Ergon: Work that Really Works

Word of the Week

May 16, 2026

Ergon: Work that Really Works

 

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:26 NASB

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“I enjoy work.  I can sit and look at it for hours.” (comedian W. C. Fields)

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” (President Theodore Roosevelt)

Everyone has an opinion about work, and those views range all the way from Fields’ cynical comment to Roosevelt’s proclamation.

The Bible also presents different perspectives on work – especially when it comes to the relationship between faith and works.  In fact, the New Testament contains two threads of comment about work that seem to pit two writers against each other.

The issue was justification, God’s action of declaring a person righteous and fit to stand in His presence. The question was, “What role do good works play in salvation?”

Paul:  “. . . by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Galatians 2:16c).

James:  “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).

How can we reconcile this apparent contradiction?

One helpful avenue to understanding is a closer look at the Greek word for “work.”

The New Testament word for “work” is ergon [EHR-gawn].  It occurs 169 times, so we can only study a small slice of the topic.  The word can describe an endless variety of actions or deeds.  It can mean a “task” or “assignment” prescribing what action to take (Mark 13:34).  More often it refers to the actions that a person does to accomplish the task.  Often this appears in the plural, “works” as in Matthew 5:16.  Finally, ergon can tell us about the result or product of the work (Acts 7:41).

The Bible gives us guidelines for seeing work properly.  For example, it shows the importance of a balance between work and rest.  Even God’s example in creation reinforces this idea (Hebrews 4:3-4).

Scripture also highlights the connection between word and work.  Saying the right thing doesn’t mean much if your pious speech doesn’t turn into action (1 John 3:17).

Ergon is such a broad term that we find different aspects emphasized by the different writers of Scripture.

The Gospel of John, which uses the word 27 times, especially emphasizes the works of Jesus.  For John, the word most often refers to Christ’s miracles.  His astounding works were one of the evidences that demonstrated His identity as the Son of God (John 5:36).  His disciples must have been floored when He promised them at the Last Supper that “he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

Paul focuses on a much different aspect of works.  Using the term 68 times, he doesn’t emphasize the work of Jesus.  He presents works in a very negative sense.  Some Jewish teachers had developed an approach to God that treated obedience to the Law of Moses as the way to be acceptable to God.  It was a works approach to righteousness that demanded flawless performance.  Paul preached the great truth that salvation was not based on your performance.  It was based on the grace of God.  You couldn’t earn salvation; you had to receive it as a free gift from God.  How did you get the gift?  By faith.

For Paul, works was an alternate, failed path to the Lord.  We are justified by grace through faith, “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9). He clearly explained, “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20).  For Paul, it was a clear choice between salvation by faith and salvation by works (Galatians 3:2).

That brings us to the book of James.  James, the brother of Jesus, was also interested in works.  He used ergon 15 times in his short letter to the scattered Jewish Christians, many of whom had roots in the Jerusalem church that he led.  Scattered by persecution, they were witnessing and building churches across the landscape.  As James received word of their progress, he heard reports that stirred his pastoral concern.  Some disturbing trends were surfacing, behaviors that failed to live up to the ideals Jesus had taught.  To sum it up, people were not acting like Christians.  They believed the gospel, but their actions did not always match their claim to be followers of Jesus.

For James, works were not the way to earn salvation.  They were, however, the essential result of a relationship with Jesus.  As he points out in James 2, real faith always produces good works.  Not perfection, but a growing, changed life.  He took Abraham as an example, reminding them that his faith in God led him to obey, even when it was a command as drastic as the one to sacrifice Isaac.  “You see,” he says, “that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected” (James 2:22).

Bottom line:  Good works are a bad way to earn salvation, but good works are a great way to demonstrate the reality of the salvation that you gained by faith.

 

Study Hint:

Today’s word ergon simply refers to work as an action or task.  It does not necessarily imply that the work is difficult or burdensome.  Greek has at least one other word that does carry those connotations.  Kopos (noun) and kopiaō (verb) both mean “labor” in the sense of hard manual labor or in working to the point of exhaustion.  That’s the word Jesus used when he promised rest for all who were “weary and heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28).

 

Coming Up

What’s the good word for the book of 1 Peter?  Next week we will tour the uses of the Greek word for inheritance.  We definitely have an inheritance worth anticipating!

©Ezra Project 2026