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Unfortunately this is a serious
and a very widespread spiritual malady, one that
finds its roots buried in heathen beliefs, for . . .
`The principle that man can
save himself by his own works [lies] at the
foundation of every heathen religion.' (DA35)
Of those who have this
erroneous view of salvation, a more enlightened
believer would enquire?
`Are you expecting that your
merit will recommend you to the favour of God, and
that you must be free from sin before you trust His
power to save? If this is the struggle going on in
your mind, I fear you will gain no strength, and
will finally become discouraged. As the brazen
serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so was
Christ lifted up to draw all men unto Him. All who
looked upon that serpent, the means that God had
provided, were healed; so in our sinfulness, in our
great need, we must "look and live." (3SM149)
If the righteousness of man is
valued by God at `less than nothingness,' then the
blending in any degree of our righteousness with
God's righteousness could only turn His perfection
into imperfection. This is why we must ever remember
that . . .
`Since we are sinful, unholy,
we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no
righteousness of our own with which to meet the
claims of the law of God.' (SC62)
The humbling truth assures us
that . . .
`Apart from Christ we have no
merit, no righteousness. Our sinfulness, our
weakness, our human imperfection make it impossible
that we should appear before God unless we are
clothed in Christ's spotless righteousness. We are
to be found in Him not having our own
righteousness, but the righteousness which is in
Christ.' (1SM333)
No wonder the psalmist was
inspired to declare:
`I will proclaim your
righteousness, yours alone.' (Psalm 71:16)
The psalmist surely understood
that . . .
`He who is trying to reach
heaven by his own works in keeping the law is
attempting an impossibility.' (DA172)
Yet, even though this lesson is
clearly taught in Scripture, man has long had
difficulty in coming to terms with it.
In Eden, after his fall, Adam
tried to cover his nakedness with the works of his
own hands. Right there and then God gave to man a
powerful gospel lesson. God slew a lamb and gave to
Adam an acceptable covering for his nakedness. In
doing this, God gave testimony to the fact that only
by the death of a Substitute can man's nakedness or
sin be covered over.
Then we have the example of
Cain and Abel. Both brought their offerings to the
Lord, . . .
`Cain presented his offering
as a favour done to God, through which he expected
to secure the divine approval. Abel brought the
slain victim, the sacrificed life, thus
acknowledging the claims of the law that had been
transgressed.' (PP72)
By rejected Cain's offering,
God provided us with another eternal reminder that
the works of man cannot atone for his sinfulness.
Only the shed blood of the Substitute is acceptable.
Then in the New Testament we
have the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
Some worked a full day, others worked only one hour,
yet all received the same wages. The simple lesson
being that God rewards us, not in proportion to our
work, but in accordance with His mercy. As the words
of Scripture remind us . . .
Salvation `does not . . .
depend on man's desire or effort, but on
God's mercy. He saved us, not
because of righteous things we had done, but
because of His mercy.' (Romans 9:16; Titus 3:5)
The prodigal son's elder
brother had much the same problem as did Cain. The
elder son could not understand why his upstart young
brother was so readily accepted by their father.
After all, why should the younger brother receive
the best robe after squandering his inheritance? Why
should the fatted calf be slain for the younger
brother after he had brought such shame on the
family name? The elder brother was convinced that,
in view of his many years of hard work on the
father's estate, the fatted calf should have been
slain for him, but he just could not understand that
his younger brother had been accepted, not because
of what he was, not because of his past, but simply
because he had come home, humbled and contrite, and
had accepted the gifts that his loving father longed
to bestow on him.
While the elder brother had not
left home, he had yet to "come home" . . .
Then there is the penitent
thief who was crucified with Jesus. From the time
that he accepted His Saviour to the time of His
death, his hands and feet were nailed to a cross.
This made it impossible for him to perform any
meritorious act. Yet Jesus gave him the promise that
his faith - devoid as it was of any visible physical
works - would find him a place in paradise.
All of these examples speak of
a gospel that offers to everyone full pardon, total
acceptance, and a perfect righteousness on condition
that they "come home" and concede that only the shed
blood of the Substitute is acceptable; that only the
righteousness of Jesus can save, and that this
righteousness is all His and none of ours.
When Scripture tells us that
"the grace [unmerited favour] of God . . . brings
salvation," why do we find it so hard to accept this
fact? Why, by trying to place a value on our works,
do we attempt to purchase the gift? Titus 2:11. Why,
by our own strenuous efforts, do we try and improve
on Christ's perfect righteousness when . . .
`The righteousness of Christ,
as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain
[and] no work of man can improve the great and
precious gift of God.' (COL115)
When Scripture makes it so
abundantly clear that eternal life is a gift, why do
we, by way of our attitude toward our own works, try
and earn the gift?
Paul says . . . `If you
confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.' If it is as simple as
that, then why do we make it so complicated? Why do
we insist on trying to make God our debtor by
thinking that our works have some merit for
salvation? (Romans 10:9)
And so, dear friend, . . .
`You have the assurance that
as you renounce your own righteousness, you will
be clothed with His righteousness.' (YI
09-28-99.6)
`No matter who you are or what
your life has been, you can be saved only in God's
appointed way. You must repent; you must fall
helpless on the Rock, Christ Jesus.' (5T218)
When God gave life to man, it
was a gift. Our part in creation was passive. We
could not earn that life because whatever was needed
was provided before we took our first breath.
Eternal life is granted to us on much the same
basis. We cannot earn it because it was earned for
us long before we were born. It is a gift that has
been earned for us by The Gift.
`Thanks be to God for His
indescribable Gift!' (2 Corinthians 9:15) |
