“For it is by grace you have been saved…not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
There’s a lot of talk about being good this time of year. As parents, we even encourage our children to be on their best behavior and stay off the ‘naughty list.’ Why? Because Santa Claus is coming to town!
And as the old song goes, “He knows if you’ve been bad or good. So, be good, for goodness’ sake.”
Of course, this is all in the name of Christmas fun.
But we adults often adopt a childlike ‘Santa-mentality’ in how we approach our Heavenly Father. For example, in a recent survey of over 2,000 Christians, 52% “believe that good works will get them into heaven.”
Yikes.
You’d expect this result from a survey of non-believers. After all, in our fallen world, it’s very common to think that as long as our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds when we die, God will welcome us into His eternal kingdom.
But to see this kind of flawed, incorrect thinking among people who identify as Christians is alarming.
The Christmas season is the perfect time to remind our souls of one of the foundational doctrines of our faith- there’s nothing…absolutely, positively nothing…we can do to earn salvation.
As Paul says, we are “saved by grace through faith” in Jesus and His righteousness alone (Ephesians 2:8,9). No amount of good deeds, good character, or good performance will ever qualify us for heaven.
On one hand, this is incredibly disheartening news. But on the other hand, it shifts our focus to what Jesus has done on our behalf, flooding our hearts with abundant joy.
Jesus came to earth because He knew we could never be good enough on our own. In an astonishing act of humility, He exchanged the glories of heaven for a grimy, grungy manger. He was born to die on a criminal’s cross to offer us salvation as a gift of His grace. I mean, really, if we could save ourselves, why did Jesus come to earth in the first place?
To believe our good works will somehow get us into heaven depreciates the beauty of His Incarnation. It implies that what Jesus accomplished through His birth, death, and resurrection is insufficient.
Before Christmas passes you by and you’re boxing up decorations once again, take some time to stare at the manger scene in your home with a fresh appreciation and childlike wonder. Celebrate this astonishing fact: when you couldn’t climb up to God by your own goodness, God, in His goodness, came down to you.
And yet, this doesn’t mean that good works are not important. Notice that Paul says we’ve been “created for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Elsewhere, in another letter, he even says that we are to be “eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).
So, clearly, we must learn to hold these two truths in tension. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. Or, to put it another way, good works aren’t the basis of salvation, but our salvation should result in a whole lot of good works!
You see, salvation was never meant for our benefit alone. Martin Luther eloquently states, “God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.”
This Christmas season, motivated by the amazing, life-changing grace we’ve received, be a conduit of His goodness to a lost and dying world. You might be the only expression of His goodness that someone will see.
So, by all means, be good, not for goodness’ sake, but for Jesus’ sake, and for the sake of those around you.
Written by Jonathan Munson, Executive Director, RFTH
DIG DEEPER
Read “Not by Works” by George Wright
