Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Work God Requires Is Already Done

Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  (John 6:28-29)

The only work that will work is the work God does for us in Christ.  "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  He it is—Jesus—he it is who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  As the manna came down from heaven and sustained the life of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years, in an even greater way, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has come down from heaven as the Bread of Life who gives life—real life, new life, eternal life—to all who trust in him.

Trusting in Jesus to supply your greatest need, that is faith.  It is the work that gives up on one’s own works as the way to earn salvation.  Only Christ’s work on the cross does the job. He gives his flesh, he sheds his blood, for the life of the world.  This is the only thing that will take away your sin.

Charles Henrickson, "The Work That Is Not a Work."

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