JOHN THE BAPTIST
When people came to John the Baptist for baptism, he oftentimes told them to go away and show the fruits of repentance before coming back to be baptised. When people asked him what to do, he gave them specific ethical instructions that related to their jobs and/or position in life.
1. He told soldiers to be content with their wages and to stop using their position to bully others.
2. He told religious leaders that they could not depend on their identification with God, neither the rituals that marked them as God's, nor their nationality.
3. He told the tax-collectors (who were business men) not to take advantage of shady opportunities just because they could.
4. He told everybody to share - if someone had 2 coats, they were told to give one to a person who had none. John also told them to do the same with meat. John used these as examples to say that we should be sharing everything we have with those who have less. The early church followed this rule for a short time (Acts 2:44 & 4:32). Eventually this practice was given up.
THE APOSTLE PAUL
John the Baptist was not the only biblical figure to demand works to demonstrate repentance. According to Acts 26:20, even Paul the Apostle demanded good works from followers of Jesus (Paul is best known for his emphasis on grace and faith - it is the gift of God, not works lest anyone should boast). When Paul stood trial before King Agrippa he summed up his ministry and his message: "I preached that they (the Gentiles) should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (literally translated = works)."
While emphasizing grace and faith in his most famous passage in Ephesians, Paul stated that we are not saved by good works, but by faith. However, Paul's thought does not end there. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul said that the entire purpose that God saved us by faith was so that we would do good works.
The Reformation rediscovered the truth of grace and faith as the entry point of salvation, but in an over-reaction to a work centered church of the day, many (even today) didn't get that we are saved by faith for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Works are crucial to the Christian life.
JUDGMENT DAY
Just about every time the final judgment is mentioned in the Bible, works are the defining factor of where people spend eternity. Again, being saved by grace, in Romans 2:6, the Apostle Paul says that we will be judged by what we do in life: "God will give to each person according to what he has done (literally according to their works [Romans 2:6]).”
Jesus likewise emphasized the importance of good deeds on judgment day, when he told his followers that if they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, or visit the prisoners and the sick; they are doing so to Jesus himself; and as a result, securing eternity with him. However, when they neglect the same, they neglect Jesus, and for that will be seperated from Christ for eternity (see Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, the deeds/we do to and for others determine where we will spend eternity. If we do good to and for others, it will go well for us; but if we neglect the needs of others, we will face severe consequences.
Revelation follows the same thought. Seeing a vision of the Judgment Day, John wrote, "The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books (Revelation 20:12)."
All of these passages are using the same Greek word that translates as "works," which is the same word that Paul used when he told us that we are not saved by works, but by faith.
JAMES
James faced people who were overfixated with grace and faith, and played down the importance of works. He responded to these people by saying in effect, "If you have faith, it will be demonstrated by works; so until I see your works, I do not believe you have faith." For faith always produces good works.
CONCLUSION
Paul and James were not set apart in their outlook about the importance of works. Each one attacked the side that was doing the greatest damage among their own followers - Paul was faced with those who relied on works for salvation and James was faced with those who believed works were not so important.
Works that are not the result of repentance, grace and faith are the types of works that leave us empty of God. One is never saved by the works that they can do. Good works that God looks for are works that are the result of grace, faith and repentace. The right kind of good works are born in repentance, grace and faith.
...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:13).
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