Short Take 2: Why does man have such an attraction to the works gospel?

In that moralistic preaching, it's very closely associated with the biggest false gospel of all, which is the works-righteousness gospel, that by doing good you can earn favor with God and merit salvation, eternal life, and so forth. And you bring that out in the film American Gospel, the first part, Christ Alone.

I'm going to play a one-minute soundbite on this issue of the works gospel, another false gospel as part of this American gospel. Roman Catholic view of salvation, and really any works-based system of salvation, takes works and puts it at the root and says that works plus your faith in Jesus is what produces salvation. But the Bible teaches that it's not the root, it's actually the fruit, that your faith alone in Jesus, that is what saves, and then a life that has been saved, a sanctified, regenerated heart, produces fruit, the fruit of good works. And so you know a person's been saved because of their fruit, but the fruit is not the reason they're saved. They're saved by God, by grace, through faith in Christ. You see, the Christian is the only person, the true Christian, who can say that they're going to heaven without being self-righteous.

Why? In other religions, how do you get to heaven? You get to heaven by being good, by earning it. In Christianity, you're not reconciled to God through your own virtue or merit, but you're reconciled to God through the virtue and merit of His Son. That was Paul Washer there, the last part of that soundbite.

And what was said in that soundbite is so critical to understand. It is the distinction that makes all the difference between being right with God, having Christ's righteousness, versus basing your salvation on your own righteousness, which is nothing, is not enough. It doesn't erase the sin you've done in the past. God doesn't grade on a curve. So Brandon, as you heard that soundbite from your film, why do you think we, and I say all of us, have such a propensity for this false gospel of all gospels that are our works, our good deeds, our communion, our baptism, our charitable acts, our being kind to one another? Why is it such a great tendency to be attracted to this particular false gospel, the works gospel?

That's kind of the default position of the human heart. We want the glory for what we can do and to be told that our best works are filthy rags to God is both offensive and unattractive, but it's true. It doesn't help that we're in a culture where we're told if you work hard you'll be rewarded. That's kind of the American dream. That feeds into what our hearts already love is ourselves, the gospel of Christ alone. That's where God gets all the glory. He's done it all and none of our merits, none of our good works have contributed to that.