Paul explicitly defined what he meant by "work."
Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. -- Romans 4:4
This is a re-statement of verses that occur in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Luke. Paul himself repeats it two or three times.
When someone does work, the person he works for is obligated to pay him for his labor. His wage is due.
So, in Paul's rhetorical argument to the Romans, "work" is what a person does with the intention of obligating God to his salvation. The person performs certain procedures and behaves in certain manners, so that he can say, "Look at what I've done in your name. Pay me what I am due."
But Paul's response is that any effort we make falls short of the mark, is still in sin, and thus if there is any obligation God owes us, it's death.
The church is adamant that God owes man
nothing. Our very existence depends on Him to begin with. But, because God patiently seeks to draw man into justice or righteousness, into ever increasing alignment with His will, which begins with our acknowledgement of
His existence and of our absolute need for Him, He chooses to appeal to and help and move and direct our wills towards the light, towards Himself, without overwhelming them. The cross, especially, is a dramatic demonstration of that beckoning to, rather than violating, the human will.
God, alone, can justify man and no works of the law will ever impress Him, because we
have no righteousness of our own, apart from Him. The New Covenant is all about turning to God in faith first of all, entering union with Him, a union which
itself defines or is the basis of man’s justice or righteousness and which is ultimately meant to be one of subjugation of creature to Creator bound by love. This is the reverse of Adam’s course of action in Eden and this is where man’s perfection and purpose lie. It’s to eat of the Tree of Life now.
In all this God is patiently molding and producing something, something grand and noble, something better than He started with, rather than simply saving a fortunate portion of otherwise worthless sinful wretches while damning the rest. We’ve eaten of the tree of death, we’ve known both good and evil in a world effectively alienated from its creator where man’s will reigns by itself and here we may come to hate the sin/evil that results when God is no longer fully the God of man, so that we may be all the more ready to open the door and embrace the Good when He comes knocking. There, as we come to know Him for ourselves, He becomes our God again (Jer 31:33-34).
“
Now this is eternal life: that they know you,the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3
Man is lost and wouldn’t even know where to look for God if he wanted to. But our wills are never uninvolved, for our own highest good, in that we can always say “no” to Him as He seeks to elicit an even firmer and firmer “yes”. So He calls us to follow Him now, daily, and what we
do with the grace that flows from that relationship determines our eternal destinies. That’s what faith can and is meant to lead to; it all begins, from man’s perspective,
with faith. Then, once justified, we work out our salvation with that justice, that seed of righteousness, of God’s own life in us,
together with He who works in us. That grace produces both the faith and the works, not works of the law but works of grace, works of love, that accomplish those things that Scripture tells us we must in order to inherit eternal life.
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The only thing that counts is faith working through love”. Gal 5:6
It’s about walking the walk, not just talk, not just being a clanging gong.
“...i
f I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Cor 13:2
God wants us to be
something, and,
with Him, nothing is impossible (Matt 19:26).
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Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
“
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Phil 4:13
And love
acts, BTW, for the good of others by its nature. And it reflects the very nature of God that we’re to be transformed into. He wants us to love as He does, and our purpose, our telos, is attained in that, even if not fully until the next life. So the church can actually teach, quoting a 16th century believer,
“
At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love.”
That’s the path, the journey, that begins with faith.
