Salvation Through Works

Fairground Cranes

It can seem so tantalizingly simple, so easily attainable, to do good works in the church and to keep going with it. It reminds me of one of those little cranes that you see at the fairground. You put your money in the slot and use a little joystick to manoeuvre a little crane in order to grab a watch or something. Just as you think you’ve grabbed the prize and you are about to drop it down the chute – the little crane goes and drops it!

Money Falls

On a similar theme, it can also be like the money-falls, where you put coins into a machine that pushes the coins. If you can put a coin into the slot at the right time, you can cause the machine to push some coins into the chute and you win some money. Sometimes it looks as if you are so close, so you put more money in. Then, as you get close, but not close enough, you put some more money in. So it continues until you have inserted all your spare change into the machine – either without winning anything, or winning a fraction of what you put in.

The Struggle for Justification by Works

It seems like a desperate plight for many believers as they struggle like mad to substantiate their salvation through works. It can seem to be so easy to just commit to some simple duty in the church, such as shaking people by the hand and welcoming them as they walk through the church doors. However, God will often rain on your parade by finding some way to frustrate you in your efforts to please other people.

If you are relying on some simplistic church routine to substantiate your righteousness, apart from knowing and understanding the Word of God, then God is likely to throw a spanner in the works of your religious machine. You can praise God if He does! It might to frustrating, annoying and even a little bit scary – but at least God is steering you towards knowing Him! Rather that than just trundling merrily down a road of religion that gets you nowhere!

There Is Only One Way To Salvation

There is only one way to be saved, and fortunately, it is effortless: Romans 10:13.

God wants an intimate relationship with all of His children. God does not just want His children to give sacrifices on an altar – He wants us to really know Him. We know God through the Word of God – not through routines and duties.

If you have to force yourself to perform church routines and duties, then it is likely that you do not know God well enough. The Bible says that if we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour, then our nature has been changed (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). It is possible for a believer to receive a new nature in their spirit – but not be able to walk in the experience of it because of unbelief.

If you are in unbelief – you need to repent of some wrong mindsets. When I say “repent”, I mean have a change of mindset, a revelation – not repentance as if grovelling to God for forgiveness! Above all – you have to simply be honest with God.