The Proof of Grace (3)

Concluding our consideration of the Proof of grace, we again emphasize the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

It’s interesting that our entire society operates according to man’s performance. Early in their education, children learn that they are evaluated by their performance and thereby put into categories. Soldiers earn their ranks. Employees earn their positions and salaries. The Ford Corporation, for example, has a scale of 27 levels, Level 1 denoting clerks and secretaries and Level 27 reserved for the Chairman of the Board. An employee must be at level 9 to get an outside parking place, 13 to get a window, a plant, or an intercom in their office, and 16 before their office can have a private bathroom. Not to mention that most all of us, at one time or another, have said, “I need a vacation; after all, I’ve worked hard and I’ve earned it.” In the end, therefore, it all boils down to what each of us can boast in. 

Paul knew all too well about boasting. There was never a more self-satisfied person or a more self-assured person than Saul of Tarsus. Indeed, he was proud that he was Jew, proud that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, proud that he was a Pharisee, proud of his religion, proud of his morality, proud of his knowledge, and proud of his works. But now he says, none of us have anything to boast about. As he again wrote to the Corinthians, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Cor. 1:31). And to the Galatians he declared, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).

As Romans 3:23 declares: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Sin is missing the mark of God’s glory; that is, we shoot for the mark of God’s glory but miss it every time. To illustrate, at its widest point, the Grand Canyon is eighteen miles wide rim to rim, its average width is ten miles, and its minimum width is only 600 yards at Marble Canyon. Now, let’s assume several people try to jump the canyon at that minimum width, which works out to be a mere 1800 feet. Perhaps one can person jump only ten feet but another twenty feet. Perhaps someone else can even match the current world record long jump distance of 29 feet, four and a half inches. Or let’s even assume by some super human feat that one jumper went 1,799 feet, 11 inches. Do any of them make it? No. What difference is there between ten feet and 1,799 feet, 11 inches? None whatsoever. All have fallen short and died! That is why we need grace.

This is precisely why we went into such detail to define grace in an earlier installment. To say that we must add our works to God’s grace is the most contradictory statement we could ever formulate. Any theology that mixes grace with works or faith with merit, no matter how sincere the motive, is simply heresy, plain and simple, and is to be cursed as Paul states in Galatians 1:8-9.

Having said that, does that mean that works have no place whatsoever in the believer’s life? Does that mean that works are meaningless and irrelevant? Absolutely not, as Paul makes clear in the very next verse: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Good works do not produce salvation, but salvation most certainly produces good works.

This is also what James means when he writes about faith and works. True saving faith produces good works as an evidence of what God has done solely by grace. As James asks, what evidence of true saving faith is it if a Christian brother or sister is naked and hungry and comes to our door but we respond, “Oh, well, God bless you,” and then shut the door (2:15)? No, as proof of our salvation, we will bring him in, cloth him, and feed him. Those who pervert the Gospel, however, say, “By bringing him in, giving him suit and meal, we have contributed to our salvation and that will help us get to heaven.” But that is not grace; that is works.