Effort vs. Legalism
That Christ has done the work of salvation for us is essential to the Gospel, it in fact is the Gospel. No more work to secure salvation, to earn salvation, is needed! 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Faith is all that is needed, and the faith itself is a gift from God. That is incredible.
Because of this beautiful truth, whenever something sounds like “works,” our evangelical ears perk up and we come prepared to point out a false gospel. We rightly stand as Gospel sentinels waiting to point out the dangers of legalism being applied to the free gift of salvation. But in our efforts to protect the free nature of the gift of God, let us not swerve into the ungodly thinking that all “works” are evil and legalistic. It is not the works that Paul is pointing to as wrong, but the false sense that by our religious works we are earning our salvation. No, quite the contrary, The New Testament points to work and effort as vital responses to the free gift.
Let’s look at two clear examples of this:
Philippians 2:12-16
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
Just before this passage, Paul is telling the Christians in Philippi that they need to have the humility and mind of Jesus Christ who humbled himself in obedience to God. Therefore, he says, the Christians should “work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” So it is God who is at work within us. He starts the work. And He completes the work. He is the Author and Perfector of our faith. But, we have a role in that. Paul says that with fear and trembling, we should respond to God’s work within us by “working out our salvation.” Why fear and trembling? Because God is the one calling us to join in His work. Imagine God showing up on your doorstep, knocking on your door, and saying, “Get dressed, we have work to do.” How would you respond? He is God; you’d get dressed and take it extremely seriously. But what does it mean to work out our salvation? The word translated work out can also be translated work according to. I like that way of understanding a little better. We work because God is within us and He has called us to do so. We are to respond outwardly in accordance to what we have been given inwardly. Our obedient work is joined with God’s gracious work, thus we are working out our salvation.
But, as Paul points out, instead of responding in obedience we can also respond with grumbling and arguing. One sees the glory of God and in fear responds by doing works, the other sees the glory of God and responds with self importance and avoids the works. Why? Paul seems to indicate humility as the major factor. Christ was as important as God, in fact was in very nature God, and yet He humbled Himself to put on flesh and to die in obedience (Phil 2:6-8). He didn’t grumble. He didn’t complain. He didn’t argue that the effort asked of Him was legalistic and demanding. He humbled himself and saw it as an opportunity to glorify God with His effort. To participate in the glory of God by obedience in the flesh. He didn’t do it to earn God’s favor, for He already possessed it. He did it to worship and glorify God.
Paul is teaching the church in Philippi that they should do the same. They have been given the favor of God through being saved by Christ’s obedient death on the cross. Now they are told to respond to that free gift and favor with their works and obedience. Not as a way to earn God’s favor, for they already possessed it. But to worship and glorify God. Indeed, such effort will cause them to stand out as His children.
2.2 Peter 1:3-9
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Once again we see effort as the appropriate response to the gift. The effort is not to earn the gift of a godly life or of participating in God’s divine nature (a tremendous thought!), but rather it is how we are called to put the gift to work in our life. The possibility of a godly life and participation in God’s nature is opened to us through “our knowledge of him who called us” (him being Christ). He started the work, He called us, He purchased for us the ability to know God, and He has placed His Spirit inside of us to make it happen.
But, possessing what we need for a godly life and actually using what we possess are two different things. To use what we have been given, Peter says we must “make every effort.” And look at what we must make every effort to add to our faith: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. What does it look like to make every effort to add these things to our life? For over two thousand years Christians have efforted to add these things to their life through regular spiritual practices including and not limited to: scripture reading, prayer, fasting, reflection, community, giving, etc. They have not strived to do these things to earn God’s favor, but in response to what God has given.
Let the arithmetic of Gospel-oriented-effort be clear. Legalism starts with our works in the hopes that it results in God’s favor. This is a fruitless endeavor. The Gospel starts with God’s favor and results in our works. This is guaranteed to be fruitful and productive. But how do we know if our religious efforts are legalistic or gospel-istic?(is that a word?) The answer is in our motives. Before starting any religious practice first spend time contemplating God’s glory and reflecting on His incredible grace given to you in Jesus Christ. Then, with both trembling and gratitude towards a God who loves you with such a ferocious love that He would be willing to endure such a sacrifice for you, strive to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you! (Phil 3:12).
Application and Reflection
If your response to the Gospel’s invitation to “make every effort” is resistance of any kind, that is an opportunity to pause, humbly ask the Spirit to reveal your heart, and search for what is there, beneath the surface, as you ask why you are experiencing resistance. Resistance comes for many reasons and in many forms. Has yours taken the form of the “grumbling or arguing” we are to avoid from Philippians 2:14?
Is your resistance perhaps because you have come to see all efforts as legalism? If so, then spend time with these texts. Study them. Legalism is about earning. Gospel-ism is about responding.
Is it pure spiritual laziness? You just don’t want to put any effort into your faith. Peter says that such a stance is “near sighted and blind” and is forgetting the very gospel that we have come to believe. In other words, it is forgoing the fruit of a godly life for the convenience of temporarily not having to do any work. Yes, that means you can spend your time doing what you want today, but you’ll experience the result of that choice in the future when you are looking around longing for a fruitful life.
Or perhaps there is something deeper that is sparking your negative or hesitant response to the invitation to put in effort in your relationship with God. Could it be fear? Fear of vulnerability. Fear of doing it wrong. Fear of being found inadequate in such a practice. And to these we need to proclaim the beautiful truth of 1 John 4:18 – 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. When you come to realize God’s amazing love that has been poured out on you through Christ and that you are called His child, it perfects you. Such realization drives out feelings of inadequacies or anxiety of getting things wrong. Because this is not a performance for a distant God, this is an invitation from a loving Father to come and participate in His divine nature, to come and know Him. There is only one way to grow in such a thing. We must make the effort to start, and the effort to continue to take Him up on His Gospel invitation.
To be fair, at some point in my life, I have fit all three of these descriptors (particularly spiritual laziness). But my soul has come to long for more. To feast on the fruit of the Spirit. To truly have love, joy, peace, and patience. So I have heard the Gardener say to me that He has given me everything I need for such a fruitful life. The soil of my soul is ready, the seeds of the Spirit are in hand, the rain and sunshine of God’s love are guaranteed, I just need to get to work.
May you also discover the joyful fruit of Gospel-istic efforts.