Works meant the same thing to the Jew 2,000 years ago?
I thought works - law according to the Jew
Basically yes. Let's face it, when we talk about works we're talking about things we do that we suppose are pleasing to God, and the question is, pertaining to salvation, do our "good works" merit our salvation.
Regarding things that we do that we see as "good works", i.e., giving to the poor, donating to globalist charities, etc., the Bible is clear - that these things do not merit our salvation. One simply can not "donate" one's way into heaven, or "buy" one's way in, and one also can not win one's way in by doing "good deeds" apart from faith in Christ, as the Apostle Paul writes, "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin".
Various places in the OT the message is quite clear that the "works" of sacrifices under the OT law - if a man is not in a state of being reconciled to God - are NOT pleasing to God. In such situations, those sacrifices, or those good works, are written to be not acceptable to God; in fact, the Bible says God finds them very odious.
Isaiah 1
"10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To 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.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
Here's an explanation I found over at
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/eastons-bible-dictionary/works-good.html:
"The old objection against the doctrine of salvation by grace, that it does away with the necessity of good works, and lowers the sense of their importance ( Romans 6 ), although it has been answered a thousand times, is still alleged by many. They say if men are not saved by works, then works are not necessary. If the most moral of men are saved in the same way as the very chief of sinners, then good works are of no moment. And more than this, if the grace of God is most clearly displayed in the salvation of the vilest of men, then the worse men are the better.
The objection has no validity. The gospel of salvation by grace shows that good works are necessary. It is true, unchangeably true, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. "Neither adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards" shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Works are "good" only when, (1) they spring from the principle of love to God. The moral character of an act is determined by the moral principle that prompts it. Faith and love in the heart are the essential elements of all true obedience. Hence good works only spring from a believing heart, can only be wrought by one reconciled to God ( Ephesians 2:10 ; James 2:18:22). ). Good works have the glory of God as their object; and (3) they have the revealed will of God as their only rule ( Deuteronomy 12:32 ; Revelation 22:18 Revelation 22:19 ).
Good works are an expression of gratitude in the believer's heart ( John 14:15 John 14:23 ; Galatians 5:6 ). They are the fruits of the Spirit ( Titus 2:10-12 ), and thus spring from grace, which they illustrate and strengthen in the heart.
Good works of the most sincere believers are all imperfect, yet like their persons they are accepted through the mediation of Jesus Christ ( Colossians 3:17 ), and so are rewarded; they have no merit intrinsically, but are rewarded wholly of grace. "