Faith does not need works for salvation.

Faith without a single work, saves us by grace.

But people oppose that quoting James, saying that faith requires works and faith without works is dead.

But I will prove to you that faith does not need a single work:

Here is the proof: the thief on the cross.

Luke 23 “³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

The thief on the cross had no works. He was put on a cross being punished for his sins.

He was condemned to hell. He had no good works. He had nothing to offer.

But he was saved by faith alone.

All he did was to believe in Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins!

The thief on the cross represents all of humanity who was crucified with Jesus.

Jesus did no sin but became our sin on the cross so that we have received the righteous sinless perfection of God by faith and not works

2 Corinthians 5 “¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again….²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The thief did not do any works. He only believed in Jesus.

Jesus told the thief that he would live forever with Him in paradise.

We were crucified with Jesus on the cross.

We were made alive with Jesus in His resurrection and we are now seated with Jesus in heaven (paradise), forgiven all sins by faith and not our works.

Galatians 2 “²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!””

We died with our works on the cross. We don’t exist. Our works don’t exist.

Christ alone lives in us. We live by faith in Jesus, knowing His love on the cross!

If faith requires works, then you need to be perfect in works, and Christ’s death is useless and then you must be saved by works alone! Then you nullify grace.

But Christ died because we had no works! Christ died to offer us grace without our works.

Ephesians 2 “⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.”

The works we have is not comparable to the finished work of Jesus. The grace of God is incomparable – no human being’s good works can compare to what Jesus did on the cross and His resurrection.

The Grace of God saved us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We received it by faith and not works! It is a gift – not earned by works or maintained by works or proven by works!

We did nothing, but God made us alive with Christ and seated us in heaven – there are no works that we did but God did everything through Jesus.

Colossians 2 “in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins”

You see that we are saved by faith in Jesus through the work of His death and resurrection.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus and not our works.

Jesus did everything on the cross because we cannot be saved by works!

Faith without works saves us.

Faith in the finished work of Jesus saves us!