The Only Work God Requires

Yesterday we talked about the difference between knowing God and knowing about God.

How we should choose intimacy over information. Different I's.

You can know all about God but not actually know God.

Today I want to show you something that ties this whole series together.

The crowd asked Jesus a question in John 6:28.

"What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?"

So many of us ask this question because we want to be right with God.

We treat it like a list. Something to check off to prove we love Him.

But thankfully Jesus doesn't think like us.

He answers with one of the most freeing sentences in the entire Bible.

"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

The only thing Jesus ever wanted us to do was just believe.

But if you have been in church for any length of time, you have most likely been taught that belief is not enough.

I am thankful there are verses like this that remind us all we really have to do is believe.

Of course we should read our Bible and do the things Christians ought to do.

But most people aren't doing those things because they believe.

They are doing them to try to earn salvation, even without realizing it.

They have turned Christianity into a to-do list and replaced faith with works.

This is why so many of us end up burned out.

Or on the flip side, prideful, because we receive the grace to do something well and then start thinking it was because of us.

When you look at what Jesus actually said, it proves that God only wants faith.

The Bible is simple because God doesn't want anyone boasting in their works.

The enemy is always going to push the thought that there has to be more, because believing alone feels too simple.

We have been trained to think that if something is free, it must not be valuable.

But that is not how God works.

If salvation required you to perform, heaven would be filled with only the highest performing people.

But God designed it so no one can take credit. The credit only belongs to Jesus.

This is the exact reason why this simple gospel offends so many religious people.

It strips away everything they have built their identity on, which is good works.

And it levels the playing field.

If salvation is by faith alone, then the person who got saved five minutes ago has the same standing before God as the pastor who has been serving for fifty years.

That doesn't sit well with people who have been grinding.

It's like joining a gang and being all out.

But then you see there's other members who are just there for themselves.

You might look at them and think they weren't really down for the cause.

But if  you all got in trouble with the law and when you all go to trial, every single one of you will get the same amount of time.

It didn't matter how active or inactive somebody seemed.

The verdict lands on all the same way.

In the same way, some believers seem more diligent and some look like they barely show up.

God might use one more than the other in any given season.

But it is all still grace. We stand the same before Him.

That is exactly what the gospel says.

Righteousness was never earned by my efforts. It was given through what Jesus already finished.

And we have to realize that as much discipline as we have, it doesn't add a single thing to our salvation.

This is why this verse is the most liberating truth in the Bible.

You get to live and serve from a position of rest, because you have already been accepted.

Reading the Bible becomes a conversation.

And when you believe, the works come naturally, because you are resting in who you already are.

You genuinely do not have to force it.

Stay planted in Jesus, and He will pour into you to produce the fruit.

Here's how to reflect and apply this lesson to your life today.

1. Be honest about your spiritual life. Ask yourself how much of what you do is coming from belief, and how much is coming from fear that you are not doing enough. Then go back to John 6:29. The only work is just to believe.
2. Drop the mindset that you need to do more for God. All you need to do is believe in what He already finished at the cross.
3. Constantly remind yourself that the only work God requires of you is to believe in His Son. You are saved by His sacrifice. And everything you do from here is a response to grace, not fear.

PRAYER:

Father God, I turned my faith into a to-do list. I thought the longer the list, the closer I was to You. But today I hear what Jesus said clearly. The work is to believe. I believe on Your Son today, because of everything He already did. Thank You that the love, the joy, and the peace I have been chasing were always Yours to give in the first place. Help me live from rest. Help me serve from love. The only work You require is trust, and I give You mine today. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.