Are we saved by faith, or by works?

The New Testament distinguishes the root of salvation from its fruit. The root is God’s grace, received by faith: “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”, and “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Galatians 2:16 says the same of “the works of the law”, deeds done to gain a right standing with God. But Paul goes straight on: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Works do not earn salvation; they are what salvation produces.

James is speaking of something else: a faith that someone only claims to have (“though a man say he hath faith”, 2:14) and that does nothing for a hungry brother or sister. His question is whether that kind of faith can save, and his answer is that such faith “is dead, being alone” (2:17). Paul agrees that the faith that counts is “faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6). In Philippians 2:12 he is writing to people who are already believers, and the verb (katergazesthe) means to work something out to its full result. He at once gives the reason it can be done: “it is God which worketh in you” (2:13).

Judgement “according to his works” (Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6) fits the same pattern. A person’s deeds show what his faith really was, and they are the measure of reward (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). Repentance, confession and endurance, which sceptics list as further conditions, belong to living faith itself: turning from sin to Christ, owning him openly, and going on trusting him. They are not rival ways of being saved.

Faith alone (Lutheran and Reformed)

Lutherans and Reformed Christians teach that a sinner is justified by faith alone, for Christ’s sake. The Augsburg Confession (1530) adds that ‘this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits’, though no one may rely on those works to merit justification. The Westminster Confession (1646) calls faith the only instrument of justification, yet says it is never alone in the person justified.

Grace working through faith and love (Catholic)

The Catholic Church teaches that no one can merit the first grace of forgiveness and justification. Those who have been justified can then, prompted by the Spirit and acting in love, merit growth in grace and eternal life, and even those merits are God’s gifts (Catechism, 2008-2011). Works done in grace therefore play a real part in final salvation.

Faith working through love (Orthodox)

Orthodox Christians see salvation as a lifelong union with God in which God’s grace and human response work together. The Confession of Dositheus (1672) says that a man is justified ‘not simply through faith alone, but through faith which works through love’.

Faith, the only condition (Arminian and Wesleyan)

John Wesley taught that ‘faith is the condition, and the only condition, of justification’. Repentance and its fruits are needed too, he said, but the fruits only where there is time and opportunity for them: the thief on the cross was justified without them. Arminians generally hold that final salvation depends on continuing in faith, which a believer may abandon.

All the main traditions agree that salvation begins with God’s grace, that no one can earn it, and that true faith produces good works. They still differ, as they have since the Reformation, on whether works done in grace have a part in final salvation, on whether a true believer can finally fall away, and on what part baptism plays (compare Mark 16:16 and 1 Peter 3:21).