28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

— John 6:28-29

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

— Romans 9:16

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

— Galatians 2:16

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

— Titus 3:5

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace and peace from Christ to you!

People, including believers of Jesus, often ask this question: “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus has accomplished the WORK His Father sent Him to do. We tend to do a subtle change of WORK to WORKS that we should do for God. We tend to request a list of duties that we could achieve on our own to receive eternal life. This kind of thinking represents a common misconception prevalent among misguided human religion and people throughout time. We all need to ask ourselves, “How can the inherently flawed human righteousness satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God?”

To answer this particular question, Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” God requires only one “work” to receive eternal life—to believe and receive salvation through faith in His Son. Those who come to Christ for salvation hope to offer God-pleasing works. But they are the fruit of salvation, not the source of salvation. To think the eternal life can be earned is a grave mistake. Receiving Jesus’ righteous life and sacrificial death on our behalf is the one “work” God requires and accepts. We do not rely on what we can do but rather on what Jesus has done. To believe in Jesus is to be saved fro eternal separation from God.