In Romans 1:5 the apostle Paul describes the purpose of his calling in these stark terms: “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he prays for them, “remembering before our God and Father your work of faith” (1 Thess. 1:3). What is Paul saying? And how do these texts help us understand the relationship between faith and works?

I believe what Paul is saying is that the faith that you placed in Christ Jesus is the sort of faith that works. We are saved by faith for works, but not because of them. We are not saved by works of obedience. Now, this is going to sound almost contradictory, but listen carefully. We are not saved by works, but neither are we saved without works. What can that possibly mean? It means that works play no part in our acceptance with God. He has forgiven you and me of all our sins and has imputed to us the righteousness of Jesus himself. And all this is done without regard for anything that we do. No work, no act of obedience, no sacrifice we have made, no scandalous sin we have avoided, no promise we have kept has anything to do with our salvation.

But now listen closely. What can I possibly mean when I say that although we are not saved by works, neither are we saved without works? What it means is simply this: works are not the cause of our salvation, but works most assuredly are the consequence of it. So, when I say that we are not saved by good works, I mean they play no role and carry no weight in God’s sight that might move him to forgive us of our sins. But when I say we are not saved without good works, I mean that acts of obedience or good works are the necessary product or fruit or result of saving faith.

That is why a person who says, “I have been saved by faith alone in Christ alone, but I have no intention of living in obedience to Jesus; in fact, I plan on living now just as I lived before I put my faith in Christ,” is deceived. If the faith you have put in Christ is the result of the Holy Spirit in you and is genuinely saving faith, you will work. You must work.

I have often tried to illustrate this truth by holding up for people to see a stone and a seed. From a distance, they look to be identical. Their texture and smell are the same. And they both are representative of a claim to have faith in Jesus Christ. But what happens when we bury these two seemingly identical expressions of faith.

We bury them, we water them, we make certain that they both get sufficient sunlight. What happens? The seed produces a plant, or fruit of some sort. We know it is a genuine seed by looking at what it produces. But the stone, because it is lifeless, lies dead in the dirt. No matter how much water and sunlight you pour on that stone, it will never be anything but a stone. It is incapable of producing any form of life or fruit or plant. No matter how long or how passionately you insist it is a real, genuine seed, we know otherwise because it produces nothing. And we know the seed is a seed precisely because it produces fruit.

Genuine saving faith is like that seed. Spurious, so-called faith is like that stone. That’s what Paul is saying in these texts. If your faith doesn’t work, it isn’t saving faith. That is why I can say that we are saved by faith alone, but not by the faith that is alone. Saving faith brings forth good fruit, good works, obedience, and holiness of life. Faith and works, therefore, when properly and biblically understood, are friends, not foes (see Eph. 2:8-10).