Have you ever notice that at the beginning of each letter to the Churches in Revelation, the Lord says, “I know thy works.”
I believe this has been misinterpreted by many today.
Most Believers I think would say, “What is meant here is that the Lord knows if we are doing good works for Him or not. And perhaps how much good work we are doing.” There certainly may be some relevance in this perception of what the Lord is saying here.
However, I believe the message given in these few words (I know thy works) have been some what misunderstood. The misunderstanding actually comes about because of many Christians basing their faith in their own works. (I realize most Christians will say they definitely are not placing their faith in their works. I would have said the same thing some years back; never the less, works was what I was having faith in, and I believe there are many if not most Christians today who are in reality having faith in the things which they are doing [this very likely may be one reason the Lord included this statement at the beginning of every churches letter]).
In other words, too many of us are having faith in the things which we are doing instead of keeping our faith centered on what Christ has done for us (we must never forget the great accomplishing difference between what Christ has done for us and what we do for Him).
In Hebrews 4:10, The Apostle wrote, “For he who has entered into His (Gods) rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.”
Was the Lord pointing out to us in Revelation that His knowing of THY WORKS, means that He knows whether or not we have ceased from our own works, and are trusting in His? Obviously, the Lord does know whether we have ceased from our own works or not.
In the Letter to Thyatira: Revelation 2:26, John wrote, “And he who overcomes, and keeps My (Jesus) Works (notice it doesn’t say that we keep doing His Works, but that we keep His works) unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
I believe the only way to keep His (Christ’s) works, is to continually trust in what He accomplished for us on the Cross.
His Atonement brings our Redemption. (Christ’s Work)
His Righteousness becomes our Righteousness ([Christ’s Work]we have no righteousness which we have created on our own).
His Death is our death ([Christ’s Work]I am Crucified with Christ Gal.2:20).
His Life is our life; for we are raised in newness of life (His Life [again, Christ’s Work]).
The way that these great and wonderful benefits become ours is because His Works become our works, when we trust in Christ for Redemption. At this point we are Baptized (immersed) by the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ (1Cor. 12:13), now seen by God as united with Christ, our past, present and future are linked.
The word, “keeps,” in Revelation 2:26, comes from the Greek word terco and means to keep, watch, observe. Unlike, for instance the word keep in Roman 2:25, which comes from the word prasso and means to do, practice. The thought I believe is that we are to continually keep our eyes on what Christ accomplished(keep, watch, and observe) while on this Earth, ie, to be consciously aware at all times (1 Cor. 15:2, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3. how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; 4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and, Ephesians 1:7, In Whom (Christ) we have Redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins, according the riches of His Grace. And, 1 Peter 2:24, Who His Own Self bear our sins in his Own Body on the Tree).
As it says in Hebrews 4:10; if we have entered into His rest, we have ceased from our own works: and because Christ has accomplished all salvation with His own works. We need to labor (hasten) to enter into this rest; lest we fall after the same example of unbelief, that the Hebrew Children exhibited when they failed to enter into His Rest, ie, the promised land.
Also, remember Luke 9:23. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Denying ourselves has to do with ceasing from our own works.
The keeping My works of Rev. 2:26, has to do with taking up your Cross (the Lords Cross is also ours, Gal. 2:20, For I am crucified with Christ).
So, just as the Lord said in the letter to Ephesus, “Repent and do the first works.” I believe the first works are the works of, “believing and trusting in what Christ has accomplished on the Cross, on our behalf,” (John 6:28-29, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him Whom He has sent.”) How much plainer could Jesus have put it.
This commentary can not be complete, without mentioning that just as Jesus said in Luke 9:23, to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, he also said, “and follow Me.” This should make us realize that after we are trusting in Christ and all which He has accomplished for us (which must be done on a continual basis; which is the ceasing of our works, Heb. 4:10[works which we might possibly think could contribute to our righteous stand with God], that following Him, could also be considered a type of work. So what type of work are we talking about (Acts 10:38, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with Power: who WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil,
Gal.5:13, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but BY LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER.). However, this work of following Christ can only be done if we are totally trusting in the works of Christ; in what He did in order to Redeem us. And the reason for this is that if we are not totally trusting in the Works which Christ has done for us, then we will by default find ourselves trusting in our OWN works. For this very reason it is easy to see why it is imperative (and I can not accentuate that word enough) to continually thank Jesus every day, for bringing us complete Redemption, “by shedding His Blood, and giving His life on the tree.” I know this may be a little redundant; but if we fail to trust Christ on a continual basis we will undoubtedly find ourselves trusting in our works instead of the Works of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And remember: The Lord says in each of the letters to the Churches, “I know thy works.” The Lord knows precisely what our works are about. Have we accepted, and are we trusting Christ and His works (what he accomplished on the Cross) for our redemption, or are we trusting in our own works?
TWO KINDS OF WORKS
If we are standing fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, realizing that it is the Works of Christ which has made us free, then we are to use that Liberty to love and serve one another (Gal. 5:13). This love and serving one another is one kind of work.
The other kind of work would be, for example; when we try to serve and love one another, while we are not, in reality, trusting in the Works of Christ which has made us free and which has given unto us His Righteousness. In this case we would be found of God actually trusting in our own works.
Actually, these are the only two places where we can be. And there are really three kinds of works; 1.trusting in Christ and what he accomplished for us on Calvary (John 6:28-29). 2. works which we do because of our Faith in Christ (1Peter 215-17, & Gal. 5:13); 3.and works which we do trying to produce the effects which are already accomplished by what Christ has done at the Cross (Gal. 5:1 &4 also, Romans 10:3).
When the Lord says, “I know thy works,” we can rest assured that the Lord really does know what kind of works we are doing, and exactly where our heart and our faith lies.
I believe the Lord has impressed upon me the importance of the message contained in this commentary. The Lord is soon returning, I believe, and the importance for every Christian to be trusting exclusively in what Christ has accomplished for us can not be overstated!!!!
May the Merciful Lord of all Blessings, Bless you Always
Dennis
wwwdotgeocities.com/itsallinchrist
