IS
BELIEVING A WORK?
John 6:27-29 says, “’Do not labor
for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life,
which the Son of man will give to you . . .’ Then they said to him, ‘What must
we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of
God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’” Jesus tells His listeners that
they should “labor” for the food which endures to eternal life. If Sola Fide
is true, why is He telling them to labor for anything in regard to eternal
life? Then when they ask what they must “do” to be doing the works of God, what
does Jesus say? He says that believing in Him is the work of God that they must
do. Believing is a work, at least according to Jesus Christ.
Some will say, “Wait a minute,
John, Jesus says that believing is a work of God, not a work of man.” Leaving
aside for a moment the question of whose work it is, it needs to be pointed out
that the Word of God very clearly states that the act of believing is a work.
Which is the point I’m making. Now, once we’ve made the point using the Bible
that believing is indeed a work, then the question becomes: Whose work is it?
Is it a work of God, a work of man, or a work of God and man? . . . a Sola
Fide theological system says it has to be the work of God, since man can do
no works that impact his eternal life. That results, however, in the position
that God believes for us, that He has faith for us. If that were true, then we
would have universal salvation, because God wants all men to be saved (1
Timothy 2:4), so He would obviously believe for all men. Yet what Sola Fide adherent
believes in universal salvation? None that I know of.
It is indeed a work of God, but as
the context of John 6:27-29 clearly shows, it is a work that God does through
man and with our cooperation. Jesus tells the people to labor for the food that
endures to eternal life. The people obviously want to follow Jesus’
instructions, so they ask him what it is they have to do. Did Jesus say, “Why
do you ask what work you can do? Do you not know that you can do no work to
receive the food which endures to eternal life?” No! that would be a pretty
ridiculous thing for Him to say right after He told them they needed to “labor”
for that very food. So, this “work of God” being spoken of here, believing in
Jesus Christ, is a work that man does. The act of believing is indeed a work—a work
of man, but a work of man done by the grace of God. God’s work through man; man’s
work by God. Believing is a work. At least, according to Jesus. (John
Martignoni, Blue Collar Apologetics: How to Explain and Defend Catholic
Teaching Using Common Sense, Simple Logic, and the Bible [Irondale, Ala.:
EWTN Publishing, Inc., 2021], 133-34)