Faith and works

The Lifesaving Rope

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

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.… A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:18, 24, 26

The stupendous Niagara Falls have been spoken of in every part of the world. But while they are marvelous to hear of and wonderful to see, they have been very destructive to human life, when by accident some have been carried down the cataract. Some years ago, two men were in a boat and found themselves being carried so swiftly down the current that they must both inevitably be borne down and dashed to pieces. At last, however, one man was saved by a rope that was floated out to him, which he grasped. Another rope was floated to the other man, but at the same instant the rope came into his hand, a log floated by him. The thoughtless and confused man, instead of seizing the rope, laid hold on the log. It was a fatal mistake. They were both in imminent peril, but the one was drawn to shore because he had a connection with the people on the land, while the other, clinging to the loose, floating log, was borne irresistibly along, and was never heard of afterward. Faith has a saving connection with Christ. Christ is on the shore, so to speak, holding the rope, and as we lay hold of it with the hand of our confidence, he pulls us to shore. But our good works having no connection with Christ are drifted along down to the gulf of despair. Grapple our virtues as tightly as we may, even with hooks of steel, they cannot avail us in the least degree. They are the disconnected log that has no hold on the heavenly shore.

THE QUOTABLE SPURGEON

by

Charles Spurgeon