“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” – Romans 3:20 (NLT)
One of the common themes in modern Christianity is you get saved, but now you have to do something to ensure your salvation. We try to mix God’s grace and our works together for this perfect cocktail of salvation, but God never intended for it to be that way. Instead, He intended for our salvation to be based upon His grace and His mercy alone. What was the purpose of the Ten Commandments and all of God’s Laws then? Romans 3:20 tells you: It shows us how sinful we are. Galatians 3:24 tells us the Law was our guardian (the New King James says “tutor”) to bring us to Christ. The Law points us to how much we need a Savior. Romans 3:23 is a popular verse and is part of the “Roman’s Road” to use while witnessing to someone about Christ. It says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We like to stop there, but verse 24 is so powerful and meaningful: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” We have been justified by God’s grace through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. It’s not by our own works, but by what Jesus accomplished on the cross. We have to stop diluting salvation by grace by trying to water it down with the idea that our works contribute to our salvation. They simply don’t.
What’s the Purpose of Works?
Paul asks in Romans 6:15 (NLT), “Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!” The grace of God is not a license for us to just sin because we’ll be forgiven. God’s grace and His mercy saves us and the Holy Spirit removes our sinful nature and transforms us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that the old man has passed away and all things have become new. We become a new creation in Jesus Christ. As I said earlier, we aren’t saved by our works, but now that we are saved, we should be looking to serve God, to love people, and to live the way God has instructed us to live and all of this should be done to glorify God. We’re not working because we want to be saved, but instead are working because we are saved. As Christians, our actions should reflect our identity in Jesus Christ.
What Does This Mean for Me?
Accepting that we are saved only by the grace of God should give you assurance of your salvation if you’ve surrendered to Jesus Christ. It should be reassuring that our eternal security is based upon what Jesus accomplished versus what we can accomplish. Romans 5:1 says that having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. The only way to have that kind of peace is to know that your salvation is secure and the only way you can live the life God wants you to live is by accepting what Jesus has done for you on the cross. He willingly went to the cross and took your punishment and my punishment and the wrath we deserve as punishment for our sins so that we could live righteously and have eternal life in heaven one day.
That’s God’s grace, that’s His mercy. Stop trying to earn your way to heaven and start living like you’ve been seated in the heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6) and serve Him out of love and out of gratefulness for what He’s done.