Is Faith a Work? Clearing Up Confusion Around Justification

Introduction

Few doctrines are more central to the Christian faith and more frequently misunderstood than justification by faith alone. When the Reformers proclaimed Sola Fide, they meant that faith is the instrument through which sinners receive Christ’s righteousness, not a work that earns it. Yet confusion persists. Some assume that because faith is something we do, it must therefore contribute to salvation. Others fear that emphasizing faith as necessary for justification makes grace conditional. Both errors miss the beauty and balance of the gospel. Faith is not a work that earns favor with God; it is the empty hand that receives His gift. Understanding that distinction safeguards both grace and assurance.

Faith and Works: The Biblical Contrast

The Apostle Paul could not have been clearer: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith and works are not competing forms of effort; they are opposite principles. Works look inward for merit; faith looks outward to Christ. Works seek to earn; faith receives what another has earned.

In Romans 4, Paul contrasts these two postures vividly: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:4–5). Notice the paradox: the one who “does not work” is the one who believes. Faith, by definition, renounces self-reliance. It stops working in order to rest in another’s work.

Faith as the Instrument, Not the Cause

Reformed theology has always distinguished between the instrument and the grounds for justification. The grounds for justification is the righteousness of Christ—His perfect obedience and atoning death. The instrument is faith, by which we are united to Christ and receive His righteousness. Faith justifies not because of what it is but because of what it receives. The value of faith lies entirely in its object.

John Calvin explained it this way: “Faith is only the instrument for receiving righteousness, even as the mouth receives food.” Just as eating does not create nourishment but receives it, so faith does not create righteousness but receives Christ’s. The power of salvation lies not in the strength of our believing, but in the sufficiency of the Savior we believe in.

What Faith Is and Is Not

Faith is more than intellectual agreement. It involves knowledge, assent, and trust. We must know the truth of the gospel, agree that it is true, and personally rest upon Christ as our righteousness. But faith is not a meritorious act. It is not a virtue that God rewards or a substitute for obedience. Paul explicitly denies this when he says that faith is “not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Even faith itself is a gift of grace (Philippians 1:29).

If faith were a work, it would reintroduce human effort into salvation and undermine grace. Instead, faith is the God-given means by which grace reaches us. It is not payment rendered to God, but dependence upon His promise.

The Witness of the Confessions

The Reformed confessions are careful to preserve this balance. The Westminster Confession of Faith (11.2) states:

Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

Faith receives and rests, it does not merit or perform. Its life is active, but its role in justification is purely receptive.

The Belgic Confession (Art. 22) likewise explains:

We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith which embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, appropriates Him, and seeks nothing more besides Him. For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if all is in Him, then he who has Christ by faith has complete salvation in Him.

Faith, then, is the Spirit’s gift that unites us to Christ. It does not add to His work but clings to it.

The Danger of Making Faith a Work

When faith is treated as a human contribution, assurance evaporates. If God justifies us because of the quality of our faith, who could ever have enough? Many sincere believers fall into despair because they confuse faith’s role as instrument, with faith’s strength as performance. They measure their salvation by the intensity of their believing rather than by the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work.

But Scripture points us away from faith’s degree to its object. Jesus said, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move,’ and it will move” (Matthew 17:20). Even the weakest faith, when directed toward the true Christ, saves completely. Faith’s power does not come from the believer, but from the One believed in. The difference between strong faith and weak faith is not how much grace it merits, but how much assurance it enjoys.

Faith and Repentance: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Some worry that emphasizing faith alone minimizes repentance. But the two are inseparable graces. Repentance turns from sin; faith turns to Christ. Both are gifts of the same Spirit (Acts 11:18). However, repentance is not an additional work that earns forgiveness. True repentance flows from faith—it is the fruit of trusting God’s mercy. As the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, faith “produces in us a heartfelt sorrow for sin and a sincere joy in Christ.” We are not justified because we repent well, believe strongly, or obey faithfully, but because Christ has done all perfectly. Faith simply lays hold of Him.

Faith and Assurance

Understanding that faith is not a work brings immense comfort. If salvation rested on the consistency or purity of our faith, every believer would live in perpetual fear. But because faith is merely the channel through which grace flows, our confidence rests not in faith itself but in Christ. Thomas Watson, the Puritan, wrote, “Faith justifies not as a virtue, but as an instrument, not as a work, but as a hand.” That means our assurance grows as we look less at our faith and more at our Savior. When Peter walked on water, he sank the moment he looked away from Christ to the waves. So too, believers sink into doubt when they fixate on the strength of their believing rather than the reliability of Christ’s promise. Faith is strong when it stops staring at itself and clings to Christ.

Faith Works but Not for Justification

The Reformers were often accused of promoting antinomianism, suggesting that faith alone frees people to live however they want. Scripture, however, teaches the opposite. True faith always works, but never for justification. It works from justification. Paul tells the Galatians that “faith works through love” (Galatians 5:6). And James reminds us that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

These passages do not contradict justification by faith alone; they confirm it. Faith that receives Christ’s righteousness also receives His Spirit, who produces holiness. Faith and obedience are distinct, but inseparable. Works are the evidence of life, not the cause of it. As John Owen wrote, “Faith alone justifies, but a justifying faith is never alone.”

Why This Matters

Getting this right protects both grace and the gospel.

1. It guards grace from dilution. If faith is treated as a meritorious act, grace ceases to be grace (Romans 11:6).
2. It grounds assurance in Christ, not self. Because faith looks away from self to Christ, believers can rest in His finished work.
3. It glorifies God alone. Salvation by grace through faith alone gives all glory to the Giver, not the receiver.
4. It fuels obedience. Freed from the treadmill of performance, believers serve God out of gratitude, not fear.

Faith that ceases striving and rests in Christ becomes the engine of joyful holiness.

A Faith That Receives, Not Achieves

The gospel does not call us to produce faith as a substitute work. It calls us to believe the One who justifies the ungodly. That’s why Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). Believing is not our work, for God it is God’s work in us, leading us to rest in His Son. The sinner’s prayer is not “Look what I have done,” but “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Every other religion says, “Do this and live.” The gospel says, “It is finished—believe and live.”

Conclusion

Faith is not a meritorious act, but a miraculous gift. It does not earn God’s favor; it receives it. It does not contribute to justification; it connects us to the Justifier. By faith alone, we rest in the finished work of Christ, who lived the life we could never live, died the death we deserved, and rose to secure our eternal righteousness. To make faith a work is to rob Christ of His glory. To see faith as an instrument of grace is to rejoice in the gospel’s simplicity: “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). The Christian life begins, continues, and ends with that same humble posture empty hands receiving an all-sufficient Christ.