Gabriel:
The Jews *never* believed that a person was saved through Torah-obedience.
I repeat:
The Jews *NEVER* believed that one was saved through "works."
Instead, what they believed was that God had granted salvation through His covenant with Abraham. They believed that salvation was granted to His descendants, and therefore, one obtained salvation simply by being born a Jew.
This is what they wrote in the Mishnah:
All Israel have a portion in the world-to-come, for it is written, Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
-- m. Sanhedrin 10.1, the gemara is b.Sanhedrin 90a.
This quote from the Mishnah says that a place in the world-to-come is based upon a status of righteousness. Israel, they believed, had a place in the world-to-come because Your people are all righteous. What did the Sages mean by this statement? They often spoke of Israel as wayward and rebellious, so it is clear they do not mean that all Israelites were without sin. Rather, righteousness was attributed to all who were members of the covenant. Righteousness, they believed, was a matter of Gods willingness to reckon the pious deeds of the fathers to their offspring and to forgive and show mercy when Israel sins. Thus, the place in the world-to-come which belongs to all of Israel they believed was a matter of Gods grace, not something earned or merited.
In other words, they believed that, in order to be saved, one needed to be a member of the Covenant Family. Jews, they believed, were already members of the Covenant Family. Gentiles, they believed, could become members of the Covenant Family by becoming "Jewish" through the ritual of circumcision. The Hebrew word for "circumcision" is "b'rit milah" which literally translates as "covenant in the flesh."
So, in essence, they believed that salvation was a matter of "ethnic status." This is why we read so often in the Apostolic scriptures that there were "certain Jews" who declared "unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved." They believed that a Gentile had to be circumcised in order to become a member of the Covenant.
Paul understood that the Covenant was made with Abraham *before* the sign of circumcision was ever given. The covenant was made with Abraham because of his *faith* and not because he was circumcised.
So, when Paul speaks of "salvation by works" such as the verse you provided, he is saying that one doesn't become a member of the Covenant Family through ritual. It is by *faith* alone.
Reformationist:
One of the major difficulties we encounter in our discussion of trust, believe, and faith/faithful, is that there is no corresponding verbal form of faith in the English language. We have no way of saying that one faithed or that someone is faithing in God. Yet in both the Hebrew and the Greek the word group expressing the concept of faith also contains a verb built on the same root.To put it simply, noun and verb are cognate. For example, the Hebrew verb "aman," which means to be supported, from which we derive the verb to believe, has the corresponding noun "emunah," which means faith or faithful. Likewise, the Greek verb "pisteuo", which means to believe, has the corresponding noun "pistis," which means faith or faithful. Unfortunately, many English readers do not realize that believing, having faith, and being faithful all derive from the same word group whether in the Hebrew or the Greek.
To put it another way, the Apostles never envisioned a situation where someone was accredited as having genuine faith but whose life did not evidence faithfulness.
Shimon
Ben
