working on works

^{one of the things i take for granted about Christianity is its simplicity and its clarity. i only recognized this from studying other religions, but we are so blessed that our authority lies in God's Word- His inerrant, infallible, standing the test of time- Word. God's Word (the bible) is His love letter to us, given to us to teach, admonish and rebuke, and also to help us understand His love for us and the fullness and richness of his mercy and grace. i so often take for granted the fact that if i have a question about something situational in my life or if there's something i don't understand, i can look to the bible- because what God says (and not what man says) goes. i love that the fullness of the gospel is laid out, clear enough for any layman to read and understand. no assistance necessary.}


the verses that have been standing out to me lately are those that speak about works and grace. in our church, we focus a LOT on God's grace and how loving and forgiving He is of our sins. in my opinion, we focus on this too much. i say this because oftentimes we are not identifiable as being Christians just from the way we live our lives, but only by what we say when we open our mouths...which isn't as it should be. so while the verses below illustrate that we are definitely not gaining ANY ground in God's eyes  by working harder at being better Christians or performing more good deeds or whatnot (we are saved by God's grace alone and not by anything we have worked toward), i do want to stress that we as Christians should be able to be identified by the good we do in Christ. we are blessed to have the transformational power of the Holy Spirit, so we need not let that go to waste.

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  ¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.  ¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
ephesians 2:4-15b

even though the above verse is overused in church as a "go to" verse, i still love it. it speaks volumes about God's character, and when read in context it says far more than we usually allow it to say when we pull out our favorite token verse. yes, it talks about being saved by our faith rather than by good works. but also, when you focus on it, who is the topic of the paragraph? is it about us? is it about what we do for God? NO.  the whole thing is focusing on God. God is loving, God is rich in mercy, God made us alive with Christ, God raised us up with Christ and God gave us the free gift of salvation. even when it mentions the works that we do, it mentions them being done through God. God prepared the works for us to do and He prepared us to do them. without God (the one who abolished the law that we can never uphold), we are nothing. we are "brought near through the blood of Christ," not through the good works we do, striving to be closer to Him.

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
 ¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
2 timothy 1:8-14

i think this verse is just another illustration of how the bible drives home its point. timothy reiterates what paul said- grace isn't something that can be earned. it's given to us. God saved us because of His own "purpose and grace," not because of the things we've done. God so thoroughly gave us the grace we needed for salvation that he provided it even before the beginning of time. amazing.