July/August 2001
What Must We Do?
by Luis Palau
Throughout the television program, the station manager in the studio listened intently. I counseled people calling the program for spiritual help. I prayed on the air with those who wanted to open their hearts to Jesus Christ.
"I don't understand it," the manager said as the program signed off. "I attend church every Sunday. I partake of holy communion. I do confession at the stated times. And yet I have no assurance of eternal life."
Millions share this man's uncertainty. Do you?
From the moment Adam disobeyed God in the Garden, man has sought his own way to cover his sin and cleanse his conscience. We desire to "do." We ask the same question the crowd asked Jesus: "What must we do to do the works God requires?" (John 6:28).
God has always replied, "There's nothing you can do. You must trust me to do it for you." Jesus answered the crowd, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:29).
Why Do We Think Wrongly?
Pride can be at the center of this conflict -- we think we're self-sufficient. But the apostle Paul gets right to the point: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Righteousness through faith, not works, excludes boasting, Paul writes in Romans 3:21-31. Even the extraordinary works of Abraham, "the father of us all" (Romans 4:16), could not win God's acceptance.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector presents the same contrast. "Two men went up to the temple to pray," Jesus said. "The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men -- robbers, evildoers, adulterers -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14).
The Finished Work of Christ
Good works aren't good enough to earn God's acceptance, to find peace with God, to pay the debt for sin. No matter how hard we try and how sincere our efforts, our consciences will never be cleansed "from acts that lead to death" (Hebrews 9:14). Instead we must come to God on his terms -- by trust in the finished work of his Son.
God's work of salvation in Jesus Christ was finished nearly 2,000 years ago, before I was born, before I committed my first sin, even before I repented and believed. It is finished, and there's nothing I can add.
When we think that good behavior somehow contributes to our salvation, we commit two grievous wrongs:
First, we diminish the death of Jesus Christ. Dare we imply that this provision for our sin, planned by our wise, all-knowing and all-powerful God, wasn't enough for redemption? If this is true, why did God the Son endure the shame and horror of the cross?
Second, we deny man's helpless condition. The Bible says we were "dead in transgressions" before God "made us alive with Christ" (Ephesians 2:5). We followed the ways of this world, "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts" (Ephesians 2:2-3). We are incapable of paying even one-hundredth of one percent of our debt to God.
Herein is the danger of religion. There is good in every religion, but only one Savior who died for our sins. Every religion gives good advice. But good advice is based on the premise that human beings have the ability to carry it out and that this success will somehow cleanse our guilty conscience.
Good works, even religious observance, contribute nothing to our salvation. During one of our call-in television programs, I talked to a young woman named Joanie who told me that, although she was about to be baptized at her church, she carried a lot of guilt from her past. She had no confidence that God heard her prayers. Joanie had religion, but not a relationship with Jesus Christ. She had never placed her faith in him as her Savior.
Are you like Joanie? Church attendance. Tithing. Baptism. Communion. These are signs and symbols of salvation, but not -- most definitely not -- salvation itself.
Let's Not Knock Good Works
It's not that God dislikes good works. In fact, he commends them. He didn't knock the prayers and generous giving of Cornelius the centurion, described in Scripture as devout and God-fearing. "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God," an angel said to him (Acts 10:4).
Your good works show you have a proper fear of God. I'm sure he is pleased that you're trying to please him. But you must come to know God the way he has devised.
Good works can go in two directions. They can reveal a sincere, broken desire to know God by pleasing him. Or they can reveal an unrepentant desire to pacify God, covering up rather than exposing sin.
True saving faith inevitably leads to good works -- doing the revealed will of God. We work for God and for good because we are saved, not seeking to be saved.
An honest Christian will always feel that his good works are for sure less than perfect. But he's at peace with imperfection because he's not basing his right standing with God on his good deeds. Daily he proclaims, "My soul will boast in the Lord" -- alone (Psalm 34:2). That's what salvation is all about.
Have you come to God -- on his terms? Would you like to do good works without wondering if they're good enough? If you do, you can claim God's wonderful promise, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
© 2001 Luis Palau. All rights reserved.
-- Luis Palau