'The power and life of religion may be better expressed in actions than in words, because actions are more lively things, and do better represent the inward principle whence they proceed.' The exhortation to servants in Titus 2:9-10 is that their obedience to their master may 'adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things'. The writer to the Hebrews says, 'Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works' (Heb. 10:24).

Good works have a convicting effect on the ungodly world, as Peter implies in 1 Peter 2:11-15: 'Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation ... For so is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.'

The Reward of Good Works←⤒🔗

1. The Rewards in this Life←↰⤒🔗

The gracious work in the believer and the gracious reward he receives from God are branches from the same root. The more grace of obedience, the more grace of reward. William S. Plumer said: 'It is plain and manifest that those works which proceed of faith, do please God, and are rewarded with abundant grace: to wit with the recompense of good things and blessings, both in this life and in the life to come.' In observing the Lord's commandments we have the assurance that 'in keeping of them there is great reward' (Ps. 19:11). 'Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come' (1 Tim. 4:8). There is a reward in the doing (James 1:25). Paul, in Ephesians 6:7-8, encourages servants to obey their masters, 'knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is slave or free'.

2. The Rewards in Heaven←↰⤒🔗

Although the idea of merit does not enter into it, the blessings of heaven are often referred to in terms of reward. We are told that Moses in the choice he made 'had respect unto the recompense of the reward' (Heb. 11:26). Our Lord in his teaching made frequent reference to rewards. This features especially in the Gospel of Matthew. Those persecuted for righteousness' sake are encouraged to 'rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven' (Matt. 5:12). Later on he tells his disciples, 'He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a right­eous man's reward. And whosoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward' (Matt. 10:41-42). In providing for the poor of this world the Christian will be 'recompensed at the resurrection of the just' (Luke 14:11-15). Paul finds consolation in the fact that 'there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing' (2 Tim. 4:8).

Good Works at the Judgment Seat←⤒🔗

What place will works have on the judgment day? Paul says: 'We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad' (2 Cor. 5:10).

It is clear from the whole Bible that believers 'shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment' (Shorter Catechism Q. and A. 38). Justification has already taken place and there can be no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. 'Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?' (Rom. 8:33). According to the teaching of N. T. Wright and the proponents of the New Perspective on Paul, the final judgment is on the basis of works and represents a kind of final chapter in the believer's justification. This suspends the present membership of believers in the covenant family of God upon a yet future justification. If the believer's present justification could be completed or even undone in the context of a final justification, the gospel promise of free acceptance with God would be profoundly compromised.

However it is clear from our Lord's description of what is going to happen on the judgment day in Matthew 25:31-46 that works will play a vital role, though only in so far as they are a public manifestation of what is now a reality. Good works reveal who are the true children of God (verses 34-36). The lack of good works exposes the character of the wicked (verses 41-43). A further aspect of judgment is that the Lord will evaluate the lives and ministries of his children and reward those who have acted faithfully. According to 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, it is true that for the Christian 'each one's work will become manifest'; some works will be burned; some will receive a reward. Nonetheless, all will be saved by grace. When we consider that the good works of the most sincere believers are all imperfect and have no merit intrinsically, we see that the rewards are wholly of grace, and we say, 'To God alone be all the glory!'