Rom 6:16 Paul said you serve one of two masters, you serve either:
1) sin unto death
or
2) obedience unto righteousness
There is a contrast here between servants. There are only two kinds of servants in this world, in the spiritual sense; servants of sin unto death, or servants of obedience unto righteousness. Once again, when we place our faith
exclusively in Christ for salvation/believe the gospel by
trusting in His finished work of redemption as the all sufficient means of our salvation (AND NOT TRUSTING IN OUR WORKS) we then become "servants of obedience unto righteousness." Being slaves of sin is put in the past tense. Paul goes on in Romans 6:18 - "You have been
set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."
We must
obey the gospel by
choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 10:16; 1:16) to be
accounted as righteous.
Notice in Romans 10:10 - For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness..
Notice in Romans 4:5 - But to him who does not work but
believes on Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith (not works) is accounted for righteousness.
I serve #2, which do you serve?
I'm sure that these many people in Matthew 7:22 who were obviously trusting in their works to save them would have given the same answer that you did. Did Jesus' answer to them in verse 23 imply that they served #2 or #1? Salvation by works is not obedience and is not serving #2. You continue to misinterpret Romans 6:16 by stressing "obedience unto righteousness" as if works of obedience that follow faith are unto righteousness, as if we are saved by works. We become "servants of obedience unto righteousness" (and are no longer servants of sin unto death) the very moment that we
BELIEVE (Romans 4:5; 10:10).
James said 'by works a man is justified" Jmes 2:24
CONTEXT - James is not using the word "justified" here to mean "accounted as righteous" but is "shown to be righteous." James is discussing the
proof of faith
(says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works), not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God (Romans 4:2-3). In James 2:21, notice closely that James
does not say that Abraham's work of offering up Isaac resulted in God's accounting Abraham as righteous. No! The accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6,
many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to save his soul, but it
proved or manifested the genuineness of his faith. This is the sense in which Abraham was justified by works, "shown to be righteous."
In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the Greek word for justified "dikaioo" #1344 is:
1. to render righteous or such he ought to be
2. to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3. to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
In the Bible the word "justified" is often used in the "legal" (judicial) sense. Paul often uses the word "justified" in this "legal" sense (Romans 3:24,28; 5:1; 5:9; 8:30 etc..). The word justified is also used in a "declarative sense." James has this aspect of justification in mind. As we have seen, his concern is to
show the reality of the faith professed by the individual (James 2:18) and
demonstrate that the faith claimed (James 2:14) by the individual is
genuine. This is why James says I will
show you my faith by my works.
In Matthew 12:37, "For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This is because
our words reveal the state of our hearts. Words will appear to be evidences for, or against a man's being in a state of grace and righteousness.
God is said to have been
justified by those who were baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 7:29). This act pronounced or declared God to be righteous. It did not make him righteous. The basis or ground for the pronouncement was the fact that God IS righteous. Notice that the NIV reads, "acknowledged that God's way was right.." The ESV reads, "declared God just." This is the sense in which God was justified,
"shown to be righteous."
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is
justified/vindicated/shown to be right by her deeds."
and Paul says the same thing in Rom 6:17,18 > obeyed from the heart, then freed from sin/justified.
Before they obeyed that form of doctrine by choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16), they had been slaves to sin. Those who
refuse to believe the gospel have
refused to obey the gospel (Romans 10:16). Choosing to believe the gospel is an act of obedience and we believe in our
heart (and not just in our head) that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:10). Notice in 1 Peter 1:22 notice -
"Purified your souls in obeying the truth" and notice in Acts 15:9 -
"Purified their hearts by FAITH." Acts 10:43 - ..whoever
believes in Him will
receive remission of sins. We are
justified by faith (Romans 5:1). There is no room here for salvation by works.
Heb 5:9 Christ is the author of salvation unto all them that obey Him.
Who obeys Him? The saved or the lost? I've heard many people use this verse to support salvation by works. Only believers have obeyed Him by choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16) in order to become saved, and only believers obey Him after they have been saved through faith by keeping His commandments and practicing righteousness (1 John 2:3; 3:9,10).
In either sense, believers obey Him. Unbelievers have not obeyed Him by refusing to believe the gospel (Romans 10:16) and without faith its impossible to please God, so
unbelievers do not obey Him no matter how much "so-called" obedience that they attempt to conjure up through the flesh in a vain effort to receive salvation based on their works (Matthew 7:22-23; Luke 18:9-14).