In my studies of Paul's letters, in nearly every letter I come to the issue of salvation--is it by faith or works? This was a huge issue in the early Church, spawning Judaized legalists and those who, like the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2), used God's grace as an excuse to do whatever they wanted. Paul's letter to the Galatians points out the flaws of both approaches and reveals where works fall into salvation. Since this is something that interests me--and because it's still a big deal in our own culture--I've decided to inscribe how works fits into salvation.

We are saved by grace through faith. That is the constant war-cry of Paul in this matter. This faith, which John MacArthur calls "saving faith," naturally produces repentance and discipleship. In other words, if our faith in Christ is genuine--if it's the faith that Christ calls for--then repentance and discipleship will follow. With that said, it makes sense that if there is no repentance or no discipleship, then there is no saving faith, and therefore no salvation. A lot of people think that there's no way to tell if someone's really a part of Christ's Kingdom, but over and over in scripture we see that, yes, there are ways to see if someone has been cleansed by Christ.

Repentance is, at its heart, a change of mind and heart towards sin that reveals itself in outward manifestations of that inward change. In layman's terms, repentance is one being "turned off" by sin, and this "turn off" is seen by the person avoiding sin and giving up sin, not so much because they have to, but because they want to. The fruits of repentance include crucifying the sinful nature--that selfish, greedy, hateful, inborne nature within us--and embracing and living out of and being guided by the Spirit nature--the selfless, sacrificial, serving, kind, agape, and divine nature growing inside of us through Christ. If one is repentant, it doesn't mean he or she is by any means perfect. The sinful and Spirit natures are constantly at war; yet there will be in the person's life a genuine hunger for righteousness and a genuine desire and will to turn from rebellion against God, to turn to God and His Way.

Discipleship, in relational terms, is submitting to Christ, making Him the Guide of our lives, letting Him teach us how to live, where to go, who to be. From this Savior-Guide, we learn the Art of Living, for He is the ultimate Master of Living. He teaches us, rebukes us, and raises us to engage in and spread His Kingdom more and more. The fact that we are disciples shows that we are never going to have it all together; if we were to eventually have it all together, then we would graduate from being disciples--students--to Masters. Yet Christ is always the Master, and we are always the students.

Does repentance save us? No. Does discipleship save us? No. It is by grace through faith that we are saved, not by our works, which include repentance and discipleship. Yet true saving faith--the faith that Christ is speaking of when He says, "All who believe in Me will be saved"--will naturally produce repentance and discipleship. The role of works in a Christian's life is evidence that he or she has embraced Christ, His Kingdom, and His salvation.