The Curse of Works Religion



My title for this video is not original. I got it from the Apostle Paul who says in Galatians 3:10, “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.” 

A works religion believes you achieve your ultimate spiritual goals through human merit. And almost every religion in the world is a works religion, including much of what operates under the banner of Christianity.

Hinduism and Buddhism believe in a sort of heaven and you get there exclusively through works. The same with Islam.

It is the belief of theological liberalism. I remember how surprised I was reading “Christianity and Liberalism” by J. Gresham Machen. He wrote the book in 1923 when liberalism was a fairly new religion. And he said it was a religion of works. The theological liberal saves himself through his own virtue. That had never occurred to me but he is absolutely right.

It is the belief of Marxist Progressivism. Joseph Bottum is a Roman Catholic theologian and in his book, “An Anxious Age” he says that a left-wing Marxist Progressive is saved by the way he votes and the political positions he holds. In Progressivism there is no personal virtue—only political virtue. Which is why Progs are obsessed with virtue signaling. They put BLM signs on their lawns to show how righteous they are. They hold “luxury beliefs” positions Rob Henderson has described as beliefs you hold at no personal cost. But they make you feel more righteous. 

Under the label of Christianity it is the official position of the Roman Catholic church and they argue for the position continually. I have linked one of their columns below. The same with Eastern Orthodoxy. Marginal Christian groups like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are totally works based. And lots of Christians in effect believe it is up to them whether they get to heaven or not.

This is not what the Bible teaches. Scripture clearly says one is saved by faith alone. Ephesians 2:8,9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ; Romans 4:5: And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,; Titus 3:5: he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy; Romans 3:23,24: or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Romans 11:5,6: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.; Gal. 2:16: yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ; Philippians 3:9: [That I may] be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ; In Luke 15 the Prodigal son is restored to complete fellowship with the Father on the basis of no works at all: In Luke18 the publican is justified and the pharisee is not. No one had more works of righteousness than a Pharisee but it is the Publican who is made right with God through no works whatsoever; And in Luke 23 the thief on the cross is made right with God through the simplest faith possible. He wasn’t exactly in a position to do any works.

The Bible position is clear on this issue. Please check out my video on this topic linked below.

Paul calls works religion a terrible curse and it is. Why? Let me give you five reasons:

First, to be saved by works you have to demonstrate your righteousness and you never know if you have done enough. One time I was listening to a lecture by a Jehovah Witness, a clearly sincere and deeply religious man. I asked him if he would go to Paradise when he died. (The Jehovah’s witnesses have two eternal destinies. Heaven for a select few and Paradise for all the other Witnesses.). I told him that at the school I attended 70% was passing. Was he righteous enough to get to the 70% mark? He said he didn’t know. Of course he didn’t. There is no way to know if you are righteous enough.

Almost everyone fails to live up to their own standards anyway; one of the Roman Catholic websites argues for salvation by works by quoting several verses; for example they argue that in Matthew 5:44 Jesus says we must love our enemies in order to go to heaven; and that in Matthew 5:48 Jesus says we have to be perfect to go to heaven. Seriously? Who does this? Works religions sets up a standard no one can live up to; in fact, no one can ever really know what the standard is.

Second, in works religion you are obligated to be better than other people. One time I was discussing this with a young Mormon whom I brought to a theology class to share the Mormon point of view. The Mormons have three levels of heaven and you rise up through the levels through various Mormon works. I asked him if he thought he would go to the top level. He said yes. I asked, will everyone? No. So, I said, you believe you are better than those people who don’t get to the top level. He was silent. There was nothing he could say. God grades on a curve. There are A people—and only members of the Mormon church in good standing can get an A from God; there are B people and C people. In Mormonism no one gets an F. 

In a works religion you get to heaven by being better than other people and that’s a terrible burden to bear and harmful to your soul.

Third curse, in order to be saved by works you have to come up with a list of the works you have to perform; every works religion has a different list and the list is to a great extent arbitrary; for some it’s joining the right organization; for others it’s being baptized the right way, or by the right person; each group has a unique list of righteous deeds that make one right with God.  One time when I was a professor at the University of Colorado I was walking across campus. I was stopped by a couple of members of the ICC—the International Church of Christ. This cult believed that to go to heaven you had to be baptized in their tank by one of their members. If you were baptized any other way, you went to hell even in another Church of Christ. As I chatted with them a couple of Mormon missionaries walked up and asked the ICC guys if they wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon. I couldn’t help myself; I said, “You guys are going to love each other.”

Fourth curse, the practitioners of works religion have to have unique righteous beliefs to show they are different from other people. As a result they come up with really bizarre beliefs and symbols of their own righteousness. The Jehovah’s witnesses do not celebrate birthdays and refuse blood transfusions; Mormons get married in the temple and forego caffeine; the Left passionately supports transgenderism and other crazy causes.

Fifth and final curse, the worst thing about works religions is its misunderstanding of the purposes of God. God is not concerned primarily with what you do but what is your heart like? 1 Samuel 16:7: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”; in Matthew 15:8 Jesus says of the people of His day: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

Works religions misunderstand our relationship with God. He is our father; almost no one relates to his own earthly father on the basis of works; if your earthly father demands works in order to have a right relationship with him we all consider this a catastrophic failure in parenting; if a human father should love us unconditionally why would we expect anything else from God the Father?

I have given five reasons why works religion is a curse. So, what is the appeal? It is a religion where you are in control; I asked one of my Muslim students once, “Hassan, if I follow the five pillars of Islam am I a Muslim in good standing?” He said, “Absolutely!” In a works religion you retain your pride. You get the credit for your salvation. You don’t have to share it with anyone else. And I think it is ingrained in us that you have to work for what you get and if you work for it you deserve it. The idea of a free gift annoys us.

I hope no one listening is depending on their works to deliver them. Cast yourself on the mercy of Jesus Christ and be saved.

Thanks for listening. May the God who offers us salvation by grace alone bless you this day.

More: Are We Saved by Faith Alone? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=813cz4xt1pI

A Catholic argument for salvation by works: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/faith-alone-is-not-enough