 | Rev. Patrick Notley is the Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church located at 525 N. Broadway in downtown Wichita. Reverend Notley received an MA in Divinity at San Francisco Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. Born in Denver, CO and raised on the East Coast, Reverend Notley along with his wife, relocated to Wichita in 1997 to join the church, where he is responsible for Evangelism Educational programs. You can reach Reverend Notley at (316) 263-0248 ext. 22 or by email at pwnotley@firstpresbywichita.org |
Religion
2006-03-01 10:52:00
Are good works necessary for salvation?
QUESTION: Are good works necessary for my salvation?
ANSWER: The short answer is that no the performance of good works is not necessary for salvation. The apostle Paul writes in II Corinthians that Christ died for all so that all could live no longer for themselves. (II Cor. 5:15) The implication being that Christ’s death and resurrection and therefore humanities salvation were not contingent upon any action of humanity. So no amount of good works could or will affect our salvation. However… The writer of James states, “What good it is, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” (James 2:14) And then a little later states, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17). So the question then is which is right? Do works affect salvation or not? And the only responsible answer can be both yes and no. I believe that the message of the Bible is that salvation is for and available to everyone, no exceptions. As Paul says over and over in his letters to different Christian communities Christ’s Death was for the purpose of bringing God’s salvation to the entire world. But what James states is very important to hear as well. As a Christian I understand and believe Jesus to be my Savior and Lord. I believe that his death and resurrection was for the purpose of salvation of all people. But I also believe that, since I am an inheritor of this gift and have some awareness of its impact on my and others lives I can do nothing less than respond with gracious acts and good works myself. Paul stated it so well in I Corinthians 13 when he wrote (and I paraphrase) “If I speak in tongues, if I have prophetic powers, if I am able to move mountains, but do not have love I am nothing.” In other words, If I understand the gift that has been given to me through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and simply keep it to myself, neither speaking of my faith or more importantly living out my faith in my daily life through all of the various deeds I do, then I am nothing and my faith is nothing as well. So are good works necessary for salvation? Not to achieve salvation because that is a gift we cannot earn. But, so that we might live into the gift we have been given, yes good works are necessary. Because without those works we do not respond to the gift that has been given and in not responding we will not live into our salvation. In all that we do we are called to recognize who it is that has gifted us and we are called to respond by being gracious and loving ourselves. So go do good deeds! But do them in response to the one who loves us all not because you need to collect brownie points to earn God’s favor.
