Are both our “faith and works” needed for Salvation?

It is a long-standing Christian tenet that a person has to have faith and do good works, i.e. follow the Ten Commandments, Aseret ha-Dibrot, Torah ( Ex. 20:1-17; Deut. 5:6-21). As to whether our obedience to the Law is an ultimate requirement to be saved, not just faith, is where teachings differ even among those in traditional Christianity. But not to traditional Judaism and Islam that hold “our works” to be essential. On our own, can we really do good works acceptable to the Father? What is the truth? What exactly is the proper role of “our faith and works” to salvation? Do our “faith and/or works” really lead to salvation, or what some believe that having “works” is proof that one is “saved“? That, having “good works” is a natural progression of “being saved“?  Can we have “good works” and still not be saved? Are our good works the “result  of salvation“; that we are “saved now”? If not , when actually are we really “saved”?

Reward for our obedience or “works”/deeds: Eternal Life

Some of us may have this belief of “saved by faith“, stops there and negates our personal responsibility and obligation to do “good works”.What is the truth?

Jesus said in John 5:29 “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation

Also, notice Rom. 2:6-9:

“Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;”

The preceding verses clearly support the principle that the reward for those who”have done good”  and in “patient continuance” in “our works” (overcomers of evil) is “immortality, eternal life“; whereas, the consequence of sin is eternal death. Why no mention of reward for our faith? Is this really the contextual truth? Eternal life being the reward of having “works“, the righteousness of obedience or “works“(Rom. 6:16), what happened then to “the righteousness of faith“? What is the end-result of having faith? What then, is in it for “our faith“?

Follow God’s commandments or else?

The Law is the Ten Commandments given to Moses in 2 tablets of stone. This defined sin as a violation of that Law as in

I John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
From Genesis, disobedience (sin) to the Law even before it was given in Mt. Sinai, nevertheless was met with punishment of eternal death. This is the final death (2nd death) from which there is no resurrection; hopeless, were it not for the set plan of Passover Lamb “slain from the foundation”, as a substitute for us, as in:

Rev. 13:8 “…..the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” (NIV)

Contrariwise, a natural death (1st death) is a consequence of being mortal. And as such can die, even when personally, he/she did not commit sin like Job and Jesus. If Adam/Eve did not sin, they would still die the natural 1st death as they were mortals. Having been created, as such, humans already have been destined to die and afterwards the judgment as in:

Heb. 9:2 7 “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

On the other hand, eternal death, the 2nd death is the consequence of Adam’s sin. It even includes any human being, peri-Adamic, i.e., any human before, during or after Adam’s life on earth, including the man-Jesus. This principle is based on all sin imputed to one man (Adam), after the Law was given at Mt Sinai, so that death of one man, i.e. man-Jesus’ can also be imputed to and counted as our death, (and that of humanity) as in:

Rom. 5:12-15 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”

Romans 5:17“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:21 “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.”

The Old Testament (Tanach) clearly confirms that eternal death (2nd death) is a consequence of sin:
Gen. 2:17 “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Referring to the 2nd and eternal death. Note that Adam and Eve did not actually die after they sinned but was driven out of the garden of Eden, lived and had offspring and died a natural death).

Gen. 3:3 “but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.”

Ps. 34:21 “Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.”

Ezek. 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him”

The New Testament also confirms that eternal death (2nd) is the punishment for sin:

Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

James 1:15 “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Romans 6:16″Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Notice: Righteousness of obedience to the Law or “works”)

Romans 7:5  “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.”
Notice the fruit of disobedience is (second) death.

Romans 7:11″for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me”

The take-home message from the preceding verses clearly exacts eternal death for those who do not follow the Ten Commandments, and continue living in sin, following the “flesh“.

Role of Faith and “works” in defining righteousness ?

Following the Law is commanded for all, otherwise the punishment is eternal (2nd) death. Righteousness that comes from following the Law (with the gift of the Holy Spirit) has its reward, but not our justification or reconciliation with the Father for Adam’s sin, which comes as a gift from faith as in:

Gal. 2:16 “know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

It is putting “our faith in Christ Jesus” that initiated us to be justified and reconciled to the Father. It is the “righteousness of faith, not the righteousness of works”. Our own righteousness that comes with following the Law does not compute, as in:

Isa 64:6“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away”.

Rom 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”.

Whatever “goodness” we have is not good enough for reconciliation with the Father. Even Job learned that his own “righteousnes of works” following the law on his own, is not what the Father is calling for, in reconciliation or justification. Read the whole Book of Job which shows that God decides what is required for justification even when others consider Job “righteous and an upright man“; God punishes even the righteous as a type for what would happen to man-Jesus.

The narrative in Genesis about being “like God” is not going to come to fruition by the action or “works” of Adam/Eve themselves eating the “fruit“, and for that matter, by any man, except by the man-Jesus himself. Nothing can any man do for justification, except to have faith. Rather, death as a consequence of sin, has to be paid for. And, it was paid in faith, trusting the Father will fulfill his promise. It took the death of man-Jesus, as a Passover Lamb, as proof of belief, to be recognized by the Father as substitution and imputed for the death of humanity. Jesus’ death, which was his “works” (including following the Law) did not gain “righteousness” for reconciliation of mankind. Rather, it was Jesus’ “righteousness of faith” in the Father, not his works, trusting that his death will account for justification and reconciling us back to the Father and against the eternal death of humanity . Trust which was faith-based(evidence-based/substantive) was counted by the Father, in love, as righteousness worthy of reconciliation/justification.
As Paul said, in Rom. 5:6-10

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the (belief in the) death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Righteousness as accepted by Father God to initiate reconciliation is the “righteousness of faith“, so no one can boast, not the “righteousness of works”, even that of man-Jesus’. It is the belief that  “death of his Son”, not death itself , would be counted for righteousness.This acceptance in the factual and substantive evidence of the Father that what was promised to come to fruition was acknowledged as “righteousness of faith“.Remember, as a type of what is to come, Abraham believed and credited or counted for “righteousness” (compare Gen. 15:6 and Rom. 4;3). Having been justified, (only after justification/reconciliation) we then shall (future) be saved. We need to be justified first, and be reconciled with the Father, before salvation comes in the future.

Notice that it was not just anybody’s faith; rather it is the faith of Jesus, not Abraham’s faith which is merely a type, to initiate this process, as in

Rom 3:22-23″Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. Notice, “…unto all and upon all…that believe”

Eph. 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Because of the Father’s love and by his grace, that he counted faith for righteousness; the “righteousness of faith” that was for reconciliation; the belief that results in trust that is substantive,evidence-based or faith-based.

How did we actually and finally get saved?

As Rom. 5:10 states, Jesus’ death, as proof or aftermath of his faith-based trust in the Father that what was promised will come into effect, reconciled us to the Father and ends there. But this “reconciliation/justification” that was an aftermath of his death, was not based on the “good works of Jesus” prior to his death. It was not because of the “righteousness of his works” so “no one can boast”. Rather, it was the “righteousness of Jesus’ faith” that believed and trusted the Father to count his death as full payment for the eternal death of mankind, that reconciled us. That said, while Jesus’ faith was the basis for “reconciliation/justification“, that in itself did not actually or proximately save us.

We are “not yet saved” with reconciliation or justification. Instead, we still (future) “shall be saved by his life“. Meaning, Jesus’ faith (evidence for which he believed and trusted) that the Father would take his death as imputed to mankind’s death, still requires for the Father to resurrect him back to life for us to be saved.; again “faith-based“, not “works-based”.

What then in his resurrection or his life that empowered us to be saved? Consider what Jesus said before he died in John 16:7, that he has to go the Father in heaven to receive the Holy Spirit for us:
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Jesus had to be resurrected to receive this promised “power” and “gift” of the Holy Spirit, based again on Jesus’ faith and trust in the Father. Jesus acknowledged this receipt of the Holy Spirit to be crucial, for without which, salvation will not happen even in his life. And with that gift and promise of the Father that with the Holy Spirit in us, what dynamics then will change? John states that this is the power that will help us become “sons of God“,
John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

Note that the Holy Spirit is “power“, not a third person of Trinity.  Without this gift , which is the Holy Spirit in us, we will not have the power to become “sons of God”. Power dynamics changed to empower those with the Holy Spirit to do good works recognized by the Father. And having such works or “fruits of the spirit“, rewards us with “immortal/spirit bodies” at resurrection, which is the essence of “salvation” from eternal death. This Holy Spirit is a gift based on the “righteousness of Jesus’ faith”, and not his “works“. And, this was an unwritten covenant between the Father and YHVH/Jesus before any action of Jesus materialized, before the foundation of the world. Hence, trust in the Father that he will fulfill all he promised to YHVH/Jesus and righteousness that comes from “faith instead of works”. Faith or substance/evidence because YHVH/Jesus was with God the Father (Compare Jn. 1:1 and Heb. 11:1 ). He knew the power of the Father by being with him from the very beginning.

Holy Spirit prophesied to come in Old and New Testaments

Ezek. 32:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow”. Notice that this Holy Spirit of power will be given to us while still in our flesh-composed bodies, our current life.

Ezekiel. 39:29 “I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD.” 

Joel 2:28-29″And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Compare with Ac.2:14-21)

Isa. 32:15-17 “till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.”

Isa.44:3-5 “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name Israel”

Zech. 12:10 “And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem”

Matt. 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John. 1:33 “And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”  Notice that  Jesus had to receive the Holy Spirit from the Father after his resurrection, before Jesus can baptize the Holy Spirit into us.

John. 7:37-39 “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” Notice this will happen also to those “latter fruits“.

John 14:16-17, 26 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. But you know him, for he lives with you and will bein you.But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John. 15:26-27  “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

John 16:13 (AMP).“But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. For He will not speak His own message ; but He will tell whatever He hears , and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come ”   

Mark. 1:7-8 “And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke 3:16 “John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Luke 11:13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 24:49 “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Again, notice that the HS is a power, not a person of the Trinity.

Acts 1:5 “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Instead of the Ten Commandments written in our “stone heart”, the Holy Spirit was prophesied to come into us (while flesh-composed) and write them in the “fleshly tables” of our heart, of humanity and empower us to follow the Law.

Fulfillment of the Promise:

Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Acts2:32-33″God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

Acts 2:38-39 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Rom. 8:11-13 “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

Rom. 8:14-17 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Eph.3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

Clearly, the preceding verses confirmed that Jesus received this HS from the Father and now has been poured to the apostles starting the day of Pentecost and to many during that time and still being given into us. This will bring life and strength to our mortal bodies for so long as we allowed ourselves, voluntarily and by our choice, to be led by and to walk with the Holy Spirit. With it, we are adopted (not natural son) to “Sonship“, to be (currently still in the womb)”born” (finally) as “sons of God” at resurrection.

Does the presence of the Holy Spirit of power in us, take away our freedom of choice?

Devoid of the Holy Spirit, Adam & Eve had the freedom of choice and they chose wrongly; a bane to whole humanity. Without the Holy Spirit on the other hand, Abraham, also with the freedom to choose, followed God, on faith that his promises to him will be fulfilled. Clearly, even without the Holy Spirit of power, one can choose rightly or wrongly. Nonetheless, no matter how good we are on our own, still we are as “filthy rags“(Isa. 64:6).

However, some teachers have it that the Holy Spirit in us is so powerful that we have no “freedom of choice” and in a way has to follow it. Many instances of “forcible compliance” have been mentioned, for those prior to the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit of power was given. As a classic example, notable among them of God’s prevailing power no matter what, was the story of Jonah. The narrative goes that God commanded him to go and warn Nineveh of impending destruction in the hands of God. But, he was so stubborn that instead, he went the opposite way from Nineveh. He was then swallowed by a “big fish“. He was praying before he died in the belly of the fish. After 3 days and 3 nights, he was vomited in the shore of Nineveh, where he was resurrected to life. Fear, being the beginning of wisdom(Proverbs 9:10), he then voluntarily and by his own choosing, followed God’s command and warned the inhabitants of Nineveh of their impending doom. It can be argued that Jonah was being forced, and he was. Yet, even with that horrible experience, he could still say “No” to God. And there are and will be people in that category, (even with the Holy Spirit in them, that they eventually rejected) that will end up in the “lake of fire“. However, Jonah wised up and instead followed God this time around, as he should.

The preceding example is ample enough to support the principle that even when forced and without the Holy Spirit of power in us, freedom of choice is maintained. Still, it begs the question: what if we have this Holy Spirit of power? Does it negate our freedom to choose? The narrative about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane incontrovertibly proved otherwise. Fully imbued with the Holy Spirit, still he did not follow his own will. Instead, he “walked in the Spirit” voluntarily for the “joy set before him, endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2) and let the Father’s will “be done“, as in:
Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

This is what the Father wants and hopes (Romans 8:20-25; Titus 1:2) that we will do, to be “one” with him as his way is “the way, the truth and the life“(John 14:6) Our battle is spiritual (Eph. 6:10-18) to overcome the flesh using the power of the Holy Spirit in us. God desires a “mature and willing soldier“, not a robot. A good soldier is a determined volunteer who freely chose to be one, not mercenary, nor drafted or conscripted by force.

Summary:

With man-Jesus’ death, (the aftermath/proof of the faith of Jesus) came reconciliation or justification for mankind’s sin as imputed on the sin of Adam in the garden of Eden, nothing more. This is the faith-mechanism of how all humans can get justified and reconciled to the Father. But, this is applicable only to “believers” at a particular point in time, whether “pre-during-post-millenium“, and “overcomers“as written in the “book of life“(compare Rev.3:5; 20:12; 22:19).

As crucial a first step that is, it is just the beginning of the process of salvation. Having been reconciled, subsequently we then “shall be saved by his life”. We are not yet saved now. Jesus had to be resurrected to receive the gift of the the Holy Spirit for us , as promised by the Father; it takes a live person not a dead one to receive. The “righteousness of faith”, initiated by Jesus and becomes actionable by us, was the acceptable accounting for Adam’s eternal death ( and the whole mankind’s) due to sin that the Father recognized, not the “righteousness of works”, so no man (including man-Jesus) can boast.

Going through with decision and action to be crucified, i.e., “works“, followed “faith” that led to trust in the Father’s promise.While his natural death was proof of his faith in the Father, the proximate basis for justification and reconciliation was Jesus’ belief that led to trust which is faith-based, not his death. It was his belief which is faith-based , before his proof/death, before his “works“, that was counted for righteousness. As in “Abraham believed and this was counted for righteousness“(Compare Gen.m15:6, Rom. 4:3-6, 9, 20-25; Gal. 3:6-9, Heb 11:8-10). Conversely, “righteousness of works” is the principle that will render “reward” i.e., future salvation, eternal life/immortality at resurrection, for those who continue to walk “in the Spirit“, those who “bear fruits of the Holy Spirit“, those who are “overcomers“(Rev. 21:7-8). While actionable by us, these are works/fruitsof the Spirit in us and in conjunction(not forced but”willingly“) with our “spirit of man”, although strictly speaking not ours, per se.

Salvation is attainment of immortality, eternal life (Rom. 2:6-9), not before , while still mortal flesh-composed and deemed to die as such. Jesus proved this with his own resurrection to immortality; he was changed from man-Jesus, flesh-composed, in a twinkling of an eye after 3 days and 3 nights being dead in the tomb, into an immortal, spirit-composed and glorious body. As man-Jesus received the Holy Spirit coming out of the water of the River Jordan and with this power that he followed perfectly, he became “one” with the Father. His works or obedience were the “fruits of the Holy Spirit“, and again, strictly speaking not his own works per se, but given from above. After receiving the Holy Spirit for us from the Father at his resurrection, he then at Pentecost gave his church this gift. Similarly, the “elect” then used this power for sanctification by following the Law, now written, “not in tables of stone but in the fleshly tables of their heart“, to walk in the Spirit.

Our faith and works are needed indeed. But, how did we have faith and works? Paul stated in:
Rom. 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”

As humans, we were created with ears to hear material things. But, it is God who opens our ears (Matt 16:17) for faith/evidence/substance to come and for us to understand “spiritual truth”, a gift, for us to do “good works”. While these are proximately  our works, they actually are “fruits of the Holy Spirit“, given as a gift based on the “righteousness of Jesus’ faith” and therefore by ” the grace of God”.

Yes, having good “works“, as defined by the Father, is proof of the presence within us of the Holy Spirit. But not that one is already “saved” which is yet future, at resurrection; nor good works the “result of salvation“. Rather, “good works” that come with voluntarily following the Holy Spirit and accepted by the Father are an indication or as a result of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, the power that our “spirit of man” follows, to bring forth “fruits of the Holy Spirit”.

Faith is evidence-based, i.e., “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen” (Heb. 11:1). CreatorYHVH/Jesus was with the Father (John 1) from the very beginning and knew of his power and will deliver what he promised. He then believed and trusted the Father with all that was promised him; same systematic process that we should all adhere to.

Righteousness of man-Jesus’ faith led to imputation of his death for the death of humanity. This “righteousness of faith” is for reconciliation/justification of mankind, which then initiates the future of our salvation. On the other hand, “righteousness of man-Jesus’ works” resulted in his reward of “immortality/eternal life”;same process for all of mankind. With his life, he could then receive the promised gift of Holy Spirit from the Father, to then be given to us; as in, we are “saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10). Similarly and on the same mechanism, righteousness of ourfaith imputed our eternal death to the death of man-Jesus for “reconciliation and justification”; righteousness of our “works” results in our reward of “immortality/eternal life”. 

In essence, righteousness of faith brings about reconciliation or justification; whereas, righteousness of works/obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit leads to salvation, i.e., immortality/eternal life. Ultimately, all boil down to God’s love that brings about grace for our reconciliation and salvation. He established the plan for both goals. The accounting of faith and Holy Spirit of power are both gifts from the Father. To paraphrase John 3:16,

“God so loved the world that he graced and gifted us with his only begotten Son to die as a Passover Lamb, in faith substituted for our death, counted from faith of Jesus, for those who believed and trusted so that we will be reconciled to him.”

And having done so, we still needed to be saved as promised to his Son. His belief in his death, as seminal it was, was the proximate cause of our justification and subsequent/eventual salvation. It reconciled or justified us to the Father. Jesus’ trust and belief in the promise to receive the Holy Spirit for us,  gave us after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit of power to be “saved as sons and daughters of God”, as in:

John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power(Holy Spirit) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”.

May God open our eyes and ears to the truth; “before I hear you, now I see you” (Job 42:5).

Original post:November 27, 2017