Me: Howdy Prodigal are you with Jesus today?
Prodigal: Yes, I was just wondering about all that he did on the cross.
Me: Yes, there is a lot that he did. I like how Bruce Wilkinson describes the cross in his book Set Apart Discovering Personal Victory Through Holiness.
Since Christ’s death on the cross was the only “work” God the Father would accept as payment for your sins, your good works are totally irrelevant in this regard. From the beginning, even in the Garden of Eden, God said the punishment for disobedience is the death penalty. Our good works may be acceptable restitution for breaking the speed limit or public drunkenness; but even in our courts, public service doesn’t count toward the death penalty, no matter how many hours are served or how difficult the work.
“Bad works” is merely another way of describing sin. Since Christ’s death on the cross already paid for every single sin you have committed or will ever commit, stopping your sin won’t change anything regarding your salvation. Whether you sin tomorrow or not you will not change the finished work of Christ two thousand years ago!
Therefore, regarding your salvation, you should feel entirely helpless. No matter where you turn, there’s nothing you can do to fix the problem. Not by trying harder and doing more good things. Not by trying harder and avoiding more bad things. You can’t do one single thing to fix the problem of your sin or earn forgiveness from God.
So what must you do to be saved? Once again: Absolutely nothing! Well then, let me help you rephrase the question: “Since I am a sinner and have willfully disobeyed God and rightly earned the eternal death penalty, how can I connect with what Christ did for me on the cross and know God’s forgiveness and be given eternal life?”
The beloved apostle John had your question in mind when he wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
Salvation is a free gift, offered to all who will accept. Because there’s absolutely, unequivocally nothing you can do, because Jesus has absolutely and unequivocally finished everything for you, all that is left is merely to believe that He did it all for you and receive Him as your Savior.
Nothing more will work. And nothing less will work.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.com
