Archive for the ‘works’ Category

4
Jan

“Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness”

   Posted by: Joshuah

Works do matter, as we pointed out already, and God’s covenant is indeed conditional: IF you do this that and the other, then I will give you this that and the other. It works both ways, of course – if we do bad, we will be cursed, if we do good, we will be blessed.

My point in an earlier post (Works cannot save you) was that neither will our works save us, nor can we know if we are saved until Judgment Day – then, we will be judged according to our works, yes indeed, and will receive what we deserve, for the better or the worse.

All the salvation assurance Scripture people quote (Hebrews10:19-23 and John 10:9, for example) is very wonderful, and I am sure a lot of people who follow teachings that I would call erroneous, like the idea of a pre-trib rapture, point to the same verses and are sure they are saved. But many people will say “Lord, Lord” to Jesus and He will not know them:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ” (Mat 7:21-23)

We are also warned against and told about deception

“And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray” (Mat 24:4-5)

“Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2Th 2:11-12)

So I suppose all these deceived people believe they are saved on the grounds of the same verses because they think they are doing what pleases God. Funnily enough, or rather, sadly enough, they oftentimes are antinomianists and still believe they are doing what is good in God’s eyes. How can they if they disregard His Law Word? We are told that even their prayers are an abomination to the Lord:

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Pro 28:9)

We can hope, yes, if we love God with all our heart and therefore follow all His commands, and we do live in that blessed hope indeed. but we will only know on Judgment Day.

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2
Jan

Works Cannot Save You

   Posted by: Joshuah

Scripture is clear about it: Works matter, for the better or the worse:

“And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.” (Jer 1:16)

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” ( Jas 1:22)

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Rev 20:12)

At the same time, works cannot save us, because if they did, we could save ourselves by our works. You can do the right thing for the wrong reasons.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ” (Mat 7:21-23)

When it comes to salvation, there are those destined for destruction (Psa 92:5-8, and the book of Joshua speaks a lot about those devoted to destruction, see for example Jos 10:28), and there are those whose names have been written in the book of life (Rev 20:12), and both has been God’s choice. Salvation is by God’s grace alone (Rev 7:10).

We cannot know if we are saved, nor can we make God save us, so to speak, or bribe Him with our works. We can show him that we love Him by keeping His commandments (Joh 14:15), and if we follow His law, it will be well with us down here (Deu 4:40, Jer 7:23), and of course we also have a responsibility for what we are saying or teaching (Jas 3:1), but if a person is meant for destruction, nothing he or she does will save them from destruction (look at Pharaoh or Judas, and re-read Pro 16:4), and if God wants you to deliver His message to the people, you are going to do it, whether you want to or not (look at the book of Jonah, or at Jeremiah (Jer 1:6), or at Moses, for that matter, (Exo 6:12)). We will find out if we are saved on Judgment Day, when the book of life is opened… But we have God’s promise that He will be a righteous and merciful judge (Psa 11:7 Lam 3:22, Ecc 3:17), and we have His word that tells us how to do it right.

“The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deu 30:9-10)

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ” (Mat 25:21)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2Ti 4:7-8)

I find it funny that many Christians would say “I was saved when I was this and that age” when nobody can know if he or she is saved. What they are talking about (at best) is the time when they repented from their sins and turned back to God, which is why it is so ridiculous if someone says “I was saved at the age of 5″. At worst, they are talking about some emotional experience that made them feel really close to God. Repentance is not a feeling, though:

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1Jn 2:3-6)

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