When we see people doing good things, we naturally think they are good people. We often assume that religious people are also good. But the Bible says we need to look deeper to understand the true relationship between faith and works.
The Bible shows two groups: those of faith and those of works. This is not only about Christianity or religious people. Every person on earth falls into one of these two groups. This is an important question because the Bible teaches something very different from what society teaches today. If we love the truth and Jesus, then we will follow the truth.
The truth is found in Jesus, and unless we follow Jesus, we fall away from the truth. Let us find out whether those who trust in works are under a curse.
Deuteronomy 27:26 says, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.” In this verse, the people agreed to obey everything written in the law. But no one, except Christ, ever kept the law perfectly. If a person says they are saved by works, then they are bound to keep every detail of the law without failure. If they fail in even one point, they come under a curse.
This is one of the most important topics in the Bible. A person who relies on works is not truly converted. God never saved people by works, neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament. People in the Old Testament were saved by faith too, faith in the coming Messiah. Cain was rejected because he did not trust in the sacrifice that pointed to Jesus; instead, he offered his own offering.
Galatians 3 says that Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. Scripture also says that those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. But “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.” The Bible says, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
So those who try to be saved by works are not only cursed, they are under a curse. They must constantly depend on their own power to keep the whole law perfectly. The Bible says that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. “The just shall live by faith.” That means the righteous live by faith, not by works.
The blessings of Deuteronomy 28 are for those who hear and obey the voice of the Lord. But we cannot obey in our own strength. God must do the work in us. God makes us willing, God gives us power, and God loves through us. When God works in us, those works are blessed.
Psalm 119:21 says, “Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.” One reason people rely on works is pride. They do not want to see themselves as sinners. They want to believe they are good. But pride blinds the heart, and pride is at the root of much suffering, death, disease, and separation.
The Bible says, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” The end goal of faith is salvation. The end goal of works-based religion is not salvation. The Pharisees did many works, but that did not save them. Salvation comes through faith, and faith means trusting God to do what we cannot do ourselves.
Romans 7 shows the struggle against sin in our members, and Romans 8 says that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. This does not mean sin is harmless, but it means victory comes through Christ’s power, not our own.
There will never be a time when we can say, “I have arrived.” We must keep coming to the cross in repentance. But that does not mean we cannot overcome sin. We can overcome only by faith and by God’s power. Hebrews 8 says that God writes His laws in our hearts and minds. The commandments are not done away with; they are written within us.
Grace is given because we cannot keep the law on our own. Romans 3 says that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified. The law reveals sin, but righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why justification is by faith, not by works.
Galatians 4 shows that those who desire to be under the law are in bondage. Legal religion can feel comforting because it makes a person feel good about themselves, but it is slavery if it depends on human effort. Freedom is found in Christ. We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:16 says that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. No flesh is justified by works of the law. If we try to be justified by Christ while trusting in ourselves, we make ourselves transgressors again. Through the law we become dead to the law, that we might live unto God.
This does not mean we are free to sin. It means that God Himself must work in us. We are dead to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we live by faith, God does the works through us. That is why Paul asks whether the Spirit was received by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. We begin by the Spirit, and we must continue by the Spirit, not by the flesh.
Those who think they are saved by works are living in the flesh. They are trying to keep the law by their own effort. That path leads to bondage and curse. True freedom is found in the righteousness of Jesus. May God forgive our sins, give us His righteousness, provide for all our needs, and give us the desires of our hearts in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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