Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
한국어 日本語
Positive Correlation between Faith and Works
by Robert P. TerryUpdated July 20, 2025
There is a positive correlation between faith and works. This means that the presence or absence of works can be suggestive of the presence, absence, or strength of faith, but because correlation differs from causation, the presence or absence of works cannot be used as evidence of the presence or absence of faith. This is because (1) there is no inherent relationship between faith and works and (2) works can be counterfeited or confounded.
To show that faith and works cannot respectively serve as evidence for one another, it is sufficient to give a few examples from the New Testament. The people in Matthew 7:21-23 had plenty of good works, but the presence of those works was not evidence that they were justified by faith. Likewise, Judas had plenty of good works and had a close (at least in terms of proximity) relationship with Jesus for over three years, but he was not justified by faith. Jesus said in John 6:64 that he didn't believe. In contrast, a man in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 had an absence of works and was actually living a life worse than a pagan, but the absence of works was not evidence that he was not justified by faith. This is why Paul could go no further than to refer to him as someone "called a brother" in verse 11. The man's works were absolutely contrary to what is expected of the Christian life, but Paul did not call him a false brother (in contrast with people whom Paul called false apostles and false brothers in 2 Corinthians 11:13, 26 and Galatians 2:4 because of their profession of a false gospel). The man in 1 Corinthians 5 might have been a false brother if he didn't believe the Gospel, but because works are not evidence of faith, Paul did not call him a false brother. Instead, Paul was actually confident that the chastisement of the Lord would save him (perhaps "preserve him whole") on the day of the Lord, indicating that he gave the man the benefit of the doubt. In addition, Paul does a similar thing in 2 Timothy 2:17-19 where he seems to question the faith of some people who held wrong views on the resurrection, but does not go so far as to say they were false brothers but commits the issue to God saying, "The Lord knows those who are His." Their works, and in this case especially their doctrine, was wrong, but that could not be used as evidence of them being false brothers. However, just like in previous example, Paul here, too, expected that God would use chastisement to bring correction to believers (verses 25-26). In addition to these two examples where a lack of works was not evidence of lack of faith, there are other examples, such as Acts 19:11-20, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, and James 4:1-10, where people who were justified by faith were living lives very contrary to what we would expect of Christians. In each case, it is the chastisement of the Lord that corrects believers, and in some serious cases like the Corinthians who presumably refused to repent, chastisement could result in premature death, although Paul assures us that this was not to be mistaken for condemnation. They died as justified people. In all cases given above, neither faith nor works can respectively serve as evidence for the other.
To learn more about the positive correlation between faith and works, I recommend my articles New Perspective on James and Relationship between Faith and Works in Key Passages.