One of the greatest things I like to teach is that we do not have to earn what was freely given to us through Christ. Unfortunately, my biggest fear with teaching against works in terms of them being necessary for a relationship with God is that it might cause some people to assume that I think that bible study and prayer, attending church and serving are unimportant.
All of those things are important, and they will always be present in the life of someone who has been truly saved. The problem is that somehow, almost instinctively, most of us use those things as a replacement for the pursuit of God.
Here's what I mean: Those things are vehicles we use to draw closer to God, not destinations in themselves. When you think of them as destinations, you will be tempted to point to all of the things you're doing and say, "I've arrived," as if you are satisfying within yourself some sort of obligation or duty. In fact, you haven't arrived; you've simply gotten in the vehicle.
If our destination is (as it should be) the glory of God and His kingdom (Matthew 6:33; Psalm 37:3-4), then our delight in and joy of God is the fuel that will get us there.
God is never glorified by our begrudging submission to Him. Think of it this way; how is God glorified in our worship and our service of others if we find no joy in it or if we're simply doing it out of duty? (1 Samuel 15:22)
Worship and service is borne out of our love and joy in God, not the other way around. A changed life doesn't bring about a love for God, but a love for God will always bring about a changed life.
This is more than just semantics.
The person who tries to "arrive" at God by merely doing things that seem godly is getting in a vehicle with no fuel expecting it to take them where they want to go.
The tragedy is that once they realize that the vehicle isn't moving them in the direction that they want to go, they'll simply "try harder" in order to push it and force it to go where they want it to go.
Like the Pharisees, they will then end up abusing the things of God, relying on false hope (John 5:37-42 esp. 39 & 42), or worse they will abandon the vehicle all together convinced that it doesn't work and that there is no hope.
This is the difference between living under "law" versus living under grace. Law wants to do where grace says simply receive.
Law assumes that what we do is somehow tied to our position with God. The more we do the more right our position is with God.
Living under grace means understanding and taking delight in the fact that we have already been made positionally right with God by no efforts of our own and nothing we do, right or wrong, will change that (John 10:27-29; Romans 5:1-2).
The things of God aren't commands that we are condemned or saved by (although we have been commanded to do them). They are invitations to experience and find satisfaction in the joy of the Lord (Psalms 51:12; Psalm 90:14; Isaiah 55:2).
God is inviting us to new delights not just new duties; new treasures, not just new tasks (Matthew 6:33). He wants to give us rest, not more work, because He's already accomplished the work. He wants us to wear an easy yoke, not a heavy burden, because He's already carried that burden for us (Matthew 11:28-30).
If you view this life as a burden (which it certainly is) and the things of God as a burden (which they never should be), where will you go for rest, satisfaction, or hope?
When our only goal is to rest in and delight ourselves in God, we will worship and glorify Him in everything we "do."
In the end, that is the only way that our worship of and rest in Him can extend beyond our efforts to glorify Him with our "works" and be that which also sustains us in our darkest times (Psalm 46:10).
