Counsel of Spiritual Life

Counsel #5 — Righteousness By Works

Picture: Counsel #5 — Righteousness By Works CSL 55.1

After the prophet Samuel didn’t show up when King Saul expected him, Saul decided to offer the ritual sacrifice himself in direct disobedience to God’s command. Because of Saul’s rebellion and efforts to achieve “works righteousness,” God rejected him. Today, we may also try to be saved by our own good works while living in disobedience to God’s Holy Law. CSL 55.2

Good works that are acceptable to God are those in response to His enormous grace! “For by grace you have been save through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8 CSL 55.3

“So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” 1 Samuel 15:22 NKJV CSL 55.4

“Nearly every false religion has been based on the same principle—that man can depend upon his own efforts for salvation.^[55] It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development—that it can refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement…. Humanity has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope.” Ellen White in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 73 CSL 55.5

Reflect: Do you think you have a right to be saved because you are a “good person?” CSL 55.6