Christ and our good works? Christ and religious observance? That little word ‘and’ makes all the difference.
While many speak of doing something to be saved, Christianity is about what has been done for us by Jesus.
In other words, the Christian faith is not about our works, but about the work of Christ.
He alone makes it possible to be with God in heaven.
Jesus is emphatic in John 14:6:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Notice Jesus did not merely proclaim the truth; he was the truth.
He didn’t just teach a message; he was the message. He didn’t just show us the way; he was the way!
The good news of the Christian faith is that it’s only by what Jesus himself has done for us in his death that can a person be saved.
He alone makes it possible to “come to the Father”.
And, importantly, we do not need to add anything to that. His work on the cross was sufficient; it was all that was necessary.
Our hope of eternal life with God is never dependant on the good we have done in this life.
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3:5).
This is a great a relief, of course, because none of us have done enough “righteous things” for God. Only Jesus did.
Believing we can add to what Jesus has done by our own efforts and works is a deception.
Faith in Christ alone, and his completed work on the cross, is the only way to be good with God - and the only way to heaven.
Jesus alone is all we need.
~ Contributed by Pastor Chris Taylor of the Deniliquin Baptist Church, on behalf of the Combined Churches of Deniliquin.
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