Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:9
Was Michael Bloomberg’s service as mayor of New York City good enough to get him into Heaven. He thinks so. Here is what he had to say about that during a recent interview with the New York Times: ‘I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.’ Now, that sounds pretty cocky, but it actually represents the attitude of most of the people around us. Mr. Bloomberg can boast of his great achievements as mayor of one of the world’s largest cities. A streetsweeper in New York can boast of the good job he does to keep a few of the city streets tidy. And who is more deserving of Heaven? According to our text, neither. Heaven is not gained by our works. Bragging rights are for earth only. In fact. Mr. Bloomberg will not even get to see Heaven because he is not born again (John 3:3), although there is still time for him to repent and be saved. Our text is actually good news for those of us who don’t have much to brag about.
Isaac Watts captured the meaning of our text in the words of his lovely old hymn: Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the cross of Christ my God. As Christians, we look back on our so-called good works with shame, acknowledging that they were performed with the wrong motives and with guilty and filthy hands. We are not proud of those deeds, which we can see were nothing but filthy rags. And that is good, because in dismissing any good that we might have done, we can behold the perfection in the One Who came to save us. As we study the life of the Lord Jesus, we see works in which His Father took delight. We see the perfect fulfillment of both the letter and the spirit of the law. We see deeds of kindness, mercy and grace. And we don’t need to boast except in Him.
Some deluded Christians have the mistaken belief that we need to maintain good works in order to keep our salvation. They believe that faithfulness and good works on our part will maintain what the cross of Christ began. But if it took the cross of Christ to provide us with salvation, it must take the cross of Christ to maintain our salvation. If you and I can do no works to save ourselves, we can do no works to keep ourselves saved. The very reason why God reached and save us is to enable us to do good works. But those good works are the proof, not the provision, of our salvation. That makes our text today a most emphatic text in support of the principle of eternal security.
If no works of mine can save me or keep me saved, I must bow my head in humble thanksgiving to the One Whose works can and do save me. -Jim MacIntosh