Grace, Faith, and Works

There are few things which have been more controversial in religious debate than the perceived discrepancies between grace and faith on one hand versus works on the other. Martin Luther, in the preface to his commentary on Romans, said, ""I find James to be so at odds with Paul as to refuse even to give him a place in the canon."" He discussed of course, Paul's teachings that, ""a man is justified by faith apart from works of law"" (Rom. 3:28), weighed against James' teaching that ""a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone"" (Jas. 2:24).

On the surface, those two statements would appear to be contradictory, but a careful examination of Biblical uses of the terms grace, faith and works is necessary to see that James is not at odds with Paul, and to see that their teachings harmonize with the rest of scripture. Lest you think this merely an ""academic"" exercise, what you believe about these important topics determines what you believe about salvation. Those who believe faith is the only condition for salvation do not accept the necessity of baptism, seeing it as man's attempt to justify himself through works. This is a serious disagreement with those of us who accept the Bible's commandment to be baptized for the remission of sins (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38). Thus, the debate is not moot; it gravely affects the souls of men.

Further, if all obedience is seen as ""legalism"" then we must look for other reasons why the scriptures in general, and the epistles in particular, are so filled with practical advice (commands) on how the Christian is to conduct their life. Paul warned against using our freedom (from the bonds of sin) as a license to commit further sin (Rom. 6:15-23), but many have believed that man, once saved, is incapable of being lost, and this has led many to embrace sin with supposed impunity. It is a malicious and condemnatory doctrine.

So what are the answers? How does one harmonize James and Paul? What do they mean when they use the terms grace, faith and works.

In this special issue, we have endeavored to look at these terms as they are used in scripture, and we have tried to avoid the name-calling and slander which only serves to prejudice readers (both for and against us). Men have written on each of the terms individually, and on how those terms relate together for the salvation of men. Finally, there is a piece about the modern origins of some of the falsehood which has been propagated. We hope you will take out your Bibles and study along with us, because our appeal is to the scriptures. What these men think is not important if it cannot be supported by what God says.