It’s not as popular a sentiment as it used to be. Or at least it seems that way. That is, the idea that our salvation is a matter of outweighing our bad deeds with good ones. Kind of like a works-based Gospel meets karma. Or something like that. But nevertheless, it is still an idea that has a way of prevailing. And at first, it makes sense. After all, that is how we operate.

We often assess people or things by their greatest good, and neglect their evil, provided it’s to a lesser degree. Or vice-versa. In a spiritual sense, deed-counting seems like a reasonable approach.

Of course a careful rational exploration of what God must be like will reveal that keeping the works in balance probably wouldn’t get you anywhere with a true deity of cosmic proportion—at least not one that is hands-on. And, the Bible flat out tells us that this isn’t the case. However, the Bible also leaves other clues that this couldn’t possibly be the case. Even if we were somehow misunderstanding what is meant when it tells us that our Life is not based on “works” but on “grace”.

The clues lie in the bible’s teaching that all of man’s works are flawed. Our good deeds aren’t good per se. They are good, in one sense, that all things that hold some reflection of God’s character are good. But they are not “good” in a different sense that nothing is so unless it comes from faith.

The bible teaches that “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23). It also teaches that before we are made alive through Christ, we are “dead” in our trespasses (Colossians 2:13).

Before being redeemed by Christ, a persons ‘good deeds’ are in their greater part not good deeds. They have the appearance of good deeds, and in a way they are good because they are a reflection of God’s character, but they are still bad deeds.

If our salvation were a matter of balancing the scales, we would never pull it off regardless of how many we manage to perform. For every good deed we do, we not only add weight to the good side of the scale, we add even more weight to the bad side. It would never balance out and we would invariably perish in our sin, thinking to ourselves, “but I’ve been so good!” And our final prideful declaration would dot the T’s and cross the I’s of our well veiled life of sin.

So much for Christian Karma. Thank God for grace.

Imagine a boss or supervisor at work who simply cannot be satisfied with anything you do. Each time you discover a new way to fulfill his wishes, you discover ten new things that you’re not even coming close to getting right. When you finally rectify those things, you discover ten more you’re missing completely. This is the law.

No matter how much you seek to follow it, satisfying it will always be out of reach. The law is intended for one main purpose: to drive us to repentance by showing us the destitution of our plight.

That is why Paul writes in Romans 3:20:

“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

We cannot be justified by something that is endlessly revealing how short we’re falling of success. The concept of being justified, heck, even having any hope for this life, by our works—by the things we say and do and feel—is simply unreasonable. What human being can say with honesty that they’ve even been honest their whole life? No one. And before a righteous God, that has rendered their works null.

Even quantum traces of logic and reason will say that if there is a just and righteous God, grace is our only hope.

Thomas Watson writes:

The bare knowledge of God’s will is inefficacious, it doth not better the heart. Knowledge alone is like a winter sun, which hath no heat or influence; it doth not warm the affections, or purify the conscience. Judas was a great luminary, he knew God’s will, but he was a traitor.

I know I write about this a lot. But I suppose it’s a topic you can’t quite say enough about.

As much as I love God’s word, and I love to study it and encourage other people to study it, getting God’s word—on it’s own—it’s not enough. We have to believe it, and do it.

Watson’s analogy is well received. Knowledge alone is like winter’s sun, which makes things bright, but no necessarily warm.

After a long weekend of shooting weddings, I came to the end of the day, exhausted, and realized that I hadn’t written a post yet, nor did I have too much inspiration to do so. So, I cracked open my copy of A Puritan Golden Treasury. A collection of brief quotations from famous puritan authors on all sorts of topics.

I read through a few of them before I stumbled on one that I really very much liked. Thomas Watson writes this:

“That which the saints scarce take notice of in themselves, God in a special manner observes. "I was hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink. Then shall the righteous say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee?” (Matt 25:35). They as it were overlooked and disclaimed their own works of charity, but Christ takes notice of them.”

I thought this was an interesting perspective.

Christians are well accustomed to debasing themselves. After all, we are sinners, and indeed there isn’t a drop of blood in our veins deserving of God’s love, although he gives it anyway.

But, I think this often bleeds beyond its limits and we forget that God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us. A fact that implies that we will do good things. And, although we may fail to see that good God is working in us, we can be sure that Jesus is taking very particular note of it.

I find that to be encouraging.

I’ve been thinking over this verse for a couple of days now. I’m not sure why, I’ve probably read it a hundred times. I guess it’s just resting on me with some fresh reflection. James 1:12:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Although it’s phrased funny, the verse is in perfect sync with the rest of James’ message, and the whole bible for that matter.

James stresses that faith and works are not mutually exclusive elements, of which a Christian may hold one or the other. Rather, they are two ends of the same thing, which every true Christian will exhibit, if in fact they are true.

What’s so weird about this verse is that it would seem to reverse that message. Saying ‘remain steadfast so that you’ll receive the crown of life’. But James continues, explaining that the ‘crown of life’ is something that has been promised to those who love God.

How could the ‘crown of life’ be a reward for fulfilled duty and promised to those with earnest love for God? Simple, I suppose: Steadfastness is not the condition. Love is the condition for which the promise is given, while steadfastness is the symptom of that love.

Since I became a Christian, one verse has always stuck out to me as strange and even somewhat comical. The verse in mind is Proverbs 26:13:

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
  There is a lion in the streets!”

Like much of Proverbs, this is just one in a long line of punchy, biblical one-liners of wisdom. So the context doesn’t do much to explain this verses meaning. So, when you read all on its own, it sounds, well, a little nuts.

But, recently I’ve come to find this has quite a lot of meaning to me.

I often make excuses not to do the difficult things I want to do, or should do, or need to do. Instead, inaction is vindicated by pointing out all the dangers along the path ahead of me. Of course, the actions are not truly vindicated—I’m left as a ‘sluggard’ for my inaction.

I think it’s interesting that this verse doesn’t make any commands. It only points out that making excuses makes us something we don’t want to be. And what’s worse, really?

James 2:14-19:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

If there’s a set of verses most serious Christians are familiar with, it’s this one. James warning that our faith is not genuine when it doesn’t exhibit faith should be a shrill ring in people’s ear.

The question is often brought up (usually as a means to avoid the scripture) what constitutes "works".

James actually answers that pretty clear in the next couple verses.

James 2:21:

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

If you remember the story of Abraham offering up his son Isaac, you’ll remember that God commanded Abraham to do that. It was test, and God sent an angel to stop him just before it happened. James’ example of works isn’t one of showing hospitality, or generosity, or mercy. It’s actually simpler. It’s simply of someone obeying God. That was his work.

So, what are "works?" Whatever God has commanded. If you boil it down far enough, we find that James is saying that a Person’s "faith" is not faith at all, unless their lives actually look like Christian lives.