I
often grow weary over the labels we place on one another in the church of Jesus Christ. Brethren refer to one another as belonging to
either the ‘grace oriented’ or the ‘work oriented’ groups. Could I not belong to both at the same
time? Do I have to join only one group? After all, I truly desire to associate with
all my brethren, if possible. I
sincerely long for and pray for faithfulness and peace among my brethren. It seems that we are people of extremes. It is either one way or the other. It just could not be both at the same
time. Where is the balance that is
sorely needed in a time of doubt, disbelief and disunity? I have no problem in understanding that we
are saved by the grace of God for the Word of God clearly teaches such as is
found in Ephesians 2:5. Yet, in verse 8
of the same chapter, we learn that we are saved by grace through faith. There is a sense in which I do not contribute
anything to my salvation since it is a gift from God; nevertheless, if I do not
manifest my faith by doing what God wants me to do, I will not benefit from the
unmerited favor of the Lord in the matter of salvation from sin. No, the works of the law or the meritorious
works of man’s devising cannot and will not save. However, all those works ordained of God must
be done by His children (Ephesians 2:10).
Consider
also the very nature of God. He is not
self-contradicting. Yes, His infinite grace
saves us but we are also saved by His infinite love (Hebrews 2:9; John
3:16). God would not disapprove of
something on one hand and demand and commend the same on the other hand. Jesus plainly taught that true love requires
actions on the part of mankind in order to prove that love for Him. He told his disciples, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus stated it very plainly that we show our
Love for Him when we do what he requires of us.
In John 14:21, He said, “He who
has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My
Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” As you can clearly see, even the Father loves
the person who loves His Son and keeps His commandments. Even Jesus obeyed His Father’s will and was
loved by His Father, even as He loves those who keep His commandments (John 15:10). When you think about it, keeping commandments
is not so bad after all. Even the Son of
God complied with the directives of His Father.
The Lord said in John 14:31, “But
that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me
commandments, so I do. Arise let us go
from here.” Jesus proved beyond a
shadow of doubt that He loved His Father by keeping all the commands that He
received from Him. To be like Jesus, we
must also obey the commands our Lord has given to us. Otherwise, we show that we do not love Him as
we should. Jesus expressed it in this
fashion as recorded in John 14:24, “He
who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not
Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
The apostle of love, John, wrote in I John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” God does not require anything of us except it
be for our ultimate good. We should
respond to His commandments out of a heart of love. When love is the motive, His commandments are
not grievous or overbearing. We obey
because we are heirs and not slaves. The
precious words of our Savior bring joy to the heart of a Christian as is found
in John 15:14, “You are My friends if you
do whatever I command you.” When we
sing the hymn, “I’ll Be a Friend to
Jesus”, it means that we will be submissive to His will for us to do.
Yet,
my response to God’s grace and love by the works I do will not save me. I cannot merit salvation on my goodness. The words of Jesus as found in Luke 17:10 remind
me of this truth, “So likewise you, when
you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are
unprofitable servants. We have done what
was our duty to do.” No, grace does
not disapprove what love demands; rather, it is “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).
