Human Effort

There are many churches that emphasize human effort or merit to achieve the callings, blessings, and even salvation of God. The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches in particular advocate and implement sacraments that give souls a chance to earn their salvation. What is quite puzzling about the process of penance (salvation through human effort) is how it is denounced by Jesus Christ, and The Apostles. Jesus says to a crowd, "The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing." (John 6:63). Christ makes this claim after emphasizing eternal life is found only in Him, "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh." (John 6:47-51). The Catholic interpretation is that Jesus is referring to Eucharist, when in Truth the Lord's Supper has not taken place at this juncture in the Gospel account, and secondly, the bread Jesus speaks of is Spiritual, He is claiming that He is the Bread of Life, that He Himself is Life (John 14:6) and the Resurrection Life (John 11:25). Hence why Jesus keeps saying, "Anyone who believes in me shall be raised at the last day." (John 6:38). Jesus is teaching a spiritual principle and truth about himself, not some cannibalistic ritual that Roman Catholicism has contrived and called Transubstantiation. Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, "This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." (Matthew 13:13-14). This is absolutely true of the crowd Christ speaks to in John 6, they want more food and drink not eternal life and so their minds are dull to the deep truths Jesus speaks. Jesus is trying to make this stubborn and hard hearted people understand that He is the author of Life and in Him you have eternal life (see John 1:1-5, and Colossians 1:11-18). Jesus Christ makes it clear that salvation is through Him alone, "God so loved the world that He have his Only Begotten (not made) Son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16) and "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, none may come to Father except through Me." (John 14:6).

The Apostles support Jesus' claim that human effort cannot achieve eternal life. The Apostle Paul emphatically states, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things (works) we have done, so none of us can boast about it," (Ephesians 2:8-9), which is affirmed by Christ, "They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29). The Apostle Paul rips apart the notion that asceticism, self abasement, human effort, and works can save a person from sin, "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:17-18,20-23). Paul's words cut to the quick any notion that one can achieve salvation through human effort. It is Christ who achieves salvation for us! For the Apostle says, "He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God," (Romans 4:25). The Apostle Paul makes it even clearer of how salvation is achieved, "If you openly declare (confess publicly) that Jesus is Lord (God, Jehovah) and believe in your heart that God (The Father and Holy Spirit) raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. " (Romans 10:9-10). This act is accepting God's free gift of salvation and should bring peace to souls that if you believe (John 3:16) in your heart and confess with your mouth you are saved, and we are guaranteed a great promise from Christ, "However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day." (John 6:37-38). This is why the author of Hebrews says, "so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:28).

Jesus is offering us salvation simply through believing in Him and confessing Him as our Lord. There is no penitential or works based path to achieve salvation. It is simply to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and keep believing that tell you repose or He returns. So many churches make it seem human effort can achieve the free gift of salvation, and this misguided idea shipwrecks many saints who realize they can never be perfect enough to climb the ladder to heaven. Trust the words of Christ and His Apostles. They clearly state salvation is purchased and bestowed through Christ freely on those who believe and continue to believe in Him. Good works and human efforts are not to merit salvation or God's approval (see Romans 4:25) but rather to show the world who abides in us, Christ Jesus our Lord. We do good works because God who is good lives in us who believe (Colossians 1:27, Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19) and so we cannot help but desire to do good.