Justification & Works

"Faith, not works, is that through which men are saved. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." 

Eph. 2:8,9.

Q: Where is boasting, then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 

Rom. 3:27, 28.

The gospel excludes boasting, 

--and boasting is a natural consequence of all attempts at justification

by works; 

--yet the gospel does not exclude works. 

On the contrary, works--good works--are the one grand object of the gospel. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them." 

Eph. 2:10, with margin.

There is not the slightest contradiction here. 

The difference is between our works and God's works. 

Our works are always faulty; 

God's works are always perfect." 

E.J. Waggoner