Salvation Through Faith – What About Christian Works?
“Faith without works is dead”—James 2:26
In our previous article on salvation, we established that the Bible does not support the eternal salvation (or “once saved, always saved”) doctrine. So how is a Christian saved? Is it by doing good deeds and refraining from doing bad things? Is salvation attained by Christian works? Or is it by faith alone? If by faith alone, then where do Christian works fit in? Let’s see what the Bible has to say on this matter.
“Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done.” (Ephesians 2:9 NLT) The same verse in the NIV says that salvation is “not by works.” So obviously, the Bible says our own works cannot save us. It is not saying that as Christians, we should not be doing good works. Rather, it is saying that salvation is not attained simply by doing good works.
