Good Works
Eph 2: 8 (ESV)For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Some versions state good deeds in verse 10)
I often use this passage with new Christians, Christians suffering from low self-esteem, or Christians who were feeling depressed because of recent and/or past mistakes. But that is not where I am going with this post. Good works. What is meant by good works? Can we think of some folks, perhaps in more recent times than those in the Bible that can be associated with good works?
Wesley Brothers, Charles Spurgeon, Oswald Chambers, William Seymour (Asuza Street Revival), Billy Graham and let's not forget Mother Theresa just to mention a few. I would also include Eric VanRhee and my son Kevin, but I am somewhat biased where they are concerned. You might be tempted to say, "We are not all called to be Billy Graham or Mother Theresa." It's OK. I said it too and we are right. But you can't argue that they have done good works. You might even say they have done great works. So where does that leave us who are not called to those levels? What do we consider the good works we were created to do? More appropriate, what does God consider the good works He created us to do?
Well lets back up a little to start. One might think mankind was created by God for good works. This might be true if we took it out of context. After all, you can believe in a creator and that we were created by him but the bible states in Genesis we were/are fallen and Paul states in Rom 3:9-18 that in that fallen state we are incapable of good works as God would define it. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. OK so let's connect some dots. We are created by God, we sinned and died spiritually. Knowing that we could not be restored with out a perfect sacrifice, God became man and took our sins to the cross where He was sacrificed and rose again. (Hang with me a moment. I am not preaching to the choir. I am just connecting events). Now through our faith in Him we become a new creation, indwelled by God himself. Therefore, we are now capable of doing good works. This book is Paul's letter to the churches in Ephesus so he was talking to believers. Verse 8 supports that quite clearly. Verse 9 says we did not do anything ourselves, and finally in verse 10 we were created in Jesus Christ, as new creations (that was added by me for emphasis), to do good works.
A little background but we now have established good works are indeed possible for us to do. Still, we have not yet defined them. Would it be common sense and logical to say that since God is good, obeying Him could be considered a good work? Isn't obedience an action? I would say yes. Well what are we commanded? Matt 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Do we need to be a Billy Graham to surrender all who we are to loving a God who loved us even though we first hated him? Isn't being obedient in loving God a good work that we can all do? But it does not stop there, does it? Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I have talked before and posted about who your neighbor is, but to avoid a shameless plug to previous blogs, I will just go on record as saying that your neighbor is anyone, whether you know them or not, who is near you at any given time. 1 Cor 13 describes what love is and you can review that for yourself; however, suffice to say, all the descriptions stated there are actions, ie works. We can go through many examples of acts of love towards our neighbors but I will leave that up to you. Again, they can range from the very simple to the pinnacle life-saving/changing events. We don't need to be Mother Theresa to show love to our neighbors. If our hearts are of love towards our neighbors and in so doing even simple acts of kindness and service to and for them, are we not doing good works? We are all called to fulfill the great commission, but the good works can be just sewing seeds of love so that the Gospel can be told by you or someone like you.
Finally, your neighbor, could be a brother and/or sister in Christ. Now you might be tempted to say, "Well that is the easy one. After all they are members of the or our church. Right?" Really? So everyone who attends church is never surly, or rude, or insensitive, or prideful, or selfish, or any other behavior that can be frustrating, annoying, and at times down right infuriating and even hurtful? Always behaving in a loving manner so much so that it is very easy to just love them? Quick! Give me the address of that church! I want to go there from now on! Oh. Wait. Dang, I don't think they will let me attend. Will they let you? Be honest. This is what God has to say about it. John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Can we say that loving one another as brothers in sisters in Christ is a good work? I think we already established that obeying God is a good work.
Ultimately, whenever we behave in a manner that reflects God's love for us to anyone anywhere is doing a good work. The great works of the great men and women of faith are big points on the line of history on which we live. But they are few. The rest of the line is made up by all the little points, the every day points, the good works we were created to do.
I often use this passage with new Christians, Christians suffering from low self-esteem, or Christians who were feeling depressed because of recent and/or past mistakes. But that is not where I am going with this post. Good works. What is meant by good works? Can we think of some folks, perhaps in more recent times than those in the Bible that can be associated with good works?
Wesley Brothers, Charles Spurgeon, Oswald Chambers, William Seymour (Asuza Street Revival), Billy Graham and let's not forget Mother Theresa just to mention a few. I would also include Eric VanRhee and my son Kevin, but I am somewhat biased where they are concerned. You might be tempted to say, "We are not all called to be Billy Graham or Mother Theresa." It's OK. I said it too and we are right. But you can't argue that they have done good works. You might even say they have done great works. So where does that leave us who are not called to those levels? What do we consider the good works we were created to do? More appropriate, what does God consider the good works He created us to do?
Well lets back up a little to start. One might think mankind was created by God for good works. This might be true if we took it out of context. After all, you can believe in a creator and that we were created by him but the bible states in Genesis we were/are fallen and Paul states in Rom 3:9-18 that in that fallen state we are incapable of good works as God would define it. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. OK so let's connect some dots. We are created by God, we sinned and died spiritually. Knowing that we could not be restored with out a perfect sacrifice, God became man and took our sins to the cross where He was sacrificed and rose again. (Hang with me a moment. I am not preaching to the choir. I am just connecting events). Now through our faith in Him we become a new creation, indwelled by God himself. Therefore, we are now capable of doing good works. This book is Paul's letter to the churches in Ephesus so he was talking to believers. Verse 8 supports that quite clearly. Verse 9 says we did not do anything ourselves, and finally in verse 10 we were created in Jesus Christ, as new creations (that was added by me for emphasis), to do good works.
A little background but we now have established good works are indeed possible for us to do. Still, we have not yet defined them. Would it be common sense and logical to say that since God is good, obeying Him could be considered a good work? Isn't obedience an action? I would say yes. Well what are we commanded? Matt 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Do we need to be a Billy Graham to surrender all who we are to loving a God who loved us even though we first hated him? Isn't being obedient in loving God a good work that we can all do? But it does not stop there, does it? Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I have talked before and posted about who your neighbor is, but to avoid a shameless plug to previous blogs, I will just go on record as saying that your neighbor is anyone, whether you know them or not, who is near you at any given time. 1 Cor 13 describes what love is and you can review that for yourself; however, suffice to say, all the descriptions stated there are actions, ie works. We can go through many examples of acts of love towards our neighbors but I will leave that up to you. Again, they can range from the very simple to the pinnacle life-saving/changing events. We don't need to be Mother Theresa to show love to our neighbors. If our hearts are of love towards our neighbors and in so doing even simple acts of kindness and service to and for them, are we not doing good works? We are all called to fulfill the great commission, but the good works can be just sewing seeds of love so that the Gospel can be told by you or someone like you.
Finally, your neighbor, could be a brother and/or sister in Christ. Now you might be tempted to say, "Well that is the easy one. After all they are members of the or our church. Right?" Really? So everyone who attends church is never surly, or rude, or insensitive, or prideful, or selfish, or any other behavior that can be frustrating, annoying, and at times down right infuriating and even hurtful? Always behaving in a loving manner so much so that it is very easy to just love them? Quick! Give me the address of that church! I want to go there from now on! Oh. Wait. Dang, I don't think they will let me attend. Will they let you? Be honest. This is what God has to say about it. John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Can we say that loving one another as brothers in sisters in Christ is a good work? I think we already established that obeying God is a good work.
Ultimately, whenever we behave in a manner that reflects God's love for us to anyone anywhere is doing a good work. The great works of the great men and women of faith are big points on the line of history on which we live. But they are few. The rest of the line is made up by all the little points, the every day points, the good works we were created to do.
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