Do Our Works Matter?

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”  (John 3:36).

If we attempt to earn righteousness by obedience to laws or by performing special ordinances then we will continue to be seen as unrighteous before God (Romans 4:4-5). It is only by trusting in Jesus for eternal life that we can be justified.

Latter-day Saints sometimes accuse Christians who believe in justification by faith alone of paying mere “lip service” to God without actually caring to obey God’s commands, and will often point to James 2 which says “faith without deeds is dead” (James 2). If we really can eternally dwell with God in His Kingdom by merely trusting in Jesus for eternal life, then what role do our works play?

Can Christians can do whatever they want simply because they believe in Jesus?

Justification Results in Eternal Life

The Bible assures us that everyone who has been justified (or declared righteous) by faith will one day be glorified,

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)

If we believe and are justified, we will one day dwell with God in His Kingdom forever. We are not granted entrance to His Kingdom on the basis of our worthiness – in fact, God tells us that it is ungodly people are justified by faith (Romans 4:5).

But this does not mean that works aren’t important! After teaching justification by faith alone in Romans chapters 3-5, Paul asks the question:

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1).

Paul asks the same question you or I might ask: If eternal life is really received as a gift through simple faith:

“Can’t you just have faith in Jesus, and then do whatever you want?” But Paul’s answer is: “By no means!” (Romans 6:2).

Here’s why our works still matter:

#1) We demonstrate our justified status by our works

While works do not result in our justification, they do demonstrate that we have indeed been justified. This is the entire point James makes when he says “faith without deeds is dead”! Anyone can say they have saving faith, but real saving faith is accompanied by works.

Even demons have a kind of faith—they believe in God and even believe right things about God, yet they do not have saving faith!

Abraham proved that his faith was genuine when he was willing to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham was not legally declared righteous before God because of his works, but he demonstrated that he was already made righteous in God’s eyes by his works. The book of Hebrews says

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14).

Jesus has made us completely perfect by His sacrifice. We are justified before God. Yet, we’re still imperfect! We still struggle with sin (Romans 7), and are in the process of being sanctified, despite already having eternal life.

If we really have been justified by faith, if we’ve really been born again, then it is not possible for us to not bear good fruit in keeping with repentance! Jesus said

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

#2) We want to respond to God’s grace by loving Him!

Because God has been so good in rescuing us from sin, in saving us from the coming judgment, and in securing our place in His Kingdom, we respond to God with love! Jesus said that if we love Him, we’ll keep his commandments (John 14:15). Christians don’t love God because we’re obligated to for eternal life, we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)!

When someone does something nice for their spouse, it’s not to earn their affection, it’s done as an expression of love for them! In a similar way, we obey God’s commandments to express our love and gratitude for His work in already granting us eternal life.

#3) Our desires have changed because we’ve been born again.

1 John says

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” (1 John 2:29).

Even though we’ve already been justified by faith, The Holy Spirit says in Romans that we cannot continue sinning because we’ve died to sin, and have been given a new life, a new nature, in Christ (Romans 6:1-11).

Before being born again, we were slaves to sin. The Bible actually says that we were unable to please God prior to having faith (Romans 8:7-8). But we have been set free from slavery to sin, and are now “slaves of righteousness”! (Romans 6:17-18). Philippians 2 says

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12—13).

Christians no longer desire the things of the flesh! We don’t want sin like we once did (Romans 8:5)! True Christians desire the things of God! And these new desires are evidence that God really has rescued us from sin!

Real and Complete Forgiveness is by Faith

Christians are guaranteed eternal life with God in His Kingdom the moment they have genuine saving faith in Him. If a murderer genuinely repents and turns to Christ in faith on his deathbed, then that person will have every one of their sins completely forgiven and atoned for, and they will certainly dwell in God’s Kingdom forever without needing baptisms or temple works done on their behalf.

But the promise of immediate and complete forgiveness doesn’t mean works are unimportant! If that murderer repents and lives on, we should rightly expect to see him bear good fruit. If we saw no fruit in his life, then we could not rightly affirm his faith. As 1 John 3 says

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:10).