Faith and Works
Romans 1:16–17
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [17] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (ESV)
Ephesians 2:8–10
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
James 2:14–24
Faith Without Works Is Dead
[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
[18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (ESV)
Faith, or works?
When we read verses like Romans 1:16–17, Ephesians 2:8–10, and James 2:14–24, we often get stuck on whether we need to do works for salvation, or simply have faith. It can be confusing for followers of Christ, and these passages are often used by those who do not follow Christ to claim contradictions in the Bible.
So what do we make of this? Do we need faith, works, both, or is this a true contradiction? Are there multiple ways to salvation?
What is works; What is Faith
So what is Works?
Works, as the name suggests, is just that: Things we do. It's the act of doing specific things for a specific goal.
But there’s more to it than that. If we want to define works in the context of salvation, we need to define what those works actually look like. I could spend my whole life building wealth and know for sure that wealth can’t get me into heaven. Heaven can’t be bought (see Acts 8 for the story of Simon the Magician, who tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit: “[20] But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!’” (ESV)).
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works
So then, what works? In Ephesians 2, the same chapter that says works cannot give us salvation, the writer also says:
[10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
This seemingly contradictory statement actually starts to paint a clearer picture. It points to something about works and faith that go hand in hand. I’ll get to that in a moment.
So what is faith?
Let's look at Hebrews 11:6:
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV)
Two things stand out. First, to please God we must have faith. Second, faith includes believing that God exists.
But we're not done. Romans 10:8–9 says:
[8] But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), [9] because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (ESV)
So faith in God is only the starting point. Faith in Jesus is the next step. There is growth here. You cannot rightly live your life for someone you do not believe exists. Faith begins with God and leads to faith in Jesus.
Is faith enough to save? Yes. But real faith does not remain by itself, it produces change. Ask yourself, what are the fruits of that belief? What does that faith produce?
You can believe a parachute works, but you have not truly put your faith in it until you have jumped from 10,000 feet (note, I'm no expert, so do not use that as a real benchmark for safe jumping height). It is only when you are falling and relying on that parachute to save you that your faith becomes real in action.
Now do not miss the next part of those earlier verses, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord” and “he rewards those who seek him.”
Neither describes passive belief. Both involve action, what we might call works. A person of faith seeks God and confesses Him and Jesus. These are not separate from faith, they are faith in action.
Just like you do not simply believe in a parachute, you take it up, jump, and trust it. In the same way, you do not just believe in Christ, you live as though it is true.
We see this same pattern in Hebrews with those commended for their faith:
By faith, Noah... built an ark. By faith, Abraham... obeyed and went. By faith, Sarah... had a child. By faith, Moses... left Egypt.
Works follow faith; they are the visible shape of it.
Faith is the starting point, yes, Proverbs 1:7, [7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)
And, Ephesians 2:8–9, [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith... [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)
But that faith results in works, living as though what you believe is actually true:
James 2:21–22, [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works... [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works. (ESV)
Conclusion
So, faith or works?
Both.
We do not need works to be saved, but the faith that saves will produce works.
We are saved by a grace so profound that it requires nothing from us but trust. Yet that trust is meant to be transformative. It changes how we live. Jesus is our parachute, and living as if that is true is us stepping out of the plane, trusting He will carry us.
Faith is the heart; works are the heartbeat of a life made alive in Christ.
Make no mistake, when we stand before God, nothing we did will save us. Our works do not earn salvation; they are the fruit of a life of faith. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We will not be able to say, “Look at all the good works I did,” because nothing we do is enough to make us right before Him. Only Jesus can accomplish that.
But Jesus calls us to live as though we truly believe it:
Matthew 7:22–23
[22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (ESV)
These words are not aimed at those who truly believe, but at those whose confession is not rooted in a true relationship with Christ.
So yes, both are present.
Faith and works, not as competing forces, but as faith producing what naturally follows from it.