PLACE OF REFUGE
By Philip Yuson
They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of GOD, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:28-29
When people asked Jesus how to do GOD's work, Jesus replied to do GOD's work is to believe in Him whom He has sent. Jesus did not say, one has to do good deeds. Instead, Jesus clearly said, "believe in Him whom He has sent". What does this mean then
Doing good works will never get us to heaven. A lot of you may say this is heretic, but surprisingly, it is not. Our salvation is a gift. We receive it freely. We can do nothing to gain it. To think that good works alone will get us to Heaven is wrong. One of the greatest misconceptions of typical Catholics is that good works is sufficient to get us to Heaven. Scripture however clearly tells us salvation is a gift freely given by GOD. Jesus attained salvation for us, by His blood.
Here is an example. Let us assume a person got rich through extortion and crime. To satisfy his conscience, this person donates even half of his money, but still continues in his crime. Do you think there is redemption for such a person if he would not repent? Saint Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become a sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing". Saint Paul was saying even if one gives up everything, but if it has no love, then it is useless.
Doing GOD's work is to believe in Jesus. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in Him [the Son] will not perish but have eternal life". Salvation therefore lies in believing in Jesus. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? To believe in Jesus is to trust in Him. When one trusts in Jesus, the result is obedience to His Word. This is the key to eternal life - obedience to GOD's Word.
Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it to you" (John 15:16). Jesus calls us to bear fruit - in abundance - and fruit that will remain, fruit that will last.
This is where good works come in. Good works are the fruit of our faith. If we are obedient to Jesus, we will bear fruit in abundance that will last. Without Jesus, our good works are useless. When we share our good works with Him, when we do it in obedience, it is when it will bear fruit.
Although good works do not guarantee faith, true faith in Jesus guarantees good works that will last and bear fruit. In the end, it is not how much we do but how much we love. This is how we shall be judged.
May the Lord give us the grace to love Him so we can have the courage and strength to obey Him and bear fruit in abundance and fruit that will last.
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