False Dichotomy: Faith and Works in Romans 4

Rev. Dr. Nicholas Newman 

One of the fundamental tenets of Protestant Christianity (inasmuch as a monolithic theological approach can be said to exist within Protestantism as a whole) is Sola Fide, “By faith alone.” Sola Fide juxtaposes faith, that is belief, in Christ with good works, that is following the Law. This understanding of Salvation rests on passages such as Galatians 2:16: “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” It is by “Faith in Jesus Christ” that we are saved, not by following the Law. 

A seemingly opposing view of the roles of faith and works seems to be laid out in the Epistle of St. James, however, in James 2: 14-23: 

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” 

St. James here lays out that works are an integral part of salvation. Without works, faith is a  lifeless thing, becoming nothing more than an academic assent to the fact of God’s existence. There is nothing transformative in this type of a faith, nothing that brings one closer to God. In fact, this type of faith is no better than that of the demons, who also know that God exists, but do not obey Him. 

How can these two positions, which seem to be so juxtaposed, be reconciled? Scripture is not self-contradictory, so there must be some way to understand this discrepancy. This has been approached in various different ways. Some, particularly in modern Evangelical circles, gloss over the Epistle of James, underscoring that faith, by itself, is salvific, and works (even if a positive) are irrelevant. Others, for example the ancient heresy of Pelagianism, put more weight on the Epistle of St. James, and believe in salvation earned through works. Most others have fallen somewhere between these two extremes. We see an example of this type of a position in Daniel Hyde’s article on Sola Fide for the Ligonier Ministries, he says:

“Faith receives Christ. It is the means by which we are justified; it’s not the reason why: Jesus is. Thus true, justifying faith not only believes Holy Scripture and all its doctrines, but even more, it is ‘also to have a sure trust and confidence in God’s merciful promises.’ In other words, faith is not merely knowledge nor even assent to that knowledge...This is why we as Protestants always need to assert that justification by faith alone doesn’t mean that this justifying faith lives alone in us without true repentance, hope, love, and the fear of God. Yet, as far as our being accounted righteous before God by God, sola fide means God graciously justified us apart from our works.”  

It seems, then, that even within a Sola Fide context, the term Sola needs to be qualified. Faith alone, but only if that faith is accompanied by “true repentance, hope, love, and fear of God.” Perhaps, then, it is not the idea of works, as such, which would encompass things like repentance, hope, love, etc..., things that we do, so to speak, but the works of the law specifically, which are no longer necessary. 

Reading St. Paul, particularly his epistle to the Romans and Galatians, this would seem to be the case: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). 

Does this mean, then, that we are no longer to follow the Law? In his letter on fasting, the twelfth century patriarch of Antioch and commentator on the canons, Theodore Balsamon deals with this very question. He is asked whether we need to fast before the different feasts, since the pre-festal practice of fasting is a tenet of the Old Testament law, and the law has been done away with in the Incarnation:  

“Behold, beloved children in the Lord, how we filled the faithful with proofs that are visible and brighter than the sun itself, that the five feasts of Scripture are icons and the revelation of those things which were accomplished on our behalf, and of the five radiant festivals we discussed. So that indeed you, opposing this, may not say what is familiar to many: ‘Whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law; we are saved by faith alone.’ Listen to what the great Paul teaches: ‘It is certainly not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God, but those who keep the law who are deemed just, yes even those of the nations.’ Just so also the Lord commanded the lepers who had been healed by him: ‘Go and show yourselves to the high priest and offer the gift which Moses commanded as proof.’ And again: ‘Truly I say to you, that not one iota, or one keraion, will pass away from the law until all these things come to pass; for I have come not to destroy the law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.’” 

Theodore Balsamon responds that the law has, in fact, not passed away in the Incarnation, but remains, Christ says that the law is fulfilled, not destroyed. In English, this can be misleading, as we often use the term to indicate that something has been finished, and is now over. So, for example, when a contract is fulfilled, it is complete and no longer in force. The term πληρῶσαι in Matthew 5:17, means to “fill to the brim.” The law is not overthrown by Christ, but is filled up by Him, sanctified by Him, and transfigured by Him. 

If, then, the law does not pass away, how can we understand the seeming dichotomy between “faith” and the “works of the law” which we encounter in Scripture? This becomes more clear if we look at Romans 4:4-6: 

τῷ δὲ ἐργαζομένῳ ὁ μισθὸς οὐ λογίζεται κατὰ χάριν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ὀφείλημα· τῷ δὲ μὴ ἐργαζομένῳ, πιστεύοντι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἀσεβῆ λογίζεται ἡ πίστις αὐτοῦ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καθάπερ καὶ Δαυῒδ λέγει τὸν μακαρισμὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ᾧ ὁ Θεὸς λογίζεται δικαιοσύνην χωρὶς ἔργων·   

This passage is normally translated: 

“Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.” 

This translation, and most translations, suffer from a fundamental flaw in understanding the word πίστις “faith” here. In the above translation, taken from the NKJV version, the term is treated as if “faith” is to be understood as “believe.” This creates the dichotomy that either one performs works of the law, or one believes in Jesus Christ. While πίστις can have the meaning of “belief” in an academic sense, as in one’s understanding of Christ’s existence, His identity as God, and His saving Incarnation, this is not the best understanding for this term here (though this would be a good translation in, for example, the passage from the Epistle of St. James above). Here, and really throughout the Epistle to the Romans, a better translation is “faithfulness.” It is not a dichotomy between belief in Christ and works, but faithfulness to Christ, and slavery to the law. 

A better translation might read:  

“To the one who does works, wages are not reckoned according to Grace, but according to debt; but to the one not performing works, being faithful to the One who makes the impious righteous, faithfulness is reckoned as righteousness; just as David said concerning the blessedness of the man whom God reckons as righteous, beyond the works of the law.”

Those who do “works,” that is, “works of the law” are attempting to gain for themselves a reward from God according to their own will, a reward that they wish for themselves. In this way, they pervert the law, treating it as a means to an end. Ultimately, they have transformed what should be a way to approach God, into a type of idolatrous relationship, akin to the “do ut des” relationship the pagans have with their gods in sacrifice. When Christ rebukes the Pharisees, it is this approach to the law, which He is criticizing. He says:  

“’The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you [a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’” (Matthew 23:1-7) 

Christ does not tell the people not to follow the law, or that the law has passed away. Very much the opposite, He tells them to obey the Pharisees and do what they say. He criticizes, rather, the way that they follow the law themselves. Christ says that, on the one hand they “will not move...with one of their fingers” the laws which they demand others to do, but that they do “their works...to be seen by men.” They are not obeying the law in order to exist within a proper relationship with God, but because they love the honor and respect they gain within society for their seeming piety.  

What, then does it look like to be faithful to Christ, not to be a slave to nomolatria?

Christ tells us a little further on in Matthew: 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Matthew 23:23) 

Justice, mercy, faith, these are the “weightier matters of the law,” they are the things which the Pharisees refused to touch, rather only doing those things which would be seen, and from which they would derive that which they wanted, fame, glory, and accolades. These are the things, which a Christian must focus on in order to be faithful to Christ, but not without also doing those other parts of the law, like tithing the mint and dill.  

Faith and works are not opposed to one another, faith is not an intellectual assent, or even a mindful remembrance of Christ, rather faith is better understood as an action in and of itself, as faithfulness, being true to Christ in every aspect of our life. The dichotomy of faith and works is better understood as how we approach the way we live our life, do we do good deeds in order to gain praise and accolades from others? Do we try to bind God to ourselves to do our will by doing good things? Do we act hypocritically, like the Pharisees, by doing that which is easy, like tithing mint and dill, while not doing the more difficult, like treating others like icons of Christ? By remaining faithful, works become not works, but part of our relationship with God.