What Must We Do, To Be Doing the Works of God?
Embedded near the middle of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John is an interesting exchange between Jesus and the crowd. The crowd had lately been miraculously feed by Jesus and sought to make Him their King. This exchange merits our attention and our reflection:
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:26-40 ESV)
The crowd asked Jesus, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" That is "How can we be right with God?" Jesus answered them plainly, "This is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent." Faith is our response to God's gift of salvation. Sometimes you and I get this all mixed up. We think our work is to earn our salvation and so we try our hardest to save ourselves by doing good things instead of trusting in God and being obedient to his will. Jesus reveals in this passage that salvation is the gift of God that is the Bread of Life and we are to receive Jesus and trust Him.
Notice especially these words in verse 27, "which the Son of Man will give to you." They are important as we consider this matter of salvation. "Give", as the dictionary defines it, means " to make a present of; to grant or bestow by formal action; or to put into the possession of another for his or her use." Jesus is the Giver of salvation which He has bestowed by His death and resurrection and put into our account by grace through faith. Notice Jesus doesn’t say anything about us working for this gift, or earning this gift, or achieving this gift for ourselves, but Jesus says he will give it to us, it is ours, a free gift. Our response, as Jesus says, is to believe in Him who God has sent . We respond in faith to Jesus Christ who gives us salvation.
