WWUTT 1092 Salvation by Faith and Works?

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The heresy that we are saved by faith and works is certainly not a new false teaching.

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It goes all the way back to the very first years of the church, when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Acts, Chapter 15.

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And I'm going to pick up where we left off yesterday, starting in Verse 6. Remember, this is after the

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Judaizers have been saying to the church that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

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So in Verse 6, the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

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And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days

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God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

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And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the

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Holy Spirit just as He did to us. And He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

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Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

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But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

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And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders

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God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied,

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Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the

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Gentiles to take from them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

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After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.

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I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the

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Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.

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Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

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For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he has read every

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Sabbath in the synagogues. So the Judaizers are telling the

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Christians that if they want to be saved, if they want salvation, if they are going to have eternal life with God, they must do the works of Moses.

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They must keep the laws. And if they do not keep the Jewish laws, then they cannot be saved.

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And probably one of the ways they pointed to this was to say, Jesus was a Jew. He kept all the

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Jewish laws. So if you're going to be saved in Christ, you have to keep the Jewish laws as well.

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And the one in particular that's singled out here is circumcised. You must be circumcised.

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If you're not circumcised, then you are not a Christian. You're not a true

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Christian. You're not a true believer. You are not saved. This is salvation by faith and works, which is really no salvation at all, because the work of Christ on the cross was not sufficient for our salvation.

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We had to do something in order to merit our salvation before God. So this Jerusalem council is convened to talk about how to respond to this false teaching.

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It's not to establish, well, what do we think the gospel is really saying? They already know what the gospel is.

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But how are they going to communicate this to the Gentiles? By not placing on them a burden that they themselves couldn't bear in days past.

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Because the law never could save. It never had the power to save anybody.

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Salvation was only by grace through faith. That's the way it always was. Even in the

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Old Testament, salvation was by the grace of God. The apostle Paul points this out with the

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Galatians when he points back to Abraham. Now, granted, this letter that he wrote to the Galatians is after everything we're reading here in Acts 15, but they had fallen into the same snare of believing that they had to do works in order to be saved, specifically being circumcised.

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So here's what Paul shares with the Galatians. Galatians 3, starting in verse 1. O foolish

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Galatians, who has bewitched you? Now, these false teachers are going to have to answer for what they have said and what they are doing.

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But the Galatians, likewise, are responsible for having followed what had been taught falsely.

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They left the true gospel the apostles taught them and were going after these false teachers.

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So they would be standing accountable before God for that. Having listened to lies instead of the truth.

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So Paul says, who has bewitched you, you foolish Galatians? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

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Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

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Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

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Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the

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Spirit to you and works miracles among you, do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

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Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him in righteousness.

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Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the

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Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying in you all the nations shall be blessed.

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So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

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Paul goes on, for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse for it is written cursed be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and do them.

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So salvation has never been by works of the law. Salvation has always been by the grace of God through faith.

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And Paul uses Abraham as our example here. He makes the same argument in Romans this way.

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In Romans 4 in verse 9 he says, Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised?

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For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him?

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Was it before or after he had been circumcised?

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It was not after, but before he was circumcised. So Paul is pointing out here that Abraham's salvation was given to him before any work had been done.

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The work was a demonstration of the salvation that he had received by God and not by his works.

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Because then Paul goes on to say in verse 11, He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

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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 and 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

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Abraham had before he was circumcised. Does that make sense? The argument could not be more clear that Paul is demonstrating here in Galatians and in Romans that we are saved not by works.

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We are saved by grace through faith and that's the way it always has been. It was this way in the

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Old Testament. It's this way in the New Testament Church as well. But there was a burden that was placed on the

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Jews that they were not able to bear. The law served as a tutor as Paul talks about this with the

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Galatians but it never had the power to save. Another argument that Paul makes in the book of Romans, Romans 8, 3,

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For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own

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Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh.

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We are saved by the grace of God through faith in his Son, the

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Lord Jesus Christ. That is how a person is saved and by no other way.

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It's never been by any other way. It's always been by the grace of God through faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ who died for sins so that all who believe in him will be forgiven.

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We stand before God as justified and we have eternal fellowship with him.

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So as you can see here by what we're reading in Acts 15, this heresy of salvation by faith and works goes all the way back to the very beginning of the church within the first few years of the gospel going out.

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They were fighting against this false teaching that a person can only be saved by faith and works.

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And that is a lie that we continue to do battle against even today 2 ,000 years later.

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And this lie manifests itself in a number of different ways, notably in the Roman Catholic Church, which teaches that you are saved by faith and works.

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As a matter of fact, according to the Council of Trent, Session 6, Chapter 16, Canon 9, if anyone shall say that by faith alone the impious is justified, let him be anathema.

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This is a direct contradiction against what we read in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

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It is by grace you are saved through faith and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.

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And yet, Catholic Catechism 1257 says baptism is necessary for salvation.

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And not just any baptism, it has to be baptism in the Catholic Church. Catholic Catechism 846, basing itself on scripture and tradition, the council teaches that the church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation.

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Note what's said there in that particular catechism. It's basing itself on scripture and tradition.

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So according to the Catholic Church, even the scriptures, even the word of God, is insufficient.

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You have to go by tradition as well, or else you're not receiving salvation.

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You're not receiving a true salvation, according to the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodoxy likewise teaches salvation by faith and works.

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The sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist are decisive to salvation. That's according to Father Theodore, whose last name

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I cannot pronounce. He's from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, written at GoArch .org.

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You will find in the Hebrew Roots Movement a doctrine of faith and works, that you still have to be doing the works of the

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Jewish law in order to truly be saved. And if you do not do those works, then you are not saved.

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The Hebrew Roots Movement is heresy. We also find this heresy in something that is called the

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New Perspective on Paul, the most notable proponent of which is

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N .T. Wright. This false teaching, what it basically says is that justification by faith, according to the

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Apostle Paul, is not referring to a doctrine about how a person gets saved, but rather it's talking about membership in the covenant community and how that's not obtained through the standard

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Jewish laws like circumcision, food laws, observing the

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Sabbath, things of that nature. So in other words, justification is less about soteriology, and it's more about ecclesiology.

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It's not about how a person becomes a Christian, but it's rather a declaration that they have become a

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Christian. The serious flaw in this theology is it would have to insist that the

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Jews were never saying to the Church that you have to be saved by circumcision.

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It is a combination of faith and works. The New Perspective on Paul would be saying the Jews were never teaching that.

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But we can see clearly from what we have written in the Scriptures that it was necessary to confront this idea that the

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Jews were impressing upon the Church that you are saved by your works.

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Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Again, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing.

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It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Titus 3, verses 5 through 7.

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He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

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Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

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Consider also 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 through 10.

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Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our

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Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

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In these three texts that I've just read for you here, it is evident that Paul was contesting against this heresy that one is saved by works, and not just Jewish works, but any work.

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There is no work that we do that attains salvation for us.

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It is the work that Christ has done, and him alone. And by faith in him and that finished work, do we attain this salvation.

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By faith in Christ, do we receive the grace of God that has been given to us through his

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Son. That's the way that a person is saved. Exclamation point. End of paragraph.

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So we come back to, again, Acts 15, where the apostles and elders are gathered together to consider this matter.

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How do we confront this heresy that is now going about, discouraging the

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Gentiles from salvation by telling them that they have to do these works in order to be saved.

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And after much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days

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God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

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We saw this earlier in Acts with Peter preaching at the house of Cornelius. And it was demonstrated there that after Peter preached the gospel, the

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Holy Spirit fell upon even the Gentiles. And it was before they had done any work.

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The Holy Spirit came upon them. It was clear that they were now saved, men and women of God.

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And Peter said, Who can withhold water from these people and from being baptized? And then they were baptized as their first demonstration of faith to God, baptized with Christ in their sins and risen again to new life.

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That is what was being demonstrated there. Before they had done any work, the Holy Spirit was upon them and they were saved.

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So Peter is saying, By my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

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And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.

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And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

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By faith, they were cleansed. Now, therefore, why are you putting

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God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

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But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

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We will be saved by grace. They will be saved by grace. Jews are saved by grace.

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Gentiles are saved by grace. That is how anybody has ever come to faith and salvation, by the grace of God through the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12, And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul, as they related what signs and wonders

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God had done through them among the Gentiles. And after they finished speaking, James replied,

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Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.

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And then James goes to the Scriptures. How does he affirm this through the Scriptures?

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And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.

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I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the

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Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.

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Now, recognize here that Peter and James, as they're talking, they're not just talking to people that agree with them.

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They're talking to people who disagree with them. Because notice that some who belong to the party of the

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Pharisees were among them. That was in verse 5. They rose up and said, It is necessary to circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses.

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So there are people who agree and disagree that are part of this group. James goes on to say in verse 19,

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Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.

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So it's like, when we're going to tell the Gentiles how now should they live, this is what they're going to say.

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Not imposing on them any other law, but this. And the demonstration of your faith is going to be in your obedience to these commands.

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For from ancient generations, Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he has read every

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Sabbath in the synagogues. These words of Moses, the words of the

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Old Testament, has been declared even in Gentile cities through the synagogues that had been put there.

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And this was all according to the providential plan of God. The Apostle Paul, when he goes into a city to preach the gospel, that's where he goes first.

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He goes to the synagogue, preaches first to the Jews and then also to the Gentiles.

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And the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, Romans 1 .16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, first to the

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Jew and then also to the Greek. And so it is, by going into those synagogues and preaching from those scrolls that are there, these apostles have demonstrated to the

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Jews and to the Greeks how Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

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Therefore, it is not by the law, by our keeping of the law, that we are saved, but because Jesus, through his active and passive obedience, that we come to justification and sanctification in our

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Lord Jesus Christ. It is not by our works. It is by his finished work alone that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

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All glory be to Christ, our King. Amen. Let us pray.

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Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the message of the gospel, that it is not by our works that we could be saved.

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We would never accomplish salvation. We would never have assurance of salvation, for we would always be questioning if we'd ever done it right.

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We can't do it right. It is only Christ who has done this ultimate right.

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By his submission to the Father and dying on the cross for our sins, do we have the forgiveness of sins and fellowship now with you.

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We can pray to you, the creator of the universe, and know that our prayers are heard by God because of what

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Christ has done for us. Forgive us today our sins. Let there be no prideful way in us at all, but we humble ourselves before you and walk according to your ways by the grace that you have given to us.

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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.