Justification of Works in the Christendom
“Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner’” (Luke 19:1-7).
This man was well-known of being a robber and a sell-out. Remember that in those days Israel was under the Roman Empire, which was governed by Caesar. So Zacchaeus working for this Governor of the Roman Empire was like a black South African policeman oppressing his fellow black South Africans because of the apartheid government. Now Zacchaeus among the Israelites was very wicked. Now seeing the Lord Jesus going to his house as a special guest, whom they thought was a holy man was a taboo. Now being seen with a sinner like that I believe many people were a bit thrown off.
Anyway, it’s not recorded in the bible. But I want to bring this to your attention that, salvation is a free gift apart of our works and performance. This man, Zacchaeus, received salvation at an instant point of his encounter with the Lord Jesus. The Armenians argue that Zacchaeus received salvation after promising to give half of his possessions to the poor. Let us consider what is in the above, Jesus coming into his house to be a special guest, what does that mean? It means that he has been saved already. Zacchaeus couldn't even confess his sins first before our Lord Jesus could go to his house.
What called Jesus’ attention? It is when He saw how Zacchaeus yearned to see Him; seeing that regardless of all the obstacles around him and yet he did all he could to see Him. Now this sound like works, well you have to understand that this is not in the Ten Commandments and Zacchaeus did this for his own benefit and selfish reasons. The Lord never requested this, but when he did it yearning to see Jesus, that action was tantamount to repentance before the Lord Jesus. The church today has sets of algorithms for repentance and people in the church of Christ stumble failing to flow with all those algorithms.
There is a verse that I want to repeat from the part 1 of this series, let us read again, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 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 do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). I like these verses a lot because they answer many questions people have concerning working for our own salvation. Paul said that we should work out our own salvation because God works it in.
God works it in to will and to do, the Lord will enable you to have in you the good will and enable you to do good, not by will-power but in a restful manner. Look at these following verses, “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost’” (Luke 19:8- 10).
We can see clearly that salvation came first and then Zacchaeus sought to give half of his possession after Jesus has come into his house and had dinner with him. Jesus who is God worked in Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus worked out in good pleasure what Jesus worked in. It is Jesus’ will that touched Zacchaeus’ heart for him to want to do charity. When Jesus heard what Zacchaeus wanted to do, He said that salvation has come into this house, meaning it had already come. Salvation came first and then the act of giving followed. It is not the act of giving that got him saved but the act of faith to seek to see Jesus that saved him. I want to clarify the part of the works again; works are good for people of the world. Works attract the world to the gospel of Jesus.
The Lord Jesus said, “For out the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemy” (Matthew 15:19). These defile a man, and these are the works of the flesh and they show what you really have within you and the unbelievers will not believe you if you will start telling them about Christ. So it is all about who works in you, if it is God, your works will be good and if it is your flesh, your works will be fleshly.
Still, I am not arguing with the following, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). This verse is repeated in a controversial verse in the book James. I would like to look at it, but first I want to bring this to your attention that James was not arguing with Paul. Paul had his purpose to write this to the Romans and James also being sent by the Holy Spirit had his purpose to write in the manner he wrote.
Let us read, “Was not Abraham out father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:21-24). Well, I want to show you where James quoted this verse about Abraham. Let us read, “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
Now when did Abraham offer his son on mount Moriah; let us read; “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:1-3).
We see how Abraham obeyed the word of God without even asking any question. How did it happen? It happened on chapter 15:6 when he was justified. You will also see that after he was justified he was able to give an offering to the Lord in verses 9 and 10. Now chin up and pay attention to this, you do not need works to be saved but faith and when you are saved good works will flow effortlessly and the infidels will see your Jesus and they will be attracted to Him through you – my friend that is evangelising. So do I contradict James? No, neither does he contradict Paul.
When you read from verses 14 to 16, you will understand that the justification by works does not necessarily involve God but man. The good works make you appear justified before men not before God because in God’s sight you do not work for justification. We have just read that in the book of Romans above. Good works will only reflect outwardly when our inward is filled with God’s Spirit. You must be conscious of your forgiveness which the Lord gave us freely through His Son Yeshua Hamaschiah.
There is something that I want us to look at, the parable of Jesus below: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to their own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them" (Matthew 25:14-19).
Now the Lord Jesus made this parable stating His return. This parable is about the grace which each and every believer is given. Remember, all three servants were given talents according to their abilities, not that the master gave them randomly. The Lord Jesus can understand each and every one of us as believers, and He knows who has strength and on which category. When we are believers, we are given God’s grace as a gift, then it is up to us to use it and show the world, and I’m sure that it is the desire of every believer.
However, among these three men, one of them has not believed in the Lord and neither is intending to repent. He is the example of Judas Iscariot who was among the twelve disciples of Jesus but he was still far from Jesus spiritually. Judas although he was far from Jesus spiritually, he was still entrusted with a responsibility of being a treasurer. Well, I believe that he might have nominated himself in that position because Matthew was good in that category. Anyway, that is not recorded in the bible; however the Holy Spirit is telling me to tell you that.
Let us follow the parable below: “So he who received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me have talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord'" (Matthew 25:20-23).
Now the Lord Jesus shows how believers will be rewarded according to their works. However, they are not rewarded to enter into heaven. We have to understand that in heaven we won’t need rewards. We can also look at this verse, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven...” (Matthew 5:12). This is does not imply that every Christian has to be persecuted and yes when you are persecuted it shows that you are of God and whoever belongs to God the devil is against them. Now when you are persecuted, your reward will come on earth from your Father in heaven.
Hey, we don’t have to be rewarded in heaven where we are not going to use the rewards. Rewards are given here on earth where they can be used. If the Lord can only reward us in heaven, how can the unbelievers believe in His word? Impossible! So rewards are useful here on earth not in heaven. The purpose of the bible is to assist everyone on earth to see the light to God’s grace and His blessings and above all, the Lord wants us all to be in heaven with Him one day. The grace which He gives to you, use it my friend and you will be rewarded.
The servant who received one talent he hid it and let us follow the parable below: “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents’” (Matthew 25:24-28).
I want to highlight the point where the servant says that he knew his lord was a hard man. This is the problem we actually have among Christians today. Christians know God as difficult to please. He gave the Ten Commandments which are hard to fulfil and still added some laws to love our neighbours as ourselves. This creates great negativity among Christians thinking that God is hard to please. Who are we to please Him? We do not have the perfect qualities to do so because we are flesh. Only Jesus could please the Father in heaven on our behalf that today whoever believes does the will of the Father in heaven.
This servant had a bad opinion about his lord and went to hide his talent. Why, because he had not repented. Look how Paul cites the manner in which repentance is, “And when they had come to him, he said to them: ‘You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:18-21).
The word repentance here is metanoia which in English means the reversal of one’s decision. We only need to repent toward God and have faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what is the final story of this servant, let us read, “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:29-30).
The little that he had was taken away from him. This is a huge problem with us human beings today, to be ungrateful to the Lord with the little which He puts upon our lives. Now this servant represents those Christians who have come under grace but have no intentions of repentance. They are the ones who will go to hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. They are the ones which the writer of Hebrews talk about here, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgement, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27).
Stay in health through grace and love...
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