Work

Work! What a dirty word. The modern "Christian" Church is so quick to jump on this "saved by grace" bandwagon, that they totally refuse to check out the fine print. As stated earlier, grace only keeps us alive physically so we can learn faith. Grace does not save us eternally. Faith will, though; but not without works. "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action (work), is dead." James 2:17

 

Works is in the Bible. Let’s just get it out and face it head on. Some of the terms that are used in place of the word works, but which mean the same are: deeds, action, doing, does, walk, obey, obedience, etc. Work is an integral part of the Christian life and salvation.

 

Let us start with the words and teaching of Christ. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21. There are only two types of people in the world: workers of righteousness and workers of evil. "Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your Name, and in Your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evil doers!’" Matthew 7:22, 23

 

The next obvious question is,

"What about being a legalist with all these works? Won’t I be like the Pharisees?" No! The difference is what works you are doing. If you are doing your own works, yes. If you are doing God’s works, no. The Pharisees were doing their own, works. Jesus already told them and us in Mark 7:6-9 that they were not doing His works, but their own. "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men… You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"

 

Now about legalism: Jesus was a legalist. Listen to Him speak and hear how legalistic He was. "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4. On every word that comes from God. Not just some, but every word.

 

The dictionary defines legalism as "strict, literal or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code." Excessive, strict, literal – as Jesus said, "Every word" that proceeds from the mouth of God. "Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." Matthew 23:23. You should have practiced the latter… without neglecting the former. Talk about a legalist. Jesus was the epitome of legalists.

 

You see, without legalism, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who by faith are obedient to the commands of God, as Jesus was, can enter the kingdom. Now you understand why only a few will be saved. People want to be saved by their own (self) way – but there is only One way to heaven.

 

Jesus stated emphatically, "but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do (work) exactly what My Father has commanded Me." John 14:31. "For I did not speak of My own accord, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say and how to say it." John 12:49

 

"What to say and how to say it". 

Excessive, strict, literal? Jesus wants to make it very plain that any variation will not be tolerated. He says to you and me, "Come, follow Me." We are to live the strict, legalistic life of Jesus. When someone calls me a legalist, I thank that person and then remind them that my example is Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. Don't you?

 

A wealthy man came to Jesus one day and asked what he needed to do (work) to get to heaven. Jesus did not correct his concept of working to heaven. He simply told him what work was acceptable. Jesus stated, "If you want to enter life, obey (work) the commandments." Matthew 19:17

 

Being a good Jew, he realized what Jesus was talking about, but he wanted to sound like he was smart and intelligent. He asked Jesus, "Which ones?"

 

Jesus did not get into an argument with him. He didn’t tell him about the ceremonial laws, feast days, or temple rituals for they were not important for salvation. for they were not important for salvation. Jesus just told him the truth by quoting some of the Ten Commandments. "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself."

 

The man stuck his chest out and wanted to make sure that everyone was hearing before speaking. "All these I have kept" the young man said. "What do I still lack."

 

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." Jesus replied.

 

For many people of the modern "Christian" church, they take this to show that Jesus recognized that keeping the Ten Commandments was not all that had to be done. They claim that after giving the Ten Commandments, He then went on to show something else was needed to get into heaven.

 

If this were the case, Jesus would be a liar. He stated that all we had to do was keep the commandments. Would He add more, who taught us to add or subtract nothing to the Commandments? NO! So let’s take a closer look at this.

 

The first thing we notice is that Jesus only gave five of the last six of the Ten Commandments. After giving the five, he stopped and let the young man respond foolishly. Then Jesus gave the sixth commandment in a parable of action (work), "go, sell your possessions." You see, the Tenth Commandment is, "Do not covet…" The young man thought he had been keeping the Ten Commandments. But in reality he had been breaking them. He had been coveting his wealth. Wealth that God had given him to share with the poor. Jesus showed the young man that he did not love God nor his neighbor as himself. He broke the Ten Commandments and as such, could not enter into heaven.

 

There are those who answer that it is impossible to keep the Ten Commandments. That would be saying that God is unjust for giving them to us if He knew we couldn’t keep them. But that is not true. Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26