Individual Effort

One of my favorite publications is Grace In Focus, but I have a problem with an article by Ken Yates in the July & August 2016 edition.  The article is called “Edifying Examples,” and it uses the story of the rebuilding of the wall by the Jews in Nehemiah 3 as an example of edification in the church today.  In the article, Yates says that we can sometimes learn from an Old Testament passage when the passage is explained or interpreted in the New Testament.  Although he admits that no New Testament passage attempts such an explanation on Nehemiah 3, he seems to jump to his own conclusions, as is easy to do when we want to make a particular point.

Yates says, “The work of God is not something we do as individuals, but as part of a group.  For believers today that is the church.”  This is a false and dangerous statement.  I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not talking about salvation, as I feel certain that he understands that faith in Christ is an individual decision (John 3:16).  However, just as each person decides for himself about believing in Christ, likewise each person will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ as an individual–not as part of a group (2 Corinthians 5:10).  It is granted that sometimes we work as a member of a team, but our efforts will still be judged on an individual and personal basis, according to what each person has done.

Although his intentions were good, Yates should not have tried to teach the edification of the church based upon Nehemiah 3.  Whether teamwork is glorified in the spiritual world or the secular world, the work accomplished by the team is still made up of the efforts of individuals.

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