YOU CAN NOT EARN GOD’S LOVE WITH YOUR GOOD WORKS.

Have you thought that you can only come before God’s presence when you have something to give Him? Are there days you struggle to talk to God simply because you do not feel you have anything to offer Him? Do you always feel you have to do something so that He can accept you? Do you feel you can only come to Him when you have something to offer Him? Well, today I have a word for you. I first want you to know that you cannot earn God’s love with your good works. But before we do, let us look at an example of someone who let his gifts go before him to gain acceptance from his brother. This person thought his gifts would soften his brother’s heart.

Jacob and Esau

In Genesis 32, Jacob was going back home after having lived with Laban for years and so he sent gifts ahead of him in hopes that the gifts would appease Esau and that he would find favor before his brother. The back story is that Jacob stole Esau’s birthright through deception, which led him to run away from home and live with his uncle, Laban. For a second I want you to imagine what Jacob must have felt especially after the messengers told him that Esau was coming to meet him and he had with him, 400 men. What would you have done?

Jacob thought he was done for and so he devised a plan to divide his belongings and send them in a different direction hoping should Esau decide to get even and kill some of his people and belongings he would have some left. Jacob did not think his brother would love him for him and forgive him, he assumed he had to have gifts for him to be accepted. Esau was very happy to see his brother. He did not focus on the past but wanted to move forward.

Can you relate? Have you had moments when you thought God would only accept you back when you prove yourself? Maybe you feel like your God cannot accept you because of your past. Or maybe you had been following Him and doing right by Him but now because of a mistake you made, you feel you have to earn your way back to Him. Has the enemy lied to you and made you think you have to earn God’s forgiveness? You cannot earn God’s love with your good works.

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

32 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’” 6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.” 9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” 13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.” 17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’” 19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” 21 So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Application

How many times have you and I done the same? Think that we need to come before God with gifts, praise, and Thanksgiving for Him to accept us. What about the days you don’t feel thankful, grateful, or even have an offering to give, will you stay away from Him? Are you at a place where you have reduced your relationship with God by doing something for Him? Maybe you think you have not been generous enough, prayed and fasted enough, or even worshiped enough. Does that mean because you have fallen short, you cannot come before Him? I can hear you saying, of course not! But haven’t you at some point done that? Failed to come before God because you do not feel you qualify?

Okay, let me take it a notch higher, how many times have you run away from God because you sinned and now you have allowed condemnation to wear you down? When Paul says grace has saved us through faith it means exactly that. You and I can never earn our Salvation. It is a gift offered for free. All you and I have to do is receive it. The reason I say this is with salvation comes redemption and restoration.

This simply means that we have the opportunity to have a relationship with God and know Him personally for ourselves. Our works will not save us nor get us to have a relationship with God, only Jesus can. That is why when He died on the cross the veil was torn so that we can come boldly into His throne and receive His grace and mercy in our time of need. And again when He died He cried out and said it is finished. He implied He has paid the price, The debt has been settled and all one has to do is walk in the finished works of the cross.

Proof that you can not earn God’s love with your good works.

God loved you and me before the beginning of the earth. That was why even after Adam and Eve messed up, He provided a way to reconcile us back to Him. God’s love is unconditional and is not dependent on your works or your righteousness. That is why you can not earn God’s love with your good works.

No amount of work can ever replace the gift of salvation. If it could, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. If it could, the first covenant would have been enough. God does not want you and my gifts, He wants us. He sent His Son to die for us, not our gifts. He wants a relationship with us more than He wants our good works. This is because through a relationship With Him we will be empowered to do good works. Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you will receive the activation and be empowered to do everything God called you to do.

The good works come as a result of intimacy Moses, Elijah, Paul, Peter, and the rest could do the things that God called them to do because they all had a relationship with Him and the Holy Spirit empowered them to do all that God had called them to do. The good works, gifts, and callings will come when we cultivate a relationship with God and have revelation knowledge of who our God is. Good works come as a result of intimacy. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers you to use the gifts He gave you. He enables you to do good works and to live righteously.

Focus on God and not religion.

Religion tells us what to do. God calls us to be. Rest in Him. And spend time with Him. Know Him and not about Him. Have a personal and revelation knowledge of who He is to you and not what He is to others. Do you know God for yourself? Can you approach Him even in moments where you know you have fallen short? Can you cry out to Him in your weakness? Do you trust in His goodness? We build a relationship on trust and communication. Do you talk to God? Do you listen to Him when He speaks? Can you know when He is speaking to you?

These are some questions that you can ask yourself as you focus on Him. And it is okay if your focus has been on the good works. Now that you know better, you can just tell Him to help you develop a relationship with Him. Through His Word and the Holy Spirit, you will receive a personal revelation of who He is to you, and as long as you keep cultivating it, you will have a personal relationship with Him. In your intimacy with God, He will launch you forward and get you to heights that you never thought. God will launch you into your purpose through intimacy with Him. Although you can not earn God’s love with your good works, you can use them to advance the kingdom of God.

Read scriptures that talk about relationships.

For you to gain a revelation of who God is to you, you need to have that knowledge of His character and personality, as this will help you build a relationship with Him that is genuine. Reading the Bible will help you cultivate a relationship with God. The Bible has very many attributes of God that we can learn and when we take time to read His Word, we will have a revelation of who God is. Before you can build a stable relationship, you need to know the character of the person, as this will establish trust in the relationship.

The same concept applies. How can you trust God if you don’t know who He is? How will you believe He is good when you don’t know Him? And how will you know about Him if you don’t know His word? Reading the Bible is one way we can connect with God.

Ask for help from the Holy Spirit to help you understand you can not earn God’s love with your good works.

If you want to have a deeper revelation of who God is that will help build your relationship with Him, you need to ask the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will reveal everything you need to know about God if you ask Him. First off, this is a good thing because He will give you the unfiltered truth. Since the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible, He can reveal to you the mysteries and help you understand what you don’t when you read the Bible. The Holy Spirit is your helper who wants to help you in your relationship with God and if you let Him, He will.

The Holy Spirit wants to show you the full price Jesus paid on the cross. He wants you to experience the fullness of the price Jesus paid. And that is why He wants to show you that you can not earn God’s love or His acceptance. Just like Esau was pleased to see his brother, God is pleased when you run to Him. It does not matter how far you had run from Him. When you come back, He will take you in as you are. Then He will transform you through the renewal of your mind. The first step is to come as you are.

Get rid of the shame and guilt that makes you believe you can earn God’s love with your good works.

We all fall short and sin because we are not perfect. So in moments when you find that you have gone astray, just turn to God, repent and move forward. Do not allow the sins of the past to keep you down. God does not want you stuck in condemnation and shame as this will inhibit your relationship with Him. He wants you to know that you are human and you will sin from time to time. So when you do repent, dust yourself up and try again. God is not looking for perfection. Lean on Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Blood of Jesus cleanses your sins and makes you whole so bold on to that truth.

Conclusion.

God never wants you to feel like He is far away from you. He loves you so much and wants to commune and fellowship with you. Do you know that because Jesus is your Savior when God looks at you l, He sees perfection because of Jesus in you? Jesus has given you His righteousness for your sins. He has redeemed you and you now are called to have a personal relationship with Him. You do not have to go to the priests and prophets to hear from Him. He can and will speak to you too. Do not allow your past sins and mistakes to keep you from a relationship with God. Repent when you sin and turn to Him for help.

It is Him through the Holy Spirit who can help you live a righteous life. He says that He is faithful and just to forgive you when you sin. Rest in this truth, there is nothing that can ever separate you from the love of God. This means that even on your worst days He loves you and He wants to commune with you. It is not about what you can do for Him. You do not have to earn His acceptance, just receive it. It is already done through the finished works of the cross. The price has been paid so rest in that truth. You are loved because of who you are and not because of your gift. You are accepted simply because of who you are and not what you bring to the table.

Stop trying to earn God’s love with your good works. Rather receive His unconditional love. God loves you so much and wants you to live in the fullness of who He is.