John 6, verses 28 to 31, the works of God

 

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Biblical Christianity is not a religion of works. We can’t work to get saved nor can we work to stay saved. Salvation is predicated upon belief.

Acts 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

    12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [a Gentile: a non-Jew as the dominant culture of Paul’s world was a Greek one]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

However, we are called to good works once we are saved.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Good works from the Christian’s perspective are defined as acts of charity and love.

1Timothy 5:10  Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

1Timothy 6:18  That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Read the entire chapter of 1Corinthians 13 and Romans 12 and 1Thessalonians 5:11 and onward.

Good works include the uniting together regularly as the body of Christ in worship. With the development of modern technologies this becomes even more a possibility for even people unable to physically attend a physical worship service.

Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

But, it is belief, not good works that saves a Christian. It is Christ alone that keeps them saved as we will find out later. All other teachings of modern churches are based on control and manipulation and are not Biblical. Not your church membership, not your church attendance, not your generosity in giving, nor your diligence in Bible reading and prayer can save you. Only trusting in Christ can do that.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 6:30  They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Israel was founded by signs and wonders.

Deuteronomy 7:19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

The Jews required a sign as proof.

1Corinthians 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

These Jews demand proof in the form of signs and are either unaware of the miracle at the wedding at Cana or the miracle of the loaves and the fishes or unimpressed. Tough crowd, huh? They refer to God’s miraculous feeding of the Hebrews in the wilderness by manna (see Exodus 16:4, Psalm 105:40, and Nehemiah 9:15).

Exodus 16:15  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat…31  And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

What was it? That would be an interesting Bible study.

Psalm 74:12 ¶  For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psalm 78:24  And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25  Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.

What was manna, this miraculous food from heaven? Whatever it was, it was definitely one of those amazing events that God poured down on the Hebrews to prove who He was and that He had control over natural events to change and manipulate them at will.

Do you seek after a miracle to prove God, or are you like the Greeks who wanted an argument, a piece of logic to justify their belief?

    John 20:25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

    26 ¶  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

If your faith is contingent upon waiting for a sign from the heavens or an argument of reason from a scholar then you probably don’t believe at all in a real, living God but moreso in a concept of God, an idea not an entity. American Christians have more faith in their faith than in God which is why we talk about the power of prayer rather than the power of the one prayed to, as if speaking to an empty room as a placebo effect meant something other than that you are deranged.

God is not the subject of scientific investigation because He is a real person, if you will, with a will and will reveal Himself to whom He desires and when He desires. Judging by what He has said in His Book it doesn’t appear that He cares to sit for an interview with a theoretical scientist (1Timothy 6:20) at Cern, Switzerland or to put on a fireworks display for your entertainment like the wizard, Gandalf, in Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

In the Jewish mind here in this passage God was like a football coach and, remember, you’re only good as your last game. So, what have you got for us today, God? Are you like that?