Part 3 – Religious Works of God’s Work?

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Lord’s Will for Our Christian Lives .

Religious works have so distracted so many believers from Jesus Christ’s ongoing work within the believer that they focus on their own efforts. God the Father has given us His life in, and through, Jesus Christ, in order for Christ’s life to manifest itself in and through us.  “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure, 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 2:13, 1:6 (KJV)

We must be rooted in this understanding of His work in us.

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

To be “rooted in [Christ]” is to understand and believe that He is the source of the Christian life, the source of the life we now have in Him. Just as a plant is rooted in the soil and receives life and nutrients via those roots so the plant can grow, we are rooted to grow in union with Jesus Christ.

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of (building up) itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:14-16)

To be “built up into Him (Christ)” means to allow that life of Jesus Christ to live in and through us. It is to let “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” have greater and greater control over us, as we walk by faith in God’s Words to us, making steady progress in an understanding what God’s Word says. This is spiritual maturity. God does not want adult babies for children. He wants fully functioning saints, mature Christian men and women, who know what He is doing and who delight in accomplishing that work with Him!

Paul describes how the Christian life operates on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrectionas ours.

“… so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, (so) that the body of sin might be destroyed (Gk., kartargeo, made of no effect), that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7For he that is dead is freed from sin (from Sin’s power). 8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe (also) that we shall also live with him: 9Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10… in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise (Gk. houto, in this same way) reckon (count) ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, BUT alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:3-11)

When Jesus Christ died on Calvary’s cross, the Bible says we died with Him. He “died unto sin once,” and we Christians are now dead to sin. Sin does not have to dominate our lives as it did when we were lost and going to hell. When Jesus Christ was raised again, the Bible says we were also raised to “walk in newness of life.” This is the Christian life, as opposed to the old lifestyle. We are freed from sin (v7), dead to sin, but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ (v11). We trust the words of the Bible and count it to be right and true. By trusting that doctrine, it gives the Holy Spirit resources to work in us for Jesus Christ’s glory. He will use “the word,” doctrinal truth, to transform our soul’s mind first, which then result in physical actions - good works!

Two of the classic verses about Christian living are Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, (so) that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The life of Jesus Christ Himself will then be literally manifested in and through your body! You may want to read the first 11 chapters of Romans, which are the background for Rom. 12:1-2. After discussing that doctrine, Paul then tells us to “present our bodies a living sacrifice,” our “reasonable service,” our intelligent service. It is only logical that God’s Word will transform our minds as we read it, and that transformed mind will result in transformed actions!

When talking to the Ephesian church leaders, Paul said: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified (Acts 20:32). The message of God’s grace to us in Christ, this doctrine we just briefly discussed, will build us up “in Him” (Col. 2:7). This issue of “building up” will be further discussed in the next section.

We will now look at four simple verses. “I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Gal. 2:20-21) “…Christ, who is our life….” (Col. 3:4) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philip. 1:21)

Jesus Christ serves Father God in and through us via His very life in us! The Christian life is Jesus Christ living His life in and through us as who walk by faith in His Word to them!

“Stablished In The Faith”:

The word “stablished” simply means “stabilized.” It is not the same as established,” which means “fixed on a foundation.” “Stablishment” is to ensure that you stay on that foundation, that you not wobble or sway from solid doctrinal ground. As we saw earlier, God does not want us to be “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Eph. 4:14-15). Our heavenly Father wants spiritually mature Christians who can identify and enjoy sound Bible doctrine, not naïve children who believe anything and everything they read (thereby falling prey to false teaching / Satan’s deception). Too many Christian people are ignorant of what really matters. They’re not studying their Bibles, but reading everything else. They quote denominational literature, doctrine, creeds, etc., but they know little to nothing about what the Bible actually says. This explains “stablished in the faith.”

25Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery (God’s formerly secret plan), which was kept secret since the world began, 26But now is made manifest (revealed), and by the scriptures of the prophets (proclaimers), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:” (Rom. 16:25-26)

According to the above two verses, God will bring stability to our lives using a three-fold process:

1. “my gospel”—Paul’s Gospel declares that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and raised again for our justification (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This was how we were saved, and thus began our Christian walk.

2. “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery is seen in Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon. These 13 epistles are God’s Word written directly to us Gentiles in this the Dispensation of Grace. In Paul’s epistles alone, we find our doctrine, our duty, our walk, and our destiny as members of the Church, “the body of Christ.” This “secret” information that God once withheld from mankind has now been revealed through the Apostle Paul’s writings.

3. “the scriptures of the prophets”these are all the non-Pauline books of the Bible (Genesis-Malachi, Matthew-John, early Acts, Hebrews-Revelation), but understood in light of the doctrine revealed in Paul’s epistles. These too are God’s Word, and we study them as well, but they are not written to or about us. These actually apply to Israel’s program as Israel’s doctrine, and do not apply it to us.

Point #2 is of great importance in our study because it provides information as to how the Christian life operates during today’s age of “the Dispensation of the Grace of God.” We cannot find this information outside of Paul’s epistles. Paul is “the (one) apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13): he’s the spokesman the Lord Jesus Christ sent to us (Act 9). Paul’s epistles are “the faith” teaching us the body of doctrine that specifically applies to us during today’s “Dispensation of the Grace of God.” Rather than going back to the “weak and beggarly” (Gal. 4:9) elements of the system of Mosaic Law-keeping, we understand through Paul that we “are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14-15). As we noted earlier, God is not dealing with us on the basis of our performance. We are not under Israel’s Law-keeping system that says ‘do good and I will bless you,’ but rather under the system of His grace, ‘I have already blessed you in My Son and He will do good in and through you.’ We’re under grace, not law, but God cares how we live, as Paul explains.

“the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope (of the Rapture), and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (at the Rapture);” (Titus 2:11-13)

Grace is … everything that God can do for you through the finished crosswork of Jesus Christ at Calvary! As discussed earlier, when Jesus Christ died, we died with Him, and when He was raised again, we were raised again with Him. On that basis, God has saved us from eternal death, as well as giving us daily victory over sin. We read earlier that we are dead to sin (Rom. 6:7) and “alive unto God” through our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin does not fit who we now are, so it makes no sense for us to continue living in sin. This is a key element of our renewed mindset. It’s the way God thinks about us, and the way He wants us Christians to think about ourselves!

“Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”