Is there anything else

that must be done by us 

besides the sacrifice

Christ has made?

  

         

In terms of "must be done", we only need to look to a few verses to see that Christ has done everything necessary.  Hebrews 10 clearly indicates that Christ has done a work that is fully sufficient to pay the sin debt we owe, without any need to have more done.  Here are verses 8-18 of Hebrews 10:

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:  I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

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The 2nd part of Galations 2:21 shows the drawback of looking to any of our works to be considered justified by God:  

Galatians 2:20-21  20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

As this verse shows, if there were any ability to gain righteousness through following the law than Christ's death doesn't serve any purpose, and thus a wasted sacrifice.   

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Isaiah shows how our attempts to be good enough are viewed by God, and why they provide no value to our righteous in God's sight

Isaiah 64:6 “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”

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As we can see by these verses, Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation.  Our works provide nothing.  The only thing we can do is choose or reject the matchless sacrifice Christ has made for our righteousness.  We either choose to rely fully rely on what Christ has done, or we fully rely on what we can do.  It is one or the other, they cannot be combined. 

 

If you choose to rely  on your good works to be justified, you will want to remember how good you need to be.  James 2 indicates the standard if we choose to look to our own works for our righteousness:

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

This verse shows that to rely on being good enough, perfection is the requirement.  Anything short of absolute perfection results in full guilt of any who attempt to try to be good enough. 

 

In light of these verses and especially this verse in James, do you want to rely on your own abilities to be justified or rely on the work of the One who has proven He is able to fully satisfy the payment required for our salvation?

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Next Page:  Can We Be Good Enough?

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