Christ Will Profit You Nothing At All

No, this title is not a curse, as you might imagine, seeing as you are a believer. Believers love sentences to which they can chorus a rapid “amen.” And this topic declaring that Christ will profit you nothing at all is not one such sentence. And yet, it is part of a verse that is in the bible.

Paul wrote this sentence to the Galatians, a group of believers in the past who behave very much like modern believers. Like most of us, the Galatian Christians started their Christian walk in the spirit. But somewhere along the line, they started drifting toward works.

They focused on what they could do to earn God’s approval. The answer is “nothing.” Do you recall that in His agony, Jesus wondered if He had to die? God told Him yes. And that is because there is no other way by which you can come to God except through Jesus.

Like the Galatians, you could focus on prayer, fasting, night vigils, or even acts of kindness. They will amount to nothing to secure your salvation unless you have Jesus Christ. In that context, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus will profit you nothing at all.

Do Not Set Jesus Aside

Often, it is hard for us to see this, just as it was hard for the Galatians. They failed to see that they had migrated from dependence on the finished work of salvation. Now, they were depending on what their hands could do to save them. In other words, they set aside the sacrifice of Jesus’ life.

The Apostle Paul knew better than to set Jesus aside Anything you set aside, no matter how precious, cannot profit you. Imagine that your father put one million dollars in a bank account for you. Next, he gave you the debit card associated with that account.

But for reasons best known to you, you leave it in your drawer at home; you set it aside. Can you benefit from that million dollars? You already know the answer. It is the same with the sacrificial death of Jesus. God the Father gave us Jesus and associated with Him our salvation.

But we set Jesus aside. If you have the tendency to set Jesus aside, Christ will profit you nothing at all. It is not a curse; it is conditional on what you do with Jesus. You remember Pontius Pilate asked that pivotal question when they brought Jesus to him. He asked the religious leaders, “what then shall I do with Jesus?”

In the same way, we must constantly ask ourselves this question. Unless you accept Jesus, Christ will profit you nothing at all. If your trust is misplaced; if it is not in Jesus, don’t expect Him to be of profit to you.

Christ Will Profit You Nothing At All If You Trust Another

The bible makes it clear that you can trust in men, or princes, or chariots. Do you know that you can trust in yourself and what you can do for yourself? The sign is that most of your sentences start with “I” even when you are trying to give testimonies.  

I prayed and I added a fast to it; I got some of my friends to pray along with me. you are all about me, I and I. It is all about what you do. That is a sign that Christ will profit you nothing at all. You see, He is nowhere on your radar. How can He benefit you?

That was the Galatians’ situation that caused Paul to call them foolish and wonder who had bewitched them. Yes, unless you know your scriptures, it is very easy for a manipulative pastor to bewitch you right in church. Such a pastor gradually moves your trust from Jesus onto church activities that you perform.

That is when you find yourself going from one church program to another. And in your heart, you sincerely want to please God. If you know someone like that, you can be like Paul and let them know that someone has bewitched them. Tell such a person unequivocally “Christ will profit you nothing at all.”

Naturally, they will hate you for it, especially if they are very active in the church. But don’t let that bother you. You would be saving him or her from going to hell even while sitting in a church. In any case, did the world not hate Jesus for telling them the truth? Be like Jesus and tell them that any who trusts in anything other than Jesus is on the way to hell.

It Is A Question Of Trust

Please note that there is nothing wrong with praying and fasting. There is nothing wrong with all-night prayer meetings or asking other believers to join you in praying. After all, the bible itself says one shall chase one thousand only. But when there are two of you, you will put ten thousand to flight.

Observe that you will not even have to chase them, simply because there are two of you. We say all this to demonstrate the desirability of what we practice in the church. However, when you begin to place your trust in them, surely know that Christ will profit you nothing at all. It is all a question of trust.

When Jesus said that it is hard for a rich man to enter into heaven, what was He referring to? Was He expecting them to take a vow of poverty and never be rich? If that be the case, are we in contravention when we become rightfully rich?

If Jesus was preaching poverty, would He have found a disciple to give Him a colt to ride into Jerusalem? He would never have found anyone to prepare Him a room for the last supper. Because all His followers would be poor. So, what was He talking about?

Christ Must Be Your All To Profit You

And how may that help us to understand this topic that sounds like a curse? Jesus was teaching His disciples not to trust in riches. Anyone who trusts in riches will not make it into heaven. Similarly, Paul was teaching about the danger of trusting in the work of their hands, such as circumcision. For such a person, Paul clearly declared that Christ will profit you nothing at all.

And not because Christ Himself is unprofitable. He has already completed the work of salvation by dying on the cross. He declared it finished. But if your trust is in circumcision or some such action, Christ will profit you nothing at all. For Christ’s sacrifice to benefit us, our trust must be in Jesus.

Maranatha!