Works And Faith

Work ethic

The most compelling religions ever practised by man all had a great work ethic. The most notable of these would easily be the intricate web of involvement within the Catholic Church or within the simple Five Pillars of Islam. You do as you are told, keep the checklist up to date — and you are in….

These religions are especially compelling because they were written and contrived by man and imposed and judged by man. Idolatry, in one form or another, is perfectly imbedded within. Humans love to worship the stuff they make — or write. The better the stuff — the greater the adherence. You essentially talk yourself into redemption by doing and following your own work ethic — your own stuff.

There are many Biblical examples of this. The golden calf model provides one: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exod 32:4). Following their recent, miraculous history of the Exodus, this inexplicable event should easily be seen as madness; however, it did happen.

In the time of Christ, there were two major systems with good work ethics: the Jerusalem temple worship regime of the Sadducees, and the Synagogue system of the Pharisees. In relation to how all this was to affect the spread of the Gospel to the Gentile world, the Synagogues would have the most profound effect. The Synagogues were a great asset in the beginning — but they quickly turned into the source of the most crucial opposition to the grace of our Lord.

Peter and Paul

Synagogues were well entrenched by the arrival of Jesus in the first century. Dating back to the Maccabean period, they had become established in most Greek and Roman cities by 30 AD. Later, as Paul and his team moved north and west from Jerusalem, the Synagogue was often the first stop on their journey. Paul had easy access as he was a full card-carrying member. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He knew most everything there was to know about the process and the “Works of the Law.” He had done it all — but had given it all up for Jesus. Now he was nothing but a sinner saved by grace. When the Synagogue folks figured this out, they hated him. But Paul had even bigger trouble than that. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles. However, in Jerusalem there were thousands of Jews who had converted to Christ from Judaism. “Works” and “Law” were part of their DNA.

And then there was Peter — the Apostle to the Jews. He was one of them. But he had spent time with the Lord — and angels. While being commissioned by Jesus to be the apostle to the Jews, his first, official mission was to convert and baptize a Gentile household — that of Roman Centurion, Cornelius. Along the way he was introduced to the new, but old, concept of what God calls clean and unclean. So, things were different now. The Jews had to open their collective minds to the new reality of God’s grace.

This reality finally came to a head in the Roman Province of Galatia among the Galatian Ecclesias. As the Gospel pushed north and west from Damascus and Antioch in Syria (which had a substantial Jewish presence), the mission of Paul and Barnabas took a side trip through Cyprus and ended up lingering among small towns in the region of Galatia: Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. They were received enthusiastically for the most part — until the local Jews realized what was happening. Consequently, they quickly stirred up the townsfolk, resulting in Paul and Barnabas being thrown out of the city of Lystra — but not before stoning Paul and leaving him for dead.

Troubles in Galatia

Happily, in a somewhat lower key, Paul and Barnabas returned to the towns and ministered to the locals which resulted in the formation of ecclesias — the first network of Gentile Ecclesias — the Galatians. With great joy the apostles returned to Antioch sharing the response to the Gospel they had witnessed. Furthermore, the Ecclesias were growing in grace and in the Spirit.

This is when things changed. Delegations of Jewish brethren came down from Jerusalem to provide further instruction for the new converts in the necessities of the works of Judaism. For starters, circumcision. But, it wasn’t just circumcision, it was also “the works of the law” and “observing days and months and years!” A whole checklist of things. What is amazing is that these delegations evidently were sent under the authority of James, the Lord’s brother.

Earlier, Paul had gone to great lengths to establish his position in the church and his independence of the Jerusalem “super” apostles. When God was pleased to reveal His Son to Paul, he didn’t go up to Jerusalem, but went into Arabia for introspection and returned to the community by way of Damascus. Three years later he went up to Jerusalem to meet with Peter, seeing none of the other apostles with the exception of James, the Lord’s brother. Paul was personally unknown to the Churches, which were now praising God because of him (except for his former record of destruction). Undoubtedly they had to have a chat about their various commissions: Peter’s to the Jews and Paul’s to the Gentiles.

Later, Peter, Paul and James attended the Jerusalem Conference, which was convened because of the dispute over the notion that works (especially circumcision) were necessary for salvation. Paul had to remind the Galatians that these super apostles in Jerusalem had extended the right hand of fellowship to himself and Barnabas, thus supporting their commission to preach to the Gentiles. There was no mention of any specific, essential, righteous works or circumcision in the spiritual contract — but only to abstain from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, from meat of strangled animals and from blood. Just some common sense stuff, some of which only had relevance to the early Church.

Unfortunately, the interference of Jewish Christians in Galatia was so strong that even Peter buckled to their bullying. Paul had to withstand him face to face. Peter was not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel.

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” (Gal 2:15).

Paul rejoiced that, while he and Peter were brothers in the work of the Gospel, he had died to any legal requirements for redemption. He had been crucified with Christ, so he no longer lived, but Christ lived in him. The life he was now living in the body he lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him. Paul was not going to set aside this grace of God, because if righteousness could be gained in any way through the works of the Law, or any other works, then Christ died for nothing.

Paul then reminded the Galatians of how foolish it was to have accepted Christ, who through the Spirit was clearly portrayed as crucified, and then be sidetracked by another gospel (which was no gospel at all) where salvation could be attained by human effort. Had God given them of His Spirit and worked miracles among them because they began with a regime of observing Jewish laws — or because they believed what they had heard?

Let’s not forget, righteousness was achieved by Abraham by believing God. The Gospel — that the Gentiles would be justified by faith — had been announced long before Abraham was circumcised: “all nations will be blessed through you”. And, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:8). Faith was the basis of salvation — pure and simple. What a blessing! How impossible it is to consider salvation being effected by works — especially the shadows of the past. Imagine trying to take Judaism to the Gentiles. No! Now everyone could be “Sons of God.” Everyone could receive full rights through the Father…no longer slaves to the checklists of salvation by works. What a personal pain this was to Paul — that his saints would want to abandon salvation by faith in Christ for a mixed religion of works and faith. Sadder still that the works regime was clearly backed up by politics and personal power. Paul continues, “They want to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them” (Gal 4:17 NIV) This had little to do with truth and much to do with human engineering.

Paul’s anguish in knowing their current position was equal to his pain in the beginning, “for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is finally formed in you” (Gal 4:19).

Hagar or Sarah

However, although the saints now knew that sonship was attainable through the Father, by receiving the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, they needed to decide who their mother was. There was a choice. Hagar or Sarah? Hagar stood for the legal slavery of Mount Sinai and the Judaizing city of Jerusalem, that was quickly passing away. Sarah stood for promise and the New Jerusalem — which is from above. They needed to remember that the child born in “the ordinary way” persecuted the Son of Promise. And, that conflict continues to plague the world today. Natural descendants of Ishmael are causing havoc in our world, including continuing to harass the son of the free woman. The children of Hagar, the legal thinkers within the community of Christ, continue to insist on adherence to human rules and regulations — a sort of half and half religion. It doesn’t, of course, have any power to save. Salvation by human action has been and ever will be with us — in constant conflict with truth and salvation by faith.

Consequently, slavery is an ever present, human fall-back position. It is for freedom that Christ sets mankind free — not slavery. And, Paul reminded them in no uncertain terms that if they let themselves be talked into circumcision then the sacrifice of Christ would be of no value at all. If you want to be justified by law (and works), you will be alienated from Christ and will fall away from grace. In Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.

Paul was indignant. The Galatians were running such a good race. Who cut them off? The Judaizer’s doctrine of works was like a corrupting yeast that defiles the whole lump. Salvation by faith and the grace of the Son of God was counter‑

culture. It always has been and it always would be. Paul constantly suffered for it. If circumcision was necessary, the offence of the cross would be abolished. Paul would have it easy. But, Paul was suffering for the cross — and the false brethren’s pernicious teachings. If these agitators were so possessed with their false doctrine, why didn’t they just go all the way and be castrated? This is one of the great lines of sarcasm in Scripture. If they were so marred, they would, of course, be cut off from the temple worship. And, why not? If they continued to preach circumcision, they would be cut off from Christ.

There is always the argument that if we don’t have the burden of the checklist of works to keep us on the straight and narrow — we will claim the freedom to indulge. We could continue in sin and let grace abound. The antidote here is to continue to serve one another in love. When we have the works checklist, we readily use it to judge and compare one with another — because it is our list. This type of thinking and activity causes most of the strife in our Ecclesias. We bite and devour one another and in so doing, we destroy the community of our Lord — instead of building it up in faith and within His saving grace. Flesh and Spirit are diametrically opposed to one another — and therefore, in eternal conflict. It is hard at times to know what we should be doing. But, we must never forget that we need to be led by the Spirit. Praise the Lord, we are not under the works of the law.

There are “works” of course. Works of the flesh. And works (fruits) of the Spirit. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the first and live by the second. We reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh we will reap destruction. If we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. It is our choice. It is all or nothing. We can’t have a bit of both.

We sow to the flesh because we naturally want to make a good impression to the world — and to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Circumcision was the natural identification with Jewry. And, sadly, the works-righteous Judaizers wanted to “boast” about “your” flesh. There is at least a hint of irony here as they were reminded of the women of Israel singing about how many Philistines David had been able to kill or the number of foreskins he was able to bring home to King Saul. Salvation by works is generally a foreskin count in one form or other.

What Paul wanted to boast about was the cross of Christ — through which the world had been crucified to him and he to the world. Works counted for nothing. The only thing that counted for something was a new creation. And, if anyone wanted to “mark” the body, then it should not be circumcision — but the marks of Jesus.