Every religion of the world except Christianity bases its offer of salvation on good works. The Bible, God’s Word, presents a radically different kind of salvation. Peace with God and eternal salvation come to the believer as a gift.

Many professing Christians don’t grasp this difference well enough to explain it to others. One way to help people understand this difference is through three equations. I have used this on numerous occasions. It is a plain way of presenting the gospel that anyone can learn.

Let’s say you have been discussing the topic of religion with your coworker George or Georgia. You have asked them to share with you their grounds for their hope for salvation, and it comes out something like this: “Well, I’m not a really bad person and I try to do what’s right.” It is then you may respond by saying, “Have you ever considered what the Bible says about that? Would you let me share with you three equations I heard about that really helps clarify what the Bible says about this? It really is important.” (A ballpoint pen and paper napkin work well for this presentation.) Here’s how the presentation might go.

A Sample Presentation

George, if salvation is a true reality— and the Bible certainly claims that it is —then, it is good news, and there are the following logical options. The first option is this:

GOOD WORKS = SALVATION

Centuries ago there was a man by the name of Pelagius —a religious man—who taught this equation as man’s way to God. He even cited Jesus Christ as his model. Look at the way Jesus went about doing good! And His death on the cross shows us how to give our lives for the help of others without becoming bitter and discouraged. That was Pelagius’ teaching.

And as I have said, all the other religions of the world—except Christianity—actually embrace this fundamental idea: Man is the one who must save himself. In the final analysis, the individual person alone must perform what is required in order to earn his way to his god and eternal reward. But this poses a serious question: How many good works must I do to get there? And how will I know if and when I have done enough?

Persons who have grown up in the context of the Christian church recognize a severe problem with this first equation, because it omits what to them is critical about salvation. They contend that the equation above is deficient because it leaves out Jesus Christ. And along with that, it doesn’t deal with their sin. So, in order to correct this omission, some prefer the following equation:

FAITH IN JESUS + GOOD WORKS = SALVATION

Basically, what this equation says is this: According to the Bible and the Christian religion, you must put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That’s the first step. How can a person call himself a Christian if he does not acknowledge Christ? No, you must acknowledge the Person of Christ and His death on the cross together with the related truth about Him. But then you must do good works to add to what He has done in order to obtain the goal of salvation.

So, while denying the first equation, which suggests man can make his way to heaven by his own efforts, persons who hold this equation say that is not enough. You must add your own good works to what Jesus has done. By putting these two together, and if you are faithful to do those good works, then there is hope for you. You cannot be sure in this life whether or not you will ultimately get to your goal, because you are not sure if you have done enough good works. Furthermore, there is the danger of your actually dying in a sin without time to repent and seek to cover that deficit with good works.

Many persons have been taught this approach to salvation. In their perspective, it is the church that determines what those good works must be in order to earn one’s ultimate reward: things such as baptism, regular attendance at worship, confession, and other duties that have come down through their traditions. This equation’s influence often results in a quiet resignation to determine for oneself what are adequate good works, such as putting in an appearance at worship or mass from time to time. Among these persons are often those who show up at worship only at Christmas and Easter. They want to keep some attachment to the church, for they have now come to believe that it is the church that will determine their ultimate destiny.

And, while they may have some personal boundaries governing their moral behavior, in the final analysis their life exhibits no practical difference from those who profess no religion.

The nagging problem continues to give them pause: How can one hope to accomplish enough good works to reach God? As a consequence, they often don’t believe that one can know he is definitely going to heaven. They just hope.

The third equation addresses this question, but from quite a different standpoint. The third equation finds its foundation on what the Bible plainly says. Let’s examine it.

FAITH IN JESUS = SALVATION + GOOD WORKS

Notice first of all that good works appears in all three of these equations. The first one makes good works the way to earn our way to heaven. The second one also includes good works but says they are not adequate in themselves to meet the requirement for salvation. In the second equation, we must acknowledge Jesus Christ and add our works to His. We put two and two together to gain salvation.

In this third equation, all of the components are there that appear in the second one, but the equal sign is in a different place. Here we observe that faith in Jesus Christ is actually all that is required to receive salvation; and the result of such faith leads one to perform good works out of gratitude, not in order to earn one’s way. This way of understanding the Christian religion then makes it clear that salvation is not the result of our efforts, but rather the efforts of Jesus Christ. This is unique among all the religions of the world! Salvation according to the Bible is God’s good gift to sinful mankind, not the result of our so-called good works. But that leads us to say that good works do play an important part in gaining salvation.

When Jesus Christ came to earth from God, He lived as the God-Man. According to the record, He was born as a human being, with body and soul, and grew up in Nazareth until He was 30 years old. At that point He began His ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist, after which God the Father sent the Holy Spirit down upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Then the Father said, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” In other words, unlike the first man, Adam, who failed to obey God and brought sin upon all mankind, Jesus Christ obeyed God’s will perfectly. He kept the ten commandments, God’s law, both in motive and in action. Why did He do this? He was fulfilling the covenant God first made with Adam. He was, in fact, performing all the good works that God required for eternal life.

That is why it was necessary for Jesus to live as an adult like Adam: to fulfill all the requirements God’s law demands, something none of us has ever done! And this means that every good work God has ever required of mankind, Jesus Christ has fully kept. He is the one person who can say to God, “I have finished the work that You gave Me to do.”

Here is the amazing part of the story. When a person comes by faith to put his trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, God puts to that person’s account all the good works of Jesus Christ. So now when God looks at that believer, He no longer sees a miserable sinner; rather, He sees someone who has all of Jesus’ good works! All that God requires of that sinner, who has now believed in Jesus, is put to his account and marked fully paid.

It is actually an affront and an insult to Jesus Christ to suggest that His good works are not enough to satisfy God’s requirement of us. While people who embrace the second equation above are not aware of this, by saying they must do good works to earn their salvation, they are in fact living out this quiet insult. On the contrary, the person who trusts Jesus’ good works alone for his salvation gives glory and honor to Jesus.

There is, of course, the other critical aspect of this equation which must be explained. When a person puts his faith in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation, God not only credits all Jesus’ good works to that new believer’s account; He also, by Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross, forgives all of his sins. According to the Bible, God justifies him as now having no sin because of Jesus, and He adopts him into His family. He becomes a child of God. With that act of faith by the believer—remember “faith” is not a “work” but rather the means by which he obtains his new relationship with God—God covers everything he failed to do right and remits everything he ever did wrong. And it is all because of the work of Christ in our behalf.

This is what we mean when we say Christianity is unique. It is all done for us! And that is the meaning of grace. In fact, this arrangement is called the new covenant, or covenant of grace. The third equation does include good works, too. What does this mean by having it on the other side of the equation? It means that good works result from the life of the true believer. In short, those good works now flow out of a heart that is thankful to God for His goodness. The Holy Spirit now lives in the person in a new way, and the Spirit begins to move him to show his appreciation for what Christ has done for him. So, he begins to do genuine good works, not to gain or earn salvation, but rather to express the new personal relationship he has with God through Christ! He never again has to be concerned as to whether he has enough good works to earn salvation. He no longer even thinks this way, for he already possesses eternal life in Jesus Christ. With this new relationship to God, he now enjoys life because he knows all is well between him and his Creator!

It should be made clear that if a person were to say that he has placed all of his trust in Jesus Christ, but demonstrates by his life that he has not repented of his sins and still lives like he did before, then obviously the good works are lacking. And if the good works are not there, this unbalances the equation and shows that his faith is not genuine after all. He is a fraud. So good works are important as a witness to the believer and to others that the Holy Spirit does live in him and his faith in Jesus is genuine. (One might also note that the book of Romans in the New Testament discusses equation 1, Galatians equation 2, and James equation 3.)

So, George or Georgia, there it is. And it’s amazing to see how Ephesians 2:8-10 wraps this up. Let me share it with you right from the Bible: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

What do you think? Does it make sense? Think about it, and let’s talk again.

—Kenneth G. Smith

Ken G. Smith is a veteran RP minister and author residing in Beaver Falls, Pa. A Home Mission Board feature appears semiannually in the Witness.