Does John Teach Salvation by Works?

The Gospel of John is the big book of faith. Although the noun pistis (“faith”) does not appear in the book, the verb pisteuō is ubiquitous.

Consider how the Fourth Gospel opens and closes:

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12).

“But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

And yet, at one of the key points of the Gospel, in one of Jesus’s major discourses, he emphasizes the need for works to attain salvation at the final judgment.

The Johannine Jesus memorably declares, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). This is MY favourite verse in the Gospel of John, faith, new exodus, death to life!

But note what immediately follows:

²⁵ “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, ²⁷ and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and will come out: those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

There are a few ways to understand the passage!

First, some scholars argue that the emphasis on “works” and future judgment is an addition by a later redactor. There are some kooky theories - all unprovable - as to how the Gospel of John evolved as a text through several editions that were made by one or more editors in a so-called “Johannine Community.” So some person with “early Catholic” and “apocalyptic” tendencies purportedly added this bit. Look, yes, maybe John 21 was added as an epilogue, but other than that, we shouldn’t treat John’s Gospel as a text made in five stages with some cranky proto-Catholic smuggling salvation by works into the text.

Second, others say that “done good” is just another way of saying “believe,” except that I don’t think it is. While “done good” might include believing, it clearly refers deeds done, even if done as an expression of faith.

Third, we need to understand the dynamic of believing and being “saved” in John’s Gospel. John is interested in the question, “What must I do to be saved?” but that itself is part of a broader narrative as to how God’s judgment is vindicated and God’s purposes are victorious in Jesus and those who believe in Jesus.

I like how Andrew Lincoln puts it:

Just as in 3:19–21, where the judgement provoked in the present by the coming of Christ exposes people’s deeds in their true light, so here this final judgement will again be on the basis of people’s deeds—whether they have done good or evil. The final verdict functions as a full and visible exhibition of the present verdict. If justice has to be seen to have been done, its public and open demonstration remains important; hence no doubt the notion, found in Dan. 12:2 and familiar in the thought of second temple Judaism, of a resurrection even for condemnation.
Lincoln, Andrew T. The Gospel according to Saint John (London: Continuum, 2005), pp. 204–205.

The final judgment exposes people’s deeds and lays bare the substance of their life. Was their life one of faith, light, love, and goodness OR was their life one of unbelief, darkness, hatred, and wickedness?

This is about faith, because how you live is the clearest indication of what you truly believe!

To riff off, Leon Morris, good works demonstrate the integrity of the faith we profess. Good deeds should burst forth from faith like living waters gushing forth from a vibrant stream. The sign of faith is vitality and goodness; the final judgment will be the verdict that our faith was genuine and vitalizing to all who encountered it as evidenced by our good deeds.