Do My Good Works Matter If I Already Have The Righteousness Of Christ?

Why would Christians be rewarded for good works if we already have Christ righteousness imputed to us?

That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. And this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at eight three, three the core. That's one eight three three eight. Four three. Twenty six. Seventy three. Or you can e-mail us with your question at questions at core Christianity dot com. First up, today, we have a good news story to share with you. Anthony Modu is an 11 year old boy from Nigeria and he'll be getting the opportunity of a lifetime after a video of Anthony dancing outside in the rain went viral. He has now earned himself multiple scholarship opportunities, including one from one of America's most distinguished ballet schools. The video, which features Anthony showing off his impressive ballet skills as he dances around barefoot in the pouring rain. Caught the attention of many, including Cynthia Harvey, who's the artistic director of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance in New York. Cynthia eventually managed to track down Anthony and his dance school teacher and extended an offer for a full scholarship so he could attend the virtual Young Dancers Summer Workshop, a three week intensive program. And you know, April, I was thinking, when we get past this whole corona virus crisis, I would not be surprised if Anthony will be headed to New York.

Yeah, it's so crazy, Bill. I mean, I feel like you hear nowadays about all these young boys and girls who are getting discovered on things like YouTube and become these world famous singers or dancers even. It's pretty cool. I think if you or I were videotaped dancing in the rain, it would go viral.

But for the opposite, because they would just be so horrible, it wouldn't. So, yeah, I mean, it would be bad. It would be really. Lives would be changed for the worse. Yes, that's right. Yes. Let's get to Evers Question of the Day. This is a call that came in on eight three three the core.

I'm Mary from Arkansas. Should Christians today be practicing the Passover cider? I have a friend that does it and I wonder, you know, we do it. Do we go back under law? Thank you.

Yeah, that's a good question. I've heard, Mary, of different churches that will have these Passover Spader's, and I think at least for the ones that I've come into contact with, the focus there is well, this is kind of a cool historical thing to do. And we can see some of this sort of imagery leading to Jesus, the Messiah, throughout the Passover meal. And so I don't think that the people that are doing that are technically going back under the law. They're not treating it as this. They shouldn't be treating it as this religious ceremony. The reality, though, is we don't need to be doing the Passover Sader. And I really think as churches, we want to be careful that if we do something like that, we're not communicating to people that this is like some sort of act of worship, because that was the old covenant. Those were the types and shadows of of the Old Testament that were leading us to Jesus Christ. And I'll be totally honest with you, when I was a newer Christian, I went to one of these Passover cities. Let me just say the food is not the greatest. I'm sorry to put it that way, but you're eating bitter herbs and bitter or am I just not not going to. Yeah, I would say if you want to have a Christian fellowship meal, do a barbecue or something like that where there's macaroni and cheese and and brisket and pulled pork and all the all the stuff that you want to eat and talk about the goodness of Jesus in the new covenant and the B allowance to eat, you know, pork and other delicious things like shellfish. And so no, Christians do not have to practice the Passover Sader. And actually that meal under the old covenant. Right. Which is remembering God's deliverance out of Egypt. The Passover ultimately pointed to a meal that we do practice every single week or many churches, at least our church does it every week. Other churches do it less frequently.

But I'm talking about Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper. In fact, Paul, in First Corinthians, Chapter five versus six, and following his rebuking the Corinthians, and he says to them, you're boasting is not good.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump cleanse out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened?

Now, in the context there, Mary, Paul is talking about the fact that there was sin in the Corinthian church that needed to be purged out, needed to be disciplined. And he goes on to say this For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

And, you know, just a few chapters later in First Corinthians, Chapter eleven, the apostle Paul is going to talk about the Christian fellowship meal that we have, the Lord's Supper, where we have communion with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, Paul said in First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 16. The cup of blessing that we bless. Is it not a participation in the blood of Christ, the bread that we break? Is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread. We who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread. Isn't that beautiful? That's the meal that we should cherish and celebrate as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ now.

As I said, if a church says, you know, we want to do this historical reenactment or we want to have a fun fellowship time into a Passover meal, not as a as a religious observance, we know that that's old covenant, but it is just a way of thinking about those types in shadows. And I don't think it's that big of a deal. Like I said, I think there are better menus you could find. But no, I would say we do want to be careful, though, that we aren't and churches aren't legalistic about these kinds of things, because if they are, then they are sort of operating under that old covenant mentality.

And that can be very dangerous for believers. Thanks for your question, Mary.

How about enchiladas?

Yeah. Oh, man. Felicie, add this to the list goes on and on. There's so many things. Oh, yeah. The Enchilada Fater meal.

You have one of those and I'll go to that. I'm sure you would. This is called Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. And here's a question that came in through our Web site.

Steve writes, Hi. I listen to your podcast every morning. I want to ask a question in Bart Airmen's recent book, Heaven and Hell A History of the Afterlife. He claims that the Old Testament does not reference hell at all. And in the New Testament, Jesus spoke of it only in terms of annihilation, not in the language of eternal suffering. Is this an accurate picture of the Old and New Testament teaching on hell?

Yeah. Thanks for this question. And really, Hal is one of those very difficult doctrines when you think about it. And I think part of the reason we have such a hard time embracing the doctrine of hell today is because we have. Very low view of God and of his holiness. The two go hand in hand or the higher view of God, we're going to have the higher view of sin. We're going to have the higher view of the judgment. We're going to have. But if we have a very low view of God, a very low view of our sin, then hell just doesn't make any sense. And there are a lot of people that have abandoned essentially the doctrine of hell. Let me just say one thing, Steve. Over at our Web site, core Christianity dot com, we've tried to address this over and over again. I mean, if you go to just the search bar and type in hell, you're going to find all sorts of articles. They're talking about really the biblical view of hell. Now, you're right that in the Old Testament, that's one thing that sounds like Burmans bringing out in this book. I've not read this book in particular, but you're right that you don't have these very specific descriptions of hell or eternal torment in the Old Testament.

You do have the language of shale. And oftentimes the King James version of the Bible translates shale as hell, which is kind of unhelpful because, you know, when we think of hell, all sorts of images enter into our mind, you know, fire demons with pitchforks, those kinds of things. But in the Old Testament, shale really just meant the grave, the place of the dead.

Often it's the place where both the righteous and the unrighteous go.

There are other instances in the Old Testament where shale is used and it does seem to be used more negatively. So as is the place of judgment being cut off from the land of the living, and that might be there a reference to hell. But really, I think the clear teaching on unhealed does come in. The New Testament doesn't contradict anything that was said in the Old Testament, but it sort of expands on and clarifies what you had there in the Old Testament. It comes primarily, Steve, from the lips of Jesus himself.

Jesus over and over again talked about hell as this terrible place. He referred to it as the word that's used in the New Testament is the word Gahanna.

And Gahanna was an actual place. It was the valley of Hannum. It was where in the Old Testament the people sacrificed their children to false DTD.

It was this cursed place. This valley outside of Jerusalem. It was so horrible that it came to be the place where people would just throw their trash. They would go outside of the city gates and leave their rubbish there and they would burn it to dispose of it. So it was this valley of rot, the smell trash burning Gahanna. And oftentimes, Jesus, when when he spoke about the eternal judgment he used Gahanna, I said picture of how the valley of Hannum. This place of darkness. This place of sin. This place of burning worms. Rot. It's very vivid, vivid imagery.

And I wasn't raised in the church, but there was a short period of time where my mom was taking us to a small evangelical church. And I was in Sunday school and and the teacher was talking about how important it is for us to know God and to love God.

And even at that young age, I think I must have been four or five years old. I remember being afraid of hell. I don't even know where I had heard about hell.

But I pictured it as this terrible place, this place of burning, honestly. I mean, just some of the ways Jesus talked about it.

I raised my hand the middle of Sunday school one day as the teacher was talking about, you know, how we need to love God. And I said, I don't know if I love God, but I know I don't want to go to hell.

I still distinctly, vividly remember his sitting there. Might my chin quivering, I almost started crying there as I asked the question, the teacher.

She was so sweet. Mrs. Laura. And she said, Okay, I want you to stay after Sunday school. And she sat me on her lap and she prayed with me. I just remember that so vividly. But that fear of hell, which isn't necessarily always a bad thing. I mean, when Jesus talks about hell, he's pointing it out because he wants to warn people of the judgment, of the reality, of the judgment of God that comes upon those who reject the gospel. Hell is the place where God's wrath is poured out on sinners. If Jesus has no problem talking about this over and over again in the Gospels, he talks about this place of weeping and gnashing of teeth where the worm doesn't die with a fire is in question.

It seems to me like you look at those passages and although they're they're using this vivid imagery, you know, we don't want to just assume that it's this sort of literal description where it really is there. There are worms and fires and whatnot.

The fact the matter is Jesus makes it seem like it's this place of eternal conscious torment. I don't know if he could get any more clear. And that whole imagery with the valley of Hannum, you know, this burning outside of Jerusalem, that, too, right? If you think of heaven as the new creation being in the city of God, that the heavenly Jerusalem while outside are those who are tormented, those who are separated from the joy of being with God's people, those who are in hell or in the lake of fire, the very end of the Bible and the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22 versus 14 and 15. We read this. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life, that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and saucers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood, Jesus said in Matthew Ten verse twenty. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both the soul and body in hell. Steve Boomi, there's so much that Jesus tells us and ultimately, I think right when we have a hard time embracing this star. And I think we have to take a step back and say, well, who is God?

He is the perfectly holy one. The all good one, the righteous one. God that we sinned against isn't just my buddy. He isn't a creature like me. He's the eternal lord of heaven and earth who is pure and good and love and righteous.

And we sin against him. And those sins are high treason against the creator God, the redeemer of humanity.

And so there has to be a punishment that it's equal with the crime. The problem is we oftentimes don't think that our crimes are that bad. Well, in reality, they are. And that's why we need the gospel. That's why we need Jesus and Jesus on the cross bore. Hell, if you will, for us. And that's the good news, that we don't have to be in that place, that we can enter into the city gates through the blood of the lamb and walk with God here on Earth. Now, through Jesus Christ, his son. God bless you, Steve.

Thanks for that great explanation, Errol. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez.

And we are excited to offer our new 100 page soft cover workbook for the Gospel of John. And Adrian, can you tell our listeners a little bit about this study?

Well, it does a lot of difficult work for you. I mean, it takes the deep truths of John's gospel and drops them right in your lap so you can start living in light of those truths today. So a lot of us want when we read the Bible, I mean, we don't always know how to make it happen. Well, each of the week, lessons here looks at a specific passage of scripture, highlights key themes and probes your heart with reflection questions. I think you're going to come away with a better understanding of not just the gospel of John, but the whole drama of scripture. We've talked about this on the program before. How wonderful the gospel of John is. It's one of my favorite books in all the Bible. And this study is a fantastic guide that will engage you and your heart from start to finish. So head over to core Christianity, dot com forward slash offers to get your copy of our unique Bible study on the gospel of John.

And the cool thing is, one of our longtime supporters has made a special donation. So you can get this workbook from us for free to take advantage of the special gift from us here. Core Christianity. Just head over to core Christianity, dot com forward, slash gospel of John and get your copy today. Again, its core Christianity dot com forward slash gospel of John. And you can give us a call for any one of our offers at eight three. Three. Eight. Four. Three. Twenty six. Seventy three. That's eight. Three. Three. The core this is core Christianity. And let's go to another question. This one comes from Mattie, who posted on our Instagram page. And she says, Why would we be rewarded for good works if we have Christ's righteousness imputed to us?

The outwell. Let's talk first about what imputation is, because I think, Mattie, that I mean, there are a lot of words like that, right, that we sometimes throw around in the church and we sort of understand them, but we don't understand them entirely. Well, it comes from the New Testament. This idea, it's essentially this this this reality that when we trust in Jesus Christ by faith, not only are all of our sins forgiven, but we receive credited to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's imputed to us. It's the sort of banking metaphor. And as I said, it's this this picture that you find in the New Testament, for example, Paul in Romans, chapter four, verse five starts like this to the one who does not work but believes in him, who justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted as righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. This picture of in justification what's happening when we're justified is when we believe in Jesus and God counts us as righteous in his sights solely for the righteousness of Christ. It is given to us. What's happening is our sins are forgiven. But it's not just that we're given a blank slate. We're also given the righteousness of Jesus. You think about the perfect life that Jesus lived on Earth. He lived it for, you know, in the Christian life. So oftentimes we can do this sort of up and down roller coaster where it feels like we're doing really well. I'm doing my devotions in the morning. I'm praying. I feel like I've got all these good works that I'm storing up at. And those moments it feels like that I'm close to the Lord and God accepts me. God loves me. Then there are also those moments where we miss a few days of praying and we're struggling and we're having a hard time with someone at work or with someone in our family. And we feel like manna. God, where are you? I feel like my sin, my struggles keep you from me or keep me from you. And we think of our ourselves as at times even being separated from the Lord. It's a sort of up and down constant battle. And that's why we need to understand the doctrine of imputation. The recent your accepted in God's sight. The reason you can approach the father freely is because you don't stand before him in your own righteousness and how perfectly you you followed him this week and how often you've read the Bible or prayed today that you stand in the righteousness of Jesus. And that's what you can come to God freely and confidently, boldly to the throne of Grace to receive grace and find mercy in the time of need. That's one thing that we teach later on in Romans Chapter five. Paul is going to talk about the free gift of righteousness that we receive through the work of Jesus Christ, through what he's. One for us. And so when we're talking about amputation, that's what we're talking about. You raise a really good question, though, Maddie. If we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to us, if I stand before God justified on the basis not of my own good deeds, but on the basis of the perfect life that Jesus lived, then why is it or how can it be that we're gonna be rewarded for good works when we stand before the Lord over and over again?

That's another thing that you see in the Scriptures, in Paul, in even Jesus, his own words that we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Each one is going to receive according to what he's done in the flesh. How does that make any sense? Well, here's what you have to understand, at least as far as the judgment is concerned and being justified.

We don't have anything to fear. In fact, Jesus in the Gospel of John in John Chapter five makes that very point, Jesus said in John Chapter five, verse twenty four. Truly, truly. I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him, who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

So you're already justified. If you have faith in Jesus, you you already have eternal life. You're not going to enter into the judgment. You're not going to be judged because of your sins. Jesus was judged in your place so that you might have eternal life.

But this is the beautiful thing.

God still cares about how we live our lives and we are going to be, as followers of Jesus, rewarded in some sense for what we've done in the flesh, commended. Now, I think we have to be very careful here that we don't try to, you know, define exactly what that looks like, because the scripture doesn't clearly say.

I mean, I don't know what that means. I think there are some people who think, you know, there are gonna be some people and have any who have great big mansions. And there are other people who are going to have the one bedroom, one bath, you know, kind of not the greatest view of the new Jerusalem, that kind of thing. I don't think that that's what Jesus is referring to.

Here's what you can know. By faith in Jesus Christ, you are justified. You don't have to be afraid of the judgment. But what you do now in your life matters to God. And one day we're gonna stand before him and we're gonna be rewarded for the way in which we lived our lives following after Jesus.

It doesn't mean we're gonna be justified on the basis of those things by no means. We can never be justified on the basis of our works because they're imperfect.

But God is gonna commend us. He is going to he is going to reward us. What that's gonna look like. I don't know. But it's gonna be awesome.

Matty, thanks so much for your question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Errol Sanchez. We have time for one more question. Don called us from Topeka, Kansas, and asked this.

If an unexpected expense comes and you have to reduce timing, the pay that unexpected expense, or do you pay tithing?

Have a great day. Hey, Don, I love your question because it's just so practical and I think it's such an important one for us to address. I just read something. A headline from, I think was Christianity Today. The other day, they talked about how so few people in the church actually even give a tithe. And one of the other statistics I saw is that typically people who make more money are less generous than people who make less money.

Now, I think that that's an absolute tragedy, giving under the new covenant is not supposed to be motivated by fear or by law, if you will. And I think that's one of the reasons why a lot of people perhaps today have a hard time giving up. They're not they're not receiving the right motivation. The motivation to give and to give generously and to give sacrificially should come from the gospel.

And Paul talks about this in Second Corinthians, chapter nine and in verse 60 says, The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give, as he has decided in his heart. You see, there's there's freedom there. Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing it. Increase the harvest of your righteousness. Brothers and sisters. I want a harvest of righteousness. Now, your question is really practical, brother, because what do we give even when we're coming upon difficulty in life? And I think the answer is yes. We can still continue to give. In fact, in the previous chapter in Second Corinthians, Chapter eight. Paul said this. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed and a wealth of generosity on their part.

We can be cheerful givers even when we're struggling because we trust the Lord and we can give sacrificial. You know why? Because God gave sacrificially for us.

Thanks for listening to core Christianity to request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at core Christianity dot.com and click on offers in the menubar or call us at one eight three three eight four three two six seven three. That's eight three three. The core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.