"It's the Bible, you get credit for trying!"
Do we get credit for trying or for making a strong effort? Can we earn God's favor by our works or good deeds? Many seem to think that if they just try their best with earnestness and sincerity God will surely have favor on them, save them from their sin, and grant them eternal life. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is an age-old lie that has been around for centuries.
If you remember seeing the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" , we catch a glimpse of this false idea that we can somehow put forth a good effort and God will be pleased with us. In the scene titled "Divine Providence", the two characters Pintel and Ragetti, while serving under Jack Sparrow, are adrift in a rowboat on the high seas. As Pintel rows the boat, Ragetti is thumbing through the pages of a Bible acting like he’s actually reading it.
The dialog goes like this:
Ragetti: “Well, I say it was divine providence that escaped us from jail.”
Pintel: ”Well, I say it was me being clever. Ain’t that right poochie (the dog).”
Ragetti: “Well, how’d you know it wasn’t divine providence that inspired you to be clever? Anyways, I ain’t stealing no ship.”
Pintel: “It ain’t stealing. Its salvaging. Since when did you care?”
Ragetti: “Since we’re not immortal no more. We’ve got to take care of our mortal selves.”
Pintel: “You know you can’t read.”
Ragetti: “It’s the Bible you get credit for trying.”
Pintel: “Pretending to read the Bible, that’s a lie.”
The hard truth is this. The only credit we will get is not what we think. The only thing we can offer God or contribute to our salvation is our sin, resistance, and rebellion towards Him. That’s it! That’s the best that we have to offer, and it doesn’t look good for any of us. All religions, with the exception of Christianity, are predicated upon a performance-based system of works and reward. Christianity is the only religion based on faith that results in good works, while all other religions rely upon works to attain to a faith which is really no faith at all.
Some Christians today have bought into this same lie of acquiring God’s favor and grace by their own efforts and actions, thus they live out a performance-based salvation. They speak of God’s grace and shout out a hearty amen whenever the word “grace” is mentioned. Yet, many of them live out their lives often times plagued with fear, guilt, and an unsettling feeling of where they actually stand before God. For others, they turn up their noses smug with pride actually believing in themselves that they are pulling it off, that is living the Holy life. They gladly welcome grace talk, yet they turn and walk away only to work on their new list of “to-do's” they got from last Sunday’s sermon. I myself once lived this unsettling life of uncertainty as I sought to acquire jewels in my crown, add rooms to my mansion in Heaven, earn rewards, and to secure multiple blessings for myself. “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:5 NIV.
The songs we listen to, the books we read, the sermons we hear, the Bible studies we attend, not to mention all the media outlets out there (tv, radio, and the internet) all play some part in shaping and determining our doctrine and theology, that which we believe to be true. This accumulative effect ultimately dictates how we live out our Christian lives. A constant and steady diet of self-improvement, life coaching, purposeful living, and moralism among many other popular teachings has developed a performance-based mentality for many Christians.
I’ve heard this time and time again. “Justification is God’s part and Sanctification is man’s part.” In other words, God is responsible for initiating our salvation, but it’s up to us to continue in the faith through spiritual discipline and obedience to His word. God is the one who begins our salvation and we are the one’s who finish it. We are justified by God and declared righteous in Christ through faith, but now it is upon us to perform the works of obedience and love that holiness requires.
This is a troubling statement for both Justification and Sanctification together are the work of God alone. He initiates our salvation and works it out in us and through us to its completion. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;” Hebrews 12:2 KJV. What Christ did on the cross in His dying and rising from the grave is the cause and culmination of our salvation, from beginning to end, from our baptism to our resurrection and glorification. “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV.
The Bible reveals to us God’s redemptive plan of salvation for mankind through the work His Son Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead on our behalf. This is the Gospel. Everything in the Bible before Christ’s work on the cross points us to this great event, and everything in the Christian life flows out of it. Again, I’m reminded of hearing another phrase often quoted in Evangelical circles today, “It’s deeds not creeds.” It’s as though the Christian life is all about how we are to conduct ourselves, though still sinners, rather than what we believe to be true about Christ our savior who rescues sinners. “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5 NIV.
To put things in their proper perspective or correct order is to place Christ first and everything in life will flow out of that. Our deeds will help or save us not, but they are the natural fruits worked in us and through us who are connected to Christ. The Bible is exceedingly more than an owner’s manual with rules and principles on how to live out the Christian life. Of course, the Bible teaches Godly living, but that is subordinate to Christ and His work. No doubt, good works will flow naturally out of the believer justified and sanctified by Grace through Faith in Christ. ”As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:26 NIV.
The only works that God is pleased with are those done by faith. They are the works worked by God then manifested in the Christian. All other works done apart from faith have the dirty fingerprints of the sinful flesh all over them. Works done apart from faith are motivated by self-interest and seek personal gain. They please God not and gain us nothing before Him. Nevertheless, they can bring about some temporal earthly benefits for us here and now. God can still use them to carry out and accomplish His will here on earth, but we must remember they earn us nothing before God.“ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV.
In the magazine "Modern Reformation", Jerry Bridges states in his article “Gospel Driven Sanctification”, “It is the Gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God, but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death.” A proper understanding of both justification and sanctification is critical knowledge for the Christian in living out a correct and healthy relationship before God and his neighbor.
We must know how salvation comes to us, and how we are preserved in the faith. One must have a proper understanding of the Bible that puts Christ at the center of all things. This will guide us into what it means to be truly Christian. So, for just a minute let’s get technical and look at the theology of all of this. It will take some work, but it will be profitable beyond measure.“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” 1 Timothy 2:3-6 NIV.
Justification
Let’s begin with justification. Justification is the key or central truth of the Christian Church. Luther insisted that it was the central article or doctrine upon which the Church stands and falls. Luther states: “This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification, is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness.” It is at the core of Christian teaching and upon which all other doctrine is built. The doctrine of justification is at the center and all of theology is built around it.
Justification is the work of God alone in declaring unrighteous, wicked, and sinful people as righteous and holy. A righteousness that is not our own but that of Christ’s, an “Alien Righteousness”. A righteousness earned by Christ in His perfect adherence to the Law, sinless life, and death on the cross which is received alone through faith. In justification, the holiness that the Christian now possess is exclusively Christ’s holiness. It is the instantaneous and complete act of God upon us and works do not play any part in the justification of the sinner. So, we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV.
Justification is forensic or legal in nature where God pronounces a verdict of acquittal upon the sinner. The sinner is declared by God to be not guilty on account of Christ. Christ’s perfect life has satisfied the demands of the Law and His suffering on the cross has made satisfaction for all sin. He has appeased God’s wrath and set aside His anger toward the sins of all mankind. This righteousness of Christ is now credited to our own account based solely upon His merits, not our own. Justification restores fallen sinners to a right relationship with God by making them righteous and granting them salvation. Know that justification is not an event that just fades into the past, rather it remains an ever-present reality in the life of the Christian. “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Romans 5:9 NIV.
So, where does faith fit into all of this? Faith is not a choice we make, nor is it an action or work on our part. Faith is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit moving us to believe, to trust with confidence and assurance that what God has promised us is true. Faith allows one to receive the gifts or merits of Christ: the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. Luther speaks of faith, “…a living bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.” Faith grabs hold of Christ’s righteousness and appropriates it to the believer. It is the instrument that receives or takes hold of salvation. Faith is not the cause of salvation, for that is the work of the grace of God alone. Faith is what moves one from unbelief to belief or trust that what Christ did in His sinless life and sin bearing death on the cross is true for both you and me. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Galatians 3:14 NIV.
So, we can see exactly how salvation comes to us. It is entirely the work of God. We are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, and by the merits of Christ alone. Our own works, merits, deeds, goodwill, or even our decision will never save us simply because they are corrupted by the sinful nature. We have nothing to offer God that would make us worthy of so great a salvation. A salvation that required God to send His son to die for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 NIV.
This is where Ragetti’s notion of a credit system of earning points is fallacious and false. Yet, he is right about one thing though. We are no longer immortal, rather mortal beings that will die someday. Adam messed that one up for all of us in the Garden with his counterpart Eve. There is nothing in and of ourselves that we can do to merit or earn God’s favor for our salvation. We cannot take care of things on our own. The best that we can do is to offer God our sin, resistance, and rebellion toward Him. The only way we can get any kind of help is to look elsewhere in a direction other than ourselves. That elsewhere is found in Christ where He does provide a rescue that freely grants us life eternal and salvation. Okay, that’s the easy part. Now it’s going to get a bit tougher as we move to the Christian life and sanctification.
God called us into salvation or repentance as He turned us from sin to faith in Christ. Now that faith has come, we are justified. We continue to be turned by God in daily repentance. The fruits of repentance are good works or sanctification which are the result or product of justification. Good works or sanctification are simply the daily living out the life of justification but are never the cause of justification.
Paradox: Sinner/Saint, Law/Gospel
Let’s stop her for a minute and be reminded of two critical paradoxical truths inherent within Christianity, Law/Gospel and Sinner/Saint. A must know for all Christians in understanding the Christian life. They are not either/or propositions, rather they are both/and realities. First, the Bible instructs us in both the Law and the Gospel that are at work bringing about our justification and sanctification. Secondly, the Christian life is one lived out as one of sinner and saint both at the same time. As with all paradoxes found within Scripture, they reveal within themselves separate and distinct teachings that run side by side as opposites, yet are held together in tension. They are never to be comingled or confused with each other. We must at all times resist the urge to reconcile paradox. We are not liberty to blend or synthesize the two opposing truths otherwise we come up with false doctrine. Neither are we free to choose one side of the paradox to the exclusion of the other. Again, we will find ourselves defending only half the truth which is no truth at all.
continued…