Introduction:
Extra credit is an academic concept, particularly used in American schools. Students are offered the opportunity to undertake extra work in addition to their mandatory school work. Many times extra credit can be used as a way to allow a student to improve his or her grade after weak performance earlier in a course. Does God allow extra credit?
WBTU:
A. Many assume that if we do something wrong, we can do something right to make up for it.
B. In many religions this concept is the key to salvation from sin.
1. This is the “balance scale” approach to salvation.
It assumes that there is such a thing as EXTRA MERIT or extra credit – that extra good deeds can make up for sin.
Under such a system the assumption is that it is actually possible for anyone to go “above and beyond the call of duty”. By doing more than we have to, we are earning extra credit that can atone for our sins.
Illustrate this: As creatures made by God we each have a “bank account” in heaven, in which we are required at all times to keep a certain level of good works, merits or credits. We can keep our account at the required level by obeying all the commands of the Creator. Every time we obey a command, we are making regular, required deposits into our account. However, every time we sin, our account falls below the required level; our account is “in arrears,” and we are subject to serious penalty. What can we do? Extra credits or merits to the rescue! The idea here is that by doing some good work that is not our duty or obligation to do, we are making extra deposits into our account. This enables us to catch up or make up for the losses from our sins, so that our balance is acceptable again.
3. This would mean that in serving God we can actually go “above and beyond the call of duty.”
Thesis: Let’s talk about extra credit from the Bible.
For instances:
I. Jesus teaches that there is no such thing as extra credits. As already read in Luke 17:7-10. As the NKJV translates v. 10, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
What is Jesus teaching here?
A. As God’s creatures we already owe God every good deed, every act of obedience that we can possibly do. This is our DEBT to the Creator. James 4:17: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
B. A Perfect life is our DUTY. Matthew 5:48: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect
C. Even if we were living a perfect life, we would have no “profit,” nothing EXTRA.
D. What is the main implication of this teaching? We CAN NEVER DO SOMETHING EXTRA TO MAKE UP FOR our SINS.
E. Why not? Because every good thing we can possible do is already required of us. This is the debt of obedience that we owe to God.
F. When we do NOT do some good thing that we are supposed to do, i.e., when we SIN, this is like getting behind in the payment of our debt of obedience. This now becomes the debt of sin.
G. Once we get behind, we can never catch up. Why not? Because we will never have any EXTRA works (works not already owed to God) to apply to our sin-debt.
Every good thing we can do is already owed to God as our creature-debt. We cannot use what is required to pay one debt, to pay off another debt.
Here’s an illustration: Think of a young man (named Davon?) who has fallen head over heels for a beautiful young woman (named Crystal?). He is thoroughly smiten. He asks the young lady to marry him. She wants to marry him too, but she knows how desperate he is and decides to take advantage of the situation. Thus she prepares a prenuptial agreement in which the young man agrees to assign every possession he now owns and every possession he will ever own to his bride. Every penny he will ever earn, inherit, find, receive as a gift will automatically become hers. He readily agrees and signs the papers. All goes well for a while, until one day the young wife confronts her husband. “I have discovered that for the last two years, you have secretly been holding back two dollars per week just so you can buy an occasional donut. Let’s see, two dollars per week for 104 weeks, that means you owe me $208!” The young man goes into a panic. “Please, please! I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me! Don’t do anything drastic. I will pay you back!” Now, here is where the wife proves to be quite a bit sharper than her husband. When he utters this promise, “I will pay it all back”, she just looks at him and asks, “What with?” In shock he now sees the horrible truth: he will never have any money with which to pay her back, because everything he will ever own already belongs to her! He will owe her this $208 forever.
I. Thus it looks like we have two choices:
1. Live a perfect life and stay even, and thus avoid hell through our own works.
2. Sin even just one time and fall behind in our debt forever.
II. How, then, can sinners be saved?
ONLY BY GRACE! – in the form of Jesus’ perfect atonement for our sin. This is the only thing that can truly “make up for” our sin.
Jesus’ atoning sacrifice was truly “extra merit.” On the cross Jesus was going “above and beyond the call of duty.” HIS extra merits are what go on the other side of the balance scale, canceling out our sins and giving us eternal life.
C. “Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law’s demands. Could my tears forever flow; could my zeal no respite know! All for sin could not atone; THOU must save, and Thou alone.”- Rock of Ages
Remember 11:22: Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Review the two sides of God’s moral nature- God’s holiness and wrath and God’s love and grace.
E. See the contrast between Luke 17:7-10 and Luke 12:35-37: Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. .
1. Luke 17 shows God’s severity and sternness – His HOLY nature by which he judges sinners according to law and justice, demanding payment of our debt to him.
Luke 12 shows God’s goodness and mercy – His LOVING nature by which he judges sinners according to grace, which is the opposite of justice. I.e., grace is GOD going above and beyond the call of duty, forgiving our sin-debt.
Conclusion and invitation:
A. We can never DO TOO MUCH for our Master.
1. We can never BE TOO GOOD.
2. We can never WORK TOO HARD.
3. We can never KNOW TOO MUCH.
B. We can never do enough to DESERVE our heavenly rewards.
C. When we already OWE perfection to God, why should he even say “Thank you” when we do something good?
D. Why do we serve him, then? Not for rewards, but because we OUGHT to and because we WANT to.
He does give us heavenly rewards anyway, though, not because he ought to, but just because HE wants to!
Jesus was the only one to do his duty to his Creator without going bankrupt. He was perfect (without sin- Hebrews 4:15) but even in this he was an unworthy or unprofitable servant. He only did his duty. This does not mean, however, that Christ’s perfect obedience means nothing for us. Christ’s perfect obedience is necessary for our salvation. It made him the perfect lamb to offer the only perfect sacrifice for sin.
Using a lot of banking terms. Make a list of everything we owe- then we are going to put all of these together, add them all together. I, being a benefactor, have created a fund to pay the debt of everyone here. All you have to do is go to the bank and tell them to take money out of my account (probably give you my # and some kind of authorization). Then you will be debt free. This is what it means to have something imputed to our account. When it is given to us, it is applied to our account and counted as our own.
God, being our benefactor, has created a fund to pay the sin debt of everyone here. All we have to do is have the funds from that debt applied to our account so that we are debt free. Where did God get this fund? From Christ and his cross.
Romans 4:25: He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. The debt has been paid- paid in full.
We can choose to be treated like the slave in Luke 17 or the slaves in Luke 12. We can appear before the final judgment seat as either the unprofitable servants of the holy God or the blessed servants of the gracious God. It seems like a no brainer.
How do I have the funds from that account applied to my debt? Have to go to the bank of faith. God has provided everything for our salvation, but he doesn’t go to the bank for us.
Plan of salvation.
Addendum to sermon:
Some objections to this teaching might come from 1 Peter 4:18 or James 5:19-20. Here is some content from an e-mail from me to Dr. Cottrell about these two verses.
Hi Dr. Cottrell,
I preached this morning on No Extra Credit from Luke 17:7-10 and Luke 12:35-37. I remember asking in class about "Love covers over a multitude of sins" from 1 Peter 4:8. I agree that this is talking about love gives the ability and a greater willingness to forgive and overlook the faults of others. However, I hadn’t considered James 5:19-20. After I preached the sermon, a gentleman approached me about James 5:19-20. Does this passage teach that we can have extra merit before God?
Be joyful always,
Davon Huss
Response:
I hope the person who spoke to you was not suggesting that the one who turns a sinner from his wandering is thereby saving his OWN soul and covering his OWN sins. IThere is nothing in the text that requires this interpretation, and this interpretation goes against so much other teaching of Scripture. The obvious meaning is that the one who turns the wandering sinner back is God’s instrument in saving that SINNER’S soul from death and covering that SINNER’S multitude of sins. See Rom. 4:7. Sins can be "hidden" only by the covering of the blood of Christ, not by any works we do. JCottrell
