“And He (Jesus) said, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
“It is finished.” – John 19:30
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:12, 13
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…What good is it , my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? …For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” – James 1:22/2:14, 26
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
The work for our redemption was completed on the cross when Jesus gave His life for our sin. “It is finished”. The Scriptures have made it very clear that there is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation. It is the work of the Father through the Son…the Lamb of God. It is “by grace” we are saved “through faith”. But, this is just the beginning of our salvation story.
Once we have come to faith in Jesus, our lives are transformed…it is an act of God. Then we are called by God to live for Him! To be a follower of Jesus is more than a lofty belief in a supreme being. It is not simply a set of moral codes to better live with the people around us. This is a new birth! This is a relationship with our Creator that changes everything about us. It changes how we think…it changes how we act…it changes how we work!
That’s right! We receive the free gift of new life when we come to God through faith in Jesus and then the new work in us begins! We are called to be a part of the working out of our salvation in our lives through obedience and discipline. We are also commissioned and empowered by the Spirit to be witnesses of the good news of the Gospel to others. Whew!
This is all made possible by the work of Jesus on the cross. It was completed…finished, but WE are not finished! Now the work begins and the process of becoming all that God has created and intended you to be. The Scripture says that God created us for good works and to do them. In other words…work!
It is a wonderful, challenging, and, sometimes painful work as we seek to grow in our relationship to the Father and to look to Him for guidance. Paul called it “working out your salvation”. It can be a daunting task, but the Scripture also tells us that we are not alone. The same Jesus who completed the work on the cross is committed to complete that work in you.
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6
So, before our final Sabbath rest of this Lenten season, let us rededicate ourselves to the hard work of following Jesus and experience the abundant life that He has set before us!