Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

• Ephesians 2:8-9

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

• Titus 3:5

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

• Romans 11:6

know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

• Galatians 2:16

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

• Isaiah 64:6

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

• Hebrews 13:16

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

• Revelation 3:20

“This alone should amply suffice to quell and beat down the insolence of our pride, and prevent us from attaching value to works beyond the rule of Scripture.  It is the doctrine of Scripture, moreover, that our good works are constantly covered with numerous stains by which God is justly offended and made angry against us, so far are they from being able to conciliate him, and call forth his favor toward us; and yet because of his indulgence, he does not examine them with the utmost strictness, he accepts them just as if they were more pure; and therefore rewards them though undeserving, with innumerable blessings, both present and future.”

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume 2

John Calvin (1509-1564) in writing to King Francis I of France, is starting his argument against any idea of salvation by works.  Indeed, he establishes that salvation by works bolsters our pride.  We would not be saved unless …

As I wrote last week, salvation is by faith alone.  We have faith in Jesus Christ – alone.

And as Ephesians 2:9 states, “not by works, so that no one can boast.”

I have written before about how even the salvation prayer is a work of sorts.  When it is said from the heart, it is only an affirmation of what God has already done.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins or we could not be bothered to turn toward God.  Our sin nature gets in the way.

And I feel that in my case, Jesus gently knocked at the door, and I fell from the door, no longer resisting His entry.

So, Jesus saved me when I put down my arms and quit resisting.  It was no act by me that saved me.  It was all His work.

But what do people brag about?

• “I went forward at an altar call at the age of ten.”
• “I said the salvation prayer when I was thirteen.”
• “I asked God into my heart when I was twelve.”
• “I went to communicant class and joined the church when eleven.”
• “I had a religious experience in a canoe at church camp.”

I have heard all of those.  It does not mean that these people are not saved, but they have the wrong word at the beginning of their testimony.  Is that bad grammar?

Or are they bragging about how they told God what to do?

Whether someone is saved or not is above my paygrade.  Only God will judge.  We can see indicators of Christ in someone’s life, but those works can be as Calvin writes above.  With God in your heart, He rewards us, although our works are stained.

But for those without God in their heart, according to Calvin, it angers God.

Why?

Our “good works” without God in our heart are to glorify ourselves and lift ourselves up.

But when we surrender “self” to the Lord and help others, we glorify God and God is pleased with our good works.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.