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Faith and Works

By R. J. Rushdoony
April 02, 2007

California Farmer 271:2 (Aug. 12, 1989), p. 65.

According to James, “[F]aith without works is dead” (James 2:26). The necessary relationship between faith and works is stressed by St. Paul (Rom. 3:31) and very strongly by the Lord (Matt. 7:16–29). Their words mean that if you act like a stinker, that’s what you are, whereas if you are godly in all your ways, you are godly. As the Lord says, a good tree brings forth good fruit, and a bad tree bad fruit. There is a consistency between faith and life.

Joel R. Beeke has described it this way: “Obedience comes spontaneously and is like fruit brought forth.” He says also that the “new birth infallibly issues in new life.”

This, very simply, means that the Lord makes a great difference in a person’s life. We cannot excuse someone’s evil ways by saying that whatever his actions may be, his heart is still right with the Lord. To do so is grossly insulting to God; it implies that the regenerating power of His grace is impotent to change a person.

When an earthquake hits, it makes a difference. When a tornado hits, you can see the force of its movement. An earthquake and a tornado have little power compared to the regenerating grace of the Almighty.

There are too many church people who claim to be saved and yet are no different from those around them who are without Christ. Is it any wonder some churches are powerless?

The living church, the church filled with regenerate individuals, has always been a mover and shaker on earth. God sends us people who can change the church and the world by His power.


Topics: Church, The, Culture , Dominion

R. J. Rushdoony

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.

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