{"id":28587,"date":"2011-08-21T20:44:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T01:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=28587"},"modified":"2020-12-14T20:46:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T02:46:24","slug":"how-can-righteousness-be-apart-from-works-when-faith-is-a-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-righteousness-be-apart-from-works-when-faith-is-a-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How can righteousness be apart from works when faith is a work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

“Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin”<\/em>” (Romans 4:6-8).<\/p>\n

“Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them,\u00a0“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent”<\/em>” (John 6:28-29).<\/p>\n

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead<\/em>” (James 2:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does “apart from works” mean any work or just certain types? Because faith like Abraham has to be acted on; hence, he believed in God and left to offer Isaac, so in a sense, it was a work. I was wondering about your thoughts on when faith is called a work in Luke and James hitting the point faith without works is dead.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

In Romans, Paul is discussing how a righteous God can save unrighteous men without compromising on His righteousness. After proving that all are guilty of sin, Paul addresses whether men could earn their salvation. “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God<\/em>” (Romans 4:2). If men could earn their salvation, then they would not be saved by grace. “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt<\/em>” (Romans 4:5).<\/p>\n

But Paul points out that Abraham did not earn his righteousness, God only counted him as righteous because of his faith.\u00a0“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” <\/em>” (Romans 4:3). This doesn’t mean that Abraham’s faith wasn’t an active, working faith, but it does mean he didn’t earn his righteousness.<\/p>\n

James is addressing a different question: Is it possible to claim to have faith and not do anything at all? James proves that the answer is “no.”<\/p>\n

The problem most people have is failing to realize that “works” is a general term. You always need to address what kind of work is being discussed. It is never right to lump all works together — after all, there are works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19) and works of God (John 6:29). God created us to do His work. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:10).<\/p>\n

That is why it is important to note that faith itself is a work. Like any other work, it does not earn us righteousness. God doesn’t owe us salvation just because we believe. Rather, God is offering to grant us salvation for this simple task. It is His gift, not His debt.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin”” (Romans 4:6-8). “Then they said to him, “What must…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[49,55],"class_list":["post-28587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-faith","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-paul-saying-that-only-if-we-dont-work-then-god-will-make-us-righteous\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":0},"title":"Is Paul saying that only if we don’t work, then God will make us righteous?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is Paul saying in Romans 4:4-5 that only if we don't work then God will make us righteous? Answer: \"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/works-in-the-book-of-romans\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":1},"title":"Works in the Book of Romans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII: 2, pp. 43-45, January 11, 1979 Frequently Paul mentions works or deeds in his epistle to the saints at Rome. Whatever he means by \"works,\" the term expresses something opposed to grace and faith. He insists that justification does not find its source in works.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20009,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-work-to-become-more-righteous-is-it-true-you-are-not-accepting-gods-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":2},"title":"If you work to become more righteous, is it true you are not accepting God’s righteousness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Jeff, A friend posted this on Facebook. I've read it over and over, and I just can't grasp what is being said. I'm always skeptical when a writer only quotes one Bible verse when he has so much to say. Sounds to me like a false doctrine or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-comparison-of-romans-4-and-james-214-26\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":3},"title":"A Comparison of Romans 4 and James 2:14-26","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Sasser Recently, we have been listening to a speaker on this radio station discussing the 4th chapter of Romans as compared to the 2nd chapter of James. It was obvious, from some of his statements, that he was trying to make Paul teach salvation by faith only and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-obedience-relate-to-saving-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":4},"title":"How does obedience relate to saving faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How does obedience relate to saving faith? Answer: \"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, \"Depart\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":28587,"position":5},"title":"Faith and Works (Sharp)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is fundamental to Protestant theology. The old Methodist Discipline stated, \u201cWherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.\u201d The Standard Baptist Manual, by Edward T. Hiscox teaches, \u201c... the great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28587","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=28587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}