Why Faith, Not Works, Makes Us Right With God

What if the one thing keeping you from peace with God is the belief that you have to earn it? We open Romans 3–5 and sit with Paul’s bold claim that all have sinned and fall short, then hear the relief: we’re justified freely by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus. From there we follow a clear thread—Abraham’s righteousness credited by faith before circumcision, David’s forgiveness after failure, and the startling difference between wages and gifts. Every story points to one center: the finished work of Christ, received by faith, not achieved by effort.

We also tackle the tension many feel between Paul and James. Do works justify, or does faith alone? Paul explains how we’re made right with God, while James presses whether our faith is alive. Works become the fruit of union with Christ, not the currency of salvation. That keeps us from lifeless profession on one side and anxious legalism on the other. Faith has feet, but grace supplies the strength.

Along the way, we address pride in heritage, the pull of spiritual scorekeeping, and the subtle ways law-keeping creeps back into the Christian life. You’ll hear why signs like circumcision—or modern badges like baptism and service—are meaningful as seals but never sources of righteousness. You’ll also hear how the gospel levels the ground for Jew and Gentile, disciplined and recovering alike, forming a community shaped by gratitude, not comparison.

If this resonates, share it with someone who’s tired of trying to be “enough.” Subscribe for more verse-by-verse teaching through Romans, and leave a review to help others find the message of grace.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

We have this idea that we want to work our way to heaven. Even after we've been saved, we want to please God by the works that we do. And we need to be walking in faith every step of our Christian journey. And one of the key verses from chapter 3 is this Romans chapter 3, beginning in verse 23. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

You have just as much merit now as you did before you accepted Jesus as your Savior. As Pastor Carl explains in today's message, our salvation was never about what we do. Only when we acknowledge our brokenness and accept the grace of Christ are we made holy in God's sight. That's just as true when you're standing strong against temptation as it is when you stumble back into the flesh. Our good works should only be driven by gratitude, not to earn or maintain our salvation. And now here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Turn to Romans chapter 4. We'll be looking at chapter 4 and 5 this morning. Again, kind of like a fire hose, so lots to give you. But just a premise here. Our slogan here at the Mountain Cross is simply teaching the Word of God. That's what we do, and that's how we do it. I'm a simple guy. I thought myself a visionary at one point, but I realized in the last few weeks that I'm a vision catcher rather than a vision caster. So I can grab a vision and get a good hold of it, and then if I try to explain it, it doesn't work very well. So I'm a simple guy. Paul is a deep thinker, and he's talking with these Romans who are deep thinkers. And in the Roman society, there are a bunch of different philosophies that were going on. All these philosophies that Paul had been trained in. So he knows the way these people are thinking. You have Romans that live in Rome. You have Greeks that are also there, but the Greco and the Roman are two different philosophies that kind of work together but are kind of opposed too. Then you have the Jews that are in there that are the called of God. And they've they've they've come to faith in Jesus, but they still have this idea that, you know, we're better than everybody else because we're the called of God. They could be part of the kingdom too. And this goes as far as in other areas, uh Paul addresses this: that if you want to be a Christian, you've got to be circumcised. You know, you need to follow the law to be the Christian as well as grace. And Paul's like, that's not the case, you know. Um there's a difference between, you know, a Jew that's circumcised that has come to faith in the Lord, and a Gentile that is not circumcised that has come to faith in the Lord. You both come to faith in the Lord, but God has you at different places, but it doesn't make you any better, or anything like that. So that's what he's dealing with. And then you also have the barbarians that you're dealing with, which refers mainly to more northern European, the Germanic peoples up there. They were considered the barbarians by the heavy thinkers of the Romans and the Greco and the Grecians. And yet the barbarians were very deep thinkers as well, and they were mainly making fun of their language because it sounded different than theirs. So all these philosophies come together in Rome, and it affects the way the church was going. And that's why Paul began to read, uh, to write this letter to them. He started out in chapter one by listing all these terrible, terrible sins with the implication of, and you do this too. You know, don't be pointing a finger at other people when you're doing the same sort of thing. Don't be pointing a finger and condemning them to hell, seeing thinking that the gospel does not apply to them because it does. And then he goes on to talk about different perceptions about the law and so forth, and we get into chapter 4 here. But before we get into chapter 4, I wanted to renew, uh, go back again. We have this idea that we want to work our way to heaven. Even after we've been saved, we want to please God by the works that we do. And we need to be walking in faith every step of our Christian journey. And one of the key verses from chapter 3 is this Romans chapter 3, beginning in verse 23. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter what background you have, it doesn't matter what philosophy you grew up in, the only way to be right with God is through faith in Jesus Christ. That's where you find justification, that's where you find redemption, because all of us have sinned. It doesn't matter what background you come from, you're all sinners, and you all need a Savior. And so keep this verse in mind as we go forward, as he tackles another issue here. This is the issue of, okay, um we talked about Abraham and his faith, and yet, you know, he was he was of the circumcised. Well, let's just go get into it and and talk about as we go. Verse 1 of chapter 4. What then shall we say that Abraham, our father, has found according to the flesh? What did he experience? What did he find out? What did he learn about his relationship with the Lord? Verse 2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. It wasn't any works that he did, it was his belief. His belief made him right with God because of what God did. That's why, you know, his works don't stack up before God. But before others, we can brag to others about the works that we do, and if we compare ourselves to each other, we can exalt ourselves over somebody else, and again, point fingers at other people that that have other struggles we don't necessarily have with. But when we compare ourselves to the holiness of God, there's nothing we can do to stack up to it except trust Him and the finished work that He's done for us on the cross. Now to Him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. Are you following that? If you work, you can't apply grace to your life because what you get is the wages for your work. Are you following me? If you're putting your hope into following the law and works to get you right with God, you're not going to be able to experience the grace by which Abraham stands, and hopefully the rest of us are standing by the grace of God, the finished, perfect work that he did on our behalf, in our place, so that we could be made right with God. If you're relying on your works, you can't access that grace. Are you following that? Paul does a lot of these circular reasonings, and again, I'm a simple guy and I'm just trying to explain it. Going back to that verse that we started out with, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, what do our works look like? How effectual are our works? Isaiah talks about our works being as filthy as rags. Our best works compared to the holiness of God are as filthy as rags. And so what are the wages for the works that we do as sinful people? This is a looking into next week a little bit, Romans chapter 6, verse 23. For the wages of sin is death. The wages of sinful people is death. No matter how good we work, how good our works are, no matter how hard we work, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. So would we rather take the gift that gives us eternal life, a relationship with the Lord, reconciled with God, no longer enemies, but friends of God, or we try to work our way and we receive the wages that were due, which is death. Alright, think about that as we continue on. This is interesting. I'm going to show you an apparent contradiction in the Word of God. The brother of Jesus, James, wrote an epistle, and uh for for over 2,000 years, people have been debating whether James should even be in the Bible. Because James seems to advocate works as opposed to Paul advocating faith. But I want to make a case that they are walking hand in hand and they're not saying one or the other. James just has a different angle to it. And he talks about, you know, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. That's why I wanted to bring this up. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you not see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? So what James is, he's not saying, you know, his works proved his righteousness, but what James is saying is, because Abraham believed God, his faith had feet to it. And James saw a lot of people that were declaring themselves to be Christians that weren't walking it out. If you're really a believer, then we ought to see some fruit in your lives. Not fruit that you need to work up, but fruit that is a uh a work of the Holy Spirit working in and through you. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you're a new creation. God is conforming you into the image of Christ, and you're looking more and more like Christ every day as you seek him and grow in his grace. That's what we should be seeing. And that's what that was James's concern, because a lot of people came to faith in Jesus and sat on the couch and didn't do a thing. Is that a real faith? Faith makes us do things. Faith is not just believing, but it's obedience to the Lord. And it's not in our own strength either, because you can go, yeah, I believe, and I'm going to do these things in my flesh. And how many people come to faith in Jesus Christ, or say they've come to faith in Jesus Christ, do all these great works, and come before the Lord and say, Lord, Lord, look at all these things that we did in your name. And he says, get away from me. I never knew you. Another thing to consider in this is some faith traditions say, Yes, you are saved by grace through faith. But you have to add works to it. Add works to it. It's grace plus works. And that's not what James is saying either, and that's not what the gospel says either. Our entire redemption comes from the finished work of Jesus on the cross, his shed blood. And as we're changed, we naturally have fruits that he grows in and through us, which are called good works. But we don't have to do these good works in order to justify the grace. Does that make sense? So it gets kind of confusing, but they both bring an interesting angle to it. It's not about works, lest any man should boast. It's about grace. But if you think you've come to faith in Jesus Christ and your works show works of the flesh, then you might want to question whether you really came to faith or not. Does that make sense? What do your works look like? And what is the purpose of your works? Are your works of the spirit or of the of the flesh? And he he he continued to say what Paul said. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. And he added that fact to it. He's a friend of God. It's about a relationship with the Lord. He has restored us into friendship with him, and we grow in him and we move in him and we stand in him, and not in ourselves, not in our flesh. That's where faith is. That's where walking in the Lord is. That's where being a Christian is and should be. Well, back to our study. Paul's going to go right back and talk about work again. But to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted to righteousness. Now, bringing James into that, he's not saying the one who believes and sits on the couch, his faith is counted as righteousness. But what Paul is saying, putting the gospel aside, somebody who's trying to work themselves into heaven is not going to make it except for grace. But if you come to faith in Jesus Christ, put your hope and trust in him, and no longer count on, no longer try to work yourself to heaven, that's what he's saying here, that is accounted as righteousness. And bringing James into them, as you get to that place, you want to see fruit, you want to start walking in the grace of God by showing good works because we were created for good works. This is a great thing to go home and to chew on. Go through these circular reasonings and come to the conclusion. There's a lot of full, usually philosophy never really lands, but Paul is trying to land it. Ultimately, it comes to our relationship in Jesus Christ and the finished work that He's done and how we respond to that. And he was talking about Abraham. Now he's going to bring David into the picture. Just as David also described the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. Now you know the story of David. He was described as a man after God's own heart. As a kid, you know, he looked to the Lord and he trusted in the Lord. And as a young man out in the fields, as a shepherd, he would look up at the stars and write all these psalms of worship to the Lord because of his greatness. And because of his love for the Lord and his name, he stood up against Goliath and he killed Goliath, not in his strength, but in the strength that the Lord gave him, and in the boldness that the Lord gave him. And he was a man after God's own heart, and he was one we would we would follow. He had good works of faith, right? Until that day when he was at the palace instead of out fighting wars like kings are supposed to in that time of year. And he saw Bathsheba taking a bath. And you know the rest of the story. He had her invited over and and they they committed adultery. She got pregnant now. He's he's in a bad situation here. And so he invites Uriah, his her husband, to come home, and hopefully that they would spend some time together so people would think that that's his baby, and not David's baby, uh, but Uriah being um one of the chief officers in the army for for David, you know, and an honest and in man of integrity would not go and do that. He stayed at the at the steps of the palace instead to honor the king. And so David had him killed on the on the field because that's what will cover the sin. And and and ever since that day that he gave into his flesh, he wasn't quite right with the Lord anymore. He felt distance from the Lord. And finally Nathan came and and and confronted him, and and the and David came to a place of repentance. And he found the forgiveness of the Lord. What he did was terrible. A murderous adulterer. This is the man who we look up to as the example of a man after God's own heart. And yet he found the grace of God. Yes, people in the Old Testament, uh, just like in the New Testament, found favor in the eyes of the Lord as they trusted in the Lord. They looked forward to the coming Messiah. We look back to Jesus who was crucified on the cross. But the salvation came the same way. They believed God and was accounted to him as righteousness, and he was blessed because all of his lawless deeds were forgiven. How can anybody forgive what he did? This is the great mystery of the cross, isn't it? He was forgiven. He was made right. The rest of his life he suffered some uh ramifications of his sin, but he found freedom. And Paul's bringing that back. It's not about the works that we do, but it's about the grace that we find in Jesus Christ. And that grace brings freedom, brings blessing, brings peace, because God took it all upon himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He took our sins upon himself. Our lawless deeds are forgiven because they've been paid for by Jesus. Our sins are covered because they've been paid for by Jesus. And the Lord does not impute the sin to us because he's taken it away from us. What a glorious message, isn't it? Verse 9. Now, does this blessedness then uh come to the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised also? I mean, that would be the the the argument. The Jews say, well, it's, you know, it's it's through God's chosen people, and Jesus came through, and and so uh it's about the uncircumcised, it's about the circumcised. But then he goes, for we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted while he was circumcised or not circumcised? Well, let's investigate this. Abraham was the father of the Hebrews, father of the Israelite Jewish nation, right? But he's also the father of the faith. Moses brought the law later, but Abraham brought circumcision, a symbol of being set apart from the rest of the nations around Israel. But when did he believe God? When did he trust God? Before or after he was circumcised? Well, the answer is not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that the righteous n that the righteousness might be imputed to them also. He came to faith in Christ, looking forward to Christ, in the Lord that he knew. He believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness before circumcision. Circumcision was a seal, a sign of that setting apart that he had put his trust in the Lord. And that is supposed to be something that points us back to the faith. But the problem is it points us to works. And eventually the law would do the same thing to the Jewish nation. They were looking to fulfill the law instead of looking at the one that the law was pointing to. The circumcision was pointing to the Lord and the faith that Abraham had placed in the Lord. So anyone who trusts the Lord, circumcised or not, would be made right with the Lord because of faith, because of what the Lord has done. And at the Same time, verse 12, the father of circumcision to those who are not only of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of faith, which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. It was a special group of people. The Hebrews were set apart from the rest of the nation to bring about, well, to be stewards of the law and to bring through their line the Messiah that was coming to save the world. But just because you were circumcised, set apart of God's chosen people, just because you were born a Jew does not make you right with God. It's a great honor and a great privilege, a great responsibility that they had. But the key was going back to before Abraham was circumcised, that it was about faith. It's the faith that brings us salvation, no matter what position that you're in, no matter what your background, no matter what your philosophy, it's faith. And that applies to the circumcised and the uncircumcised. The circumcised had a very important job to fulfill. How much better is that job when they when they uh fulfilled it with faith? That's the point that Paul is trying to make. Verse 14. For the promise that he would be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Again, this idea that the Lord would use Abraham to bless the whole world. And ultimately, through Abraham would come the Messiah who would inherit all things. Did that come through the law or through faith? So if those who are of the law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise made of no effect. Are you following this? If we think it's through the law that Abraham's seed, Abraham's seed would multiply the earth, then the faith is made void. The work that the Lord did on our behalf would be made void. If we're trusting in our works, if we're trusting in the law, the grace of God is made void and it has no effect on you. The church in Rome had come to faith in the Lord, but most of the church was made up of Jewish believers. And it sounds like they were tending to fall back into works, just like the Galatians. You foolish Galatians, you begun in the spirit, you want to perfect yourself in the flesh. We can't do that. We need to walk in faith every step of every day, and not try to perfect ourselves in our own flesh. Because when we do, it voids out the faith that we had, it voids out the grace that we have, it voids out the work that Jesus did on our behalf if we're trying to work ourselves to heaven. Does that make sense? And then he says, because the law brings about wrath, for where there is no law, there is no transgression. Sometimes I have a hard time putting my head around what a verse is trying to say. So I go to some other versions of the Bible to get a little insight. And that's okay to do. It's also okay to go and look up words in a concordance. A concordance will tell you what the original Greek and Hebrew words meant and give you some other words that give you an idea of different angles to how this word applies. And in our studies, as we prayerfully go through and dig the treasure out of God's word, these are all good tools to use. In verse 15, I went and looked it up in the New Living Translation, which was based on the Old Living Bible. Remember that? It was big in the 70s and stuff. But the Living Bible was a paraphrase, which is it was kind of rewritten with the author's uh angle on what it said, and it wasn't really a true translation. But the New Living Translation was later made, I think in the 90s, to be a true translation of the Bible and still have that nice feel that everybody liked about the Living Translation.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Thanks for listening to today's edition of Come On Up. Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross has been taking us through a study in the book of Romans. Did you know that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to those who lived in Rome and who had begun a church there? He was encouraging them to keep the faith, not compromising with the culture around them. The practices that were going on at that time were ungodly and against the morals that God established. Roman gods were worshipped, these false idols that had no power or authority. Sexuality was subjective and was going in all kinds of directions that go opposite to what God created between man and woman. As you listen to some of the corruption that was going on in that society, it may not sound very far off from what's going on today. When people stay rooted and grounded in God's Word, it leads them to the truth and the pure understanding of everything God created and why. But when you lean into popular opinion for the sake of not offending, it quickly leads you astray from what God created in the first place. You can find all of the messages in this series on our website. It's themountaincross.com and look for Bible studies. The Mountain Cross is a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We meet on Sundays at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, beginning at 10 a.m. If you'd like to learn more about us, go to themountaincross.com. Come on up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.