Moving through the season of Easter, the 6th Sunday has the following readings: Acts 17:16-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22 and John 14:15-21. Chosen to preach on this coming Sunday is John 15:14, “If you love Me; keep My commandments.”
Do you love Jesus? Are you keeping His commandments? Most Christians will not answer “yes” to both of those questions. In fact, the Christian faith teaches that we are NOT saved by loving God but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This statement by Jesus sounds a lot like what you hear in other religions. But there is a difference.
Truly, there are only two religions in the world–Christianity and everything else. And “everything else” assumes that there is only one kind of “good works” which cover not only how you relate to God but also how you relate to the neighbor. But that is not God’s view. Instead, God reveals that there are two kinds of good works or two kinds of righteousness.
The one righteousness is that which God demands from us in order to have a right relationship with Him. The second is that which God requires from us as we relate to our neighbor. The former is impossible for us to fulfill; the latter is possible not only by the Christian but even the atheist.
First, the latter. The works God expects in the temporal world, such as obeying the traffic laws, paying your taxes, not murdering anyone, etc. can be kept by the atheist out of self-interest. Temporal works have no necessity of proper motivation. The police really don’t care why you stopped at the stop sign; they only care that you stopped!
But in regard to our relationship to Almighty God, what is demanded is not only pure outward works but also perfect motivation of love for Jesus Christ. No human being who is an unbeliever can fulfill that demand. So God, in His mercy and grace, became incarnate of the Virgin Mary for the purpose of taking our place on the cross so that the curse of the Law might be fulfilled. The curse was death or separation from God Himself which Jesus experienced with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Jesus words about keeping the commandments are not directed to unbelievers but to believers in Christ. Such obedience has nothing to do with the righteousness needed to be saved. And confusing the two is a confusion of Law and Gospel. In point of fact, the works we do for our neighbor are not even taken into account on the Day of Judgment as the reason for going either to heaven or hell.
Instead, heaven is our home because of the works of Jesus Christ. To mix our temporal works in with His perfect righteousness is to disagree with His words, “It is finished” and to imagine that we somehow contribute to our own salvation. Such an attitude is indeed a contradiction to the conclusion of Christian faith that God and God alone gets ALL THE CREDIT for my salvation.
Name:Tom Baker
Rev. Baker,
In light of Matt. 25, Rev. 20 and EVERY heavenly judgment scene in the Bible, how can you make this statement “In point of fact, the works we do for our neighbor are not even taken into account on the Day of Judgment as the reason for going either to heaven or hell. “
Thanks in advance for your answer.
Good question. The point I was making was that on Judgment Day the REASON for our going to heaven has nothing to do with our works but everything to do with the works of Jesus Christ. And what about Matt 25, etc.? God is not speaking about our works as the CAUSE or REASON why we are going to heaven. He is noticing them as the evidence (fruit of the Holy Spirit) that we have already been saved. The fruit are spontaneous good works done out of love for Jesus Christ and can only take place AFTER we have been fully saved. Therefore, being subsequent to our salvation, they cannot be regarded as the REASON for going either to heaven or hell. Thanks again for the question.