In the 1980s, Smith-Barney ran an ad with John Houseman, the actor who played the difficult Harvard Law professor in “The Paper Chase.” Houseman’s dead-pan delivery portrayed the Smith-Barney tag line, “I made my money the old-fashioned way. I earned it!” If you are not old enough to remember this advertisement, or too old to remember anything, speak those words with an over emphasis on the word “earned.”
In the Bible, the old-fashioned way was also based on our earnings. God gave us the 10 Commandments as a tutor. Through those commandments, the Lord demonstrated to us that we were not righteous enough to keep all of His laws all of the time. Salvation only could be achieved by perfection. No matter how hard men strived to follow the Lord’s laws, everyone committed many sins. Additionally, God gave men a sin remedy in the form of blood sacrifices. Those were also based on works, man’s actions as opposed to God’s actions. The sacrificial system certainly reminded all of God’s followers that covering their sins took a lot of work.
Then it all changed when Jesus came to earth to live as a man. Though He lived a perfect life, Jesus willingly died the brutal death of the cross, and then was resurrected. At that moment, God gave us a new-fashioned way to achieve salvation. No longer “works-based,” the new way is “grace-based.” Jesus completed the work, and then gave the gift of salvation to all who desired to receive it! Grace has been described as receiving what is unearned or even by the phrase, “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.”
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
“Workmanship,” in the verse above is the Greek word poiema, which sounds like our word poem. When God created believers, He wrote a love sonnet in us! Many people misquote the verse above, stating that faith is a gift from God. Instead, the verse reminds us that grace is the gift from God! It is difficult to understand grace without emphasizing our spiritual condition without the Lord! King David wrote of that spiritual condition:
13As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust
Psalm 103:13-14
From the dust He formed us, and from the dust we shall return. Somehow, we lose sight of the fact that we have no chance at anything but dirtiness and griminess without God’s hand. Our dirty sins keep us separated from God.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Works can be good or bad, yet God’s works in our lives only can be perfect! As believers, our works do have an impact, as faith without works is dead according to James 2:20. Yet those works are not to earn our own salvation, but to glorify God with our lives, leading others to salvation! As believers, if we were doing an advertisement for God, we would say, “I got my salvation the new-fashioned way. God gave it to me!” Understanding the far-reaching depth of that gift should give each of us cause to jump for joy. Let the light of the Lord shine from your face, far from Professor Kingsfield’s deadpan delivery.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
2 Timothy 1:8-9
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