CAN GOOD WORKS PROVE SALVATION?
March 26, 2019
ETERNAL SECURITY PART 4
5 minute read time
Can Good Works Prove Salvation?
The following are seven important points to think through.
Good works can characterize non-Christians. Works in and of themselves cannot prove that anyone is eternally saved. Those who have not believed in Christ will often do good things. Good deeds are, in fact, essential to most non-Christian religions. Sometimes the outward morality of non-Christians exceeds that of established Christians.
Good works can be hard to define. Though we might define a good work as something done by a Christian through the Spirit and for the Lord, how can we always know when that’s true? It’s hard to imagine even a single day when a Christian (or non-Christian, for that matter) would not do something good, such as provide for a family or hold a door open for someone. How can we know when such things are done through the Spirit and for the Lord, especially if they can be done by non-Christians?
Good works are relative. While a person’s behavior may seem improper, it could demonstrate progress in that person’s Christian growth. A man slips with a curse word that startles other believers, but those believers don’t know that before his conversion curse words flowed freely. The amount of fruit must be considered in the context of one’s total past life, a difficult thing to do.
Further, good works could be overlooked in a person’s life if an obvious sin draws attention.
Good works can be passive in nature. The fruit of salvation is not always what we do, but often what we do not do. As a Christian, one may no longer get drunk or may refrain from yelling at an inconsiderate motorist. This fruit of the Spirit— self-control— may not be detected by others because of its passive nature.
Good works can be unseen. In Matthew 6:1-6 Jesus told his followers to give and pray in secret rather than publicly. A person who never prays in a group may breathe a prayer while driving, and no one will ever know. Another may not attend church but give regularly to a Christian charity. These are works that go unobserved by others.
Good works can be deceptive. Since we cannot know a person’s motives, a seemingly good work could be done for the wrong reason. A woman might give money to a church to impress others. A man might volunteer to work with church children only to wait for an opportunity to abuse them sexually. These are not good works at all! Motives are difficult to discern, even for the doer, but God knows each person’s heart.
Good works can be inconsistent. The Bible allows the possibility of believers who begin well but fall away from their walk with the Lord or fall into sin If a Christian man or woman shows evidence of a changed life but later falls away, at what point in his or her life do we examine that person to prove or disprove his or her salvation? If there can be lapses in good works, how long does the lapse continue before one is judged as never saved?
Nowhere does the Bible teach that fruit or good works can prove one’s eternal salvation. Since the fruit of good works is not easily discerned or quantified, it cannot be a reliable proof of salvation. The subjective nature of measuring one’s fruit creates the impossibility of knowing objectively whether one is saved. The amount of fruit necessary to please one Christian “fruit inspector” may not please the next “fruit inspector.” While good works can be corroborating evidence for one’s faith in Christ, they are not sufficient to prove or disprove it. Only faith in God’s promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ guarantees and proves our salvation.
SOURCE USED
Bing, Charles C. Simply by Grace: An Introduction to God’s Life-Changing Gift (pp. 84-87). Kregel Publications.