Faith and Failures

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?‘  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’.“

I heard a preacher recently expound on this passage saying, “These people must of had the gift of faith or they wouldn’t have been able to do these works. Therefore,” he continued, “they must have been condemned for another reason other than the lack of faith. I submit to you that they did not have fruit.”This bothered me for a couple of reasons. First, what were these works if not fruit? What is fruit if not the works we produce in our lives? If they did works (fruit) by faith, then how could the possibly not have fruit if that is indeed what these actions were? Is that not circular reasoning at its finest? Secondly, what saves our souls other than faith? If they had faith, is that not the defining attribute of Salvation? Are we so bold as to say that faith cannot save their souls? Do we have other Scripture to back up this idea? Lets take a look at a few passages and see what they say about Faith and Salvation.

“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” -Romans 3:28


“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” -Romans 4:16


And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith -Philippians 3:9
And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” -Luke 7:50


To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: - II Peter 1:1


For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. - I John 5:4


And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”-Mark 2:5
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.                         -Hebrews 10:22

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - II Timothy 4:7


“And when he (Jesus) saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” -Luke 5:20


What Went Wrong?

As we can see in the above passages Salvation comes, not from our works, but from our faith. If we are so daring as to assume that these people that Jesus condemns here had faith but not works, than we are basing our entire salvation on our works. This I say, is great blasphemy, un-Biblical and evil. I understand that this may be a hard passage for some, but to imply that faith does not save is of the devil.Faith is our Salvation, but understanding something and believing it are two different things. Understanding that God can or does exist is not faith. Faith is believing in God’s saving power that can save our unworthy souls.“So how exactly do faith and understanding differ?” you ask. An excellent question.Let us take a look at Creation and Evolution, the debate many falter in. Just because you understand Creation or Evolution does not mean you believe it occurred. You may understand the concept, but that does not mean you believe it happened.In a similar way, a vague belief in a ‘man upstairs’ is not Salvation. Faith is the belief that we are indeed unworthy sinners and God in His mercy and Grace saves our fallen souls by His Grace and Mercy. And we, in gratitude and thanksgiving, follow His example of Grace and Mercy to those around us.

Who is Saved?

Back to our well meaning preacher and his question. What about these miracle workers then? They seem to be able to do great things through Jesus name, so did they not have faith? If miracle workers aren’t saved then who is? How good do we have to be to be saved? 

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  -Matthew 5:20


Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”  But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” -Luke 18:26-27

Faith and Facts

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
-Matthew 23:33


As we can see, Jesus did not condone the acts of the Pharisees. He says that their attempts at being ‘good enough’ were an insult and a fraud.

Conclusion

Back to our original text. What about these people? Why were they not saved? Well the answer to these questions is often found in the text itself. Look at what these people expected to save them. What did they point out? What was important to them? Their actions. They believed they were ‘good enough’ for heaven. No matter how familiar we are with Scripture, how well we can pray, how much Greek or Hebrew we know, or how many people we heal, these things cannot and will not save our souls. That is where these people erred. Salvation is only by faith through the Grace of God in the shed Blood of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whether these miracle workers were originally sincere, or if they were con artists, or perhaps well meaning but deceived, the text is not clear. What is clear is that before God we are all fallen unHoly creatures, no matter what good we think we have done. The sin they suffered from here was not a lack of fruit as that pastor claimed, but of self righteousness. 

Jesus: Whom did He condemn?

Here Jesus condemns an entire group of people. Some find this a very harsh passage and like to shy away from it and all its implications. That is foolish. We should rather learn what it is that God hates so as to understand it.

Look back to Jesus ministry here on Earth. He corrected many people, told them to forsake their sin, showed them the way to Salvation, and loved them dearly. But there was also a group of people that, even then, Jesus condemned. Who were they?

The self-righteous. Jesus, as God Perfect and Holy, detested false righteousness. He condemned this in strong, unmistakable terms. Look back to Matthew 5:20. There is no way that righteousness could save them or us.

Matthew 23 goes into more details about the condemnation of the Pharisees. Here is a blunt quote in that passage from Christ Himself.

Put simply, here Jesus is telling people that their works will not get them into Heaven. Even miracles done in His name are not assurance of Salvation. This is because we don’t and can’t earn our Salvation.
The point I’m trying to make here is this. Salvation is a gift from God and to try to earn it from Him is an insult to His Holiness. We must remember that our own righteousness is not even close to His Righteousness. It is in fact only through His Righteousness that He grants us through Christ’s Sacrifice that we can be presentable before God. Realizing that we are not good enough, holy enough, or righteous enough before God is a requirement for Salvation.

This is what these people lack. They still thought they could be worthy of God’s presence due to their own actions and behavior. They couldn’t. We can’t. We never will.