Salvation by Law or Faith?

Song of the Week: Death was Arrested by North Point Worship

"Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin

Lost without hope with no place to begin

Your love Made a way to let mercy come in

When death was arrested and my life began"

As a human, mere curiosity has taken hold of my mind. As a Christian, that means that as I further my relationship with the Lord, the more He stretches me to grow. A driving idea that has consumed my mind is the idea of sin, Christian ethics, and how we should approach life. The thought that if Jesus died for our sins, why is it still important for us to avoid sinning? If we are already getting salvation through faith, why are Christians still being called to not live in our flesh. When you brush the surface of the question, it is as simple as we are made in the image of God and we should show his character through us and because it would put Jesus' sacrifice to waste. But as someone who wants to dive into the deep meaning of everything, I wanted more. Over the last week, I have been reading and studying some of Paul’s letters and teachings. As I soaked in his wisdom and reasoning, I realized that there is such a beauty in the ethics that Jesus had created.

Before Jesus, there was the law. If people didn’t uphold the law, they didn’t receive salvation. But the people of the world were so stuck in their flesh and sin, couldn’t fulfill the law. Even Paul said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, raging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Romans 7:15, 21-23). Before Jesus, we were chained to our sin, and the law allowed sin to control us. We were stuck in our flesh with no way of getting out. Through Jesus, he not only broke down the law but gave us the door to live through faith and the Spirit. This allowed us to be called away from the law and receive salvation through faith.

“But scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”

Galatians 3:22

Paul brings up the same question that I had been thinking in Romans 6:1-2a, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” While the law has been broken down and we have received grace through faith, we are still guided by scripture and the ethics that Jesus had introduced during his life. Paul explains that when we are led by our flesh which is owned by the law, we are chained and consumed by sin, but when we are led by the Spirit we have gained righteousness. So those who do not yet know God are still under control of the law and the flesh but those who have faith in the Father, Son, and Spirit, are saved.

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5: 18-23

The elements that made up the law were transformed into the fruit of the Spirit. For example, sexual immorality, impurity, and forbearance transformed into self control; rage became peace; dissensions, factions and envy became love, kindness and goodness; etc. While the law said ‘do not do these things’ the fruit of the Spirit gave us practices as we live in Christ but fall into temptation. So while someone can fall into sexual desire, they are called to self control, learning how to acknowledge that desire and keep themselves from falling. The fruit of the Spirit allows us to receive forgiveness when we fall so that we may come back to God and still receive salvation.

What we must understand is that through faith we are given grace but are still called to do God’s work. Don’t mistake this for work based salvation, for if that was how we were to get to heaven, then there was no point in Jesus coming down to save us. So why do actions matter still? Paul says, "For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building"(1 Corinthians 3:9). So as a part of Christ's body we are called to do the work of God. Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment was to love God above all else but the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-38). So everything we are called to do is out of love. In a previous post, The Act of Serving, I talked about the passage of the judgement day where God decides who receives salvation. Those who fed the hungry, helped the sick, clothed the naked, visited the prisoner, and welcomed people into their home received salvation. This shows that not only do we need to have faith in God but we also need to do his work.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

James 2:14-17

Throughout Paul’s letters, and throughout the New Testament, we are given teachings to guide us in how we can use our fruit of the Spirit. No person is perfect in each and every one. But as we continue our relationship with the Lord, we begin to have opportunities to grow in each. Not only does it guide us on how to use our Fruit but it shows us how we can put our faith into action. So I don’t know where you are in your faith, whether you don’t believe in God, you believe but don’t know how to live in Christ, or you are practicing but you are still struggling with your flesh, I advise you to take a look at Paul’s letters and the Gospels for guidance. They can give you not only comfort but also help you understand where you are falling short and how you can correct yourself.