by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Works won’t save us, but failure to engage in them can condemn us. Likewise, being moral won’t save us, but being immoral will condemn us (I Corinthians 6:9-10).<\/p>\n
This is a consistent message throughout Scripture. Salvation is “by grace through faith<\/em>,” and faith means that we will trust God and seek to do what He says. Even so, it is “not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yet, let no one think that obedience is unimportant, for disobedience and disbelief are held as parallels (Hebrews 3:18-19). Failure to obey is a lack of faith, and without faith, there is no pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6).<\/p>\n Grace, then, while beyond our full understanding, is not a “do what you want” license to sin (Rom 6:1-4; Jude 4), and it informs what it means “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” while we await the blessed hope (Titus 2:11-14). Grace makes us zealous for good works even while we know that those works are not earning our salvation. Works are expressions of our faith as we diligently make it our aim to please God.<\/p>\n In other words, “by grace through faith” is meaningful when faith is present, and faith is present when we trust God enough to submit ourselves to His will. The danger in any work we do is that we get puffed up and boast as if we deserve some kind of honor for it rather than to recognize our humble state. As the Lord taught, “When you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’<\/em>” (Luke 17:10).<\/p>\n God’s grace should spark within us the desire to seek Him, obey Him, and thank Him for what He has done through Jesus Christ. Be reconciled to God!<\/p>\n by Doy Moyer Works won’t save us, but failure to engage in them can condemn us. Likewise, being moral won’t save us, but being immoral will condemn us (I Corinthians 6:9-10). This is a consistent message throughout Scripture. Salvation is “by grace through faith,” and faith means that we will trust God and seek to…<\/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":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-67003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-grace","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace-through-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":67003,"position":0},"title":"Salvation by Grace Through Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we read Ephesians 2:8-10, there are four important words which stand out: grace, saved, faith, and works. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gift mentioned in verse 8 is the gift of salvation given to us by God\u2019s grace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Grace is an unmerited favor. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-too-simple-to-say-we-are-to-believe-and-we-will-be-saved-by-gods-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":67003,"position":1},"title":"Is it too simple to say we are to believe and we will be saved by God’s grace?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm concerned that purgatory does not exist in the Bible. I believe that imaginary doctrine can be changed, as has the belief of Limbo, with innocent newborn babies, who have died prior to baptism, no longer going to Limbo. I always thought that God has told us to believe\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":67003,"position":2},"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":20326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-you-beautifully-write-about-the-law-being-nailed-to-the-cross-and-insist-that-salvation-comes-through-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":67003,"position":3},"title":"How can you beautifully write about the law being nailed to the cross and insist that salvation comes through obedience?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can someone write a beautiful article like \"What Was Nailed to the Cross?\" and then insist that salvation comes through obedience to a new set of commands? Answer: Because it is what God stated. See \"Doing Our Duty\" and \"In Word and Deed.\" \"For the weapons of our\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":91157,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-works-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":67003,"position":4},"title":"By Works or Not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton An atheist thinks he sees the following verses as \"contradicting\" each other. Atheist: Salvation by Faith or Works: \u2022 Ephesians 2:8-9: \"For by grace you have been saved through faith\u2026not a result of works.\" \u2022 James 2:24: \"You see that a person is justified by 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":15874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":67003,"position":5},"title":"Faith and Works (Scott)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott Many people reject the idea that these two words should be found in the same context.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The Bible tells us\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\/67003","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=67003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
\n<\/em>‘In a favorable time I listened to you,<\/em>
\nand in a day of salvation I have helped you.’<\/em>
\nBehold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation<\/em>” (II Corinthians 6:1-2)<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"