There are some who may accuse us of teaching we are saved by works. We have explained previously that Paul taught that the wrong kind of works cannot save us, while James explained that the right kind of works is necessary for our justification (being counted righteous).

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:24)

The Word of God declares that faith without works is dead. Quite obviously, the right kind of works is essential to our salvation.

Let us look at this a bit more closely.

We have said the children of Israel were saved by grace and faith when they followed God through the wilderness and into Canaan.

Now, what would the opposite be? What would it have meant for Israel to be saved from Pharaoh by works?

For example, the Israelites could have formed a union and gone on strike against Pharaoh. They could have demanded better working conditions, or perhaps they could have asked for part of Egypt that would belong to them and into which the Egyptians could not enter. (But God had in mind a far better inheritance for them.)

This is what it would have meant for the Israelites to have saved themselves by works.

The Israelites certainly were required to do all God said to do in order for them to escape from Pharaoh. But God, in His grace and mercy to the Jews, struck Egypt with plagues. God also gave the Hebrews protection from judgment by the blood of the Passover lamb. All of the Lord's provisions for Israel, from the plagues of Egypt to the wisdom given to Joshua during the invasion of Canaan, were expressions of Divine mercy and grace. None of them were dead works of religion being pursued by the Israelites in order to obtain their deliverance from Egypt.

In order to gain the benefit of God's mercy and grace the Israelites had to do what God said to do. They could not just sit in Egypt and believe that all was well with their souls, or trust that they were "accepted in the beloved" and then do nothing about it.

So it is today. To be saved by works would be to ignore the provisions God has made: the blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and the new birth; and to attempt to gain eternal life by keeping all the ordinances of the Law of Moses, or by practicing some sort of self-imposed system of fasting, meditation, and adherence to a moral code.

This is what it would mean to attempt to save ourselves by our works.

The Jews of Paul's day were seeking to add the Law of Moses to the Christian Gospel. Since the Gospel does not need the Levitical statutes to establish its effectiveness, Paul exhorted the Judaizers that if it is by grace it is no more by works (the works of the Law).

To be continued.