Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Acts 15:10
Workplaces require a certain minimum amount of workload in order to accomplish the work needed to be done. That basic workload is often described clearly in the job description. Sometimes the employer will add many additional tasks on top of the basic workload. As this occurs, there are times it becomes such a heavy workload that many are unable to get all of the tasks done correctly or in the required timeframe.
Luke records in Acts that there were some who were requiring the new believers to follow all of the Old Testament law. Peter asks them why they are testing God by requiring more work that neither they nor their ancestors could handle.
Outside of Christianity, all religions require some type of work in order to be ‘saved.’ This work may be that one must completely get rid of certain things, or it may be that one must die in a battle for one’s belief or god. Everything is based upon what a person does or does not do.
Reality has shown that no one can really hold up under such a workload all the time.
Churches and some believers will often add additional heavy load requirements, in the same way as the false religions do or the employer does in the workplace, to be saved. Requirements to dress a certain way, look a certain way, pray a certain way, give a certain amount of money, or some other requirement is placed upon believers in order to be saved. No one can hold up under such loads.
Salvation comes from repentance and belief in Jesus alone. It is by grace of God that one is saved, not by an impossible heavy workload being accomplished.
You never enjoy when an employer piles extra work upon you that you are unable to do. It breaks you down and causes you to fail at your job. In the same way, you should not put expectations upon other believers, or yourself, that God has never put upon them. Teach that salvation is through faith, not by what a person is able to do or able to stop doing.
Salvation is a gift from God through Jesus Christ that cannot be earned.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will not add extra work on yourself or others in order to be saved; that you will recognize that salvation is only by faith in Jesus; and that you will put your faith in the work of Jesus upon the cross for your salvation.
Photo by Marcin Simonides on Unsplash
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