I have been reading and thinking about faith and works and the New Covenant recently after attending a seminar by Neil Rhodes. It brought me back to some things I wrote nearly a year ago when I was reading through Galatians.
Paul was telling the Galatians not to stray from a faith-based gospel to a works-based gospel because there is no life there. In Galatians 5:9 Paul uses 'leaven' or 'yeast' as a metaphor for a works mentality 'A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough' and it got me thinking again about the effect that yeast has on our faith.
I went back to the Old Testament where the laws were written regarding yeast during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus 12:15 'For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel'
At the very beginning of the Feast, all the yeast had to be removed from the house. The yeast of a works-based salvation has to be removed from a believers life as we come to Christ. We have to acknowledge the utter failure of our self-effort to save us or make us righteous.
In the Old Testament the yeast was cleared before the Passover was celebrated. The Passover is, without doubt, a picture of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross for our sins. So before we can truly celebrate Jesus' sacrifice on the cross we must put an end to the idea that works and self-effort play any part in our salvation.
If works could have saved us then Christ's death on the cross was unnecessary. We will only celebrate Christ's sacrifice when we realise that no matter how good we are, it is not good enough to save us. When I think about this, I am so, so thankful for the price Jesus paid for me because I would never have been able to pay it myself.
Once we see this and rely on Christ's sacrifice, we can never go back to righteousness by works. In other words we should not reintroduce yeast once it has been removed. Do not be fooled into reintroducing the idea that you can earn your salvation by doing works or keeping the Law. It is not true. We are justified by faith alone. Gal 5:5 'For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.' We wait by faith.
Paul writes in Gal 5:9 that even "a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." even a little works/self-effort is dangerous as it will eventually work its way into other areas of faith.
I was reading a little about how yeast works and I read that it feeds on sugar causing it to be consumed and break down. The yeast
of a works gospel has the same action. It will cause the break down and consumption of faith with devastating results for our grace-gospel.
Grace and works cannot co-exist. Like yeast, works will consume our trust in grace.
Paul exhorts the Galatians in this very idea in chapter 5, verse 1.
'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.' The works mentality is a yoke. It makes us slaves to obeying the Law but we cannot, so we become slaves to trying to keep all of the Law. It is a slavery that cannot be satisfied.
I was teaching a bible study to the younger youth and we looked at this verse in Ephesians 2:8-9 'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works so that no one can boast'
That sums it up for me. Once we accept that we have not contributed to our salvation by our good works, then we are free to trust fully
in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. It is equally liberating and humbling and it makes me want to praise Him all the more.
Tonight my prayer is this: 'Lord remove any traces of self-effort from my life that I do not take glory from your perfect salvation.'
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