It is customary on many forums that members add a favourite saying, comment or quotation as part of their signatures, and these have often intrigued me. I have a favourite one that is a quote from G.K. Chesterton, namely…

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.
It has been found difficult; and left untried.

On one Christian forum I noticed a member, someone very new to the faith, had chosen the words of Romans 2:7. Quoting from the New International Version, these are…

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life.

This single sentence left to stand on its own can give quite the wrong message.

These words were written by the Apostle Paul to the people of the church at Rome prior to, and probably in preparation for, his visit to them. These were people who had already received the Gospel message which is that salvation and eternal life can come only through faith in the Son of God (that faith being a gift of God’s grace) and is not a matter of good works alone. Throughout his letter Paul carefully presents the closest that we have from him of a systematic theology. He addresses the themes of sin and spiritual death, the unrighteousness of all people, and salvation by faith through God’s gift of grace. The context of the sentence quoted above is that such faith will produce good works, not that good works (deemed as such by non-believers) is any substitute for such faith.

Yes, context absolutely does matter! Without this faith in the Son of God, no “good works” are good enough for the gift of eternal life. We are quite unable to be good enough to earn such a reward. After all, it was Jesus Himself who said…

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.
(John 3:36 … bold emphasis mine)

I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6)

Being a “good person” who does “good things” is simply not enough. Paul is not contradicting Jesus. The good works that are written of by the Apostle Paul are those that God brings forth in true believers.

Good works, in the context of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, cannot be divorced from faith in the Son of God.

And mere intellectual assent as a form of belief is not enough either. True faith will be evidenced by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It will be a witness to the lordship of Christ in the life of the believer. Under His lordship these good works come forth.