My Works or His?

January 2



Man is called to press on. Jesus sets men free from sin and shame in order that they might accomplish two goals: 1. attain Heaven as their eternal home, 2. take others with them to Heaven. The first step toward that dual purpose of salvation is, of course, receiving Christ as Savior and Lord.



Unless and until an individual opens his heart to Jesus and invites Him into the throne room of his life and allows Him to reign from the throne of his heart, he cannot take even the first step toward either of those goals. The Bible tells us that on the great Day of Judgment there will be those who will protest.



They will say, “Didn’t I cast out demons in Your name? Have I not prophesied and done many wonderful works?" And Jesus will answer, "I never knew you.” Nothing we have done on our own, that is not under the blood of Jesus, can be accrued to our account. But when we have given Him our heart, when we have laid our life at His feet and surrendered to His purposes, He will give us labor to perform in the behalf of His Kingdom.



Like Paul, we will say, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…One thing I do: forgetting that which is behind, I strain toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ…” Philippians 3:12-14, 16. We will spend ourselves in order that the Kingdom of Jesus may be furthered among men. We will count our life’s purpose to be the promotion of His purpose—the salvation of souls—and we will press toward that goal all our days.