Here is the practical problem that I see in many of the arguments by Protestants against being concerned about good works. They are so worried that any talk of works will mean that salvation is not by grace that they throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let me give you a couple of questions to ponder and then some thoughts.
Is a good work a good work when you do it out of a decision of the will that it is the right thing to do even if you do not want to do it? If I force myself to do something because it is what is right to do, with no positive feeling about it, am I showing myself law-bound rather than grace-filled?
Of course, ideally our emotions should line up with our commitments, but that is not true more often than we care to consider. The parent at 2 am dealing with the colicky baby, the pastor who wants nothing more than to take Sunday off but goes to church are all good examples. But, let me take it one step further. What if we choose to give money, to volunteer, to pay our employees a living wage (yes, that is found in James) because it is what the Scriptures teach us, what Tradition shows us, what the Church encourages, but what we do not wish to and dislike doing? Am I then a legalist?
When a person does something out of a commitment to his/her duty rather than out of an emotional tug, should we not honor that? Of course we should! Our country has a culture in which duty and honor go hand in hand. The motto of the USA Marine Corps is Semper Fidelis, always faithful. It means that a Marine will fulfill his/her duty regardless of personal feelings and of obstacles. Why then does a theology against works-righteousness so often seem to denigrate those who do what is Christian, true, and right out of a sense of duty and honor? Let me guide you to a different way to look at the issue, an ancient way, a Traditional way.
Eastern Orthodoxy would say that the obedience of the will, the choice to perform what does not attract us, the willingness to follow the dictates of Scripture, Tradition, and the Church is how we train the flesh, how we help bring it into submission. The fasting, the prayers, even the disliked works, do not have as their goal the attaining of salvation. Rather, they have as their goal the mortifying of the passions of the flesh so that the true Christian nature may grow.
An Orthodox believer would hope that eventually his/her feelings would come into line with what they believe. But, whether or not they do, we do not listen to our passions, but to what is true, honorable, right. More than that, the works that are performed out of a decision of the will are true and good works because they come out of an outward decision and an inner desire to serve the Lord. Note that desire, decision, and emotion are three separate words and not equivalent. In fact, whether or not we like doing an action has nothing to do with whether it is a good work.
The Christian who refuses to do any works on the grounds of work-righteousness is simply an immature Christian. As Hebrews says, they should be eating meat and are still stuck on repentance from dead works. Worse, as Jesus points out in the parable of the sheep and the goats, the very failure to engage in good works may make them part of the goats, even if they say, “Lord, Lord, we prophesized in your name and cast out demons in your name …”
The Christian who does good works, in particular, the Christian who plans regular good works is a mature Christian. He/she knows that their flesh must be trained. He/she knows better than to rely on the dictates of ephemeral passions or emotions. Rather, a certain commitment to duty and honor is precisely the result of the Holy Spirit’s transforming work on a Christian. In fact, the synergy of the Christian’s commitment to good works and the Holy Spirit’s empowering will yield the fruits of the Holy Spirit and a mature Christian who can go even through persecution without losing focus.
So, let me encourage you. Pray and plan good works. Gird up your loins, get your hands dirty, build spiritual calluses, and grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
That’ interesting… Would you please comment Paul writing in 1 Cor. 13.3: If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have no love, I gain nothing.
Notice that when love is defined in the verses that follow, it is behavior that is cited, not emotion. Thus, the person who is not patient, kind, not arrogant, etc., shows behavior that lead one to believe that they are a legalist rather than a person seeking to discipline their passions.
Notice that in chapter 12, Saint Paul makes the same arguments about the spiritual gifts. If you exercise the spiritual gifts, but do not have love, you are nothing also.
If your practical behavior does not show a Christian attitude, then works are not accomplishing the desired end.
“Here is the practical problem that I see in many of the arguments by Protestants against being concerned about good works. They are so worried that any talk of works will mean that salvation is not by grace that they throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
This was never a major issue in the Protestant association I have been involved in since 1974, although I have come to realize some errors in the past few years. Although it was the expected norm–though not always taught outright–that the meaning of Ephesians 2.8-10 is that grace leads to to faith and faith leads to good works (and as a corollary, if the good works, or “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5.22-23), are not evident, then faith is not evident and neither is saving grace), it was not altogether clear how this works out.
In general, if a person says s/he has faith but good works are not evident (see James 2.14-26), then one of three things must be happening:
1) The person was once a Christian but is no longer believing. In effect, the former believer is now an apostate. Consequently s/he lost her salvation. This is the Arminian view which was rejected by our movement.
2) The person will remain saved regardless of what s/he does after conversion (e.g., by praying the “sinner’s prayer,” walking to the front of the church or down to the playing field in the stadium or gym and “accepting Christ”). This is generally referred to as “free grace,” aka, “once saved always saved” theology which is common in many Baptist and other Evangelical churches, including my association.
3) The person is a goat and was never a sheep. At the start the goat acted like a sheep but was never one of the elect. Real sheep, on the other hand, are predestined by God and become sheep by His sovereign grace. Consequently, God will see to it that they persevere in the faith and Christ will continuously return them to the fold whenever they stray (and stray they all will do). This is the Calvinist view which was not originally held as a majority opinion in our association but has now gained acceptance by some of my association’s pastor, myself included.
Saint Augustine spoke of the donum perseverantiae, the gift of perseverance. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for that doctrine. Whatever we argue theologically, that doctrine has a practical implication. If it quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it is a duck. Interestingly enough, any Christian NOT in the free grace fold argues that while good behavior does not prove you are a Christian, lack of good behavior does tend to prove you are not a Christian. In effect, however one explains it theologically, the practical outworking is the same.
The other question, however, is on whether one can use good works as a training camp to mortify the flesh and to increasingly hold it captive to the will of Christ until the day when we shall be healed and saved from ourselves. Note that all Christians agree that whether a more Reformed doctrine of election is true or not, our life experience is that we are at constant war with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The Orthodox disagree with the theological explanation of what is happening and tend to concentrate on practical applications of discipline that will encourage and support our life in Christ.
“The fasting, the prayers, even the disliked works, do not have as their goal the attaining of salvation. Rather, they have as their goal the mortifying of the passions of the flesh so that the true Christian nature may grow.”
My sense is this is the point where perhaps Evangelicals and Orthodox think they know what the other is saying, but in effect are speaking past each other. I look at this statement and find my Evangelical mind echoing, “Amen!” It is also true Evangelicalism is a pretty wide tent theologically when it comes to issues dealing with sanctification, but I personally don’t know that many Evangelicals who are out and out antinomian, though the existence of such would not surprise me…
Notice that CalvinCuban referenced the free grace wing of Protestantism. Do a Google search on that idea and you will see a very common idea in the USA. Yes, not among all Protestants. There is no way to define all Protestants.