“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ~John 1:29 (ESV)
Only one work brings salvation, eternal life, and restoration to all mankind. The work of Christ on the cross. Yet we are always presented with the temptation to take on the challenge of accomplishing this work for ourselves. It’s part of our human nature. Scripture refers to it as our flesh. When we fall into this temptation, we start producing “dead works”. Dead works are attempts by people to please God through religion, keeping religious laws (or even cultural standards) and traditions. Lord knows we could stand to lose a whole lot of religion and traditional thinking that doesn’t even line up with God’s word!
Partaking of this and abstaining from that doesn’t give us an audience with our Father in Heaven. Serving and giving to gain His influence would be a slap in the face to the one who died and rose again. Dead works are a hinderance to our faith and our walk because they stem from fear. It is imperative that we embrace faith knowing that through Christ we have been made righteous and pleasing to God. There is nothing we can add to it. Our works, every single deed, must be born out of faith in Him, His finished work and our great love and appreciation for what He has done for our behalf. Scripture teaches “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” ~ Romans 14:23 (NIV). Acts and even words not born of faith are sin because they do not acknowledge Jesus and that everything that needed to be done to secure our righteousness, redemption and restoration was by Jesus.
What motivates your actions?
Are you striving for righteousness? Are you striving to be good and worthy in God’s sight? We read in Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness….” (KJV). His righteousness is the right standing we have in God’s presence through His works, not ours!
Are you working for redemption? Are you spending your time and energy trying to make atonement and amends for your mistakes and faults? In John 14:6 “Jesus said, ‘I am the way.’.” (NIV). There is only one lamb of God, and it isn’t me or you. Anything we can think of to do to make amends is filthy rags, per God. Whatever human “virtue” or goodness we might think we have is Christ in us. Apart from Him and His finished work we are nothing and we are capable of nothing. That is a foundational truth for those who have put their trust in Christ. We are told in Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to fulfill His good purpose.” (NIV) There again, we see it’s Him, not us.
Are you searching for restoration from the devastation and destitution you see and feel stemming from your own sin and the sins of others? Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” ~John 15:17 (NIV). Remaining in Him and His words remaining in you is just resting in the Lord, resting in our faith in His finished work! What do you wish for? Do you wish for the ability to let go of the hurt? Do you wish for the negative thoughts or chaos in your mind to go away? Do you wish for the chains of addiction to be broken or the suffering of yourself or those you love to end?
Fear of rejection or punishment from God if we don’t get it right is an attack of the enemy meant to propel us into trying to accomplish something that has already been taken care of. You wouldn’t watch your irrigation system water your entire yard and then go out and grab a hose and start watering after the job has been done, would you? But if you didn’t see the irrigation system working you might go out there, only to find the evidence the job was completed. Look around! There is evidence of the finished work of Jesus everywhere. He is healing and mending and restoring people every minute of every day! The enemy wants us to lose sight of all the Lord has done and is doing and he wants us to struggle to do it ourselves. He loves it when we think we have these grand ideas that we think came from ourselves which he actually drops into our minds. We are called to cast down imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of Christ. What do you think that means? It means we have to fight the enemy of our souls. We have to settle forever in our hearts that it is Jesus, only Jesus, that has made the way for us to be saved from our sin, redeemed to the Father and is restoring all that the enemy has stolen.
My prayer today is that the Lord will help me rest in my faith in Him. I don’t want to do anything apart from Him. I want to live in the reality that all this has been accomplished for me for an even greater purpose.
Have you read Luke 4:18-21?
Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (NIV)
It's time to evaluate our motives and make sure our actions are born out of faith and not out of fear.
For now, today, let our work be “living works”. These living works are born of and accomplished by the Holy Spirit in us…
The Spirit of the Lord is on me and you, and the Holy Spirit is in us because he has anointed us to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent us to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Let’s roll up the scroll like Jesus did and settle once and for all that this is our mission. We are ambassadors of Heaven. Let’s walk in the confidence that Jesus did that God is for us and with us, that He has made His home in our hearts to accomplish His will today and every day for the rest of our lives.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ~2 Corinthians 5:20
Are you ready to roll up the scroll and go be about the Father's business?
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