Do I have to work for it?

I have some friends who have discovered how much they had been driven to work for God as an attempt to get him to like them.

They have since pulled back from the kinds of work they were doing and are on a journey to understand that God loves them just as they are.

Throughout the history of the church there have been two polarities, those who feel as though they need to be doing a certain kind of action in their lives to please God, and those who think it’s all about grace and learning to live in Jesus’s love.

I can identify with both sides. There is a part of me that feels like I’ve got to do the right things to please God. There is another part that wants to just stay as I am and focus on my relationship with Him. The thing is for me both these sides come from an unhealthy place.

It was really important for me to discover Grace and that God loves me no matter how much an idiot I am.

I know guilt is a big part of my life, but most of that guilt is unhealthy. I keep replaying parts of my history I am ashamed of or I feel like I have to be something in order to be ok.

God tells me that I am ok, not because of what I’ve done or will do, but because of Him. The bible makes that clear.

Romans 9:30-32 (NIV)
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; [31] but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. [32] Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.”

Acts 15:10-11 (NIV)
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? [11] No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Did you notice that last verse? Isn’t it contradicting the one before it? It seems that although we are saved by grace there is still work for us to do!

It’s tempting to take a bunch of verses that talk about grace and draw the conclusion that we can then do anything we feel like and grace will be enough to look after us.

It’s clear this isn’t the way to go:

Romans 6:15-16 (NIV)
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! [16] Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

The bible does seem to clearly indicate that what we do with our lives actually matters:

James 2:14-17 (NIV)
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? [15] Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Hebrews 10:23-24 (NIV)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. [12] Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

So how do we make sense of the contradiction? I think there is a clue in how Jesus speaks to one of the churches in the last book of the bible:

Revelation 2:2-4 (NIV)
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. [3] You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. [4] Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

These guys did lots of good stuff but for all the wrong reasons. Jesus seems to be indicating that why you do the good stuff matters more than the good stuff you do. If my actions come as a response to a real relationship with Jesus then they will bring life and hope, but if they don’t they will bring drivenness.

I have been stuck by 2 Corinthians 5:14. It seems to get to the heart of what our motivation needs to be:

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

The truth is that Christ’s love doesn’t always compel me. All kinds of things compel me, but when my motivation comes from my relationship with him then somehow the world makes more sense.

So neither polarity is right. It’s not faith or work, but work as a result of faith.