There are those who keep saying faith makes works meaningless, and that grace in the new testament means the Law is of no consequence.

They speak as though they do not know the difference between dead works and the works of faith.
As though they do not know that the whole point of the New Covenant is to fulfill the essence of the Law

Tell them the Bible says faith without works is dead
And they say that is James, that James hadn’t grasped certain things, that he was legalistic, that we should read Paul’s epistle

Tell them that Paul says do we then make the law void through faith? No! We uphold it (Romans 3:21), and they pretend like they did not hear.

Tell them that Paul also says (Philippians 2:12&13); work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure
And they shout “Can’t you see?…..For it is God that works in you! It is God that works in you! God is the one working in you!”

Excuse me please
What is the problem?
Are you saying the passage says only that God is working in you?

Or does it not categorically say that you should work out what God is working in?

Of course, that is what is says

Another said ” It is not work FOR, it is work OUT….You are not to work for anything!
Anything you do is adding to what Christ has done”

You see the problem?
Carnal laziness
Wanton lawlessness

WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT ‘working for’?
Where did ‘work for’ appear in this passage?
.
The epistle to the Ephesians does NOT say

Since we are seated with Christ
Sit worthy on the heavenly couch,
And having done nothing at all to sit, just repose in the finished works.

Not at all.

The epistle to the Ephesians says we are SEATED
The epistle to the Ephesians says WALK worthy of the call
The epistle to the Ephesians says HAVING DONE ALL TO STAND, STAND THEREFORE

Likewise, here in the letter to the Philippians, it doesn’t say

Rest out
Sleep out
Lay about, claiming finished works

It says WORK OUT

In salvation, THERE IS WORK TO DO.
Under grace there is work that you MUST do
The work is not created by you nor is it not from you
The working is from God.
God is working in you already.
Now you must WORK IT OUT.
If you have no works, then you have no salvation.

One day, when this distinction was made, in a conversation
One of these folks got angry and said

“I’M NOT EVEN WORKING ANYTHING OUT!!. God has done everything for me in Christ!! Gloreyyy!!!”

Which glory?
To go against the word of God, to deny reality
Is that glory or folly?

That’s the problem.
They do not want to follow after godliness
They do not want to live right

So they lie to themselves that to WORK OUT is the same as to WORK FOR
And they tell themselves that anything a believer does in response to what God has done in Him is adding to the finished works.

Lackadaisical
Lily livered
Lawless
Libellous
Licentiousness

Hence the parable of the treadmill

And why a parable?

The first disciples of the Lord asked why He had elected to speak in parables

And the Lord said, “Because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

He said “The hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And they have closed their eyes”

So He spoke to them in parables to show that what they were deliberately confusing was so simple that it could be explained with relatable everyday examples; like mustard seeds, talents, and earthly father and son relationships etc

So that it is clear that those who rejected His words did not do so because what He said was not clear and simple truth. It was clear and simple truth that simple stories could demonstrate

But those who rejected it, had deliberately closed their eyes and shut their ears

Anyone who reads Philippians 2:12&13 knows that the message is so simple
“God is working in you. Work out what God is working in”
Why will someone deliberately confuse such a simple passage?

It is not about root words or Greek words or hermeneutics or ‘interpretation’ or ‘context’;

Why will someone say “Jesus has fulfilled the law. No law is being fulfilled in me. The only commandment for the new creation is to love”?

Why will someone say this when the Bible clearly says in

Romans 13:8, that …..He who loves another has fulfilled the law;

Which law?

Romans 13:9
For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Old Testament law.
The new testament law of love fulfills the essence of the old testament law

Romans 13:10, that Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law?

Simple.

So why on earth will anyone say……..no law is being fulfilled in me?

It is not about root words or Greek words or hermeneutics or ‘interpretation’ or ‘context’;

It is because they have closed their eyes and refused to hear.
Being disobedient in the heart, they stumble at the word.

Everyone therefore who believes the word, will immediately understand this parable
But everyone who stumbles at the word will have a problem with it, and start pretending as though it’s really about the treadmill or windmill.

So, after so long a preamble, hear this short PARABLE

A treadmill is an equipment for exercise, specifically for brisk walking, jogging or running.
You plug it in, switch it on, and stand on the belt; and it starts moving backwards.
To keep on it, you have to move forward, or jog.

Now, this is different from someone jogging on the field.
A person jogging on the field is pushing herself forward entirely by her own effort
If she stops, moving forward stops, and to keep going, she has to start jogging again
Whererever their energy can take them, that’s it.
The whole thing depends solely on her effort

The treadmill is different.
It works the jogging into your feet.
It stimulates you to run.
To run, you don’t have to first raise your leg up or sprint or anything
All you need to do is to switch it on, stand on the belt, set the desired speed, click on start, and then let it guide you.

BUT ONCE IT STARTS, it moves in such a way that you have to jog

The thing makes you jog.
Likewise, grace makes you work

You are on one spot, but still you are doing exercise and sweating
Likewise, being in Christ doesn’t mean there is no work.
You are in a position of rest, but there is work to be done
In fact, you become His workmanship….it’s work, work, work.
Works of righteousness, sobriety, godliness, and holiness.

And the jogging is not from you, it’s stimulated by the treadmill
Likewise the works are not of you, it is worked in by God.

Yet you cannot say the treadmill is moving so that I will stand still and do nothing
You can only do that on a machine that is not plugged in or that isn’t working.
Likewise once a person says there’s nothing for me to do in Christ
That is a faith that isn’t alive, a faith not plugged in, a theoretical faith, a dead faith

In fact, if you stand still on a working treadmill, you will move back and fall off the machine
Likewise, all who claim to be in Christ, but refuse to work out their salvation.

Are backsliding
And falling away.

At the end of the day, the difference between jogging on your own, and treadmilling is that the treadmill leads the exercise and the set speed determines how fast and how long you go, but you will pant and sweat like the one jogging on her own.

Likewise under grace, you study, you pray, you fast, you walk in obedience, you repent of disobedience, you give, you labour in the gospel, you do even much more than those who are trying to live right by themselves

But everything is a result of Christ who is in you, leading you by His Spirit, and working in you that which is pleasing in the Father’s sight.

God bless.

Written by Ebele UzoPeters