Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? A Review

By Joseph C. Dillow

[Joseph C. Dillow is President, BEE World, Monument, Colorado.]

Jesus made several statements that seem to suggest that works are in some way related to one’s entrance into heaven. For example in the Sermon on the Mount He told His disciples that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). And He said that only “he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” the kingdom of heaven (7:21). In the Olivet Discourse He stated that “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (24:13). When the rich young ruler asked what good thing he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded that he should keep the commandments, sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him (19:16–23).

Yet elsewhere Jesus said that faith, not works, is the condition for obtaining eternal salvation (John 3:16, 18); and that salvation is “without cost” (Rev. 21:6). How are these apparently contradictory statements to be reconciled? Stanley seeks to answer this question in his book Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works?[1]

Several commendable facts may be noted about Stanley’s book. He is clear that salvation is to be found only in Christ[2] and that at salvation a believer is justified, sanctified, forgiven, and receives the Holy Spirit and eternal life.[3] He correctly notes that both salvation[4] and sanctification[5] have present, past, and future aspects.

Stanley argues that salvation should be viewed as both an event and a process. Conversion, initial and final justification, sanctification, (possibly) healing,[6] redemption, and endurance are all intrinsic aspects[7] of salvation. Salvation is “a pilgrimage.”[8] “Salvation in the Synoptic Gospels is understood comprehensively or totally as opposed to a particular point in time.”[9]

He believes, however, that ethical righteousness is necessary to make one “eligible” to enter the kingdom. This ethical behavior, he says, is not just evidence that one is saved initially, but is a condition for obtaining entrance into heaven.[10] As an initially justified sinner progresses along his “pilgrimage” (which he says is the process of being saved and eventually entering heaven),[11] Stanley asserts, “Somewhere along the way converted sinners become righteous and therefore eligible to enter the kingdom.”[12]

Five questions raised by his book are addressed in this review article.

Is Endurance Required for Salvation?

Christ’s words “it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matt. 10:22; cf. 24:13; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:19) are important in Stanley’s soteriology.[13] “It is difficult,” he says, “to escape the fact that these passages do teach that endurance is a condition to (final) salvation.”[14]

Granted, one must endure to the end to be saved, but saved from or to what? Stanley says eschatological salvation is in view.[15] He bases this on Matthew 10:28. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He errs, however, in saying that this refers to eternal damnation. Jesus was speaking to His believing, regenerate disciples.[16]

Does this suggest, as Stanley believes, that the apostles were being warned about the possibility of eternal damnation if they failed to endure in their mission? The following verses assure them that He will not do that (vv. 29–31), and Christ’s statements elsewhere clearly establish the fact that no genuine believer should ever fear damnation (John 6:39–40).[17] To fear the Lord may refer to fearing His authority, or, more specifically, to the kind of fear associated with the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10–11). Because believers can experience recompense for good or bad works, they are to live in a healthy fear of God as they look to His final assessment of their lives.[18]

Stanley says that eternal judgment is in view when Jesus said, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father” (Matt. 10:33). But is it certain that “denial” here means only damnation? In a parallel passage Jesus said He will be “ashamed” of the one who is ashamed of Him (Mark 8:38).[19] For Jesus to be ashamed of believers is far different from condemning them to eternal judgment.[20] In Luke 9:24, 26 Jesus referred to His being ashamed of believers who are unwilling to lose their lives for Him. Denial then involves shame and probably deals with the subject of reward (cf. Matt. 10:42; Luke 19:15–19; Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26–27).[21]

The Apostle Paul was concerned that he might be “disqualified” (ἀδόκιμος; 1 Cor. 9:27) for “the prize” (v. 24). Stanley believes that ἀδόκιμος refers to forfeiting one’s salvation (or to revealing that one never had it).[22] The prize, he says, is salvation, and so Paul feared that at the judgment it might be revealed that he was not really saved. To avoid this possibility Paul must “strain every nerve.”[23] But this is certainly a novel way of obtaining salvation from sin! The context concerns qualification for the “prize,” imagery based on rewards given in the Isthmian games.[24] As Morris writes, “ ‘Castaway’ is too strong for adokimos. The word means ‘which has not stood the test,’ and in this context refers to disqualification. Paul’s fear was not that he might lose his salvation, but that he might lose his crown through failing to satisfy his Lord (cf. 3:15).”[25]

Thus the “salvation” that is obtained by enduring to the end (Matt. 10:22) is from shame and disgrace, not from damnation. But it is also to finding one’s life. As recorded a few verses later, Jesus said, “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (v. 39).[26] Finding and saving one’s life speaks of enjoying a significant life now through total commitment to following Christ as His disciple (not, as Stanley suggests, of finding salvation from sin).[27]

In sending out the Twelve Jesus warned them of the difficulties they would face as they pursued their mission, possibly martyrdom. This warning was not meant to place fear of eternal condemnation in their hearts but to set before them an ennobling and inspiring challenge that they could “save their lives” by finding the true meaning of their existence, their place in God’s eternal purpose, and be honored and rewarded for success at the judgment seat of Christ. Yes, there is a risk. But it is not postmortem consignment to hell; it is loss of rewards and possible rebuke.

The word for “reward” is μίσθος, which means “remuneration for work done—pay, wages,” or possibly “an affirmation of laudable conduct”[28] (Matt. 10:42).[29]

Are Works Meritorious?

A second question raised by Stanley’s book pertains to the relationship between works and merit. Stanley says, “It is probably more accurate to speak of works as the condition for final salvation or entrance into the eschatological kingdom.”[30] Holding to a “works-salvation” view, he argues for a distinction between preconversion works, which he says contribute nothing to initial salvation, and postconversion works, which are conditions[31] for what he calls final salvation.[32]

If works are necessary for final salvation, then the question of merit arises. To avoid the notion that salvation is by works, Stanley maintains that works are nonmeritorious, that is, the works of Christians are produced by God’s power in their lives. The surpassing righteousness, he argues, originates from God Himself (2 Cor. 3:18).[33] Therefore, since works do not merit eternal salvation, they must be consistently present in order for a Christian to receive final justification.[34]

However, both of these points contradict the New Testament. First, many passages make it clear that a person is justified apart from works, whether performed before or after conversion. Eternal salvation is always based only on grace through faith. On the other hand works of the regenerate person are meritorious in the sense that they are the basis on which his or her life is rewarded.

Because the works of the Christian are meritorious for rewards but not for salvation, when Stanley includes them as a constituent part or intrinsic aspect of salvation and relates them to conditions for entering eternal life, he seemingly teaches salvation by merit, even though he denies this. Words used in the New Testament for these rewards typically refer to “remuneration for work done, pay, wages.”[35] It is impossible to relate these terms to eschatological salvation, as Stanley does, in view of the numerous New Testament statements that salvation is by faith apart from works, is without cost, and certainly is not a “remuneration for work done” or a wage earned.

Second, works are not produced exclusively by God. There is a synergism between the believers’ efforts and God’s work in producing righteous conduct.

Stanley argues that postconversion works cannot be done “apart from divine enabling,”[36] and he also says they are “produced” by the Spirit.[37] Normally “enabling” suggests helping another to do something, whereas “produced” suggests doing it by oneself. If that is a fair assessment, Stanley has to equate “enablement” with “production” if he is to avoid a contradiction. If the works are “enabled” by God, then the believer still has a role, and Stanley is teaching salvation by human activity and merit. For his view of salvation to avoid the charge of merit, he must assert that the works are “produced” by God. Even that, however, is inadequate because the Bible makes clear that works have no role in one’s entrance into heaven, whether produced by God or by the believer.

But does the Bible teach that the works of the regenerate are produced exclusively by God? It is clear that God’s role is to command, to motivate (Phil. 2:13) and to help, enable, or strengthen[38] (4:13), but believers are responsible to cooperate with Him in doing the work. “I have kept my feet from every evil path,” said the psalmist, “so that I might obey your word” (Ps. 119:101, NIV).[39] On the one hand Paul wrote, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). This seems to be something the believer does. On the other hand Paul wrote, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (v. 13). Both God and the believer are involved.[40] It is not “all of God.”[41]

Obviously the work of sanctification in this life is imperfect and incomplete. If it were all a work of God, one wonders why it would not be perfect and complete. And since postconversion works are not perfect and complete, how can they have any role in obtaining final entrance into heaven?[42]

Despite Stanley’s protests to the contrary, “to say that one’s faith produced works constitute even part or an ‘intrinsic aspect’ of the basis upon which a believer is justified is to deny the doctrine of justification by faith alone.”[43]

Are Works a Condition of Salvation?

In Stanley’s view salvation is a complicated affair. In fact he has recently published a popularization of the book under review entitled Salvation Is More Complicated Than You Think.[44] If, as Stanley maintains, the works of Christians are not meritorious, what is the precise relationship between works and final entrance into heaven? Are they a cause, a demonstration, or a condition of salvation, or none of these? Stanley answers this way: “If endurance looks back onto salvation that has already occurred, then it is clearly a demonstration of that salvation. If endurance looks forward to salvation yet to occur then it is clearly a condition for salvation.”[45] Stanley maintains he is not teaching faith plus works as two conditions for salvation. However, the logic of his position suggests that he is.

This writer found Stanley’s discussion confusing and seemingly contradictory. On the one hand Stanley says he agrees with Luther that “works are not the cause of one’s salvation but the result,”[46] but on the other hand Stanley says he agrees with Calvin that works are an “inferior cause.”[47] On the one hand Stanley says that “salvation to be attained in eternity is secure right now though not complete.” But on the other hand he says, “There are passages that teach the possibility of forfeiting salvation through lack of endurance.”[48] On the one hand he says that endurance is a “condition because salvation hasn’t occurred yet.” But on the other hand “it is incorrect to say that endurance is an addition to the gospel.”[49] He says that endurance (i.e., postconversion, God-produced, nonmeritorious work) does not cause final salvation but is only a “constituent part” or “intrinsic aspect” of it.[50] Yet he agrees with Calvin’s supposed view that works are a “minor” cause.[51] Stanley says there is a distinction between a condition and a cause[52] and that salvation is not “caused” by works, but on the other hand he says that final salvation is a “consequence” of works,[53] is “based” on works,[54] and has works as a “minor cause,” thereby seemingly closely relating the ideas of condition and cause. He says works are a condition for final salvation but not a demonstration of it, because final salvation has not occurred yet. But then he says works are a condition of final salvation in the sense that they are a demonstration of initial salvation.

Drawing a line between a “condition,” a “consequence,” a “basis,”[55] a “cause,” a “constituent part,” or an “intrinsic aspect” makes distinctions without significant differences. Stanley admits that some of these contrasts “seem” to be contradictory and there is a “tension” here.

He labors to define “condition” as another word for a demonstration that has not yet occurred. A “condition,” he says, means “that one must continue in their already existing relationship with God [i.e., endure] if they are to be admitted to heaven.”[56] Thus for Stanley a condition is not a cause. However, though “condition” does not necessarily mean “cause,” this is how many would understand him. The believer is responsible to perform these postconversion works as a “condition” for entrance into heaven. Thus Stanley sees two conditions for entrance into heaven: initial faith and a life of works produced by the believer’s choices and enabled by God. This violates the Bible’s clear teaching that salvation is by faith alone apart from any works (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8–9).

Is Justification Complete the Moment One Believes?

Stanley believes that justification must be viewed from two perspectives. The believer is justified at the entry point of salvation by faith alone, but he is also justified at the end based on his postconversion God-enabled works, which demonstrate that his initial justification is real and which also acquit him and declare him righteous.

Stanley might say that initial justification is complete, but his book argues to the contrary. He argues that a final forensic judicial acquittal is rewarded only for “persistent” faith.[57] Confronted with the obvious fact that many New Testament passages say a person is already justified when he believes, Stanley argues that those passages refer to initial justification, but until a person has manifested a life of works he will not be finally justified, and this final justification has its “basis” in one’s works.[58]

The New Testament, however, clearly teaches that justification is complete the moment one believes. Justification perfects the believer “forever” (Heb. 10:12–14). It is a completed act and gives peace with God (Rom. 5:1–2; cf. 4:1–6), and therefore no final forensic acquittal (justification) is needed.

Abraham is an example of one who was declared righteous the moment he believed. “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).

James wrote, “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Stanley explains the apparent discrepancy between this verse and Romans 3:28 by saying that they are viewing justification from different perspectives. “In all probability James is speaking of Paul’s justification as acquittal or declaration of righteousness, not as the entry point of salvation, but the end point, that is final justification at the future judgment.”[59]

When Stanley discusses final justification, the works of the believer become prominent, and he says that final justification is not “by works.”[60] Yet later he says final salvation is “by works.”[61]

Instead of faith alone being the only entry requirement, conduct plays a role in determining one’s eternal destiny.[62] If Stanley means one’s conduct demonstrates that he or she is saved, that is not what Stanley says. He plainly says works determine one’s destiny. A person must obey if he is to inherit eternal life.[63] He “must pray, beg for mercy, be humble, and trust in Jesus” in order to be justified.[64] Stanley writes that postconversion works are a condition for final salvation,[65] and final salvation is a consequence of works.[66] In answer to the question in the title of his book Stanley says, “Yes, Jesus did teach salvation by works.”[67]

For Stanley, final acquittal is not just a validation that one’s initial faith was genuine, as many Reformed theologians might say; instead it is a declaration of righteousness, a removal of guilt. He says final justification in James 2:24 is a forensic “acquittal or declaration of righteousness” (as it is in Paul),[68] and the outcome is eternal salvation,[69] and not just a divine approval or vindication of a life well lived.

However, in common speech “acquittal” is a setting free from the charge of an offense by verdict, sentence, or other legal process. Most New Testament interpreters have assumed that this removal of guilt is achieved at the moment one believes and is credited with the justifying righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Stanley says that a final removal of guilt is required.[70] However, if a person has been justified at the moment he places his faith in Christ, there is no more guilt to acquit (Rom. 8:31–35).

When James wrote about justification by works, he said Abraham and Rahab were justified by works, but this was in time, not at the final judgment. Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac, and Rahab was justified when she sent the spies away (James 2:21, 25).[71] Since Abraham was already justified, that is, saved, about thirty years earlier (Gen. 15:6), what is the nature of his justification by works in James 2:24? James wrote that Abraham’s faith was ἐτελειώθη (“perfected” or “came to fullness”),[72] that is, it came to maturity, when he offered up Isaac (vv. 21–22). Most interpreters conclude that by the word “justify” James meant something different from Paul’s meaning. For James, justification is a demonstration and brings faith to maturity, but for Paul it is a forensic declaration of righteousness. This interpretation neatly brings the two writers into harmony.

How is it possible that, according to Stanley, one can be justified initially but not finally? How can a person be justified and yet not be eligible for heaven? Of course one could accept this seeming contradiction and call it a “tension,” as Stanley does.[73] Or one could say that believers will not be condemned on the final day because they were justified the moment they believed.[74] As Karlberg, a covenant amillennial theologian, has observed, “This statement of the doctrine [i.e., Stanley’s viewpoint] is both unclear and misleading. How can the ‘already’ (the fixed, once-for-all) aspect of justification await future completion? The implication . . . is that faith must persevere in order for genuine faith to justify. But such a formulation is flatly contradictory.”[75]

Can a Believer Have Assurance of Salvation?

Naturally the question of assurance is related to the doctrine of eternal security. Although Stanley believes that salvation cannot be lost, he feels that losing salvation is not a proper way of viewing the doctrine of eternal security. “If salvation is something that is yet to be completed,” he says, “then to speak of losing one’s salvation is technically a contradiction in terms for one cannot lose what they have not yet attained.”[76] Therefore in his view a child of God cannot know for certain he is saved until the final judgment and must work hard enough to produce sufficient increase in righteousness to allow him to conclude that he is truly saved.

Stanley’s view of assurance contradicts the experience of Paul in that, in Stanley’s view, the apostle was concerned that he might be ἀδόκιμος (“disqualified,” 1 Cor. 9:27). Since Stanley believes that ἀδόκιμος refers to final condemnation to hell, it follows that Paul could have had no definite assurance that he would enter heaven when he died. Yet this contradicts Paul’s assertions of certainty elsewhere.

Stanley’s view of assurance is also logically contradictory. As cited earlier, “If endurance looks back onto salvation that has already occurred, then it is clearly a demonstration of that salvation. If endurance looks forward to salvation yet to occur, then it is clearly a condition for salvation.”[77] Looking forward, a person can never know if he will endure, and looking back, he can never know if there were enough works to demonstrate he was saved. Looking either way, he cannot, on Stanley’s premise ever have a secure relationship with God. Both the past and the future are uncertain. How then is it possible for any believer to claim he has peace with God or to enjoy the assurance of salvation? According to Stanley it is one’s enduring faith,[78] not just an initial act of faith, that procures/demonstrates one’s salvation. In that case no one can ever know that his faith will endure until it has!

It is contradictory to say, “Looking back I can see that my works demonstrate that I am saved,” but “Looking forward I must endure to the end to know whether this is a delusion.”

When confronted with the evident contradiction in his view of assurance, Stanley says it is a matter of perspective. “Passages such as Rom. 8:31–39 look at things from God’s perspective. We might say that He knows who are his.”[79] However, in regard to passages that Stanley thinks teach that salvation can be lost—for example John 15:1–6;[80] 1 Corinthians 15:2;[81] Colossians 1:23;[82] and Hebrews 3:6[83] —“the perspective in view is not God’s but ours.”[84] So from God’s perspective, Stanley says, the believer is eternally secure, but from a believer’s perspective he is not.

Stanley’s view of assurance is psychologically unsatisfactory. If one must maintain a consistent though not perfect walk with Christ until the end of life, it is difficult to see how any Christian, especially those who experience spiritual difficulties, failures, and disobedience from time to time, can find any assurance of salvation. Stanley says to such people that they must endure. “For it is only by holding fast to one’s original confession that one can be saved in the end.”[85] How then can one find assurance of salvation in this life?

An even more serious objection is that this view implies that God is a liar. If God has decreed that His elect will finally be saved and has promised them eternal life, assuring them they will never perish, and yet warns them that they might perish if they do not endure to the end, then God is threatening His elect with a destiny He knows will never befall them. How can a God of truth use lies to accomplish His purpose of holiness in His elect?

If a person is told that salvation cannot be lost but on the other hand is warned that unless he endures he will go to hell, how can he have any psychological encouragement or assurance?

A failing Christian will wonder, “How good must my works be to ensure that I am eligible? How much change is required? Would certain bad works disqualify me even though I have many good works as well? Will God lower His standard of perfect obedience enough so that I can qualify?” Because Stanley cannot offer assurance,[86] all he can say to a wayward Christian is that he must ask himself, “Am I really saved?”

Conclusion

Stanley is to be commended for a courageous discussion of an issue that has been a subject of theological debate for centuries. His exegesis has exposed weaknesses in some of the traditional Protestant interpretations of a number of crucial passages. His emphasis on the importance of righteousness, good works, and endurance in the faith are welcome reminders and exhortations to all believers.

However, he is unconvincing when he attempts to distinguish between preconversion and postconversion works. And his view removes any sense of assurance for believers, a view that clearly contradicts many Scriptures.

Notes

1. Alan P. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? The Role of Works in Salvation in the Synoptic Gospels (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2006).
2. Ibid., 156.
3. Ibid. 156-57.
4. Ibid., 152-53, 155, 157–58, 163.
5. Ibid., 160.
6. Ibid., 135.
7. Ibid., 249.
8. Ibid., 151, 164.
9. Ibid., 151 (italics his).
10. Ibid., 248.
11. Ibid., 326.
12. Ibid., 175.
13. In Matthew 10:22 and Luke 21:19 the idea of endurance to the end pertains to Jesus’ missionary discourses; and in Matthew 24:13 and Mark 13:13 the subject of endurance is in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse.
14. Ibid., 248 (italics his).
15. Ibid., 244. He cites Thomas R. Schreiner and Ardel B. Caneday as agreeing with him (The Race Set before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2001), 149.
16. Empty note - this number was skipped in the printed version.
17. Also it is not certain that gehenna always refers to hell. The Valley of Hinnom was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. It was metaphorical in the Old Testament for shame and disgrace, not eternal damnation. Thus the warning about gehenna may be a reference in this context to Christ being ashamed of their failure to endure (Luke 9:26) and to the disgraceful outcome of a wasted life, not to postmortem consignment to hell.
18. Possibly the warning to “fear Him” was addressed obliquely to the disciples’ persecutors, and not to the Twelve. They are the ones who would ultimately be consigned to hell.
19. Also Luke 9:26.
20. “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28). It is possible for a believer to live such a life that at the final judgment, “God is not ashamed to be called their God” (Heb. 11:16).
21. Mark 8:38 notes that this event will occur when the Son of Man “comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” That the reference recalls Daniel 7:15–28 is commonly accepted (R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007], 405). “But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come” (7:18). Consistent with Matthew 16:27 the “denial” is when the saints will “receive the kingdom,” that is, receive royal authority, a kingship (W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, International Critical Commentary [Edinburgh: Clark, 1988], 2:217).
22. Gordon D. Fee also equates the prize with salvation and thinks that those who disagree with him do so because of a “prior theological commitment” (The First Epistle to the Corinthians [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987], 440). However, in view of the fact that the context is about rewards in the games and that Paul elsewhere expressed no doubt about his salvation, it seems that Fee is the one who is bringing a “prior theological commitment” to the text.
23. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 238.
24. The word ἀδόκιμος is used eight times in the New Testament. “It is the technical term for a runner not standing the test before the master of the games and therefore being excluded at the prize-giving” (Erich Sauer, In the Arena of Faith [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956], 162). It is used of Christians five times (1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor. 13:5–7; Heb. 6:8), and of the damnation of the lost three times (Rom. 1:28; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:16). The result of the failure is determined by the context. In view of the many passages in which Paul afffirmed the fact of his salvation it is very difficult to believe that he had any doubt about his final arrival in heaven (Rom. 1:1; 4:23–25; 8:38–39; 1 Cor. 1:1; 3:9–15; 2 Cor. 1:1; 5:1–21; Gal. 1:1; 2:16; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:12; Titus 3:5). Since he did not doubt his salvation, what did he doubt? The context suggests that he wanted to be sure he would finish well, obtaining victory, like an athlete in the Isthmian games. Similarly Anthony C. Thistleton argues that this does not mean loss of salvation but that “the test reveals failures of an unspecified nature, not utter rejection” (The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000], 717). In Hebrews 6:8ἀδόκιμος is used of the unfruitful believer. Like a “worthless” (ἀδόκιμος) field, he yields thorns and thistles and is therefore close to being cursed. The opposite of ἀδόκμος is δόκιμος (“tested in battle, reliable, trustworthy”). See Walter Grundmann “δόκιμοςκ.τ.λ.,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testtament, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 555. What is at risk is the prize (βραβεῖον; 1 Cor. 9:24). The prize is reward, something in addition to salvation. “But the prize is not in all cases the same: God gives to each according to his merit” (Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, 2nd ed., International Critical Commentary [New York: Scribners, 1914], 193).
25. Leon Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary (Grand Rapids: InterVarsity, 1983), 140.
26. Matthew 16:25 includes a similar statement. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (cf. Mark 8:35). While Matthew recorded Jesus as saying, “It is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matt. 10:22), Luke modified the logion a bit and wrote, “By your endurance you will gain your lives” (κτήσασθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν, Luke 21:19). To “gain” (κτάομαι) is “to procure for oneself ” (Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and ed. Frederick W. Danker [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000], 572). The choice of this word is difficult to understand if salvation from sin and hell is in view. All the New Testament uses of the verb mean “to obtain, acquire, or get” (Matt. 10:9; Luke 18:12; Acts 1:18; 8:20; 22:28). Only 1 Thessalonians 4:4 may have the sense of “possess.” By “gain your lives” Luke meant finding a full and meaningful life.
27. For a good discussion of the passage from this point of view see Charles Bing, “The Cost of Discipleship,” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 6 (1993): 33-52. See also John Hart, “Why Confess Christ: The Use and Abuse of Romans 10:9–10, ” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 12 (1999): 9; and Zane Clark Hodges, Grace in Eclipse: A Study on Eternal Rewards, 2nd ed. (Dallas: Redención Viva, 1987), 28–33. See also Jeffery H. Boyd, “Biblical Psychology: A Creative Way to Apply the Whole Bible to Understanding Human Psychology,” Trinity Journal 21 (spring 2000): 9. The New English Bible rendering of Mark 8:36 supports this understanding: “What does a man gain by winning the whole world, at the cost of his true self? Or what can he give to buy that self back?” The Message also embraces this understanding, translating Matthew 16:25, “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself?” A person is “saved” from the condemnation mentioned at the end of the verse, namely, a wasted life (Mark 8:35). As Ezra P. Gould points out, saving one’s life means “finding true life” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Mark, International Critical Commentary [New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1907], 157). Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene Albert Nida render “save his life” as “really live” (A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark [Leiden: Brill, 1961], 267). The saving of one’s life refers to “the wholeness or oneness of the person or self” (James Brooks, Mark [Nashville: Broadman, 1991], 137).
28. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 653.
29. Stanley maintains that reward in Matthew is equivalent to receiving the kingdom or eternal life (Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 244). He cites Matthew 25:34 and 46 as equating these two. However, verse 34 refers to “inheriting a kingship,” not entering into eschatological salvation from sin, and it refers to believers receiving authority over five cities or ten cities (Luke 19:16–19). One enters into eternal life (Matt. 25:46), that is, heaven or the kingdom, when he dies, and then “inherits” (i.e., obtains) a possession/reward when he gets there (v. 34). Both believers and unbelievers are judged by works. For the believer the outcome is reward in addition to salvation or loss of reward; for the nonbeliever the outcome is eternal damnation.
30. Ibid., 334.
31. Ibid., 187. This view was espoused by the Council of Trent and rejected by John Calvin who described this viewpoint as a “subtle evasion” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge [reprint, Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1997], 3.11.14).
32. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 324–25, 33.
33. Ibid., 335. Paul Rainbow holds a similar view (The Way of Salvation: The Role of Christian Obedience in Justification [Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2005], 243).
34. Elsewhere Stanley seems to contradict this. He says these works are produced by God exclusively, but he also says they are works of individuals (Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 312).
35. For example μίσθος in Matthew 5:12; Luke 6:23; and 1 Corinthians 3:14 refers to a recompense or wages. Another word is ἀνταποδόσις in Colossians 3:24, which means “that which is given to someone in exchange for what has been done” (Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 87). The word μισθαποδοσία means “payment of wages” (Heb. 10:35; 11:26) or “retribution” (2:2) (ibid., 653). Another word is κομίζω (Matt. 25:27, 2 Cor. 5:10), which means “to obtain as a type of compensation” (James Swanson, A Dictionary of Biblical Languages: Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. [Seattle: Logos Research Systems, 2001], #3152).
36. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 324. He says that doing the Father’s will is “only made possible by surpassing power” (ibid., 186, italics added).
37. Ibid., 325.
38. ᾿Ερδυναμόω means “to cause to be able to function” (Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 333), not “to produce.”
39. While the Scriptures ascribe sanctification to God (Eph. 5:25–27; 1 Thess. 5:23; Titus 2:14; Heb 13:20–21), they also say believers have a role in this work. Believers are to be “on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13), and to “lay aside the old self [and] be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:22–23).
40. Apart from God’s power and other operations in the heart of the believer, no believer would persevere to obtain the inheritance or reward. God’s part is to strengthen (Phil. 4:13), motivate (2:13), warn (e.g., Heb. 2:3; 1 Pet. 1:17), command (1 Pet. 1:13–16), and give hope and encouragement (Rom. 15:13). The believers’ part is to walk in the Spirit, work out their salvation, and so forth. God has provided all that is needed for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3) and yet believers must add to their faith moral excellence, knowledge, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (vv. 5–7). And “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). Charles Hodge acknowledges that the believer is to cooperate in this work. “Sanctification does not exclude all cooperation on the part of its subjects, but, on the contrary, calls for their unremitting and strenuous exertion. . . . It is nevertheless the work of God” (Systematic Theology [London: James Clarke, 1960], 3:226).
41. “Life in the Spirit is not passive submission to the Spirit to do a supernatural work in one’s life; rather it requires conscious effort so that the indwelling Spirit may accomplish his ends in one’s life” (Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994], 433). As W. G. T. Shedd wrote, “The believer cooperates with God the Spirit in the use of the means of sanctification.” Shedd notes that God’s role, according to the Westminster Confession is to “strengthen” and to “excite,” that is, to motivate (Dogmatic Theology [reprint, Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1979], 804). Hodge similarly notes that sanctification is produced by “the cooperation of second causes,” that is, human choices and will (Systematic Theology: 3:204).
42. Interestingly Stanley senses this difficulty in his discussion of discipleship. Since works are necessary for (eschatological) salvation in his view, and since works can never be good enough, Stanley waters down the requirements so that even though they are imperfect and incomplete, fairly good is good enough. The problem according to Stanley is that “the concept of discipleship has also been misunderstood as an overly arduous commitment” (Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 238). So long as the discipleship requirement is understood as not “overly arduous,” then apparently works can be a condition of final entrance into heaven! Similar views are suggested by Kent L. Yinger, Paul, Judaism, and Judgment according to Deeds (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 283–91. He suggests that for the final justification by works, “God has never demanded perfect obedience, only a sincere heart.” Obviously, if a certain degree of righteousness is necessary to enter heaven, one must lower the definition of sin to a manageable level; otherwise no one would be saved.
43. Gary L. W. Johnson and Guy P. Waters, By Faith Alone: Answering Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2006), 31.
44. Alan P. Stanley, Salvation Is More Complicated Than You Think (Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2007).
45. Ibid., 252.
46. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 321. Stanley would probably say Luther was speaking of preconversion works, thereby leaving open whether postconversion works save. However, Luther would maintain that no works of any kind can save. Stanley quotes Luther as saying, “For we perceive that a man who is justified is not yet a righteous man, but is in the very movement or journey toward righteousness” (Martin Luther, The Disputation concerning Justification, ed. Hilton C. Oswald, Helmut T. Lehman, and Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, vol. 34 of Luther’s Works [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1999], 23). However, what Luther meant by “journey toward righteousness,” is not, as Stanley implies, a journey toward final salvation from hell, but the journey of progressive sanctification, becoming righteous in experience. Here is what Luther said in full: “23. For we perceive that a man who is justified is not yet a righteous man, but is in the very movement or journey toward righteousness. 24. Therefore, whoever is justified is still a sinner; and yet he is considered fully and perfectly righteous by God who pardons and is merciful. 25. Moreover, God forgives and is merciful to us because Christ, our advocate and priest, intercedes and sanctifies our beginning in righteousness. 26. His righteousness, since it is without defect and serves us like an umbrella against the heat of God’s wrath, does not allow our beginning righteousness to be condemned” (ibid., 23–26, italics added).
47. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 322.
48. Ibid., 327.
49. Ibid., 252-53.
50. Ibid., 252.
51. Ibid., 51, 322. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.14.6. Admittedly Calvin spoke rather opaquely here. But he may not have been defining “cause” the way Stanley defines it. Calvin asserts, “What precedes in the order of administration is called the cause of what follows.” It is not really a cause but is only “called” that because works precede entrance into heaven. Calvin clarified what he meant when he said, “There are inferior causes, but these depend on free justification, which is the only true cause why God blesses us. These modes of expression designate the order of sequence rather than the cause.” For Stanley, “cause” means “something which brings about an effect,” but most likely Calvin simply meant “something which precedes something else in a sequence.”
52. Stanley asserts that works are a “condition” of salvation, but then he begins to qualify this. “It is unfortunate,” he says, “that the term ‘condition’ carries with it all sorts of negative connotations, for Jesus does not mean condition here in the sense of gaining merit or favor.” Stanley then says that by condition he means that believers “must continue in their already existing relationship with God if they are to be finally saved” (Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 248).
53. Ibid., 322. (Stanley quotes Calvin with approval.)
54. Stanley writes that “people will be judged on the basis of their works vis-à-vis their final destiny” (ibid., 311).
55. According to Stanley the eschatological judgment (entrance into heaven) is “based on works” (ibid., 133).
56. Ibid., 248.
57. If a person is justified by “persistent” faith, then it is impossible to say for certain that anyone is justified now, because his faith has not yet persisted. However, justification is already complete; the future acquittal before the judge is based on this fact. For an excellent discussion of the nature of salvation see Earl D. Radmacher, Salvation, Swindoll Leadership Library (Dallas: Word, 2000).
58. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 311.
59. Ibid., 309.
60. Ibid., 125.
61. Ibid., 333.
62. Ibid., 187.
63. Ibid., 197.
64. Ibid., 206.
65. Ibid., 334.
66. Ibid., 322.
67. Ibid., 333. He qualifies this to mean postconversion works originating from God.
68. Justification, he says, is “an acquittal or declaration of righteousness not as the entry point of salvation but the end point, that is, final justification at the future judgment” (ibid., 309).
69. Ibid., 310.
70. Although Stanley does believe that the eschatological verdict is not ultimately in until a believer’s life shows that he is truly saved, this is not what he means by final justification. By acquittal he does not mean demonstrated to be righteous or “vindicated.” He means declared legally, forensically righteous (ibid.).
71. Two aorist participles express the time of Abraham’s and Rahab’s justification: ἀνενέγκας (“offered”) and ὑποδεξαμένη (“received”). Normally they express action simultaneous with that of the main verb ἐδικαιώθη (“was justified”). Thus Abraham was justified when he offered Isaac and not at the eschatological judgment. “If a participle occurs after the finite (or other) verb on which it depends, it tends to refer to concurrent (simultaneous) or subsequent (following) action” (Stanley E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. [Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1995], 187). When the main verb, in this case “was justified,” is aorist, the participle will often be contemporaneous with the main verb (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996], 624). The context favors this because the outcome of Abraham’s offering was a completion or perfection of his faith in time and not at the judgment.
72. Gerhard Delling, “τελειόω,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 8 (1972), 282.
73. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 326.
74. Schreiner and Caneday also suggest a similar “tension” between the fact that a person is forgiven of his sins but that he must continue to confess or he will not be saved (The Race Set before Us, 76–77). Since the theme of 1 John is stated in the opening verses (1:3–4) as tests of fellowship and not salvation, it is much simpler to say that ongoing confession and forgiveness are for fellowship and not salvation from hell.
75. Mark W. Karlberg, “The Search for an Evangelical Consensus on Paul and the Law,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40 (December 1997): 569.
76. “It is evident that one’s conduct evidently plays a role in determining one’s eternal destiny” (Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 326, italics added).
77. Ibid., 252 (italics his).
78. Ibid., 251.
79. Ibid., 328.
80. This writer has discussed this passage elsewhere. See Joseph C. Dillow, “Abiding Is Remaining in Fellowship: Another Look at John 15:1–6, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 147 (January–March 1990): 44-53. There it is argued that John 15 is speaking about fruit-bearing and loss of fellowship and not salvation.
81. Stanley’s view is that one is saved in the end only if he “holds fast.” But if that is correct, the verb “saved” (σῴζεσθε) in 1 Corinthians 15:2 would be either past tense (“by which you have been saved, if you hold fast”) or future tense (“by which you will be saved if you hold fast”). But the verb is in the present tense, and that “tense of the verb saved focuses on sanctification,” not entrance into heaven (David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary,New Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983; reprint, Colorado Springs: Cook, 1996), 542).
82. Stanley understands “blameless” in Colossians 1:23 as a reference to final salvation. “Salvation is conditional upon the believer’s continuance” (Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 53). However, it more likely refers to the relative blamelessness often discussed in the New Testament. For example an elder must be “blameless” (Titus 1:6). Believers will be presented mature in Christ if they continue in the faith. See also Psalm 119:1. For an excellent discussion of Colossians 1:23 see Charles M. Bing, “The Warning in Colossians 1:21–23, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 164 (January–March 2007): 74-88.
83. The statement that believers are God’s house “if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end” (Heb. 3:6) is understood by Stanley to mean that a person is born again only if he continues in the faith to the end of life. However, Stanley assumes without discussion that to be a member of God’s house is the same as being a true Christian. The Book of Hebrews, however, identifies the house with the worshiping community, a community from which some were withdrawing (10:25). For those Jewish Christians to return to Judaism would mean they would not enter into spiritual “rest.” See Thomas Kem Oberholtzer, “The Warning Passages in Hebrews—Part 2: The Kingdom Rest in Hebrews 3:1–4:13, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 145 (April–June 1988): 185-86.
84. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? 328.
85. Ibid., 327.
86. Ibid.