Yes. Romans 11:6 teaches that grace and works are mutually exclusive as the basis under discussion. If something is by grace in the sense Paul is discussing, works cannot also make up part of that same basis.
What the Bible Says
Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
Paul does not describe grace and works as two proportional contributors to the same basis. He says that if it is “by grace,” then it is “no more of works.” He then reverses the statement: if it is “of works,” then it is “no more grace.”
The immediate context concerns the remnant and the election of grace in Romans 11:5–7. So Romans 11:6 is not an isolated statement dropped into the chapter. It explains the character of that grace-based election: what is by grace cannot at the same time be based on works.
That does not mean grace makes good works impossible or unnecessary in every other biblical category. A person who has received grace can afterward work, obey, serve, and labor. The issue in Romans 11:6 is the basis, not whether works can ever appear in a believer’s life.
Why This Answers the Question
The wording could hardly make the contrast stronger:
“if by grace, then is it no more of works”
and:
“if it be of works, then is it no more grace.”
Paul even explains why:
“otherwise grace is no more grace.”
That means grace cannot simply provide one part while works provide another part of the same basis. Paul does not present a mixture in which grace does most of it and works complete the remainder.
The broader KJV evidence supports the same distinction in salvation and justification contexts. Romans 4:4–5 distinguishes believing from working. Ephesians 2:8–10 excludes works from salvation’s basis while still affirming good works afterward. Titus 3:5 and 2 Timothy 1:9 likewise exclude works from the saving basis.
That distinction is important. Works that follow grace are not the same thing as works being added to grace as a ground for receiving the gracious result.
Likewise, simply calling a proposed work “non-meritorious,” “grace-enabled,” “secondary,” or “necessary obedience” does not automatically remove the Romans 11:6 problem. The real question is what role that work is being given. If it is being made part of the basis for the same thing Scripture identifies as being by grace, Romans 11:6 directly speaks against that mixture.
Strongest Objection
The strongest biblical objection is James 2:14–26 because James directly discusses faith, works, Abraham, and justification. A serious objection is that if James connects works with justification, perhaps works must have some necessary role that prevents us from drawing too sharp a distinction from Romans 11:6.
That objection deserves to be taken seriously. James 2 does give works an important place, and it should not be treated as though works are meaningless.
But James 2 does not give us permission to reverse the explicit statement of Romans 11:6. Romans 11:6 still says that if something is by grace, it is “no more of works.” The exact harmonization of James 2 requires its own careful contextual study, and this research does not claim to have settled every use of justification and works in Scripture.
What can be said confidently here is that James 2 cannot be used to make Romans 11:6 say the opposite of what it plainly says.
Bottom Line
Yes. Romans 11:6 teaches that grace and works cannot be mixed as the basis of the same matter under discussion. If it is by grace, it is not of works; if it is of works, it is not grace.
That does not mean good works cannot follow grace. It means those works cannot become part of the ground that grace itself excludes.
