Faith Is More Important Than Works

Faith Is More Important Than Works

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Romans 3:28

Our opponents insist that good works are necessary for salvation, and the world enthusiastically agrees with them. Certainly, what the saints did was admirable, and they did many great works. But even if you were to show me the holiest saint of all, would that person have done enough good works to earn God’s approval?

We also recognize that love is an essential aspect of the Christian life and that all believers need to restrain their corrupt desires and practice self-denial. “But you don’t do that,” our opponents protest. Our reply is, “Even if we could do all that, would we have done enough for God’s approval?” The only reason we think so highly of what we do is that we don’t want God to receive any of the credit. We readily admit that good works are necessary. But they’re not more important than what we already have: God’s approval, which comes through faith. We must understand the difference between what is priceless and what is cheap, what is important and what is trivial. This distinction is important in all of life, but especially in this doctrine. Even animals understand the difference between good and bad food. A dog knows that meat is better than bread.