Lies Christians Believe #3 ~ “Works cancel out the righteousness of Christ.”

August 5, 2017

It is vital that we understand that to neglect the practical side of salvation is to jeopardize our position in Christ. A man who refuses to practically live out his faith will forfeit his faith. It doesn’t matter how vehemently he may claim that “I have faith that Christ’s righteousness covers me, therefore it doesn’t make a difference what my works are.” Such a man is deceived.  Every single command and warning in Scripture is strong testimony to the fact that a man must choose to deny himself to follow Jesus or he will be lost for his failure to obey and endure to the end (Matt. 7:21). God help us!

There are those who believe that our salvation is only positional and requires no practical “working out” in our daily lives (or that God does it all for us automatically). They claim that to “strive” or “do works” is to reject the righteousness of Christ.

God’s salvation is both positional and practical. There are realities in our Christian life that are true for every believer. If we are going to be saved in the end, these realities must be worked out practically in our everyday life. When I use the word “salvation” I mean the entirety of God’s work to redeem man to Himself. “Salvation” is God’s work in us from conversion till we meet Jesus.

The following Scriptures teach us that practical obedience is essential to retaining our position in Christ:

1. Joh 15:2, 6 “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: …If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” Jesus says that the branches “in me” (positional) who do not bear fruit (practical) will be cut off and cast into the fire. These branches “in” Christ represent every believer. If we refuse to abide in Christ, we forfeit our position “in” Him.

2. 1 Corinthians 10:1-10 clearly warns that believers who live in sin are in danger of judgement. Israel was God’s chosen people. They passed through the sea (baptism) and partook of the bread and water (Christ) and yet they were destroyed because their works were evil. Verses 11-12 say, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” They wouldn’t be our examples if the same could not happen to us for our sin. Their position of salvation was negated by their evil works and therefore they are our examples and are a warning to us.

3. In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus gives us the parable of the fig tree that would not bear fruit. The Lord of the vineyard had mercy and waited for the tree to bear fruit, but when it did not bear fruit it was cut down. The life of the tree (position in Christ) was lost because of no fruit (practical holy living).

4. Galatians 5:25 says that if we live in the Spirit (positional) let us also walk in the Spirit (practical).

5. Romans 6 tells us that if we are dead to sin and alive to God (positional reality) then we must stop yielding our bodies to sin (practical obedience).

6. Acts 5 gives us a vivid life example of those who were in Christ but who were killed by God because their works/fruits were evil. Ananias and Saphira were born again believers and yet they were struck dead for their sin.

7. Titus 2:11-12 says that the same grace that saved us is the grace that teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. If you resist the grace of God to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, you also reject the grace of God that saved you in the first place.

8. 1 John 2:6 says that if we say that we abide in Christ we ought to walk even as He walked.

9. The churches of Revelation are good examples of how believers can lose the Holy Spirit or have their names removed from the book of Life if they do not live holy lives.

10. Colossians 2:6 says that if we have received Jesus as Lord, we must now walk in Him.

The list could go on and on of teaching and examples of this truth.

Part of the reason such teaching is rejected is because of a false view of Christ’s righteousness. It is crucial that we have a biblical understanding of the righteousness of Christ. To some people, when you preach works, they think you are somehow rejecting the righteousness of Christ. This is because supposedly Jesus’ life replaces ours in a way that we don’t have to be obedient. They teach that to “do” anything is to rely on your own works for salvation. I want to compare two different views of the righteousness of Christ.

1.      Some believe that the righteousness of Christ in us is like a robe that God simply gives to us and says “Here, put this on so I don’t see who you really are (a “sinner”). This robe of righteousness and grace will cover all your sinful ways and your sinful heart so that I won’t hold you accountable for the wretch that you still are after I ‘saved’ you. You’ll sin in thought, word and deed everyday but at least I won’t see it, I’ll only see Christ! If you try to do anything good, I’ll take that robe away from you, so just sit back and rest in that robe I gave you and you’ll be ok.”

2.       The biblical view of the righteousness of Christ in us is that God says, “In Christ you have been made a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). You are washed, sanctified (1 Cor. 6:11), cleansed, made holy, given a new heart…you are “made” to be the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor.5:21). Christ is made unto you righteousness, redemption and sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30). The same holy life that Christ lived in His body on this earth has now entered you by the Holy Spirit (John 15 and Gal. 2:20) so that you can live out that same holy life of Christ. You have been made partaker of the divine nature because you have escaped the corruption of the world (2 Pet. 1:4).”

The first belief is that Christ just covers our sinfulness with His robe of righteousness, but it isn’t necessary for Christ to live His life through us. The second view says that the very life of Jesus has entered us. THIS MEANS that however Jesus would act, talk and think is to be lived out through us. This is why, if we are to accept the righteousness of Christ, it will change EVERYTHING about us. The works that we do will be His works in us because God is working “in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13) We look to Christ and submit to His life in us. He is the vine, the source of all life and fruitfulness.

The righteousness of Christ is not some stagnant thing that simply preserves us for Heaven. The Christ who walked this earth in holiness has now entered your body, His temple, and He intends to have His way with you. If we do not allow the life of Christ to have its way in us, we cease to abide and we reject Christ the Vine. The righteousness of Christ in you is Christ living His righteousness IN and THROUGH you. Either you are saved and cleansed OR you are still in your sins. You can’t be a “sinner” and a “saint” at the same time. Which is it brothers and sisters?

Jesus isn’t a robe, He is a living person with holy actions and words who has come to be your very life. As we abide in Him (John 15) and yield to Him (Romans 6) HIS holy nature will be seen in our daily lives. We are not merely called to collect moral attributes that are “Christ-like.” We are expected to accept His very life and let Him have His holy way with us. The Church is to be built up in Him (Col. 2:7) unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4:13), growing up into HIM in all things who is the Head (Eph. 4:15)! For it isn’t us who live any longer, but Christ lives in us and the life we live now is by our faith in Christ. God’s intention is for men to see the life of Christ in earthen vessels just like when Jesus walked this earth. May God help us to yield to Him by faith and denying ourselves that Christ might be seen.

Is the living Christ having His way in you?

PS. I am not indicating that a man can fall in or out of salvation at the slightest sin. The mercy and longsuffering of God are mighty things. The Scriptures teach that a man must be habitually sinning against the knowledge of the truth to be lost. This should not make us presumptuous, but grateful. It should cause us to repent right away when we are convicted of sin. Then, we continue on in faith and purity of heart as becometh saints (holy people).  Help us Jesus!