What does God require of us to be righteous—works or simple faith in Christ?
God requires simple faith, not works, for righteousness—faith like Abraham's, who simply believed God and righteousness was imputed to him without doing anything. Now one simply believes that the Lord died for them and was raised in resurrection power; that is all God is looking for.
Les explains that Hebrews 11 shows earlier heroes like Abel and Noah had faith plus action: Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice and obtained witness that he was righteous; Noah, warned of things not seen, built an ark. If Noah had only believed a flood was coming but never built the ark, he would have been washed away. Les says that through Scripture, men like Jacob, Isaac, and David were men of faith, but not faith alone; they had faith plus temple worship, plus law keeping, plus this and that. Abraham, however, never offered a sacrifice until years later; he did not do anything, he just simply believed God. God saw that man's faith and imputed righteousness. Les applies it to us: without doing a thing, we simply say, 'Yes Lord, I believe it that You died for me. I believe that You were raised in resurrection power,' and that's all God's looking for.