1. Because it did not happen when man had his best chance – the dispensation of innocence
1. God created a perfect man. As the representative of all man, he must have been the best man who ever lived until the coming of Jesus Christ. He had great wisdom and a perfect moral character. He had no sin nature and was perfectly innocent.
2. God placed man in a perfect environment. The entire earth was climate-controlled. There was no sin, no bars, no hospitals, no wars, no famine and no reason to have any of these. Adam was given a help meet for him and had daily fellowship with God.
3. God made obedience a very simple thing. All Adam had to do was avoid eating of the forbidden fruit. The sin and its consequences were clearly defined. There was no mistake about when that line was crossed. Adam had no reason to want to cross that line.
4. Yet, Adam sinned in the one forbidden thing and lost his place in the earthly paradise. He did it willingly and with full knowledge of what he was doing. Satan’s one temptation was enough to bring mankind to his knees and ruin him inside and out.
5. Conclusion: If works-salvation did not happen under these best of circumstances, there is certainly no chance for it to work under the less favorable circumstances.
2. Because it did not happen under the law, the most works-oriented of the dispensations.
1. The law provided two ways for man to approach God through his own works:
1. By obedience to the commandments (Exodus 24:1-8 [1] And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. [2] And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. [3] And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. [4] And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. [5] And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. [6] And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. [7] And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. [8] And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
   See All...; Leviticus 18:5Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
   See All...; Deuteronomy 27:26Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
   See All...)
2. By the making of sacrifices (Leviticus 1:1-4 [1] And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. [3] If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. [4] And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
   See All...; 4:27-35
   See All...)
2. The first provision, obedience to the commandments, could not save man because no man could keep all the commandments (Ecclesiastes 7:20For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
   See All...; Romans 3:19-20 [19] Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. [20] Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
   See All...; 12-14; 8:3
   See All...; Galatians 2:16Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
   See All...; 3:10-12 [10] The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. [11] The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. [12] Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
   See All..., 21-22; Hebrews 7:18-19 [18] For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. [19] For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
   See All...)
3. The second provision, the making of sacrifices, could not save man because the blood of animals could not put away sin
1. Old Testament teaching (Psalm 51:16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
   See All...; Isaiah 1:11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
   See All...; Hosea 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
   See All...)
2. New Testament teaching (Hebrews 9:8-10 [8] The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [9] Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
   See All..., 10:1-4
   See All..., 11)
4. The law did not provide eternal salvation at all but rather offered temporal purification for the Jews (Hebrews 9:13-14 [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
   See All...)
1. Israel, as a nation, had a special relationship with God (Deuteronomy 4:7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
   See All...; 5:26
   See All...; Psalm 147:19-20 [19] He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. [20] He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
   See All...)
2. God would meet with Israel and their priests in a special way (Exodus 25:21-22 [21] And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. [22] And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
   See All...; 29:42-44
   See All...; 30:6
   See All..., 36; Numbers 17:4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
   See All... [thou (singular)…you (plural)]; cp. Exodus 20:18-21 [18] And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. [19] And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. [20] And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. [21] And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
   See All...; 33:7
   See All...)
3. God was to dwell among them (Exodus 25:8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
   See All...; 29:45-46
   See All...; Leviticus 26:11-12 [11] And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. [12] And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
   See All...)
4. As such, there was a great danger of defiling God’s tabernacle among them (Leviticus 15:31Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
   See All...; Numbers 19:11-13 [11] He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. [12] He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. [13] Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
   See All..., 20)
5. This explains the special significance of the commands for Israel to be holy (Leviticus 11:44-45 [44] For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. [45] For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
   See All...; 19:1-2
   See All...)
6. The sacrificial system allowed them to cleanse themselves from their filthiness so that God could continue to dwell among them (Leviticus 1:1-4 [1] And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. [3] If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. [4] And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
   See All...; 4:35
   See All...; 16:30
   See All...; Hebrews 9:13-14 [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
   See All...)
7. They needed the sacrifices so that God would “accept” them (Ezekiel 20:40-41 [40] For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. [41] I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
   See All...; 43:27
   See All...)
3. Because the imputation of God's righteousness without the law is witnessed by the law and the prophets. (Romans 3:21-22 [21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; [22] Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
   See All...)
1. By the law (Deuteronomy 7:6-9 [6] For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. [7] The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: [8] But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [9] Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
   See All...; 9:4-6
   See All...)
2. By the prophets (Psalm 35:24Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
   See All...; 71:1-3
   See All...; 119:40
   See All...; Isaiah 45:24-25 [24] Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. [25] In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
   See All...; 54:17
   See All...; 61:10
   See All...; Jeremiah 23:5-6 [5] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. [6] In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
   See All...; Daniel 9:16O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
   See All...)
4. Because the utter sinfulness of man makes him absolutely incapable of having any part in earning his own salvation (Romans 3:21-23 [21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; [22] Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: [23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
   See All..., 10-18; Psalm 14:1-3 [1] The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. [2] The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. [3] They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
   See All...; Ecclesiastes 7:20For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
   See All...; Isaiah 64:6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
   See All...)
5. Because no man will have any right to boast or claim merit in heaven (Romans 3:27-28 [27] Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. [28] Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
   See All...; 4:1-2
   See All...; Ephesians 2:8-9 [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
   See All...)
1. If merit allows a man to glory in earning his salvation and this kind of glorying is wrong, then why is it wrong for us but all right for those in other dispensations?
2. If merit was wrong for Abraham (Romans 4:2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
   See All...), the great Old Testament saint who was called the friend of God (James 2:23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
   See All...), then why is it all right for other Old Testament saints?
6. Because works-salvation makes God a debtor to man, something He can never be. (Romans 4:3-5 [3] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. [4] Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. [5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
   See All...; 11:35
   See All...)
7. Because Paul applied faith-salvation to Old Testament saints.
1. Abraham (Romans 4:2-3 [2] For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. [3] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
   See All...; Galatians 3:6-7 [6] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. [7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
   See All...)
2. David (Romans 4:6-8 [6] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
   See All...)
8. Because works-salvation doctrine for other dispensations does not remove doctrinal difficulties
1. There are verses in Paul’s Gentile epistles that are used by some to teach works salvation (Romans 2:1Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
   See All..., 6-10; 6:16-17
   See All..., 21-22; 8:1
   See All... [compare 1John 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
   See All...]; 8:12-14
   See All...; 13:2
   See All...; 14:22-23
   See All...; 1Corinthians 6:9-11 [9] Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, [10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
   See All...; 11:29
   See All...; 15:1-2
   See All... [compare Hebrews 3:6But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
   See All..., 14]; 16:22
   See All... [compare Hebrews 9:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
   See All...]; 2Corinthians 6:17-18 [17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
   See All...; Galatians 5:4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
   See All..., 19-21; Colossians 1:21-23 [21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: [23] If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
   See All...; 1Timothy 3:6Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
   See All...; 5:11-12
   See All...; 2Timothy 2:12If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
   See All...; Titus 3:10-11 [10] A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; [11] Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
   See All...)
2. There are verses in the Jewish Epistles that clearly teach grace salvation (Hebrews 1:3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
   See All...; 2:9-11 [9] Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! [10] Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. [11] For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
   See All...; 4:2-3
   See All...; 5:9
   See All...; 6:18-20
   See All...; 7:19
   See All..., 25-27; 9:13-14
   See All..., 24-26; 10:10-14
   See All...; James 1:18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
   See All...; 2:1I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
   See All...; 4:5-6
   See All...; 1Peter 1:3-5 [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, [5] Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
   See All..., 9, 18-23; 2:24
   See All...; 3:18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
   See All...; 2Peter 1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
   See All..., 5; 3:15Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
   See All... [teaches same salvation as taught by Paul]; 1John 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
   See All...; 2:2And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
   See All...; 3:1-2 [1] A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. [2] O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
   See All...; 4:9-10
   See All...; 5:1
   See All..., 4, 10-13; Jude 3-4, 24)
3. The answer is evidently not found in separating the epistles of Paul from the Jewish epistles with a great gulf. Rather, the answer is found in rightly dividing the passages in both of these sections of the Bible.
9. Because supposedly works-salvation passages in non-Pauline scripture are seldom hard to understand as grace-salvation doctrine. The exceptions are just that – exceptions. Any man-made doctrinal system will always have problem texts.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

1. All who go to heaven will go there based on a threefold foundation: the grace of God, the blood of Christ, and the faith of man.
2. No man will ever make it to heaven based entirely or in part on his own works.
3. However, there are still dispensational differences in the way man comes to God for salvation.
1. The blood of Christ is applied at different times. Old Testament saints had to wait in paradise until Christ came to die on the cross. We have His blood applied at the moment of salvation.
2. The faith of man has not always had the same content. Abraham believed God. The disciples in the gospels believed in Christ as the Messiah. We believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
3. The grace of God is more apparent in this dispensation than it is in any other. That is why we call it the age of grace. But grace is found in every dispensation.