Why are the Protestants so misinformed with "works"?

[Hodos]

My basic question is for Protestant soteriology is this: How can a faithful and honest Protestant, and I’m assuming faith and honesty in those who profess their beliefs; hold that justification and sanctification are separate?

I think that is a good question that makes an assumption that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. You are asking why Protestants believe justification and sanctification are separate. The answer is that we don’t separate the two, neither do we confuse the two. If your question is why are there distinctions between the two things, it is because scripture makes a distinction between the two things. Paul and others do not use justification and sanctification interchangeably. That being said, they are not separate. They are related concepts that work together. You can’t have sanctification without justification. In fact, sanctification is the ongoing result of justification. So the two are intricately linked, but not the same. The problem occurs when you confuse sanctification, which does require man’s cooperation and effort, and justification which is a gift freely given on account of Christ. I don’t merit justification. No sinner does. This is the free gift of God. I do however, expend effort as the Holy Spirit instructs, guides, and conforms me to the likeness of Christ. The Reformers upheld this distinction. I have literally seen people on this site say that they have no way of knowing if they are saved, and are beset by despair, because of the confusion of these two things. That is a sad, sad, sad thing to see. And it is precisely this despair that the Reformers addressed by clarifying the doctrine of justification.

 

[De_Maria]

… The problem occurs when you confuse sanctification, which does require man’s cooperation and effort, and justification which is a gift freely given on account of Christ. I don’t merit justification. No sinner does.

Then, why does Scripture say:

Matthew 10:38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Worthiness implies merit.

And again, Scripture says:

Luke 20: 34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

And of course, Matt 25:31-46, the Sheep and the Goats, is about those who merit salvation and those who merit eternal punishment.

This is the free gift of God.

To those who merit salvation.

I do however, expend effort as the Holy Spirit instructs, guides, and conforms me to the likeness of Christ. The Reformers upheld this distinction. I have literally seen people on this site say that they have no way of knowing if they are saved, and are beset by despair, because of the confusion of these two things.

I have met some also. But not Catholics. In my experience, it is Protestants who express that sort of despair. True, some were ex-Catholics.

That is a sad, sad, sad thing to see. And it is precisely this despair that the Reformers addressed by clarifying the doctrine of justification.

By denying the Word of God and making up a tradition of men. But Scripture is clear:

Romans 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

 

[Michael16]

@Hodos

Your position is, in broad terms; follows the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

However: You said that justification and sanctification are the same; yet distinct. If they are the same; how can they be different? If they are the same, why make the distinction at all? It would be pointless.

Now, taking your statement at face value; your implying that human cooperation and good works are a part of justification. Justification being righteousness before God means what I do helps or hinders this justification. In other words, as the Church teaches; good works contributes to salvation.

What I see in the justification vs sanctification distinction is hairsplitting.

As for the Protestant misunderstandings of works: What did Jesus command us to do? Love each other as I have loved you.

Who enters the kingdom of heaven? Jesus said: Those who do the Father’s Will.

One of my favorite saints, Saint Ignatius of Loyola; wrote in his Spiritual Exercises: Love is best shown in actions; not words.

 

[Hodos]

However: You said that justification and sanctification are the same; yet distinct. If they are the same; how can they be different? If they are the same, why make the distinction at all? It would be pointless.

I did not say the two terms are the same, I said they were two distinct yet intricately related topics. To illustrate what I mean by maintaining distinctions, think about the confusion that occurs when people use the terms of the Father and the Son interchangeably when discussing the doctrine of the Trinity. These two terms are distinct, yet intricately related to one another, and confusing them leads to doctrinal errors.

What I see in the justification vs sanctification distinction is hairsplitting.

I don’t consider it hairsplitting when you have entire forum threads being created where someone wonders if they have received forgiveness of sins because they didn’t say confession correctly. Much of this type of confusion is driven by the collapsing of the distinction between justification and sanctification, thereby making justification the responsibility of man rather than the work of God.

One of my favorite saints, Saint Ignatius of Loyola; wrote in his Spiritual Exercises: Love is best shown in actions; not words.

Protestants would agree with this quote.

 

[Michael16]

@Hodos

I believe you’re confusing things.

What I see in apologetics with Protestants is that they somehow misunderstand that works alone saves. We teach that good works, works of charity done for love of God and neighbor; contributes to our salvation. We’ve never taught that man saves himself by works alone.

The Catechism states that we cooperate with God for our salvation in doing good works. Faith and works working in tandem together.

Not faith alone saves; faith that’s not alone.

When it comes to the tortured souls you mentioned; that’s due to scrupulosity. What that is is an over anxious overthinking and hairsplitting over this that and the other that never allows the sufferer any peace; regardless of the grace conferred in the Sacrament of Confession. I’ve suffered from it and so did Luther.

As for Confession: That’s a Sacrament given to us by Christ. Not a work invented by human beings.
As for the justification vs sanctification distinction: How can someone be righteous and not holy or holy and not righteous?

 

[Hodos]

What I see in apologetics with Protestants is that they somehow misunderstand that works alone saves. We teach that good works, works of charity done for love of God and neighbor; contributes to our salvation.

I am quite aware of this, and I would say this is explicitly refuted by Paul in both Romans and Galatians.

When it comes to the tortured souls you mentioned; that’s due to scrupulosity. What that is is an over anxious overthinking and hairsplitting over this that and the other that never allows the sufferer any peace; regardless of the grace conferred in the Sacrament of Confession. I’ve suffered from it and so did Luther.

I would agree that it is a form of scrupulosity; I suffer from it myself at time. However, as Luther came to realize, this was born of bad practice and doctrine and needed to be sorted out.

As for Confession: That’s a Sacrament given to us by Christ. Not a work invented by human beings.

I did not say in any way that confession is not a sacrament or that it is not necessary in the Christian life. The Lutheran Confessions adamantly uphold confession and absolution.

As for the justification vs sanctification distinction: How can someone be righteous and not holy or holy and not righteous?

This is why I say the collapsing of distinctions makes a mess of doctrine and practice. You are not righteous by your own works or merit. You are righteous because God has declared you righteous by grace through faith in Christ. Paul demonstrates this explicitly using the examples of Abraham and David in Romans 4. You are a sinner, which makes you by definition, not righteous. It is by grace that you have been forgiven by God on account of Christ which has made you righteous in his sight. Through the process of sanctification, the Holy Spirit uses word and sacrament as means to deliver this grace to you, shape you, and conform you to the likeness of Christ, which also explains Paul’s continued struggle against sin in Romans 7, yet his confidence that this work will be completed in and by Christ even as the world still awaits the full fruition of the salvation of God in Romans 8. You will continue to sin, and require forgiveness to be declared righteous before God throughout your life. This is why Luther could rightly say we are simil iustice et precattur, at once sinner and saint. It is also why John could on the one hand tell us to keep the commandments and in the very next sentence exhort us to the fact that Christ continues to be our mediator and offers us forgiveness of sins through his propitiatory sacrifice for us.

 

[Michael16]

@Hodos

Interesting post. I had to study and contemplate before giving you an answer.

My answer is based on a set of Scripture passages: Romans 2:6-11, John 8:39 and Saint James 2:14-26.

The central figure concerns Abraham. Now, Jesus in Saint John 8:39 says “ If you were children of Abraham, you did what Abraham did. “

Abraham believed and he acted. Action would be impossible without faith and faith without action is worthless.

If Abraham only believed, and not acted; he’d never have left Ur and nothing else from that act would have happened. Action was required to make that faith real and alive. He would not have acted if he didn’t believe.

Thus, faith and works go together. Try to divorce one from the other or put one above the other; the resultant soteriology is disordered, nonsensical and flies in the face of Scripture.

Saint James says that faith without works is dead, faith alone doesn’t save, Abraham was justified by his works and that faith is completed in works.

Now, Luther made a distinction between justification and sanctification. Essentially saying that faith and works are divorced; separate. That faith alone, contrary to what Jesus said and Saint James wrote; is what saves and works are just fruits of that faith. Unnecessary from a salvation point of view.



Saint Paul in Romans 2:6-8, he says that God judges us according to our works, those patient in well doing will be given eternal life and those who obey wickedness will have wrath and fury.



Later in Romans and his other letters, Saint Paul says things like doers of the Law are justified and work out your salvation with fear and trembling. He even says that I have not love, I am nothing.



Even Saint Paul, the biggest Apostolic influence in Luther’s theology; never says that faith alone saves. He said faith apart, but not alone. Faith alone, when explicitly mentioned in Sacred Scripture, is refuted. Each and every time.

Love is dead without action. One simply cannot love with feelings alone; it has to be shown in action.

Going over Romans 7, I find that Saint Paul struggles with sin because his mind knows what is wrong and evil to do and becomes fixated with it. I’ve been there.

In Romans 8, the solution is found. Set the mind on things of the Spirit and living according to the Spirit. Not living according to the flesh. Now the verb living. Living means doing. Doing means works.

 

[Hodos]

Abraham believed and he acted. Action would be impossible without faith and faith without action is worthless.

And Paul’s explanation of that passage says that though Abraham acted and was circumcised according to God’s command, God credited to him righteousness based on his faith. That is the entire point Romans 4: 1-4. Abraham was justified by God BEFORE any works were undertaken on his part. Paul continues with the example of David, quoting David’s penitential Psalm 51, stating that David’s righteousness was imputed to him apart from works.

Thus, faith and works go together. Try to divorce one from the other or put one above the other; the resultant soteriology is disordered, nonsensical and flies in the face of Scripture.

Again, I go back to what I said before, we maintain the scriptural distinction made by Paul between justification and sanctification. We are not saying that works do not play a part in the Christian life. We are saying you are justified by faith apart from works. We wholeheartedly agree with James’ conclusion regarding the role of works demonstrating our faith to our brother.

Now, Luther made a distinction between justification and sanctification. Essentially saying that faith and works are divorced; separate. That faith alone, contrary to what Jesus said and Saint James wrote; is what saves and works are just fruits of that faith. Unnecessary from a salvation point of view.

Yes, Luther made the distinction aforementioned ala Paul’s example in Romans. He did not divorce works from faith. Read his treatise On Good Works. Read the Augsburg Confession. I feel this has been clarified multiple times in this thread and at this point there is no excuse to continue to beat the straw man that has been proven to be unsubstantiated.

 

[Michael16]

@Hodos

Yet, Saint James is in every Bible that Lutherans use.

The straw man that clearly and authoritatively refutes Luther? Jesus Himself refutes Luther in Saint John 8:39.

I see you ignored Saint John 8:39. Do as Abraham did. Straight from Our Lord’s mouth.

Taking Jesus’ words at face value and in their clear sense, “ Do as Abraham did “ means that act as Abraham acted. Acts are works.

How can faith alone salvation be reasonably defensible when Scripture alone clearly says what it does?

Speaking of what Scripture clearly says; Saint Paul wrote faith apart. Not faith alone. Saint Paul never wrote that in all of his works. When faith alone is mentioned, in Saint James; it alone doesn’t save.

Now, in Protestant apologetics, there’s a HEAVY emphasis on exact wording in Sacred Scripture. Gets almost to dizzying levels of legalistic quibbling at times.

If Luther makes an important distinction on such a blurry subject as justification vs sanctification, based on wording; how does he reconcile the distinction between faith apart and faith alone? Those are clearly two different words with different meanings.
The clear faith alone wording is refuted quite clearly and strongly by Saint James and is never mentioned by Saint Paul.



How could Luther teach that, given that he said he taught according to Scripture alone; when Scripture clearly states faith alone doesn’t save?

I see that you also ignored what Saint Paul wrote in Romans 2:6-7. God renders to each man according to his works. You’ve clearly ignored those Pauline writings which mention salvation by works.

Each time Saint Paul condemns works alone salvation; it’s in the context of the old Mosaic Law. Not the commandments of Christ.

I’ll add two more things and then I’ll relent and allow you to reply.

1. What is the distinction between faith apart and faith alone?
2. It seems in your apologetics; you rely almost exclusively on Saint Paul’s condemnation of works alone salvation; yet never mention those times, like in Romans 2:6-7 and the Doers of the Law verse. How do you reconcile these verses of Saint Paul’s with the other verses of Saint Paul’s that could be used to support faith alone salvation?

 

[De_Maria]

And Paul’s explanation of that passage says that though Abraham acted and was circumcised according to God’s command,

True

God credited to him righteousness based on his faith.

But not faith alone. You have neglected to use the procedure often recommended by Protestants. Scripture interprets Scripture. Let’s go to the Epistle of St. James.

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

St. James explicitly states that Father Abraham was justified by works when he offered Isaac on the altar. Period. There’s no quibbling there.

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect

In other words, he didn’t go around saying, “I’m so good, I’m so faithful.” He showed his faithfulness by his works.

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Which Scripture was fulfilled at this point? The one that says, “Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” This verse is in Gen 15. But it was not fulfilled until Gen 22.

Scripture interprets Scripture.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

And so, faith alone is dead. As St. James says previously.

That is the entire point Romans 4: 1-4.

No, it isn’t. Let’s allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, again. Let’s look further down in Romans 4.

17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

St. Paul is remembering that Abram was renamed Abraham, the father of many nations.

18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

And that Abraham believed God. He believed that God would make him the father of many nations.

cont’d

 

[De_Maria]

cont’d

19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:

This is an interesting verse. What does the body have to do with weak faith? His body was almost dead. Sarah’s womb was dead. Yet, Father Abraham was not dissuaded. He remained strong in faith. What does that have to do with faith?

What does a man have to do in order to become a father? Remember the birds and the bees. He has to get busy with his wife. And although he was weak and had probably lost his virility and although Sarah had not shown any signs that she could conceive, they nevertheless, got busy. Because it is by actions that one proves their faith.

20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Now, here, he turns the tables on those Protestants who claim that good works are done by those weak in faith. Here, St. Paul declares that those who do good works do so because of their strong faith.

21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

And because he acted upon his beliefs, it was imputed to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

And that, is a message for us all.

Abraham was justified by God BEFORE any works were undertaken on his part.

Not according to Scripture.

cont’d

 

[De_Maria]

cont’d

Paul continues with the example of David, quoting David’s penitential Psalm 51, stating that David’s righteousness was imputed to him apart from works.

David, in turn, is making reference to another Scripture. The one where he participated in the first Confession to God’s representative on record. Let’s look at that.

2 Samuel 12:13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

Now, you see the reason that St. Paul made reference to this episode. Because, he is explaining the necessary attitude of Christians who participate in the Sacraments. One of faith apart from works.

Thus, faith and works go together. Try to divorce one from the other or put one above the other; the resultant soteriology is disordered, nonsensical and flies in the face of Scripture.

Again, I go back to what I said before, we maintain the scriptural distinction made by Paul between justification and sanctification. We are not saying that works do not play a part in the Christian life. We are saying you are justified by faith apart from works.

But Scripture says that we are justified by works. (James 2:24)

We wholeheartedly agree with James’ conclusion regarding the role of works demonstrating our faith to our brother.

But St. James is illustrating Abraham demonstrating his faith, to God. Or, if that is not true, list the people other than God who were present and who declared Father Abraham faithful based upon them.

Now, Luther made a distinction between justification and sanctification. Essentially saying that faith and works are divorced; separate. That faith alone, contrary to what Jesus said and Saint James wrote; is what saves and works are just fruits of that faith. Unnecessary from a salvation point of view.

Yes, Luther made the distinction aforementioned ala Paul’s example in Romans. He did not divorce works from faith. Read his treatise On Good Works. Read the Augsburg Confession. I feel this has been clarified multiple times in this thread and at this point there is no excuse to continue to beat the straw man that has been proven to be unsubstantiated.

But he did divorce works from justification and that is the point. Scripture does not, regardless of what you claim about St. Paul. There is no verse where St. Paul says, “by faith alone.”

 

[TULIPed]

I see that you also ignored what Saint Paul wrote in Romans 2:6-7. God renders to each man according to his works. You’ve clearly ignored those Pauline writings which mention salvation by works.

He didn’t ignore it. As he’s said many times before, you have to keep reading. Paul is setting up an argument in Romans 2. God does indeed judge a man according to his works. And then a Chapter later he writes this:

“9 What then? Are we Jews then any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”

So his point is that we’re all doomed. We’re going to be judged based on what we do, and none of us can do it - at all. We are thus entirely reliant on God to save us.

 

[Michael16]

@TULIPed

I have read further into Romans. You have to read beyond Romans 4 in order to see how faith and works are required for justification.

Now, Romans 2 clearly says God judges us by our works. If justification is by faith alone; why would God even look at our works? Since God clearly judges by works; works must have a role in justification or damnation.

In Romans 4, we see the classic Protestant defense: Abraham’s justification in Genesis 15:6 and David quoting Psalm 51. If you read in context with David’s Confession to Nathan; you see God forgave him his sins and then David goes on to pray Psalm 51. As for Abraham; you have read in context with Saint John 8:39; in which Jesus says: “ If you’re children of Abraham, do as Abraham did. “ Abraham believed and did. Faith and works together.

Now, the counter argument that Hodos used was God said Abraham was justified by his faith prior to his works. Jesus is God. Since Jesus is God and cannot be wrong; either Saint Paul is wrong is his use of Genesis 15:6 or the Protestants are wrong in their interpretation of Romans 4 and Genesis 15.

I would think that Saint Paul couldn’t have been wrong; since he was in the company of the Apostles who walked and were taught by Jesus. So, the Protestant claim that Saint Paul taught faith alone, which he never said; since Saint Paul spoke of works having a role in salvation: Living according to the Spirit, Doers of the Law are justified and God renders to each man according to his works.

So, we then see that Saint Paul accords beautifully with Saint James. And both accord beautifully with Jesus.

Now, to say Saint Paul taught faith alone would require him to be in conflict with Saint James and Jesus. That can’t be. The Protestant apologist then would have to get very hairsplitting and creative in how to reconcile the paradoxes in Saint Paul’s writings regarding faith and works, making Saint Paul conflict with himself; and what Jesus and Saint James taught.

 

[Hodos]

I see you ignored Saint John 8:39. Do as Abraham did. Straight from Our Lord’s mouth.

Yeah, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham believed the promise that through his offspring all nations on the earth would be blessed, Moses promised that a prophet would arise in Israel greater than he, the prophets testified that a Messiah would come and that he would rule all nations and redeem Israel from their sin, John the Baptist testified to Christ just a couple chapters earlier saying that Christ was the one to come. And in this passage Jesus is specifically saying that Abraham believed that the Christ would come and rejoiced in it. You might want to read the full gospel of John when appealing to it.

 

[Hodos]

I have read further into Romans. You have to read beyond Romans 4 in order to see how faith and works are required for justification.

I am not sure why you are progressing to Chapter 5 and 6 when you have ignored Chapters 1-3. The entire thesis statement that Paul is making starts with Chapter 1 vs. 16 and 17.

“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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith into faith (ek pisteuws eis pistiv), as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

He then uses the remainder of Chapters 1 and 2 and the beginning of Chapter 3 to condemn both Jews and Gentiles alike under the law for their unfaithfulness to the law, and then introduces faith in Jesus as the means by which we are justified apart from works. Chapter 4 then explicitly gives examples of both Abraham and David who were declared righteous even though they had not yet done any works. Then Chapter 5 discusses the fall, the corruption of sin through Adam to all men, and the coming of Christ who died that all might be made righteous. It is in Chapter 6 where Paul then describes how through Christ, we die to sin in baptism and are raised to new life and are saved by our confession of faith. Again, none of this yet is by works. It is only here when Paul has firmly established justification by faith that he begins to talk about the transformation we undergo in the process of sanctification. But even there, he follows this up in Chapter 7 with his admission to still struggling with sin. The work of sanctification is the fruit of justification by faith, not the cause of our justification. Chapter 7 describes Paul’s continued struggle with sin even as he has already received the imputed righteousness of Christ previously mentioned in Chapter 3, 4, and then declares the hope that his hope will be fulfilled in the second coming of Christ who will bring all of salvation to completion and fruition that all the world might see, and uses the image of Christ as the defense attorney in the courtroom declaring us innocent. We are justified by faith in Christ as Paul states at the outset of Romans. That being said, as stated earlier, the Reformers affirmed the necessity of works in the Christian life, though not for the purpose of justification, but for the purpose of fulfilling our calling to follow God’s will, as we discussed in our exegesis of Ephesians 2, and as the Augsburg Confession clearly stated in the quotes I mentioned earlier.

James on the other hand speaks of works as the outward witness of our faith to others in James Chapter 2.

The issue I see here is that there appears to be no earthly way you can exegete consistently from beginning to end the epistle to the Romans. You have to stop at verses and rip them completely out of context to reach the conclusions that you are making. I can harmonize Paul and James. You don’t appear capable of harmonizing even Romans to itself given your hermeneutical methodology.

 

[TULIPed]

Now, to say Saint Paul taught faith alone would require him to be in conflict with Saint James and Jesus. That can’t be. The Protestant apologist then would have to get very hairsplitting and creative in how to reconcile the paradoxes in Saint Paul’s writings regarding faith and works, making Saint Paul conflict with himself; and what Jesus and Saint James taught.

Why do any Protestants bother to show up at church on Sunday? Why do we tithe? Why do we open our churches and houses up to the homeless? Why do we go to places like China and Iran to spread the Gospel? Why do people like Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce put their lives and careers on the line for Christ? Why do we do these things if we think that works “don’t matter”?

I know many Protestants who live carnal lives. I also know many Catholics who live carnal lives. I understand why Catholics that love Jesus do good works. Why do you think Protestants do good works?

 

[Hodos]

So, the Protestant claim that Saint Paul taught faith alone, which he never said;

Here is one of the key issues. The Roman Catholic has no idea what is meant by any of the Solas of the Reformation, and this leads to the Solas being cited completely inappropriately and against the usage for which they were originally intended. The Roman Catholic thinks that the Reformers meant, Christians don’t have to do works. They unjustly assume an antinomianism that Luther literally fought against his entire career (notice in the 95 Theses for example that Luther’s complaint was essentially that people were using indulgences as license to skip confession and not repent of their sins). You have to understand that Sola Fide (Faith Alone) is meant to be used for a particular purpose and only for that purpose. Sola Fide answers the question of how are we justified and it is being used in opposition to a contrary teaching, specifically justification by works. So when the Protestant uses the term Sola Fide, they are using it in the exact same way that Paul was speaking of when he says (emphatically and repetitiously) at least three times in the latter half of Romans that we are justified by faith apart from works. This does not mean that the Reformers did not believe that works are necessary in the Christian life. It means that we are justified by faith in Christ apart from works. In other words, I didn’t earn my salvation, Christ gave it to me through faith (we call that grace, and Paul defines this in Romans as well as a free gift not worked for, there is no quid pro quo when Paul is discussing grace in the topic of justification).

 

[De_Maria]

He didn’t ignore it. As he’s said many times before, you have to keep reading.

Let’s do it.

Paul is setting up an argument in Romans 2.

Interesting notion. But it isn’t true. St. Paul is merely explaining the importance of faith and works for salvation.

God does indeed judge a man according to his works.

Thank you!

And then a Chapter later he writes this:

Wait, wait. You said, keep reading and then, you skip right over the important stuff.
We have a lot to go through in Rom 2. First, we see that God does, indeed, judge us according to our works. That’s Rom 2:6

Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

St. Paul doesn’t stop with this one, direct, statement. He goes on to illustrate what that means in a great deal of detail. He says.

7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

So, he emphasizes that this is not a one time occurrence. We must continue, patiently, throughout our lives. And if we do, we will be rewarded.

Then he emphasizes what happens to those who do not obey God by doing good.

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Notice that both Jew and Gentile are under the same standard.

10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

But those who do good will be rewarded.

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

God is fair. The same standard is applied to all mankind.

cont’d

 

[De_Maria]

cont’d

**12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: **

If you sin without the law, you will still be punished by God.

and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

But the Jews, will be judged for their sins, by the law.

13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Now, this must be important because this is a fourth reiteration of the importance of works for salvation. See verses 6, 7, and 10, above.

There’s no setup here. If he were merely setting up an argument, one mention would suffice to provide background.

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: …16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

If a Gentile, who knows nothing about the law, nonetheless, keeps the law, he will be saved. God is the Judge. And God is not a respecter of persons.

17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; … 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Now, he chastises the Jew. He says, to them, you teach about the law, but do you keep it? It is because of you that the Gentiles blaspheme God.

25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

Sure, if you keep the law, you do good. But if you don’t, you might as well not be circumcised. You might as well be condemned with the wicked Gentiles.

26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

On the other hand, a Gentile who keeps the law, is already circumcised.

27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

And when the Gentile who keeps the law is saved, he will judge those who transgress the law.

28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

But we are people of God who obey God in the spirit and whom therefore, God loves.

To summarize chapter 2, he says, if you keep the law, you will be saved. Whether you are a Jew or Gentile. But if you do not keep the law, you won’t be saved. Whether you are a Jew or Gentile.

cont’d