“GOOD WORKS” . . . deeds of kindness shown to another.
“WORKS OF ABRAHAM” . . . deeds which demonstrate a special closeness and trust in God (such as forsaking one's earthly family to be a part of the family of God).
“WORKS OF GOD” . . . healings or miracles which God grants through certain persons to be done. Also called, "mighty works" and "wonderful works".
“WORKS OF REPENTANCE” . . . deeds a sinner must do in order to be forgiven by God for past sins (such as repayment of stolen money, making amends for a cruelty, withdrawing from evil companions, etc.).
“WORKS OF MEN'S HANDS” . . . buildings, highways, monuments, industries, vehicles, and other inventions.
“WORKS OF THE FLESH” . . . deeds motivated by the desires of human fleshly nature and are intended, not to bless another's life, but to promote one's own self-interest, also called "wicked works".
“WORKS OF THE DEVIL” . . . deeds performed and doctrines proclaimed by men, which originate not in the heart of man, but in the perverse wisdom of Satan.

All these are “works”, each of them different from the other. When reading the word, “works”, in our Bibles, we should make every effort to ascertain which kind of works is in the writer's mind, so that we do not misunderstand his meaning. With reference to Paul's teaching, a special kind of works is one not yet mentioned. It is: “WORKS OF THE LAW”. These works are crucial to a right understanding of Paul's gospel.

“Works of the Law” refers to the religious ceremonies contained in the Law God gave Israel at Mount Sinai. The Old Testament was a covenant of symbols. It prophesied in actions more than in words of the life and ministry of Christ and his congregation. The incense symbolized the prayer of saints rising to God (Rev. 5:8). The washing of the priests' bodies symbolized the cleansing of hearts by the holy Ghost (Heb. 10:22). The candlestick represented the seven spirits before God's heavenly throne (Rev. 4:5). The veil which divided the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place symbolized human flesh, through which we must pass in order to enter into the very presence of the Almighty (Heb. 10:20). Such religious symbols, holy and precious in their time, are the "WORKS OF THE LAW" that are now useless for obtaining salvation. No longer do the Law's ceremonies accomplish any spiritual good.

The works of the Law, being from God, were good, not evil, and Jesus showed great respect and deep love for the Law, telling his disciples and others to do the same (Mt. 8:1-4; 23:1-3). The earliest congregation, like Jesus, was both Jewish and extremely devoted to the Law. Indeed, had they not loved the Law, they could not have loved Jesus. It was because they loved the Law in the hearts that they were able to love the Son of God of whom the Law spoke. Jesus himself said if a man did not believe Moses's writings (the Law), then he could not possibly believe his words (Jn. 5:46-47). Religious traditions developed by the elders of Israel clouded the picture, but the works of the Law, when kept, pointed directly to no one but Jesus Christ. Paul described the Law as “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal. 3:24). There were many thousands of Jewish believers, and they all were very zealous for the Law just as Jesus had been (Acts 21:21). In Acts 2:4, you will remember, when the holy Spirit was first given to men, it was given only to Jews who were keeping the Law. At that time, God did not offer His sanctifying Spirit either to disobedient Jews or to the Gentiles (Acts 3:25-26).

The biggest doctrinal controversy in the earliest congregation was that Jewish believers insisted no one could have a right relationship with God unless he kept the Law as they did. They felt very strongly that Gentile believers were required to perform the works of the Law as Jews, including Jesus, performed them. Teachers from Jerusalem taught Gentile believers they would be damned unless they submitted to the Law and became Jews (Acts 15:1). Paul opposed them, contending that there was no reason for Gentiles to participate in works that were used by God to foretell of a Messiah who had already come. Besides, Paul would argue, God required only those who were under the Law (the Jews) to observe the works of the Law (cp. Rom. 3:19). Moses didn't give the Law to Greeks or Romans. He gave it to Jews, and to them alone.

When Christ fulfilled the works of the Law that spoke of him, the purpose for keeping those works was finished. It was pointless to continue performing ceremonial works, however holy they once were, if their purpose is fulfilled. This is what Paul meant when he taught his Gentile converts that salvation is no longer “of works”. This was a new and challenging doctrine to James, John, Peter, and all of the disciples, but they were discerning enough to acknowledge Paul's message to be from God and they gave him their blessing to go to the Gentiles-but not to the Jews-with it (Gal. 2:7-9). So Paul went, preaching among the Gentiles the gospel given to him: the way to eternal life is submission to Jesus. To Gentile believers in Galatia he wrote, “A man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ . . . for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”

It was senseless for a Gentile, brought into perfect liberty with Christ in God, voluntarily to enter into an Old Covenant of symbolic works made dead by the life of Christ. For this reason, works of the Law are called “dead works” twice in the New Testament (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). So, Paul's message of salvation “not of works” means simply that Jesus is the only one who can make a man clean before God. It means that the wonderful symbols of the Law, once holy and required, are now worthless because the One of whom those works prophesied had finally come.

When James said that “by works a man is justified”, he was not referring to works of the Law. He knew as well as Paul did that performing ceremonies would justify no one. Jewish leaders who hated Jesus performed works of the Law. Did James think they were righteous men? Of course not. By saying that “by works a man is justified”, James was simply reminding the saints that in the Final Judgment man will be judged on the basis of his deeds, that man's eternal destination will be determined by his behavior, or works, in this life. Believers who live ungodly lives will be cast into the lake of fire, according to the Master himself: “The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 24:50-51).

Strangely, many Christian teachers hold that Paul's “not of works” means all works, even good works, and they scorn any man who teaches that only by obeying God's commandments will anyone be saved from the coming wrath of God. One very famous radio minister recently accused me of preaching a doctrine of Satan for saying that men must obey God to be saved in the end. Can you imagine that? This man who claims to speak for Christ condemns me as being Satan’s servant for teaching that we must obey God!

It is sad but true that many Christian ministers deny the requirement of holiness, but continue to perform symbolic ceremonies, as if Jesus never came to fulfill them! Which do you think is really wrong, to teach that men must obey God in order to be saved, or to continue to worship in dead works, as if Jesus never came and fulfilled them? Friends, to worship in symbols and ceremonies, however lovely we make them, is to deny the sufficiency of Christ, and it is the will of Satan for men to do so.

Every voice God has used from the beginning of the world to this moment has warned men that what they do will determine where they spend eternity. Jesus said it this way, “All that are in the graves shall . . . come forth, they that have DONE GOOD, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have DONE EVIL, unto the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:28-29). Every account of the Final Judgment found in the holy Book warns us that man will be judged on the basis of his works. Caught up in the Spirit while exiled on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John saw this terrifying vision of the final judgment: “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, AND THEY WERE JUDGED EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS.” Wrote Paul, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2Cor. 5:10). So, while Paul taught that performing symbolic, ceremonial works of the Law means nothing, he strongly insisted that doing good works is essential for salvation, and that eternal life will be given only to those who “by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality” (Rom. 2:7).

Now you see, my friends, how it is that Paul and James were in perfect accord in their doctrines. Paul was correct to say that a man cannot be saved by (symbolic) works, and James was correct to say that a man cannot be saved without (good) works. They both would have given the other a hearty, “Amen”. I pray God that we all may do as much, in deed as well as in word.