WHAT DO I BELIEVE ABOUT MY WORKS? A man might attend church on Sunday and think, There. I now deserve to go to heaven. He might even never miss an assembly of the church, and believe it is because of his perfect attendance that he should go to heaven. Maybe he does good works throughout the week and is a generally good man, therefore He thinks, “God will surely send me straight to heaven. I deserve it.” At best, he thinks, “I surely don’t deserve to go to hell.” Is such a man’s thinking right? This man is clearly guilty of wrong thinking, solely because he believes he DESERVES heaven. He thinks he has EARNED it. No matter how you look at it, His thinking fundamentally rejects the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross! Now, while such wrong thinking is possible, and perhaps even exists in the hearts and minds of a few confused believers, it is not the norm. Some seem to believe and tend to express this thinking as if it is the thinking of MOST in the church of Christ (as some wrongly view the church). They are wrong! For instance, I (as a member of Christ’s blood-bought church, His body), do not believe I DESERVE to go to heaven because I was baptized, or because I ‘go to church,’ or because I do this good work or that good work or because I practice this doctrine and do not believe that doctrine. Not at all! Not even close! God forbid. I dont even believe I DESERVE salvation because I confess my sins and repent of them daily. Quite the contrary. I FREELY RECOGNIZE THAT ALL THAT I DESERVE IS DEATH! That is all that I DESERVE. I dont DESERVE life, I don’t DESERVE goodness. I don’t DESERVE mercy. I DESERVE death for my sin! That is my sins wages. Yet, that is not what God gives. He gave His Son. He gives me grace. He gives me life. He gives me hope. He gives me salvation. He has asked me to do certain things to be justified ... to be saved. I must have faith. I must confess Him. I must repent of sins. I must be baptized. I must obey Him. If I do not do these things, I am continuing in sin (something that His grace has taught me to avoid). I continue to DESERVE sins wages. Thus, I am further motivated to do the good works He teaches me to do and am commanded to do. Yet, I do not for one second think I DESERVE GRACE because of my good works. Grace is unmerited. It is a gift given while I ... while we all .... were still sinners! How could I ever think I DESERVE the goodness of God? I DESERVE His wrath, yet He has shown me goodness. I continue to DESERVE condemnation for my failures (past, present and future), yet He shows me mercy! Now, I fail to see how such thinking makes my thinking wrong, legalistic (a term I hate), self-righteous, etc. etc. I see my works as a natural reaction to the grace He offers and gives. My works are indeed a fruit of the grace I receive, but I recognize that they are still required in order be justified. Yet, I dont see them as a MERE REQUIREMENT, I see them as a privilege, an honor, a duty of the highest calling, a joy, a blessing (even when they are difficult, as I know they are for good). They are derived and work together with my faith in God, but they are not sufficient in and of themselves to save me. God has promised grace to do those who believe in Him and do His will. They are not to glorify myself, but God. They are beneficial to all, yet merit me nothing in light of my sin. Nevertheless, because I associate the fact that I must DO CERTAIN THINGS to be justified and stay justified doesnt automatically mean I believe I am saved by my doing those works. I am saved by Gods grace. I know beyond any doubt that apart from Gods grace, I am a dead man walking ... and that death is what I have EARNED and DESERVE. So, the next time someone feels compelled to tell me how I, and those who share my convictions on this matter, believe we are saved by our works, please think again. We do not believe we are saved because we are such amazing workers or because of what we have done. We believe and know we are saved by the amazing grace of God through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, freely given on the cross of Calvary as a sacrifice for our sins. Because God loves us and gives us what we can never deserve—His grace—we can live in hope of everlasting life and strive to do those works that we know by faith please Him. Praise God!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 18:57:53 +0000
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