Practical Christianity: The Trap of Good Deeds

In his essay, A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes, William Wilberforce explains that one trap for “nominal Christians” (and even those believers that are otherwise strong in their faith) is the problem of works. True righteousness has nothing to do with what we have done, and everything to do with what Christ has already done. “But they rather conceive of Christianity as opening the door of mercy,” but once a Christian has stepped through that door the rest is “up to them.” 

“They consider it too much in the light of a contract between two parties, wherein each, independently of the other, has his own distinct condition to perform; man—to do his duty; God—to justify and accept for Christ’s sake.”

That is, as long as we keep our end of the bargain by being good people, God will keep His end of the bargain by giving us eternal life.

But to rely on works is to put little faith in the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. Yet Faith is exactly the characteristic Christians should rely on the most, because as the Bible remarks several times (my favorite occurrence being Romans 1:17), “the just shall live by faith.”

It is “harder” in a way to live by faith rather than works. Works we can DO. Works we can SEE. Humans are, I think, naturally creatures of action. And if there were only some sort of checklist of things we had to accomplish in our lives in order to achieve salvation, it would be so much “easier” to just tackle that. It is easier to trust to ourselves than some outer power.

But while it seems easier, it actually isn’t. The checklist would not be some short little sheet on a clipboard, but an endless scroll that would be impossible to fulfill within a lifetime (or multiple lifetimes).

When we trust in an outside force, as long as it is THE outside force, an all-powerful God who is always in control, then we can leave it in His more-than-capable hands. The pressure is off. Sure, the way to trust is intangible and more slippery than having a concrete clipboard-in-hand, but all relationships are just as complex…especially the ones that are the most worth it.