“The System of Salvation”

Sunday, July 16, 2023

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

(2 Corinthians 5.6-10)

This passage has much to offer.  Tallying up the major points from start to finish, Paul points toward our imminent meeting with Jesus, reminds us that reality is not limited to what we can see, inverts our perspective on the fear of death, and charges us to please God in all we do, in order to be ready for that meeting, and the reward that lies beyond it.  Any one of these points could command our attention for some time, but that last one, although it didn’t seem at all controversial in its context, is a jarring statement, for some. Paul tells us we will stand before Jesus to be judged, and each of us will “receive what is due for what he has done in the body” (v10).  Isn’t this the guy who wrote Galatians 2.16?

…yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

What about Galatians 3.11?

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Or Romans 4.4, referring to God’s gift of the righteousness that brings about salvation:

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

Another one, Romans 3.20:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

And finally, the pièce de résistance:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2.8-9)

Perhaps Paul should take some time to get his story straight!  Considering the number of times he seems to have said the opposite, surely this little quip in 2 Corinthians was an oversight—an instance of Paul forgetting the basics for a moment.  Right?

Well, no, that’s not right, at all!  Not only was Paul fully aware of how God grants salvation, but his words in 2 Corinthians 5 do not contradict any of these other passages.  How can we show this?  A legalist might point to the the presence of “the law” in three of the five passages in question.  The argument might go like this: Paul meant that works of the Law of Moses could not entitle a person to salvation, but he didn’t say any such thing about works of the Law of Christ!

That would be compelling, if not for passages like Ephesians 2.9, which says salvation is “not a result of works”—not works of the law, but works.  And then there’s the matter of Romans 4, from which we extracted one verse earlier, whose context lays out the argument with no mention of any Law:

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…

(Romans 4.2-5)

Law in general, and in particular the Law of Moses, feature prominently in the rest of the chapter and book, but Paul’s point here isn’t limited to that specific Law, which had not yet been given when Abraham was first pronounced righteous—not on the basis of any works, but on the basis of his faith.

We can’t explain away everything Paul said about works by appealing to the now defunct Law of Moses; he means works.  So then, how can he say justification and salvation are a “gift,” not a “due” (Ro 4.4) for the things we have done, and then turn around and say that Jesus will give us our “due” (2Co 5.10) for the things we have done?

Part of the trouble comes from translation—the ESV showcases this tension more prominently than other versions, and the Greek text does not make use of all the same vocabulary; but the ideas are there!  More fundamentally, the trouble comes from our desire for a systematic theology—a textbook of the science of salvation, so to speak.  We want to know the exact boundaries of the rules, so we can use them to our advantage.  But that’s not what God wants, or he’d have given us a book of cold and consistent vocabulary, detailed mathematic proofs, procedural notes, and exercises, half of whose answers could be found in the back of the book.  In a sense, each of these elements can be found in the Bible, but it’s not a book of these things.  Instead, it’s a book of oracles, narratives, poetry, and prophecy, and we’re left to find our way through life by its guidance as a whole, rather than following the procedures on page 1 on the day of our birth, page 2 the next day, and so on until death.  It’s not a step-by-step instruction manual, it’s a document for human beings, by which God shares with us “a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2Co 3.6).

Don’t overthink it.  Don’t try to systematize it.  Don’t try to game the system.  It’s not game-able, because it’s not a game.  The “system” is very simple: Christ is in charge, so trust and obey him, and he’ll take care of you.

Jeremy Nettles

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