Saved by Works
God’s has two
distinguishing works wherein He performs perfectly in harmony of His Divine
being. He works both in eternity and in time. The latter is according to His
eternal decrees. “What are God’s decrees? His eternal counsel, according to
which He works all things.”[1]
Thus all things are determined by Him and thus not dependent upon His creation
for He is God that “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”[2] He
was neither idle in eternity nor changing in whatever He has to do or been
doing. He is ever working to the end that His name be glorified.[3]
“His works are from eternity to eternity perfect in himself, and with all his
infinite divine being he works eternally and unchangeably.”[4]
We
must identify His works by distinguishing works that are purely immanent in
Himself and His works in creation. As we have seen, all are according to His
eternal counsel by which all things happen in time, by His divine providence,
according to His determinate counsel.[5] In
eternity, there happened God’s immanent works, which are God’s personal works,
“which include the Father’s generation of the Son, the Son’s being generated by
the Father, and the procession of the Holy Spirit.”[6]
There also happened His predetermination of all things including creation,
providence, and redemption. And though He reveals His counsel in His outgoing
works, we must not neglect that His counsel is immanent in Himself: “Having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure
which He hath purposed in Himself.”[7]
His
counsel has all things whether it would be good or evil[8],
all are subjected to Him even the salvation of many and damnation of the
others. Since God is the eternal God and Lord of all, His decree of saving many
and damning others must be eternal also. Yea, that is the glorious and yet most
rejected truth of eternal decree of
predestination. What is predestination? It is “God’s eternal decree, by
which he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man…eternal
life…for some, eternal damnation for others.”[9]
Upon
this work of God in eternity depends now the calling of all the elect and the
blinding and the hardening of the reprobate. The former must not be taken
seriously without Christ. For in Him we are chosen before the foundation of the
world.[10] Thus the calling now is by Him who is
the good Shepherd who gave His life for His Sheep—His own body.[11]
In this light, election is in Christ and not apart from Him. He is the Elect of
God[12]
in whom we are now accepted by God. In this truth also, lies the calling of us
from darkness to light. That through preaching, the realization of His eternal
election manifested when we take heed and willingly obey His command: “Come
forth!”, we are thus saved. This calling is dependent upon election and
realized only by grace through the regenerating work of the Spirit; Regeneration precedes calling.
On
the contrary, by God’s wrath and justice, He leaves the reprobate in
themselves. He leaves them in their spiritual ruin. He hates them because He
has hated them before time—before they have done good and evil[13].
They were destined to be destroyed and to be servants of His elect children in
accordance to His election of grace.[14]
Though we are in equal ruin with the reprobate, He is pleased to save us and to
damn the others. God is just to do that.
He is not the
author of sin! We are the authors of our own misery but God left the others
because He alone is God who hardens according to His own prerogative. On
account of Christ’s death on the cross, God sealed the salvation of His elect
and at the same time, vindicated His decree of eternal reprobation. Those whom
Christ died for will be having eternal life but those whom He rejected their
judgment is sure; it is very evident in their lives; they live in unbelief and
in daily rebellion against God. There they will be judged according to their
works and will be damned to hell eternally. Unjust? God forbid. We cannot
confine God in our own way of reasoning and understanding. His judgment is
solely according to His own counsel.[15]
It is therefore by faith that we embrace and believe these things.
We
are now justified and saved by works—works
of God. That in accordance to His divine election, God the Son has redeemed all
the elect and by the outworking of God the Holy Spirit, we now see and hear the
gospel by which we are called and translated from darkness into His marvelous
light. This is peace that passeth all understanding; we are justified by faith
alone. This is the cry of the great Reformation throughout history and even
unto this very day: Sola Fide! Not of
works but of faith. Yea, we are saved by faith but it is not conditioned by it.
Our faith is a God-given means whereby we enjoy the blessed assurance of
salvation; a means that magnify the sovereign, particular grace of Jehovah!
Faith is our spiritual eyes by which we see Christ as our only Savior; it is
our hands that we receive all the blessings that overflow from the finished
work of Christ on the cross; it is our feet to walk in the path of obedience as
He leads us in His way of righteousness; it is our lips to speak of His
goodness, His praises, and His truth; it is our mouth that we are fed by Christ
through His Word. Faith then is a conscious activity of us whereby God makes us
able to come to Christ for salvation. It is He who draws us to Christ[16]and
it is by faith that we come willingly.
Notwithstanding,
though we are conscious, we must neither think that faith is from us nor even
think that we act without God. It is not something in us. As a branch that is
solely dependent upon the tree, so are we. All we have are from Him and by Him.
Don’t think highly of yourselves as if faith, the coming of us to Christ, is
ours per se. God is pleased to glorify Himself in and through us. We bear the
fruits of salvation because God determines them. From regeneration to
glorification, God is perfectly active thus sovereign. He declares us righteous
because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us and now appropriated by faith
alone. “Just as the guilt of our sin lies at the basis of all misery and death,
so our justification is fundamental with relation to all benefits we have by
faith in Christ. It is first, basic, it is the key to the door of the fullness
of grace. God loves the righteous, He hates the wicked. His favor is upon the
just, He is filled with wrath against all the workers of iniquity. If, then, I
am to be delivered from misery, and restored to God’s favor, I must be
righteous; God Himself must pronounce the verdict of my justification. And when
I can lay hold upon this verdict of God, I cannot appropriate unto myself any
of the blessings of salvation in Christ.”[17]
Where
is boasting then? It is utterly excluded.[18]
Are we better than the reprobate wicked? In no wise. We are worthy of death and
eternal punishment as they are. It is only by His grace that we are justified
through Christ’s works. By works we are saved but not by works—solely God’s
work and not ours. Boast therefore in the Lord and not of our own strength. Let
us bear in mind that everything we have is from Jehovah who made the heaven and
the earth. He is Jehovah who is faithful and utterly perfect in all His works.
But our works, even good works, are just filthy rags![19] He alone is good! God be praised! Amen.
[1] Essentials of Reformed Doctrine; A Guide in
Catechetical Instruction, Herman Hoeksema, Revised by Herman Hanko, [no
publisher, date, and place], Lesson 7: God’s Work in Eternity, Q. & A. 3,
pg. 16
[2] Ephesians 1:11
[3] Ephesians 1:12
[4] Reformed Dogmatics, Herman Hoeksema, 2 volumes, Second
Ed., Volume 1, (Reformed Free Publishing
Association; Grandville ,
Michigan
[5] Acts 2:23
[6] Reformed Dogmatics, Herman Hoeksema, 2 volumes, Second
Ed., Volume 1, (Reformed Free Publishing
Association; Grandville ,
Michigan
[7] Ephesians 1:9
[8] Job 2:10; Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6
[9] John Calvin, quoted by David J. Engelsma, The Reformed
Faith of John Calvin; The Institute in Summary, (Jenison , MI
[10] Ephesians 1:4
[11] John 10:2-4, 11; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:30
[12] Isaiah 42:1
[13] Romans 9:11-13
[14] Romans 9:12
[16] John 6:44
[17] Herman Hoeksema, The Triple Knowledge; An Exposition of
the Heidelberg Catechism, 3 volumes, (Grand Rapids, MI; Reformed Free
Publishing Association, 1971),vol. 2, Lord’s Day XXIII, I, pg. 318-319
[18] Romans 3:27-28
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