Adding to the Finished Work of the Cross?
by Terry Wane Benton
Check out this statement:
"I don't have to do anything for His blood to cover my sin because I can't add to the finished or perfect work of the Cross."
This idea of “adding something” to the “finished work of Christ” sounds appealing, and it has become quite typical of many in the denominational world to use this expression. But there is a big problem with it! Jesus finished His work, but did not finish what you are required to do to benefit from His work! If there was “nothing” He required of us to be saved, then everyone would be saved, and no one would be lost. Yet most who peddle this argument do not believe everyone will be saved. Why? Because they don’t really believe their own argument. If they did, they would believe in unconditional universal salvation. Since Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2), this means that every one of us is saved, and universal salvation is in place for everyone; nobody has to do anything to be saved, as all are saved already. If one has to hear the gospel before they can be saved, is that adding to the finished work of Christ? If one has to believe the gospel, is this belief “adding to the finished work of Christ?” If the work is finished, why would I have to add hearing and believing? All should be saved without believing. That would be the logical conclusion from the statement quoted above.
The truth is that Jesus’ blood is for everyone, but it is not automatically applied to everyone. Why? God made the application of the blood conditional. There are conditions to meet before God will apply the blood to our account. There is something we must do to be saved. When the 3,000 asked Peter, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), Peter did not say, “You don’t have to do anything for His blood to cover your sins because you can’t add to the finished or perfect work of the Cross.” In fact, that argument was never used in the first century. It is an argument invented only recently and is simply false. In fact, if I believed it, I would never argue with anyone about religious matters ever again, since everyone is going to heaven anyway. Why reason with people about something that does not matter? If Jesus finished the salvation issue for everyone, then everyone is saved, and nothing we do can alter that one iota.
When Peter answered the 3,000's question, he was guided by the Holy Spirit, and what he said was that there is something they had to do to receive the blood of Jesus and have remission of sins, and “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” He told them they had to repent and be baptized in order to have forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Was Peter telling them to “add to the finished or perfect work of the Cross?” No! He was telling them the conditions for benefiting from Jesus’ work on the cross. No one benefits automatically and unconditionally! Everyone must meet the conditions, and meeting those conditions is not “adding to the finished or perfect work of the cross.” That is just a poorly reasoned argument that deceives many people and prevents them from meeting the conditions. Peter told them the conditions (Acts 2:38), then further encouraged them to “be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). You see, they were not saved by the finished work of the cross until they “gladly received his words and were baptized” (Acts 2:41). Doing this was not “adding to the finished work of Christ,” it was meeting the conditions for obtaining the benefits of the finished work of Christ.
Don’t let this common argument deceive you! Jesus made belief a condition. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Was Jesus telling us to “add these things to the finished work of the cross?” Of course not! He was telling the conditions for benefiting from His work on the cross. He did not believe for us on the cross, so we need not believe, and He was not baptized for us on the cross. If He wanted His finished work to be applied conditionally, He knew how to communicate the conditions. If He wanted His work on the cross to apply to all men unconditionally, He knew how to say so! Did He finish His work and offer it to us conditionally or unconditionally? If it is unconditional, we do not even have to know about what He did, and we will all still be saved. But, if we have to know about it, that is a condition. Is the essential knowing on our part “adding to the finished work of the cross?” No! The argument is false.
The conditions are clear in both Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38. Nobody benefits from the finished work of Jesus on the cross without hearing the gospel (Romans 10:17; 1:16; Mark 16:15), believing the gospel (Mark 16:16), repenting of sin (Acts 2:38) and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Mark 16:16). None of this “adds to the finished work of Christ,” and you must be careful to let no one deceive you into thinking you need not meet the conditions Jesus instructed for us to benefit from His work. Satan would like nothing better than for us to believe we don’t have to do anything for the blood of Christ to cover our sin, and he is working hard to get many to believe just that! Do not be deceived! Jesus finished the work that makes remission of sins available, but He did not do what is required of you to have it applied to your account. There are things you must do to keep His finished work from being in vain in regard to you (II Corinthians 6:1-2).
