I was talking with friends this week about how some people, Christian or otherwise, seem to have this idea that all we need to do to get into heaven is to be "good enough". Somehow, we tend to think that if our good behaviors outweigh the bad on some cosmic scale, that we will be able to make it on our own merit. As good as that may sound, it just isn't biblical. If that were true, Jesus would never have had to die.
It is natural for us to want to maintain control over every aspect of our lives, and salvation seems to be included in our endeavors. It is so much easier to have a list of do's and don'ts to check off, than to accept the fact that "all our righteous acts aer like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). The pharisees, in Jesus' day, were an example of salvation by "works". They had rules for everything, including more than 600 on how to keep the Sabbath holy. They were not even allowed to spit on the ground, because that would create dirt, and would therefore be working on the Sabbath.
While I am not advocating giving up on trying to do good, I am saying that it is much more important that we maintain a relationship with Jesus than focus on following the rules. The Bible says to "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Believe. Not do, not don't, no list of requirements. Just believe.
Jesus, himself, while teaching about the coming judgement and salvation, said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!"
Now, you can argue that the miracles and prophesying were not from God, but my point here is that even sincere Christians can fall into the trap of working so hard "for the Lord" that we have no time for a relationship with him. He wants us to "know" him. Spend time with Him. Pray, study, talk to him, LISTEN to him.
The apostle Paul, who had an amazing spiritual resume, brings this point home: " 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
We need, above all things, to know Christ. Then, and only then, can our works count, because only then will our behavior match our thoughts, and those must be in tune with his.
It is not what we do, but Who we know. What a difference it makes to live a life seeking to know and be known by God, to build a relationship with Him, rather than spinning our wheels trying to be good enough.
It is natural for us to want to maintain control over every aspect of our lives, and salvation seems to be included in our endeavors. It is so much easier to have a list of do's and don'ts to check off, than to accept the fact that "all our righteous acts aer like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). The pharisees, in Jesus' day, were an example of salvation by "works". They had rules for everything, including more than 600 on how to keep the Sabbath holy. They were not even allowed to spit on the ground, because that would create dirt, and would therefore be working on the Sabbath.
While I am not advocating giving up on trying to do good, I am saying that it is much more important that we maintain a relationship with Jesus than focus on following the rules. The Bible says to "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Believe. Not do, not don't, no list of requirements. Just believe.
Jesus, himself, while teaching about the coming judgement and salvation, said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!"
Now, you can argue that the miracles and prophesying were not from God, but my point here is that even sincere Christians can fall into the trap of working so hard "for the Lord" that we have no time for a relationship with him. He wants us to "know" him. Spend time with Him. Pray, study, talk to him, LISTEN to him.
The apostle Paul, who had an amazing spiritual resume, brings this point home: " 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
We need, above all things, to know Christ. Then, and only then, can our works count, because only then will our behavior match our thoughts, and those must be in tune with his.
It is not what we do, but Who we know. What a difference it makes to live a life seeking to know and be known by God, to build a relationship with Him, rather than spinning our wheels trying to be good enough.
