Of faith it has been well said that “profession” alone saves no one, so the prayed prayer, the signed card, the walked aisle or the trip down the stadium stairs at a rally are, in themselves, worth nothing. Rather, value is in the persevering “possession” of faith that remains from one of those events, or from whatever form one’s first faith took.
The oft-debated and therefore trite “once saved, always saved” may be the fire insurance mantra of those who hang on to their profession as the only evidence of faith, unaware that a fruitless faith is no faith at all (James 2:17-20). While many in some sense continue to “believe,” it is not necessarily biblical faith. The Protestant Reformers gave such saving faith three essential aspects – knowledge, assent and trust. “Belief” might cover the first two in some respect, but without trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ as the ONLY hope we have (John 14:6; 15:5), it is impotent to save.
On the flip side, some will seek to do many good works for many bad reasons. The religionist stacks works like a chair on a table on a box on a beach ball hoping to climb into God’s favor. Even the hedge bettor, though not so obvious, adds works to their profession “just in case.” Finally, the insecure believer works to “prove” their faith to themselves/others, or to pay God back for the free gift.
Still, even the biblical Christian who trusts Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, will sometimes suffer life somewhere on the broad spectrum from ungrateful laziness to wrongly-motivated works. Serious churches/Christians see a distinction between nominal (name only) Christians and “true” Christians, and therefore are more likely fear the “do too little” side of the scale.
Enter the “do more, do better, try harder” sermon, book or Bible study. These are legion. They go something like this: “Let me tell you the story of the biblical character or ‘way’ Christian missionary or contemporary believer who loves more, gives more, prays more, sacrifices more, studies more, shares more, sins less, is braver…and happier…than you.” Then there’s this – “be like Jesus.” Oy.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a “go and do.” There are clear teachings of each of the “do more” examples above…even to be like Jesus (1 John 2:6). And, conviction is important and can be gratifying – “I needed to hear that.” But, does anyone not already know they fall short, that they don’t do enough or care enough? If you don’t know that, you’ve got other problems. Beleaguered believers run this “try harder” treadmill and it’s like having them get in shape with exercise and no food.
Any biblical Christian might often despair of his/her fruitlessness, so caution should be maintained to respond rightly. “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne. That’s your food. Delight in the Christ of the Bible. Rehearse his gospel. Contemplate his beauty and grace. Meditate on his perfection. Then, get to work.
Works follow faith. Biblically, they do “account” for something, but not salvation (Ephesians 2:8). Biblical Christians should maintain a sense of indebtedness without presuming to repay. We are now not only debt-free, but inheritors of more than we can imagine (Romans 8:17). This incalculable grace should motivate gratefulness. So, our grateful response is not to do for God, but to do for others – the overused “pay it forward,” where your God-giftedness will determine what form “it” takes (1 Peter 4:10). Those are the “works” that follow true faith.