by Lindsey Adkins

As born-again believers, the temptation to look at our good works can be overwhelming. The Apostle Paul instructs us to judge whether our works as believers are rewardable at the Bema Seat,^[1]but nowhere are we told to look to our good works to know we are born again. Here are five good reasons to stop looking at our works to know if we have eternal life.

1. We are participating in pagan practices.

Christianity claims to be different than all other religions. And the way one obtains everlasting life is the defining characteristic that sets it apart.

In ancient Egypt it was taught that after death the person’s heart is weighed on a scale. If wickedness outweighed righteousness, then the demon god Ammit would devour the heart; the person suffers a second death, and ceases to exist. ^[2] The ancient Greeks held that upon death a person would go to one of three destinations dependent on what kind of life they lived. ^[3] In Hinduism, one is judged according to Karma. How good or bad a person lives, conditions how they will spend the next life. ^[4] All of these religions have something in common, a person’s level of good works, determines where they will go in the afterlife.

This common understanding of judgment after death has persisted throughout the ages. Accordingly, many within Christendom also believe that Jesus saves us, but if we want to go to heaven, then we must work together with Him and live a life characterized by good works. “If we want to go to heaven, then we must be good enough.” Sadly, this basic principle of the world (Colossians 2:20-23) continues to dominate much of Christendom.

The biblical view is fundamentally different and admits that our works don’t measure up. One sin is enough to tip the scales of righteousness (James 2:10). We are saved not by our own righteousness, but by grace through faith alone in Jesus alone (Ephesian 2:8-9). The way an ancient Egyptian might gain assurance, would be to evaluate his life’s practices (a sort of test run of what is to come), but for born-again believers in Christ assurance of eternal life comes not from the good works we do, like the ancient Egyptian, but from the promise we believe… hence the title believer.

If we say, we can know we are regenerate by our life’s practices, then we are saying that there is a subjective level of righteousness that proves objectively that we have eternal life while at the same time having to acknowledge the biblical truth that we are not good (no one is good but God). When we say, we can have assurance by looking at our works, this is just a clever way of saying my good outweighs my bad. We are no better than the Egyptians, Greeks or Hindus.

Christianity, in its biblical form, isdifferent. We know works matter because we understand the law of sowing and reaping, but we also know, when it comes to our good works, we can’t merit the gift of eternal life. We can’t measure up, and Jesus has to save us by grace. If we are weighing our works to see whether or not we have eternal life, it is because we don’t believe in Jesus for the life He so freely gives according to His promise. If that is the case, then like the pagans, we will be judged by our life’s practices and will be found wanting.

2. We are judging with subjective and unknowable standards.

According to Jesus’ promise, our assurance of eternal life is an objective truth (John 3:16, 4:10-13, 5:24, 6:47-48, 11:25-27), but we turn it into a subjective practice when we say a life characterized by good works and the relative absence of sin suggests regeneration. In contrast, Scripture presents eternal life as something we objectively know for sure (John 17:3; 1 John 5:13).

The Apostle John reminds us that we still sin (1 John 1:8), and the Apostle Paul, himself, struggled with the flesh (Romans 7:14-25). However, attempting to covertly qualify our sins as more or less acceptable, leads us to construct our own idea of sins God will allow, and one’s He won’t allow, based off our own judgements, biases, dispositions, and feelings. ^[5] Scripturally, any attempt to quantify an acceptable amount of sin is completely without support:

1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (1 John 1:5-6)

Left to our own devises, the way we evaluate our works and sin for assurance of eternal life is a subjective pursuit in which only the self-righteous are assured. Even the great apostle to the Gentiles was forced to admit: O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:24-25)!

Instead, evaluating our good works and sin reveals our inadequacy. This is the purpose of the Law. It is a mirror that reveals our imperfections, or a tutor to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Looking at our works for assurance of salvation, should lead us to a dead end. The exercise should be objective; we have sinned and fall short, which should lead us to look for a new solution. But, much like people Jesus encountered, we evaluate our works subjectively to determine if we have eternal life.

Consider the example of the rich young ruler. When Jesus confronts him with the Law, he responds, All of these I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack (Matthew 19:20)? This young man was religious. This is obvious with his response of claiming to keep the law. Being a religious Jew, he would have participated in the customary sin sacrifice. The young ruler was aware he had sinned; keeping this custom of sin sacrifice is an admission of sin. Yet, he believed that his life’s practices were good enough to be considered law abiding. Much like today, he viewed it as a characterization; he must try and live a life characterized by following the law, and the sin sacrifice would cover him when he did mess up and sin. God saves him, but he must do his part by living a life characterized by goodness; therefore, he asks what do I still lack (Matthew 19:20)?

He wasn’t understanding the purpose of the Law. Jesus’ answer, If you want to be perfect (Matthew 19:21), both exposes the route to salvation the young man had chosen (the works route), and shows him the impossible standard this path demands. Perfection was the very requirement the young man could never achieve. He was seeking glory, honor, and immortality (eternal life), by means of patient continuance in doing good (by keeping the law). And if this is the path he was taking, he had to be perfect. Looking at our works for assurance of salvation should lead us to Christ, not comfort in a vague subjective practice that falsely assures us of salvation.

Instead of following the example of the young rich ruler and being in the fog of subjectivity without knowing if we have the acceptable amount of good works and absence of sin in our lives to prove we have eternal life, we should always take Jesus at His word and believe the objective promise of God. Again, because we still sin, if left to our own, the way we evaluate our sin in the flesh will and (by nature) can only be subjective. We must therefore reject this practice, follow the Bible, and confess our sin.

1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)

Scripture tells us objectively that we know that we have eternal life, but fellowship and the abundant subjective experience of eternal life can be broken by sin in our lives… by failing to abide in Christ.

3. We are following in the footsteps of cults.

Undeniably many people in cults or non-Christian religions stay away from drugs, violence, immorality, and other vices. Many do good works; they can be hard-working, honest employees, give to the poor, and care for others with persistent outreach. They often help and love each other in their religious communities. Anyone, who has lived by a practicing Mormon family, can attest to this. They can look at the practices of their lives and measure up to (if not surpass) many Christians. Should this prove they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit? Should their transformed lives, and desire for holiness prove they have the right religion? Unfortunately for them it does. The frequent testimony of people in cults is that they were living bad lives, and then everything changed after they converted. Or, if they grew up in it, their testimony is that they always desired holiness.

The testimony of a Christian is different from the rest of the world’s religions. Our testimony is that we are not good. Our life’s practices don’t measure up, and that is why we need Jesus, the cross, and His promise of eternal life. Perhaps if a Mormon discovered he is actually lost in the fog of subjectivity and not assured of salvation, this would show him (or her) how fundamentally different our beliefs are. But If we tell a Mormon, that after we became a Christian, we stopped doing certain bad works and started to desire holiness, they can come right back and tell us the same thing. Our desires as people can change for many reasons. We can become sick of the consequences of sin, we can be convinced of a judgement to come, or we might like the feeling of doing what is right. And while it is beneficial in many ways to live a morally upright life, it doesn’t prove we have found the right beliefs, that we are born again, or even that we have believed the promise of eternal life. Our source of assurance comes, not from doing good, but from knowing with perfect assurance that Jesus and His promise of eternal life are true. This is our testimony.

4. We are not the “many” in Matthew 7:21-23.

Although Jesus provides us with an invaluable sneak peek into the plight of unbelievers at the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), His warning in Matthew chapter 7 causes grave concern for some born-again believers:^[6]

7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’

7:23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:22-23)

Like any fair judge, Jesus gives the many an opportunity to make their case. Their defense is in the form of a question, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? Surely the miraculous nature of these good deeds are definitive “proof” of regeneration or eternal life.” The many point to their works and hope the Judge concludes that they must be one of His own, but He commands them to depart from Him.

Fortunately for us, Jesus already established: Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21). You and I are not a part of the many. As believers in Jesus and His promise of eternal life, we have already done the will of the Father recorded in the one book designed to tell us how to enter the kingdom of heaven: This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:29).

If Jesus turns away unbelievers who do good works, even dazzling signs in His name, why should we look to our good works for assurance of eternal life? Only when a person believes in Him whom He (the Father) sent do we have perfect assurance of eternal life.

5. We are not victims of a spurious faith.

Why would you and I think we have believed in Jesus when our lifestyle does not reflect Him? Put another way, how should we know if we are false converts or victims of a spurious faith except by looking at our good works? These kinds of questions bother many within Christendom.

Usually the term false convert is thrown around rhetorically to describe someone who has believed “defectively.” The typical narrative explains that the many may have believed in Jesus, but it was only intellectual assent. Because their head faith never manifests in the heart, their lives evidence a spurious faith. They do not have eternal life. They are not saved.

This is an unfortunate mistake. The idea of spurious faith is illogical. (A) cannot be (non-A). One is either convinced something is true, or is not convinced. We know a person can feign faith, where they say they believe, but are only pretending. A person can have misplaced faith, which is faith in the wrong thing. A person can also have faith that does not profit others. This is a person who believes, but fails to act on what he or she believes in a manner that blesses others. ^[7] But spurious faith or faith that is not faith is both unbiblical and logically impossible.

People can have a strong sense of assurance of salvation, but in fact be unregenerate. You and I may believe many things about Jesus, but if we have not believed in Jesus alone for the promise of eternal life, then any assurance of eternal life we have is based off of a false premise. We may do many good works, yet sadly not have eternal life. You and I can see the problem of gaining assurance of eternal life from our good works. But, if you and I believe Jesus when He promises us eternal life, then we have eternal life. Our faith is not spurious, but perfectly assured!

Enough Is Enough!

If for whatever reason, when we look to our works for assurance of eternal life, we are taking our eyes off of our Savior and His promise, and putting trust in ourselves and something that Scripture characterizes as filthy rags. How can you and I be assured by the filthy rags of our flesh if looking to our works for assurance keeps us from doing the one thing that Jesus requires of us to know for sure we have eternal life (1 John 5:9-13)? Born-again believers must continue believing what Jesus promises is true.

Jesus promises: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Jesus promises: Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14).

Jesus promises: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (John 5:24).

Jesus promises: And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).

Jesus promises: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life (John 6:47-48).

Jesus promises: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world (John 6:51).

Jesus promises: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this (John 11:25-26; underlining added)?

Do you believe this(John 11:26)? Martha did: Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world (John 11:27). Like Martha, do we believe Jesus and His promise to us and know that He alone is the Christ, the Son of God, who has given us eternal life? Enough is enough…let’s stand on the consistent promise of our Lord and Savior and know for sure we have eternal life!

Copyright © Lindsey Adkins 2023

Now That’s Good News… Now That’s Love!

By Frank Tyler

[Editor’s Note: The Beguelin Home Fellowship gathers for a breakfast fellowship, 10:00am on Fridays at Mariners Café in Sequim, Washington. We were studying the second volume of Come and See, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s systematic theology, specifically the doctrine of the trinity, when one of the members of the fellowship asked two really good questions: “What is the relevance of a doctrine like the trinity to evangelism?” And secondarily, “If we are living in the end times when Jesus could come back at any moment, why spend our time on something that does not lead to opportunities to share the good news?” Both of these questions are excellent!]

Introduction

Although the Scriptures nowhere say that faith in the trinity saves anyone eternally, the Lord uses brothers and sisters, who understand doctrines like the trinity, to reach out powerfully with the good news. When Jehovah’s Witnesses go door to door sharing their faith, they attack the doctrine of the trinity in order to gain an audience for their message. Christians on the receiving end of their message are often unprepared and become flustered when defending their faith. However, those of us who are prepared and well-grounded in our understanding of this doctrine have a very unique opportunity to respond with love, gentleness, and grace—born of confidence and knowledge. Let us consider two approaches.

Read more: Reaching Out to Jehovah’s Witnesses

By Frank Tyler

[Editor’s Note: Few stories in the Gospel of John capture the imagination like the story of Nicodemus (John 2:23-3:21); few passages of Scripture are as important in understanding our salvation. As an evangelist I have always loved the story of Nicodemus, but was never comfortable with explanations of God’s love (John 3:16) that focus upon a New Testament or post-cross understanding. True, for you and I—with the events of the Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection historically fulfilled on a brutal Roman cross—we cannot escape the conclusion of God’s sacrificial love… but prior to the cross, how would Nicodemus, a scholar schooled in the Torah, understand Jesus’ meaning when He says, For God so (in this manner) loved the world (John 3:16)? The answer lies in understanding Jesus’ apologia to Nicodemus and his disciples. Beginning in verse 3:14, Jesus takes them back in time to God’s deliverance of Israel from the fiery serpents (Numbers 21:4-9), to a timeless and well known theme, the unfailing loyal covenantal love or “chesed” of God (Psalm 136). From this referent, Jesus challenges Nicodemus and his disciples to understand the manner of God’s love in lifting up (3:14) or giving His Son (3:16). Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s loyal covenantal love or “chesed” not just for Israel, but for the world, Jew and Gentile alike.

In a previously published article (Frank Tyler, John 3:16: The Manner of God’s Love, The True Vine Fellowship Journal 2018 (Sequim, WA: TTVF, 2018), 9-20), I wrote about the manner of God’s love in John 3:16. At that time, I understood Nicodemus as an unbeliever seeking Jesus out at night. This current article corrects my misunderstanding: Nicodemus and his disciples come to the light of God’s revelation: 1) that Nicodemus, as a new believer (John 2:23-25), might better understand what has transpired in his own life and 2) that his disciples might hear the good news from Jesus, Himself. Nothing refreshes the soul and mind like the correction of the Lord in His word. I hope you are as refreshed as I am!]

Read more: John 3:16: An Evangelist’s Dilemma

HEBREWS CHAPTER 6

By Ken W. Yates

[Editor’s Note: Few books in the New Testament create as much tension for believers as the book of Hebrews. Yates, himself, openly acknowledges: “It is ironic that the book I once dreaded and avoided has become a source of comfort and motivation. Hebrews does not threaten the Christian with the loss of salvation. Instead, it greatly encourages believers to remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of this fallen world in which we live. Grace will do that… If you are now looking for the strength and motivation to serve the Lord and please Him, the Book of Hebrews is for you. We will be His partners forever, if we persevere.” (Ken Yates, Hebrews: Partners with Christ (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2019), 9-10.)]

The Third Warning Passage

As previously mentioned, 5:11-14 introduces the third warning passage in the Book of Hebrews. In those verses the author specifically says that the readers have failed in their Christian living because they have not gone on to maturity. Here in Chap. 6 the author tells them to press on to such maturity (6:1-3), what will happen if they fall back (6:4-8), and then gives them another call to hold fast to their hope (6:9-12). At the end of the chapter, he concludes this warning.

Go on to Maturity (6:1-3)

Read more: Hebrews: Partners with Christ