Journal: Chafer Theological Seminary Journal
Volume: CTSJ 10:1 (Spring 2004)
Article: Good Works: A Necessary Result of Justification?
Author: Jeremy D. Myers

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Good Works:
A Necessary Result of Justification?

Jeremy D. Myers

Jeremy D. Myers received a B.A. in Bible and Theology from Moody Bible Institute. He is the founder of Til He Comes Ministries (http://www.tilhecomes.org) and the Senior Pastor of Fortine Community Church in Fortine, MT, where he lives with his wife, Wendy, and their two daughters, Taylor and Selah. He may be reached either at [email protected] or (406) 882–4515.

Introduction

Writers and speakers in the Free Grace movement have taught that there is no logical difference between works being a necessary result of faith (as Perseverance theology teaches) and works being a condition for eternal life (as Catholicism and other religions teach).

Although logically and Scripturally accurate, the idea needs polishing and honing if it is going to stand in the theological arena. Therefore, it will be necessary first to examine some statements from prominent Free Grace teachers and then consider Perseverance proponents’ attempts to refute such statements. Seeing where our wording and logic needs modification will help us defend the Gospel of faith alone in Christ alone.

Free Grace Statements

Joseph Dillow, in his landmark book The Reign of the Servant Kings, writes:

Here we can lay down a self-evident principle: a necessary result for which we are responsible which must be present for another result to occur is no different than an additional condition for the achievement of the second result.1

There is no difference between a result for which we are responsible and a condition! Let the reader ponder this, and he will discover that it is impossible to come up with an illustration which contradicts this fact!2

My first encounter with this statement was as a Perseverance and Lordship Salvation advocate seeking to refute Dillow. While his excellent exegesis caused me to question some of my beliefs, this statement particularly spurred my thinking. As one who seeks to be logical, I accepted his challenge to offer any illustration which contradicted his statement. My complete failure to do so was an

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important step in my moving away from the Lordship and Perseverance tradition.

As a result of studying Dillow, it was easy for me to concur with similar statements from other Free Grace writers. One such statement appears in an article by Charlie Bing for the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society. He writes:

And so Lordship Salvation faith goes beyond ...

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