A friend of mine recently asked me what I thought about what the book of Romans (chapter 2) said about works and salvation. At that moment, I could not remember the verse and I could not really give my opinion on it. As I read again the verse and the first few chapters of the book a moment ago, I realised that there was a difference between what my friend thought to be salvation in Christ through works and what Paul really said, at least in my own understanding, about how God would judge the world, and about justification.
I realised that my friend might have misunderstood Paul's verse in chapter 2 as referring to Christians having to obey the commandments and remain in the covenant to seal their salvation. As I pondered over this a moment ago, I understood Paul as saying that God would in the end judge every human being by the works which they had done. This was different from my friend's point of view.
I thought, reading Romans as a whole, this meant God would indeed reward eternal life to anyone who could meet His righteous requirements, but Paul was also saying that no man could achieve this because we have all sinned and fallen short. This would mean that we could never be justified by our deeds not because God did not want to, but simply because we could never do so. Thus, God in His grace has demonstrated His faithfulness by making a way for us to be justified through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians or believers are declared righteous in advance, eschatologically (this is what I understand of N.T. Wright's writing on this issue), by faith and this was justification. This does not mean that a Christian will not be evaluated according to his works later at the sum of all things when God put the world to rights. This certainly denies those who claims that Christians can just simply profess Him as Lord and do not act according to His ways.
We are justified by faith, but we would be held accountable for every work that we do. Does this mean that we would be denied in the end? I believe that this would not be so when we have faith. This faith is demonstrated through the works that we do. I think faith and works are patners that cannot be separated. Faith is most definitely seen through works. This understanding demands me to check whether I have this kind of faith that works for the glory of God. If not, I had better reflect on it and change.
I realised that my friend might have misunderstood Paul's verse in chapter 2 as referring to Christians having to obey the commandments and remain in the covenant to seal their salvation. As I pondered over this a moment ago, I understood Paul as saying that God would in the end judge every human being by the works which they had done. This was different from my friend's point of view.
I thought, reading Romans as a whole, this meant God would indeed reward eternal life to anyone who could meet His righteous requirements, but Paul was also saying that no man could achieve this because we have all sinned and fallen short. This would mean that we could never be justified by our deeds not because God did not want to, but simply because we could never do so. Thus, God in His grace has demonstrated His faithfulness by making a way for us to be justified through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians or believers are declared righteous in advance, eschatologically (this is what I understand of N.T. Wright's writing on this issue), by faith and this was justification. This does not mean that a Christian will not be evaluated according to his works later at the sum of all things when God put the world to rights. This certainly denies those who claims that Christians can just simply profess Him as Lord and do not act according to His ways.
We are justified by faith, but we would be held accountable for every work that we do. Does this mean that we would be denied in the end? I believe that this would not be so when we have faith. This faith is demonstrated through the works that we do. I think faith and works are patners that cannot be separated. Faith is most definitely seen through works. This understanding demands me to check whether I have this kind of faith that works for the glory of God. If not, I had better reflect on it and change.
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