The brief for one of our subjects this semester was to take a couple of the 39 Articles and turn them into something we might put in a monthly or weekly pew sheet. I was given number 13 and 14. This is number 13. Enjoy and comment. (See part 2 here)
The Articles of our Faith. Shaping Us Then and Now
We are continuing our monthly series on the foundation
documents of our church. This month it’s
Article 13. How did it shape our church
then and how does it shape us now? (For a full list of the articles see here)
Article XIII (13)
Of
Works before Justification
Works
done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither
do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve
grace of congruity: yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed
and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
Everyone likes to be rewarded for
what they do. If we work hard, we like
to see the fruit of our labour. If we do
something nice for our friends, we like them to say thank you, or perhaps even
to pay us back sometime when we are in need.
Nobody enjoys the thought that their good deeds don’t earn them some
sort of favour.
But perhaps one of the most
scandalous tenants of the Christian faith is that, without a relationship with
God, available only through faith in Jesus, our works cannot please God, they
cannot win his favour, they cannot make Him be gracious towards us. The starting point for us as Christians is to
admit we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness but by his grace he gives it to those
who trust Him.
Way back in the day (1500s) when
the articles were first prepared, people thought that if a person did good
things, then that person could start the process of returning themselves to
God; That by doing good works they would be able to earn or ‘merit’ their
salvation. This article was written
against such a view.
So how does this article shape us
and our church life today? Well, when I
was in high school I used to look at my friends and those who didn’t seem to
get drunk at parties that much, or who came from good homes, or who worked hard
in class, and think to myself, these guys might be getting close to Jesus, to
trusting Jesus. I thought that they were
ready to receive grace. But this article
reminds us of the scandalous truth of our faith. That no one deserves grace, but that God
gives it freely to those whom He choses.
Our job is not to work out who is ready, but to simply step out in
prayer and faith and tell everyone the good news that has so captured our heart
and life. Jesus saves!
And secondly, we must remember that the start of our walk with God is
repentance, turning away from our old life towards Jesus. For before we put our faith in Jesus we have
no good works for which God owes us a favour.
All our ‘good works’ (like walking the old lady across the street, or
mowing the neighbours nature strip) if done outside, or prior to, our relationship
with Jesus cannot win us favour before God.
If they are done for that purpose, then they are attempts at
self-righteousness and must also be repented of. When we come to God, we repent of our whole
life that was lived for ourselves, putting ourselves in the place of God. Whether we did good or bad in our eyes, or
the eyes of this world, before meeting Jesus, we must repent of it all.
We are justified through faith in Christ alone, not by our good
works. This good news frees us from fear
of failing God and enables us to take our message to the lowest of the
low. Jesus saves.
Further thinking and reading
If you would like to go more in-depth we recommend the following books
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