God Is Not Unjust

 PRAYER PRACTICE

Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

 

DAILY READING

Hebrews 6:10-12

 

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Saved by Works or Grace?

by Pr. Dave Mann

I find it interesting that the Holy Spirit inspired passages in the Bible which sound as though He is promoting the idea that we are saved by our good works, only a few verses before or after to clarify matters by stating that we are saved by the sheer grace of God. Today’s passage is one of those readings. (Also, check out Philippians 2:12-13 and Ephesians 2:8-10.)

On the one hand, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that God is just and fair. In verse 10 we see that the Lord is fully aware of the good things that believers are doing – working hard to demonstrate love toward others, both in the past and continuing in the present. The believers to whom this letter was addressed were in the beginning stages of a time of persecution (Hebrews 12:3-4). So, the Holy Spirit was urging them to let faith lead them into action – actions which bear fruit of love and service. This is important. We are not coasting through life, but we are making decisions that make a world of difference.

However, are we to believe that God will notice our good deeds and therefore reward us with eternal life, as though we merit such a blessing? Not so fast! Though it is possible to come to that conclusion by taking a verse or two out of context, the message of the full counsel of God is that that we are saved by grace through faith. It is in God’s faithfulness that we place our trust, not in our own.

In verse 12, the writer clarifies that it is through patient faith that we inherit the promises.  Faith is the foundation of a life of service. Faith comes first. And the writer carefully chooses the verb “inherit” when he refers to the gift of eternal life. When we inherit something, it is through the good graces of the dearly departed. When the deceased was drafting the will, he/she had full control over who would receive the inheritance. So, it is with eternal life. It is the gracious favor of God that works to give us eternal life. 

So, yes, it makes a difference that we live lives of self-sacrificial service just as Jesus did.  But in the final analysis, it is our good God who grants forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your self-giving life.  Help us to model our lives after yours.  And never let us forget that it is because of your gracious death and resurrection that we have sure and certain hope of eternal life.  In Jesus’ name I pray and live.  Amen.