As If

Chances are you have heard this little theological maxim that masquerades as solid biblical advice but is loaded with unbiblical assertions (if you are like me you actually once believed it):

“Work as if it all depends on you; pray as if it all depends on God.”

This little gem is the theological equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. This axiom is a flawed assumption that we can hedge our heavenly bets, so that just in case God’s grace isn’t enough to cover us, we will be able to present our own righteous deeds to God. As if!

Does anyone really think that God has a Grace credit card that might max out? As if the sins have been so outrageous this month the requests for forgiveness so excessive that the plastic of his Grace credit card is just to hot to handle. As if any minute now, a vice-president from the Bank of Grace might call God to tell Him that His account is over-drawn.

This kind of fuzzy thinking and shallow misrepresentation of God is religious doubletalk. A Christian’s account with God has the top security software protecting it. No one can condemn us if Christ is with us and in us (Romans 8:1). God will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). And nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the once and for all payment for all of the sins of mankind forever, the debt has been paid, and we don’t need to worry about God’s heavenly Bank of Grace declaring “Chapter 11”.

So what is all this stuff about working as if it all depends on us? Do we actually think that a human insurance policy, underwritten by our deeds and performance, can actually work like an overdraft on our spiritual account in the event that God’s grace fails?

It seems to me that some would have us believe (often in the name of religion) that God is ladling out His grace in measured quantities – somewhat like the stereotypical stingy cook in the high school cafeteria line. There’s only so much grace to go around, and when the pot of grace is empty, then there certainly won’t be any seconds – in fact there may not be enough to go around for everyone to have a first serving. And, according to some, those who have earned all of the brownie points and merit badges religious institutions can fabricate are at the head of the line, How convenient.

Guess who, according to Jesus, is at the head of the line in the grace cafeteria? “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

I know that some who advance the teaching, “Work as if it all depends on you; pray as if it all depends on God” sincerely believe that God will help you if you are really trying hard. Of course their idea is that God is impressed with our attempts to be good and before stepping in to help us God wants us to show Him our desire to do the right thing.

The problem with this teaching is that it is still rooted in the thought that what we do makes some contribution to our salvation. Such a teaching is completely at odds with “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

If you accept that we should “Work as if it depends on you; pray as if it depends on God”, then it is a short journey to even deeper and more toxic religious swamps whose inhabitants believe: “God helps those who help themselves.” As if!! The truth is the exact opposite – God helps us because we cannot help ourselves.

Then where DO works come in? Doesn’t the Bible tell us to “be good” and to “live a good life”?
Remember these points about “good works”:

1. Good works come only AFTER salvation – after you come to the realization that you can’t be good, that you need forgiveness and a Savior and Lord of your life. Any apparent good works done before salvation have as their root the wrong motivation.

2. We can still have wrong motives for our good works AFTER salvation when they are done with the motive of trying to please God and make Him love us more – this is called legalism.

3. The motive for true good works after salvation is the knowledge that God loves you no matter what you do because He has made you forever His child in His Family. Therefore, you love Him back with the love of Christ within you by daily learning the lifestyle of the Family of God (which IS good works!).

The maxim at the beginning of this article can better be stated:
PRAY – because it all depends on God.
WORK – because God loves you eternally and depends on you to show His love to those around you in your own little world.



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