Christian Living

---

Back in high school, I had a friend being groomed for starting quarterback. He’d earned the position, but the summer before kick-off, a new guy moved to town. His pass was a tad more accurate and his feet a split-second faster. He stormed the field and took my friend’s pigskin.

Later, I knew a girl set to be valedictorian of her high school class, an honor based on grade point average. Mid-way through her senior year, a new student transferred in, waving an average that was a fraction higher and…you know what happened.

I often tell my boys, “The little things can make you or break you.”

They can determine whether or not you make an A or make the team, win the job or win the girl.

Then there are times when you do your best and still lose the reward, proving that life isn’t always fair.

It’s a good thing Heaven doesn’t work that way!

What if it did? Imagine standing outside Heaven and hearing this:

“You lived a good life, but Fred over there died 30 seconds after you. According to our records, Fred gave two dollars more to charity and volunteered five hours and seven minutes more than you. Wow, you really came close to making the cut, but—SOR-REE!”

Well, darn that Fred!

Thanks to Jesus, Fred is no threat to our salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

So, is salvation by grace a license to hitch up the sin wagon, and yee-haw ourselves a good time until God calls us to glory? Can we warm the bench, and enjoy a free pass from responsibility and ministry others?

To quote Paul, “By no means!” (Romans 6:1, NIV)

Good works matter. They’ll help determine our eternal rewards, will be revealed by fire and “the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3: 13-15, NIV)

Good works are anything done for God’s glory, not our own or to win favor with men. Some people believe we’d better stack ‘em high if we want a shot at Heaven.

The scary thing is, whenever I stack my good works against those of other Christians—say, the ones who gave up six-figure incomes to be missionaries in the Congo—my stack crashes.

With the force of a refrigerator plummeting off the Sears Tower.

Nothing steals our Christian joy faster than worrying if we’ll gain admission to Heaven . And that’s the downer about works—you never know when you’ve done enough.

Truth is, we can’t do enough; Jesus, however, did enough for us. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:23-25, NIV)

But what about James 2:17—faith not accompanied by action is dead? I think James was reminding us that faith is a verb resulting in good works. “I will show you my faith by what I do.” (verse 18)

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3: 17-18, NIV)

Don’t just talk it…walk it, with whatever means, abilities and talents God gives us. Haven’t built any churches in Zambia lately? Me either, but ALL good for God’s glory counts. “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42, NIV)

Scripture teaches that we’re saved through faith and rewarded through works. Because God is “a Father who judges each man’s work impartially” (1 Peter 1:17), and Jesus said, “I will give to everyone according to what he has done” (Revelation 22: 12), we don’t have to worry about Fred intercepting the rewards we’ve earned.

And hallelujah—he won’t steal our spot on the roster, either.

©Donna G. Morton February 2006

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE