The relation between faith, grace, and works can be difficult to understand. For the most part, Christians understand that they need to have faith in Jesus Christ. They understand that it is by grace through the death of Christ that we are forgiven of sin and through His resurrection, we are made new in Him. The idea of works tends to be where confusion sets in. Some people feel that if someone does not display Christianity through what they do, they probably are not a Christian at all. Some think that works are a reflection of the inward decision to follow Christ. Others just ignore the concept of works altogether.
Works are not the way to Heaven. I think most Christians understand that, but so many focus on trying to live like Jesus lived rather than Christ living in them. They want to prove who they are in Christ by what they do, but the proof must be deeper than what they do. I know I’ve referenced Andrew Farley’s The Naked Gospel more than a few times, but there is a lot of great morsels throughout the book. I don’t agree with everything he wrote, it did help me look at how I live my life through another perspective. One quote in particular that struck me near the end of the book is about what I’m writing about here.
If you’ve received Christ, then he lives in you, not matter what. Whether or not he lives through you in a given moment is simply a choice away. The Holy Spirit doesn’t overpower you or circumvent your will. Instead, he wants you to respond to his counsel. As he counsels you and you respond to that counsel, Christ is living through you… As you allow Christ to counsel you and express himself through your personality, you’re fulfilling your destiny.
The Naked Gospel – Andrew Farley
Christ is in you if you’ve received Him. That’s it. It doesn’t take works to prove that you are a Christian. When you choose to have Christ live through you, the proof is shown to others. How you live your life has nothing to do with your salvation, but if you’ve received Christ, you can’t help but want to live differently in some way. It’s a matter of choosing to let Christ live through you. The more in tune with Christ in you, the more likely you are to choose to follow his counsel.
It’s not just Christ in you that does the works, you have to make the choice to do it. That’s why I hate it when people say “It wasn’t me, it was all Jesus.” It may be the power of Christ in you that gave you the strength to so something, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t do it. If you take yourself out of the equation, whatever it is that you’re saying you didn’t do, would not have happened at all. Just like Farley wrote, “The Holy Spirit doesn’t overpower you or circumvent your will.”