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An Unfinished Bridge Is a Poor Metaphor for Saving Faith

by Stephen M. Cunha | February 22, 2023


It is difficult to imagine the creation of a Christian Gospel tract in which the way to receive Jesus Christ for salvation is depicted by an unfinished bridge—the finished part representing an as yet unliving or incomplete faith, but the unfinished part representing the good works necessary to render faith complete and living. This would convey the erroneous message that Jesus Christ is received for salvation through faith and good works; or, to put it in theological terms, that justification is by (the instrument of) faith and good works. Given the nature of our fallen condition, that would not be particularly good news. Although no doubt unintentionally, the exegesis of James White on James 2:17, in his book The God Who Justifies: The Doctrine of Justification, is the top of a slippery slope that leads to just such a conception.


The New King James Version translation of James 2:17 reads, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." Certainly, as White correctly indicates in his book, there is no contradiction between James and Paul on the subject of salvation. He is correct that the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers taught that we are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. He correctly explains that true faith will prove or show itself by good works. Most of his exegesis in The God Who Justifies: The Doctrine of Justification, including his treatment on James, is helpful and solid. However, he makes one assertion that has significant negative implications, which perhaps he himself has not considered.


On pages 338 and 339, White states [the italicized emphasis is his]: "Saving faith, by nature, will ἔχῃ ἔργα, possess deeds. Dead faith, by nature, is useless due to the fact that it lacks a constituent part of saving faith, that being evidence of its existence in the form of deeds." My initial reaction to this statement was that it is perhaps the closest one can come to compromising the Gospel truth that justification is by faith alone, χωρὶς ἔργων [apart from deeds], without crossing the line. However, upon further reflection, and despite the fact that White makes the evidence of faith's existence in the form of works or deeds, and not the works or deeds themselves, "a constituent part of saving faith," I think that White's statement here does indeed cross the line and needs to be rejected. The problem is that this formulation makes good works produced through faith a part of what faith itself is, which leads to a distorted, unbiblical understanding of the doctrine of salvation.


While it is certainly true that good works will flow from genuine saving faith, it is not true that those good works are in any sense integral to or a part of what faith itself is. True faith is a complete, self-contained entity or thing. It is actually rather difficult to define. It is certainly supernatural, springs from a renewed heart, and, using the (biblically-informed) Augustinian formula, consists of knowledge (you have to know what or whom you are putting your faith in), assent (which includes a volitional element), and trust. Saving faith is also extraspective. That is, it looks away from itself to lean or rest on the person and work of another, Jesus Christ. This extraspective quality makes faith an appropriate instrument (or "hand") to receive God's gift of salvation. That salvation is all of God. Since all of us are sinners, who fall short of the perfection required for God's legal acceptance, we can only be legally accepted through the sacrificial atoning death (which fully washes away the guilt of all our sins) and perfect record of obedience under the law (which merits eternal life) of another, Jesus Christ. The combination of his perfect life of obedience under the law and his propitiatory death on the cross for sin is a righteousness that is made available to anyone who comes to him in faith. Receiving the perfect, all-sufficient righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith, and not by our works, gives all the glory to God, and highlights the reality that salvation is 100% accomplished through Jesus's work—that we are not able to offer anything of our own to obtain salvation. Faith is simply the instrument or hand by which we take hold of this inestimable gift. In this way, salvation is by grace alone.


I am sure that White would affirm in the strongest terms possible that the meritorious basis for the believer's justification is the work of Jesus Christ. Further, I am sure that White would strongly affirm that faith is the alone instrument by which we receive Christ's righteousness and are justified. However, calling "the evidence of its existence in the form of deeds" a "constituent part of saving faith" undercuts the truth that faith is the alone instrument by which we are justified. Although White carefully qualifies his statement, making "evidence in the form of deeds" and not simply "deeds" a "constituent part of saving faith," is there really much of a difference between "evidence of its existence in the form of deeds" and "deeds done or performed through faith"? I would argue that there is not. Even if there were a substantive difference between the two expressions, from a pastoral standpoint, is seems likely that the distinction would be lost on most people. To say that "evidence in the form of deeds" is a "constituent part of saving faith" is, in effect, to say that deeds or good works produced through faith are integral to saving faith.


If we say that the good deeds which flow from faith are part of what faith itself is, does that not compromise the alone instrumentality of faith in justification? The qualifier "alone" has always set faith over against all works in appropriating the salvation that has been vicariously worked out by Jesus Christ. If works produced by faith are incorporated into the definition of what faith itself is, the result is a new doctrine of justification. The logical consequence is a teaching that justification is by (the instrumentality of) faith and the good works that come from faith. Given the natural pride of fallen man's heart, and his strong proclivity to want to contribute something of his own for his acceptance with God, it is not inconceivable to think, that if such a conception were embraced, the good works which flow from faith would eventually migrate from being considered a partial, even if perhaps a secondary or subordinate, instrument for receiving salvation, to becoming a partial ground of salvation. Isn't this exactly the downward pull that has repeated itself throughout the history of the church? To be clear, I'm not saying that White is teaching any of this, nor am I saying that he has thought through the implications of his use of the words "constituent part." However, I am saying that his making "evidence of [faith's] existence in the form of deeds" an integral component of faith is a dangerous formulation that should be rejected.


James uses language that sometimes must be taken metaphorically, just like ours. When he says, for example, that faith will "possess deeds," he is not saying that faith is a person who can hold or possess things. In the same way, when James says at the end of chapter 2, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead," he cannot be saying that a lifeless faith must be combined with works or deeds in order to make up a living, saving faith. Such a notion would contradict other portions of Scripture, which is an impossibility, since we know that all Scripture is God-breathed, and perfectly and entirely self-consistent. James is simply making the point in the second half of chapter two of his book, in perhaps the strongest way possible, that true faith will show itself by good deeds. In other words, that good works are an evidence of true faith. Mere profession of Christian faith, or even mere profession of Christian faith coupled with some sort of emotional experience, are no sure indicators that a person has the true faith which saves.


As I said, we also are prone to speak metaphorically. When I say that faith is extraspective or looks away from itself, I do not mean to suggest that faith is a person with eyes or an entity with intellect and volition. Technically, it is the believer, a human being, who, through faith, looks away from himself or herself, and away from anything he or she can offer or contribute for acceptance with God, and, through the same faith, looks to and trusts in Jesus Christ and his work alone for salvation. By the same token, when one says that good works flow from true faith, we must not think that somehow, magically, good deeds come out of true faith as if faith were a container of these deeds or an organism that generates works. If we want to speak more technically, the believer, by faith, does good works or deeds. The believer demonstrates that his faith is genuine by producing good fruit. The good fruit is not a part of the saving faith, but a fruit or product of it. The wonderful deeds highlighted in chapter eleven of Hebrews are attributed to the various Old Testament saints. They are said to have accomplished these deeds "by faith."


We must vigilantly guard against in any way compromising the superlatively good news that justification is by faith alone, apart from all works. By faith, Christ's perfect record of righteousness is imputed or credited to us, so that we possess the righteousness requisite for irrevocable, permanent legal acceptance before God, and title to an eternity in Heaven. "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Romans 3:21,22; NIV) This is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus has accomplished all that is necessary for salvation. With respect to justification, our part is simply to receive what he has accomplished through faith. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13, NIV). This is truly good news!




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