Grace Not Works

Grace Not Works

Genesis 13-15 | Psalm 5 | John 5

Many times throughout the Gospels we find Jesus persecuted by the Jews for healing and doing good on the Sabbath (the sabbath is every seventh day). Moses (a prophet of the early Israelites who wrote down God's Law) had recorded God's command that no work should be done on the sabbath - in fact, that the sabbath should be 'holy.' But over the course of time the Jews made the observance of the sabbath more rigorous than God had commanded, they set numerical limits on what could and couldn't be done on the Sabbath to the point where they insisted that Jesus had done wrong when He healed the invalid by the pool in John 5.

The Jews thought that by enforcing the numerical limits that they had created they would be righteous (i.e., right with God). But by doing this they placed too much importance on observing their own interpretation of the law as opposed to God's reason for instituting the Law - they ignored the "vibe" and focussed on the semantic. In Jesus' words, they 'diligently studied the Scriptures because they thought that by them they possessed eternal life, yet thy refused to come to Jesus to have life' (vv.39-40). But ask yourself, how could it be wrong or 'not holy' for Jesus to heal a sick man on God's holy day?

The Jews that Jesus addressed, however, persecuted Jesus for this and for His ensuing claim to be the Son of God. But to their taunts Jesus replied with four reasons why He is 'equal with God'. First, He acts just like His Father (v.19). Second, His Father includes Him in His plans (v.20). Third, He, like His Father, has power over life and Death (v.21). Fourth, He has been given authority by His Father to judge (v.22). In this final point, Jesus teaches those listening that He has been entrusted with the judgement of mankind and He later specifies that 'whoever hears His word and believes Him who sent Him has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life' (v.24).

And so we are faced with two ways that righteousness is sought by mankind: first, by trying to live according to an altered form of God's Law (like the Jews); and second, by simply believing in Jesus (as He is calling them and us to do). Those trusting in the former are trusting in themselves and in good works to make themselves perfect in God's sight; those who follow the latter are trusting in Jesus to make them perfect in God's sight. The former are doomed to judgement as "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10 cf. Jn 5:45-47), while the latter are assured of their salvation in Christ (Jn. 3:17).

Many in our day also seek to become righteous by fulfilling some 'law' - Christians often fall into the trap of placing emphasis on completing certain requirements in order to please God. It may be that the Christian feels he or she must pray every night, or attend church every week, or give a certain amount of money regularly to be righteous. All of these things (praying, attending church and tithing) are important to every Christian, but they are acts completed out of love and respect for God, as opposed to acts that make us righteous. There are no acts we can do to improve our righteousness as 'we have been washed white in the blood of the lamb' (Rev. 7:14)

Such actions cannot be regarded by believers as harmless, or acts in addition to their faith. Faith in Christ is by definition a belief that the work He did on the cross was all that is necessary to make us righteous in God's sight. Believing, consiously or subconsciously, that there are certain things we must do to be right with God apart from having faith in Christ, is believing that Christ's work wasn't enough, that He didn't make us right with God and that therefore, His death had no purpose.

I often find myself feeling that I must read a certain number of chapters of the Bible each day, or pray for a certain length of time. It is an easy and common trap to fall into, but to fall into it is to be denying Christ's power and ignoring His call to total faith. Ask yourself truly if there's anything you do that you feel is necessary to remain in God's 'good graces'.

Pray now and praise God for His "Amazing Grace" in providing a way for us to become righteous in His sight through Jesus, and consider any aspects of your life which you treat as a religious obligation. Commit these to Him asking that you may do them and more - but out of love rather than out of a sense of duty.