{"id":15874,"date":"2007-11-22T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-22T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=15874"},"modified":"2025-08-26T21:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T02:56:07","slug":"faith-and-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Works (Scott)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>by Carey Scott<\/p>\n<p>Many people reject the idea that these two words should be found in the same context.&nbsp; The reason is that while we need faith to receive God\u2019s blessings and approval, we also realize that God\u2019s grace is what saves us instead of works.&nbsp; The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 that we are saved by grace&nbsp;<em>through<\/em>&nbsp;faith (Ephesians 2:8), and not of works that anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:9).&nbsp; Anyone who studies the Bible as they should will tell you that you need both in order to be saved.<\/p>\n<p>The Barna research group is primarily a religious study group.&nbsp;This is the group that tells us that about 84% of the population of the United States believes in God.&nbsp;This group also reveals that only about 52% of the population ever attend a religious service.&nbsp;The group says that about 44% attend regularly. That seems strange that so many people claim to have faith, but so few actually demonstrate their faith.<\/p>\n<p>James 2:14-26 teaches very valuable lessons to us.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many people claim to have faith, but do not serve God.&nbsp; Some say they are not churchgoers, but they still have their faith. James 2:14 says \u201c<em>What use is it my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?\u201d&nbsp; This is a rhetorical question, because obviously the message is clear that unless he has works, his faith is dead.<\/em>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>James 2:17 says that \u201c<em>Even so faith if it has no works, is dead being by itself<\/em>\u201d&nbsp; Faith must be accompanied by works in order to be an active living faith.&nbsp; A lot of people do not demonstrate any indicators that they have faith in God, even though they claim to have a \u201cpersonal relationship\u201d with Him.&nbsp; That is nothing more than a cop-out.&nbsp; Unless one is actively and diligently seeking to please God, they have no faith.&nbsp; Read Hebrews 11:6.<\/li>\n<li>James 2:20 says that faith without works is useless.&nbsp; I John also teaches that if we are claiming to be in fellowship with God, but do not practice the truth, we are liars.<\/li>\n<li>James 2:22 reads: \u201cy<em>ou see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected<\/em>.\u201d&nbsp; Faith is made complete which is what the meaning of &#8220;perfect&#8221; is in the Scriptures.&nbsp; In Hebrews 11 we have many examples of people of faith.&nbsp; One thing in common with all of them is they were accounted faithful by what they did, not by what they believed.<\/li>\n<li>James 2:24 reads: &#8220;<em>You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.<\/em>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>James 2:26 reads in part: \u201c<em>\u2026 so also faith without works is dead.<\/em>\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Claiming to be faithful to God is just a waste of words unless you have the works to back up that claim.&nbsp; In our contemporary language, we can say \u201cput up or shut up\u201d.&nbsp; James 2:18 reads in part: \u201c<em>\u2026 show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.<\/em>\u201d&nbsp; Many people claim to have faith in God, but their actions do not reflect a faith at all.&nbsp; Titus 1:16 hopefully will strike a chord here: \u201c<em>They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are many people who claim to be \u201cChristian,\u201d yet they do not live like a Christian should live.&nbsp; The only people God will welcome into heaven are those who demonstrate their faith with works.&nbsp; You know; those who walk the walk.&nbsp; I John 1:7 reads, \u201c<em>but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Our faith is demonstrated by works.&nbsp; These works are given to us to do from God.&nbsp; Ephesians 2:10 \u201c<em>For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>The Bible gives us the works we should do. II Peter 1:5-7 teaches us what we need to add to our faith. II Peter 3:18 teaches us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. God gives us everything we need concerning salvation and living the Christian life (II Peter 1:3). So we encourage you to serve God by hearing the word of God and believing it.&nbsp; Realize that you must repent of your old ways, and turn towards being pleasing to God in the way God teaches us through His word.&nbsp; Confess the good name of Jesus before others, and be baptized for the remission of your sins. &nbsp;This starts you on your spiritual journey that will take a lifetime of active, working faith to complete (Revelation 2:10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Carey Scott Many people reject the idea that these two words should be found in the same context.&nbsp; The reason is that while we need faith to receive God\u2019s blessings and approval, we also realize that God\u2019s grace is what saves us instead of works.&nbsp; The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 that we&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,55],"class_list":["post-15874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-teaching-is-a-work-then-it-doesnt-save-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":0},"title":"Since teaching is a work, then it doesn&#8217;t save. Right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Telling others about Christ is a work. \"For by grace we are saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast\u00a0\" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Answer: There was a branch of the Baptist denomination that fully accepted the idea that being saved was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-there-passages-that-say-we-are-saved-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":1},"title":"Aren&#8217;t there passages that say we are saved by faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You say\u00a0that \"You will never find where the Bible says that baptism is a symbol, or that one is saved at the point of faith.\" What about Luke 7:50? Jesus said to the woman, \"Your faith has saved you; go in peace.\" Ephesians 2:8\u00a0\"For it is by\u00a0grace you have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39338,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-good-works-the-result-of-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":2},"title":"Are good works the result of salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are good works the result of salvation? I was in a discussion earlier with someone of the Baptist faith who used Ephesians 2:10 to say that good works are the result of salvation and not required for salvation since Paul is referring to us being saved in Ephesians 2:8-9,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87864,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-resist-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":3},"title":"Why Resist Baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Marvin Rickett Nearly all denominations resist the Bible's doctrine of baptism in one manner or another. Some resist it by saying it is not essential to salvation. One can be saved without ever being baptized. Others resist it by teaching that one is saved before one is baptized. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obeying-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":4},"title":"Obeying the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 8, Feb. 20, 2009. Question: How can one talk about \"obeying the Lord\" in the light of what is said in\u00a0Titus 3:5\u00a0and\u00a0Ephesians 2:8? Answer: First, let us notice what these two passages say: \"Not by works done in righteousness, which we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":15874,"position":5},"title":"Faith Only","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Russell published in\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2005 Even Martin Luther didn't deny baptism as an expression of faith and as necessary to salvation. There were five Latin phrases, known as the \"Five Solas\" that became the mantra of the Protestant Reformation. These five ideas developed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/luther.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15874\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}