The belief that we’re saved based on works goes deeper than you might think.

It’s not just a religious debate between Roman Catholics and Protestants but an expectation that permeates secular culture so that even atheists are working for their salvation.

How can I say that people who reject belief in Jesus, God, and salvation are trying to save themselves by their works?

The theological terms might not fit, but the primary driving desire does.

It may help to think about the issue using less theological language. In his book Seculosity, David Zahl calls this impulse performancism:

“Performancism is the assumption, usually unspoken, that there is no distinction between what we do and who we are. Your resumé isn’t part of your identity; it is your identity. What makes you loveable, indeed what makes your life worth living, is your performance at X, Y, or Z. Performancism holds that if you are not doing enough, or doing enough well, you are not enough. At least, you are less than those who are ‘killing it’” (Zahl, Seculosity, p. 6).

Atheists may not expect to get to heaven based on their works, but don’t they expect to be loved and valued and to find meaning in life based on what they do? True, they don’t expect God to judge their works, but they do expect to be judged by the people around them—by society. They are seeking justification before men. They want other people to notice all their envious victories at home, work, school, or on the sports field, country club, or vacation. They want to feel a sense of “enoughness.” But getting there is a never-ending quest. And like overtly religious systems of works salvation, that endless demand to live up to the benchmarks of success is killing people:

“Our devotion to the dogmas of performancism lies at the root of much of the skyrocketing anxiety, loneliness, and fatigue that saddle so many hearts and minds today” (p. 8).

In the secular world, it’s all demand and no redemption—a life of non-stop merciless accusation, where “winning” in one area doesn’t guarantee avoiding the accusations of failure in other areas of “seculosity.”

For example, think of the world’s billionaires—Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others. Though they’re unbelievably wealthy, making more money in a day than we would in several lifetimes, they’re also divorced and estranged from their families. They might be “killing it” at the seculosity of work, but they’re still failing at the seculosity of romance and parenting (to name only a few). Their enormous efforts in business may be an expression of trying to manage the guilt that comes with those failures and shore up their sense of “enoughness.” Performancism is a scorecard-keeping hamster wheel without end or mercy, even for atheists. There’s no grace in it because there’s no Savior.

So, if Zahl’s analysis is correct, it turns out that atheists aren’t immune from trying to be saved based on works; it’s just that their “salvation” is very this-worldly. And because everyone fails to meet those unrelenting expectations, atheists can be just as guilt-laden and burned out as any religious legalist. Talking to a therapist is the secular equivalent of confessing to a priest.

What that means for us is that the grace message is not only true but remains existentially relevant even for atheists in our secular culture. You might think atheists don’t want to hear it. They might even tell us that. But they are struggling with the same kind of works salvation mentality that grace addresses. The evangelistic message Paul proclaimed remains powerfully relevant today:

“Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you. Everyone who believes is justified through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

To paraphrase this message for atheists: everyone who believes in Jesus is also forgiven for not “winning at life,” and they are justified from everything you could not be justified from through performancism.

Send your questions or comments to shawn@freegrace.in.

Read his latest book, The Five Points of Free Grace for free, or buy it on Amazon.