From doing to done

The most dangerous place a person can live spiritually is not rebellion—it’s exhaustion. Exhaustion from trying to earn what God has already given.

Paul’s words in Romans 10 expose a sobering reality: it’s possible to be deeply passionate about God and still miss salvation entirely. He writes of people who had zeal for God but not knowledge. They were sincere, disciplined, religious—and wrong. Their passion was real, but their understanding was off. Instead of submitting to God’s righteousness, they tried to build their own.

That tension still lives with us today.

We live in a culture where being “spiritual” is normal. God’s name is spoken freely—after awards, promotions, and successes. But when asked which God, clarity fades. Passion without knowledge always leads us to create a god we can manage. And when we don’t know God as He truly is, we inevitably turn salvation into something we do instead of something we receive.

Paul says the problem plainly: they sought to establish their own righteousness. In other words, they believed if they did enough right things, God would accept them. That mindset traps us in an endless cycle of striving—doing for God instead of resting in what Christ has already done.

This is why Romans 10 is such good news.

Salvation is not about climbing up to God or digging our way out of sin by sheer effort. Paul reminds us that righteousness based on faith doesn’t ask us to bring Christ down from heaven or up from the grave. Jesus has already come. He has already died. He has already risen. The work is finished.

The shift of salvation is this: from doing to done.

Faith begins when we stop trying to be the hero of the story and trust the One who already is. Christ lived the life we could not live. He died the death we deserved. And He rose to secure what we could never earn. Our works don’t make us right with God—our faith in Jesus does.