God’s Work—John 6:26-29
“They sought Him because they wanted another free meal for their stomachs.”
Many people today still hold on to the mistaken idea that they will go to heaven on the basis of their own “good” and “moral” behavior – on the basis of their works. Cults impose “requirements” in order to secure a positive eternal destiny. In Jesus’ day things were no different. The people had much confusion over this subject.
The crowd watched (and ate) with delight when Jesus worked a miracle with the loaves and the fishes in the feeding of 5,000 men plus their families. They looked for Him the next day and when they found Him they wanted to know how He had crossed the sea without them seeing Him leave in a boat. Now we might think to commend them for their desire to follow the Savior. But He sees their inner motivation and rebukes them, ” Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled ” (John 6:26). They sought Him because they wanted another free meal for their stomachs. Jesus then encourages them to use their efforts for something of a more eternal value than bread and fish: “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed” (John 6:27).
This didn’t satisfy the people. If Jesus wasn’t going to feed them again, they wanted some of this power for themselves so that they could do the “work” of multiplying food. How could they get that (John 6:28)? Jesus didn’t give them the answer they sought. ” Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent ” (John 6:29). What is Jesus saying?
Concentrate first and foremost on faith in Jesus Christ. Once you have acted upon that faith by receiving Christ as your Savior, the most important work has already been accomplished. God sees the heart; men see our works. If our heart is genuinely regenerated, we will do good works. Why are good works important? It is not because they save us. That is accomplished only by the grace of God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Works are important because they help bring others to Jesus. He told his followers: ” Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ” (Matthew 5:16). In other words, good works are not the means to salvation but the evidence of it.
Have you experienced the supreme work of God in changing your soul because you have received Christ as your Savior? If not, will you do that right now? If you know you belong to Christ and have experienced forgiveness of your sins, do your actions show evidence of that? Can people look at your life and see outward evidence of the inward miracle Jesus has worked in your heart? Will you ask God today to help you live in such a way as to leave no doubt in the minds of anyone critically examining your actions that you are a Christian? When the words of faith are not accompanies with works of righteousness, the faith is fake. But works without faith is equally deceiving. But you can always find evidence of saving dynamic faith in the actions of the person truly converted by Christ. You can’t grab hold of a high voltage power line without it altering your behavior. And you can’t have a personal relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords without it changing your behavior! Is your faith real? Do your works show it? Will you give the whole of your being to Jesus today?
Author: Robert W. Rohlin
This first appeared November 8, 1998 in the Advancer , a Sunday school teacher’s guide published by the Baptist Publishing House . It is gratefully reproduced here with permission from the publisher.