In the back of my mother's Bible, I found this hand-written note: “It isn't works that save us. It's the faith that produces works that saves us.”
Amen!
There are two major misunderstandings concerning works and faith:
1. Thinking works save us.
2. Thinking works don't matter.
Scripture is absolutely clear: salvation is 100% an undeserved gift based on God's grace.
Every person has fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). No amount of good works can save us.
But faith without works isn't faith at all (James 2:14-26). True faith inspires us to turn from our sins and seek God's purposes.
A person can do good works without knowing Jesus, but a person cannot know Jesus without doing good works (John 14:21).
Notice how faith and good works are addressed in this passage:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Amen!
For more insights on this subject, see Rejecting Cheap Grace. And I especially recommend "Works" Is Not a Dirty Word because it contains a collection of helpful full-passage Scriptures to read.
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