It is a Socinian and heretical position to conclude that we can be saved through keeping God’s commands even though we wrongly conceive of God in our minds and are ignorant of him, his nature, attributes, and works as they are revealed in Scripture.
Samuel Rutherford, The Works of Samuel Rutherford: Arminianism: A Systematic and Theological Response, ed. Chad Van Dixhoorn, trans. David C. Noe (Reformation Heritage Books, 2026), 1:266.
RESOURCES
- Resources On The Controversy Over “Final Salvation Through Works”
- Subscribe to The Heidelblog!
- Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play
- Browse the Heidelshop!
- The Heidelblog Resource Page
- Heidelmedia Resources
- The Ecumenical Creeds
- The Reformed Confessions
- The Heidelberg Catechism
- The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, & Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Press, 2025)
- Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
- Why I Am A Christian
- What Must A Christian Believe?
- Heidelblog Contributors
- Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to
Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Inwoo Lee
Inwoo Lee (BA, UCSD) earned his MA (Historical Theology) in 2020 from Westminster Seminary California and is author of “Righteous Before God: William Perkins’ Doctrine of Justification in Elizabethan England” (MA Thesis, Westminster Seminary California, 2020). He lives in the Great Seoul area, in South Korea with his wife Holly.
More by Inwoo Lee ›
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – which strikes me as the best succinct summation of the truth of Christian faith – makes clear that salvation is through Jesus Christ. It is given, not earned. In his often misunderstood epistle, James is arguing that our actions speak as loudly as our words – that we are not earning salvation through our works, but we are reiterating (or repudiating) our baptism through how we live our lives.
Thank you for this quote! Yes any claim that we can be saved by works is the ultimate heresy. Adam first proved that he, and his progeny, are incapable of obeying the covenant of works. God then graciously promised salvation by a second Adam who would fulfill the covenant of works perfectly and suffer the penalty of death for those that trust this promise. So to look to the failed way of salvation through works, is to reject the fundamental truth of God’s Word. I can’t imagine a greater heresy.
Does this quote as it stands address the issue of what forms unbelief can take, without listing them all? Or is it trying to describe them all?
Larry,
He’s addressing a particular error. He’s attacking the notion that one may through natural revelation come to salvation.