In that a work is something a man does, this includes not only things done with the body such as acts of service, attending worship, or being baptized, but also acts of the mind, heart, and will such as belief and faith.
Most will object to the assertion that belief and faith are works, but “what saith the scripture”? Jesus said to the Pharisees that, “ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Mat 23:23). As we have learned, work is “something that is or was done.” According to Christ, faith is something that is to be “done.” Therefore, faith is a work. The logic is simple and impeccable.
The scripture likewise declares that belief is also something that a man does. When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Act 16:30), they answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Act 16:31). According to the word of God, believing is doing something, which is work by definition.[1]
A third witness, that “every word may be established” (Mat 18:16), will now be called upon to establish that faith and belief are works. In John 6:28 the disciples asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus replied to them, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Joh 6:29). The Lord Jesus plainly stated that believing on Him is a work that men do.
Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is keeping a commandment of God, and keeping commandments is certainly work by anyone’s definition.
1Jn 3:22-23 – And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Both Arminians and Calvinists are insistent that men are not saved eternally by commandment-keeping. This is true―including keeping the commandment to believe on the name of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
An astute reader might be asking himself, “If faith and belief are works, then what about Romans 4:5 which says, “to him that worketh not, but believeth”? In order to continue in the present line of thought, Romans 4:5 will be addressed in chapter 10 on Twofold Justification.
Both Arminianism and Calvinism teach that eternal salvation is conditioned upon a man’s faith. Arminians believe that Christ died for all mankind and extends the offer of salvation to all men, who, when they believe the gospel, will consequently be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thereby saved eternally and given the gift of eternal life. Calvinists believe that Christ died only for the elect and that the Holy Spirit regenerates each of the elect, giving them the gift of faith, which, when they exercise so-called “saving faith,”[2] they are thereby saved eternally and given the gift of eternal life.[3] [4] The beliefs of many Calvinists―such as Edwin Charles Dargan, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1892 to 1907―and of all Arminians are little different, as they both teach that Christ’s death was efficacious only for those who accept His sacrifice by faith.
“Dargan then concludes the discussion that Christ is sufficient for all the race, ‘though actually efficient only in the case of those who by faith accept him as their substitute.’” [5]
R. C. Sproul, a well-known modern proponent of Calvinism, taught that faith is a good work, a commandment, and the instrumental cause of our justification.
“The Arminian acknowledges that faith is something a person does. It is a work, though not a meritorious one. Is it a good work? Certainly it is not a bad work. It is good for a person to trust in Christ and in Christ alone for his or her salvation. Since God commands us to trust in Christ, when we do so we are obeying this command. But all Christians agree that faith is something we do. God does not do the believing for us. We also agree that our justification is by faith insofar as faith is the instrumental cause of our justification. All the Arminian wants and intends to assert is that man has the ability to exercise the instrumental cause of faith without first being regenerated.” [6] (underline mine)
“The Reformers stressed that, though justification is by faith alone, the faith that is the instrumental cause of justification is not a faith that is alone. True, saving faith yields necessarily the fruit of sanctification, though this fruit is not the ground of justification.” [7] (emphasis mine)
According to both of these false theological systems faith is a condition for eternal life. As Pastor Conrad Jarrell used to say, “Scratch a Calvinist and you will find an Arminian.” It has already been proven from the scripture that faith is a work; therefore, both Calvinism and Arminianism teach eternal salvation by works. It is necessary in both schemes for a sinner to do something (believe) in order to be saved. Therefore, neither system teaches the true grace of God, and thus neither one actually teaches salvation by grace.
In truth, both of these systems teach a sacramental soteriology. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church which requires the keeping of seven sacraments for justification, most Protestants and many Baptists teach that only one sacrament is necessary for the acquisition of eternal salvation: the sacrament of faith.
[1] The salvation under consideration in Act 16:30-31 is not eternal salvation, but temporal salvation. See Chapter 9 on Temporal Salvation, pages 284-286.
[2]A.W. Pink, Profiting from the Word (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), p. 74.
[3] Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1977), pp. 165-166.
[4] One of the fundamental errors of Calvinism is that it makes a distinction between regeneration and the giving of eternal life, when they are in fact the same event. This will be covered in detail in Chapter 6 on Irresistible Grace.
[5] Thomas J. Nettles, By His Grace and for His Glory (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 1986), p. 212. ― quoting from: E. C. Dargan, The Doctrines of our Faith (Nashville, TN: Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1905), p. 139.
[6] R. C. Sproul, Willing to Believe (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 1997), pp. 25-26.
[7] Ibid, p. 179.
This blog post is an excerpt from my book, The True Grace of God. You can find out more about the book below.
