The Work of God

“Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”  John 6:28-29

It was shortly after Jesus had fed the 5,000 men along with their families, that He and His disciples left by ship across the Sea of Galilee to seek some rest, but the crowds always kept seeking Him giving Him little time to catch His breath.  They found Him once again after He had reached the opposite shore, but He was aware that their main interest in Him was because He had fed them.  He told them to not get so wrapped up in working for things that will not last, but rather to seek those things which lead to eternal life, the life that Jesus could give them for this was His mission from the Father.  They focused on the term “work”, assuming that there was something that they could do to in order to be in a right relationship with God.  However, Jesus told them that their only hope of pleasing the Father was to believe on Him whom the Father had sent.

No matter how “good” a person is, that is, he or she obeys all man-made laws, serves others, tries to do all the right things, prays, studies scripture, gives generously, and repents of sin daily, he or she can never be righteous enough by his or her own efforts to be justified before a righteous and holy God.  That’s why God imputes the righteousness of Christ to those who  repent and believe on Jesus in order for them to be justified before God.  Webster’s Dictionary defines the term “impute” as to attribute to another.  An example would be imputed interest.  In the accrual form of accounting, bank interest at the end of the fiscal year is imputed, that is, added to the income of the business at year end even though the cash was not received until the following year.  The bank is still in possession of the interest.  In much the same way, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the account of the believer.  Christ is still the possessor of this righteousness even though He gives it to the believer.

In this way, we are justified, that is, seen by God as righteous through the righteousness of Christ whose blood covers our sin.  Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, that is, there is no pardon, or forgiveness, or as is also described, no taking away of our sin.  We are stuck with it.  Without repenting of our sin and giving our lives to Christ, we will answer for our sins.  Christ’s forgiveness through the shedding of His blood is a complete forgiveness.  No “works” on our part are necessary to complete our salvation.  There are some who believe that when a believer in Christ dies, he or she will go to a place and endure punishment for a time until his or her sins are deemed to have been sufficiently cleansed, but this is to negate Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as full payment for the sins of those who have repented and trusted in Him.  It is basically to add works to what Christ has already done which implies that Christ’s atonement on the cross was not sufficient to completely give us right standing before God the Father.  What scripture does teach is that there is a place, called Hades, which one could call a temporary hell, in which unbelievers go upon death to await their final judgment and then will be bound over to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:5-15).

Good works come into play after one has repented and become a member of God’s family in order to contribute to the growth of God’s kingdom.  God puts a desire into the hearts of believers to serve Him by serving others.    We do not work to receive salvation; we work because we have received salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We are now living in what we call the “age of grace”, but it will eventually come to an end when Christ returns and all the wicked will be called into account.  As far as I can see, not very many people are concerned about their eternal destination, but God’s judgment is as sure as anything has ever been sure.  Just because many folks claim not to believe in God or His word doesn’t change the truth of His word.  It makes perfect sense to me that evil can’t rule forever.  There must be a judgment.  It will matter not only in this life, but in the life to come what one believes.