and to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [romans 4:5]
paul speaking to jews, makes an argument that God’s mercy and grace, unmerited and free was always part of the plan, and he invokes both david and abraham in the process.
this must have been quite scandalous to the readers–that this was not a new religion, this ‘way’ was not something that was a perversion of judaism, it was, in fact, judaism in it’s fullness, and to believe in the gospel and follow Jesus was what God intended all along.
work was part of the programming for the devout jew, it was the amount of torah that could be memorized, the amount of washings that could be performed, the amount of tithing that could be executed that would justify a man, and so, one could piously climb to the upper echelons of society, taking the best seats and honorific titles.
silly, right?
we need to turn to our own beliefs and ask if we have believed the lie that our piety saves us. that our obedience saves us. that our work saves us.
it does not. romans 4:5 makes it crystal clear:
it isn’t work, but belief in Jesus Christ is what justifies us. if what we do with our hands and bodies saved us, it would only be because we are owed salvation when we do good things. we certainly can look down at our noses when someone believes that they will earn heaven by “being a good person”, but practically, we show that we also ascribe to that theology when we behave that way, our definition of what is “good” may just be a little different then the world’s.
our “good” might mean regular church attendance, or giving, or memorization of scripture or any number of any things.
i felt this today. i am exhausted, and feel my flesh calling out to me for comfort, and in that temptation, sinful, selfish attitude and actions, i feel defeated. i feel like i need to work to get back to ‘good’. and it’s a lie straight from hell.
i don’t need to work to get back to good, i need to not work, i need to believe the truth, that Jesus Christ died for my sin, that he knows how i feel, and he is pursuing me as a son, calling me to his righteousness and truth.
if you are feeling overwhelmed in this season by all the parties, the gift-buying, the work:
stop. cease from your work. rest in Christ. and believe.
~ce