This is another thing I don’t understand: At youth group, her daughter (13) was asked: Are you a Christian? Her daughter said, “Yes.” When asked how she knew she was a Christian, her daughter said, “Well, I love Jesus… I believe in Him… and I try to do what’s right.” They said that was the WRONG answer. The “trying to do what’s right” apparently killed it for her.
Huh? Since when is trying to do what’s right something a Christian SHOULDN’T do?
My Protestant friends… what say you?
Good things are good. Doing what’s right is the right thing to do. Protestants realize this. Even atheists realize this. Many Protestants (take a look at that Lordship Salvation link) even go as far as saying perseverance and sanctification are both required and assured (guaranteed) results of salvation that act as evidence of true (saving) faith according to the sustaining grace of Christ.
Here’s the thing, though. Your friend’s daughter came across like a person who has “fallen from grace.” Seriously? Yes. Good works related to sanctification are required and assured results of salvation. They are evidence of God’s grace at work in your life. This is the topic of several books in the Bible, including James. These kinds of books were written to people who thought they could give mental assent to the Gospel then go be “carnal Christians,” as it were. This is just one side of the coin, though.
Other epistles, including the one to the Galatians, dealt with the sort of people who believed salvation was by grace through faith as well as human effort through works. They were the people who believed strict adherence to the Law was the process by which a person is justified- this working together with faith, of course.
The story you told describes a girl who’s been taught something similar: Some combination of faith plus works is what justifies. That’s how she came across, anyway. Here is what Galatians 5:4 says about the nature of justification.
“You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”
That’s the NIV. The KJV says it this way.
“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
When someone tells you they’re doing good things, that’s a good thing. However, when someone tells you they are trying to be justified by the law, it is entirely appropriate to have a little discussion about what it means to be under grace, what it means to be under the law, and what it means to fall from grace. We probably have different ideas about what it means to fall away from grace, but in either case, it’s not a good thing.
That’s where I’m coming from. What about you? Are you trying to be justified by the law? If you are, you know what that means. Yes, good works are good. Yes, pleasing God is good. Yes, it is required and assured that a Christian will do good works.
But…
No, it is not good to try and be justified by good works. This is the very definition of falling from grace, and it’s not a good thing. That doesn’t mean you should stop doing good things. But if you are currently trying to be justified by the law, you do need to stop falling away from grace, come back to it, and stop being alienated from Christ. Does that sound ok?
Some, probably. As any competant educated farmer knows, you must treat the animals well to get the most profit. So PETA found a few bad eggs and then hold them up as the industry standard. This is so far from the truth, it is ridiculous. (My farmers were and still are farmers, so I have known quite a few farmers in my lifetime, so I know of what I speak.)
