"A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbour,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honours those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved."
Psalm 15
It would be very easy to misunderstand the meaning of this Psalm, and assume that it is proclaiming a doctrine of salvation by works. For it could be, and has been, interpreted to say that the way into God's presence and acceptance with Him is by living a good life, and that one becomes a member of the city of Zion and of the kingdom of God on the basis of personal integrity. But not only does it not mean this, it cannot mean this, for if it did it would contradict the rest of Scripture which unequivocally teaches salvation by grace through faith, apart from the works of the law. In any case, there is no one good enough, on this estimate (as Psalm 14:3 has pointed out). This is not, of
course, to say that such moral earnestness is either wrong or in vain; it is rather that the real subject matter in the Psalm is sanctification, not justification. All that is said here is said within the covenant, and this in a twofold way. In the first place, although salvation is by faith alone, faith without works is dead. Saving faith never stands alone, its fruit is always the very qualities mentioned here. Justification by faith implies and involves the new life, and where that new life is absent, we may query the reality of the conversion experience that is claimed. As Jesus said, 'By their fruits - not, their works - shall ye know them'. This, in fact, is where evangelical understanding sometimes falls down. 'Works do not matter', people say, 'it is faith that is all-important'. But works do matter, and matter supremely, not indeed as a means of salvation, but as the fruit of it. As the Apostle says, we are to 'be careful to maintain good works'.