“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” – Hebrews 4:10-11
FROM THE EXHORTATION OF MY text, it is evident that attempting to earn salvation by works is merely another manifestation of unbelief. For if the sinner who futilely thinks doing good works is part of being saved chose to rely solely on Jesus Christ to redeem him, he would not waste his time accumulating works, which can never make a man righteous before God. Rather, he would cease from his own works, as God did from his on the seventh day of creation, and rest in the finished work of Christ crucified, buried, risen. Yet my text also speaks of laboring to enter in that rest, which, to the unbelieving mind, would seem a contradiction. I have previously written on there being in the scriptures “some things hard to be understood” (2 Peter 3:16), for many are the heresies derived from improperly interpreted or ambiguous Bible passages. Bear with me as I endeavor, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to demonstrate what the holy writ means by this subject of laboring to rest.
Are not the verbs “labor” and “rest” direct opposites? Surely, in the English canon, there are few antonyms more obvious than these two terms. To labor is to make impossible resting; to rest is to cease from labor. How then can man labor to rest? How can he cease from his own works, yet work?
Many would have you to believe this scripture is “proof” that salvation must be earned through good works. Purveyors of that pathetic false gospel called “Lordship Salvation” will readily claim that unless a man labors to serve God all the days of his life, he is not truly saved and will not go to heaven. But what saith the scripture? Did not Christ classify his yoke as easy, and his burden light? Did not he offer rest to all who labor and are heavy laden (Matthew 10:28)? What the works-based salvation false teachers will always omit from their false gospel is the incompatibility of resting from one’s own works to be saved with vigorously pursuing one’s own works to be saved.
Resting in the finished work of Christ crucified, buried, risen is alike to God ceasing from his own works on the seventh day of creation. And the Sabbath day of old, which was fulfilled in Christ and thus no longer observed in the New Testament, functions as a kind of salvation, in that absolutely no work could be done during its duration, just as absolutely no work can be done in combination with belief in the gospel. Either man saves himself, which is utterly impossible, or Immanuel saves man when the latter chooses to believe the gospel as his only hope for heaven.
I have oft cited this noble passage in these pages, but I am compelled to do so once more. The gospel, as defined by 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, is thus:
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
The gospel is simply that Jesus Christ perished on Calvary’s cross to pay the price of your sins. He was buried. And he bodily resurrected three days later, and thereby ascended to sprinkle his shed blood on the heavenly mercy seat and seal his work of redemption (Hebrews 9:12) unto the justification of those who believe on him. If a man will acknowledge that he is a sinner who has violated God’s holy law and is wholly incapable of saving himself, and then believes the gospel as his only hope for heaven, he is immediately and irreversibly saved (John 10:28).
You will notice in the passage above cited that the gospel makes no mention whatsoever of a man needing to feel sorry for his sins, or desiring and attempting to turn from his sins, or inviting Jesus into his heart, or giving his life to God, or surrendering his life to follow Christ as his “Lord”, or being baptized, or joining a church and denomination, or tithing, or becoming religious and performing pious deeds. These are all WORKS, and works are incompatible with grace (Romans 11:6). If men could save themselves by being good, why would Christ must needs have deigned to abide among wicked and ungrateful men who would eventually crucify him? Why would he subject himself to be despised and rejected of men if those men could save themselves on their own?
No preacher of a false gospel can honestly answer these inquiries without betraying the deceptive and devilish lies at the heart of their heresies. When the Bible speaks of a man laboring to rest, it is not conveying the myth that human righteousness plays a part in salvation. In commanding men to cease from their own works, yet work, it is referring to what John 6:28-29 designates as “the work of God”:
“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.”
The labor by which men can “enter into that rest” is the labor of believing the gospel. And though, to our feeble minds, it may seem strange for the holy writ to use such language in conveying this theme, who art thou that repliest against God? He has chosen to so word the wonderful way by which all men can have eternal life; why strive about words to no profit, when the soul can be satisfied simply by trusting Christ? I pray that you will believe on Christ, and thereby enter into that rest.