The Word of God declares in Ephesians 2:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Scripture is careful not to confuse what must be done to be saved with what should be done once saved.
Notice the language. We are not saved “by” works or “through” works, but “unto” good works.
In other words, walking in good works is what the believer should do, not to be saved, not to stay saved, not to prove salvation, but because God “hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” In other words, good works are not an obligation we perform to secure God’s favor; they are a privilege we pursue because we already have it. I don’t have to — I get to.
Titus 3 reinforces this distinction:
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
Again, the order is unmistakable.
Though we are not saved “by works of righteousness which we have done”, those who have believed are encouraged to “maintain good works.”
Why?
To be saved? No.
To stay saved? No.
To prove salvation? No.
“These things are good and profitable unto men.”
This may be groundbreaking to some, but you can do good works without trusting in those works.
The Christian can pray, read the Bible, go to church, even die a martyr’s death, without trusting in any of those things to merit or “maintain” his standing before God.
It is high time that preachers proclaim both the freeness of salvation and the high cost of discipleship without conflating the two.
Respect the divine order.