Good Works
What do you think of when you think of good works? My first thought is of Mother Theresa. Or a medical missionary to the jungles of Africa or South America. Or maybe someone who courageously works with the homeless. Something tangible. Something with results that show. Something big and difficult.
So when I looked more closely at Ephesians 2:10, I was intimidated. Such a familiar verse, but it never had me questioning myself before. The verse reads like this: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Walk in them? That would mean that good works are just a way of life for me. Matthew Henry wrote that to walk in good works is to “glorify God by an exemplary conversation and by our perseverance in holiness.”
And apparently the Apostle Paul thought good works were extremely important, judging by the frequency of his call to do them. Notice:
1 Timothy 2:9-10 tells us to adorn ourselves with good works.
1 Timothy 6:18 says we should be rich in good works.
2 Timothy 3:17, another familiar verse, explains that we can be competent and equipped for every good work as we study the Scriptures.
In Titus 2:7 I find we should be models of good works, even zealous for good works, according to verse 14.
Twice in Titus chapter 3, we are called on to devote ourselves to good works (verses 8 and 14).
Even the writer of Hebrews wants us to encourage others to do good works (10:24).
In Galatians 6:9, Paul wrote, “let us not grow weary of doing good”. And in verse 10, he adds, “let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”.
Of course, we know we are not saved by works, but the fact is: our salvation must result in good works.
So, what does this mean? How can I measure up? Do I measure up? What are some biblical examples of good works?
First, James includes keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world as a good work (1:27).
Nursery workers, teachers, youth leaders are fulfilling positions God has prepared for them. Loving on those little ones, teaching them God’s Word, praying for them—good works. Befriending our neighbors,encouraging other believers, praying for our leaders—good works. Praying for others in and of itself is a good work. In fact, prayer is spiritual warfare.
Or what about the unloveable person in your life? Making the effort to show love whether you feel it or not is a good work. After all, biblical love is an action, not a feeling.
Good works would also include making “every effort to supplement [our] faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).
Jesus said, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (John 15:16). And what is the fruit we should bear?
The fruit of the Spirit, of course: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23). Since we have to work at cultivating that fruit, since we have to choose to “live by the Spirit”, to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25), these too qualify as good works
In Galatians 6:1, we are encouraged to gently restore a brother/sister caught in sin—another good work. And, in the next verse, “bear one another’s burdens”—yet another good work.
Then there’s the needy person who takes your time, time you really don’t want to give. I know that sometimes I resent those phone calls that consume so much of my time, but recently I have come to realize that giving that time is a good work God has prepared for me to do.
So why do I complain? Instead, I need to remember all that Jesus did for me by coming to earth as a human being, by dying on the cross, by bearing my punishment, by being rejected by God the Father for me! I need to remember with gratitude the Philippians 2 description of my Savior. I should be eager to do good, willing to sacrifice my time for another person because I am really sacrificing for God. Hebrews 13:16 tells us not to “neglect to do good and to share what [we] have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” And what we have includes our time, not just our money or material belongings.
The truth is, we don’t have to come up with good works to do, because “it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
I have come to the conclusion that many of the good works in which we are to walk are truly a way of life, things that don’t necessarily jump out at us. They are evident in the way we treat others, in our relationships with others and with God. Do they come naturally? No. Do we have to work at them? Yes. But God has prepared them for us and so we are able to walk in them.
To quote Warren Wiersbe, “He has worked for you; now let Him work in you and through you...”!
So when I looked more closely at Ephesians 2:10, I was intimidated. Such a familiar verse, but it never had me questioning myself before. The verse reads like this: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Walk in them? That would mean that good works are just a way of life for me. Matthew Henry wrote that to walk in good works is to “glorify God by an exemplary conversation and by our perseverance in holiness.”
And apparently the Apostle Paul thought good works were extremely important, judging by the frequency of his call to do them. Notice:
1 Timothy 2:9-10 tells us to adorn ourselves with good works.
1 Timothy 6:18 says we should be rich in good works.
2 Timothy 3:17, another familiar verse, explains that we can be competent and equipped for every good work as we study the Scriptures.
In Titus 2:7 I find we should be models of good works, even zealous for good works, according to verse 14.
Twice in Titus chapter 3, we are called on to devote ourselves to good works (verses 8 and 14).
Even the writer of Hebrews wants us to encourage others to do good works (10:24).
In Galatians 6:9, Paul wrote, “let us not grow weary of doing good”. And in verse 10, he adds, “let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”.
Of course, we know we are not saved by works, but the fact is: our salvation must result in good works.
So, what does this mean? How can I measure up? Do I measure up? What are some biblical examples of good works?
First, James includes keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world as a good work (1:27).
Nursery workers, teachers, youth leaders are fulfilling positions God has prepared for them. Loving on those little ones, teaching them God’s Word, praying for them—good works. Befriending our neighbors,encouraging other believers, praying for our leaders—good works. Praying for others in and of itself is a good work. In fact, prayer is spiritual warfare.
Or what about the unloveable person in your life? Making the effort to show love whether you feel it or not is a good work. After all, biblical love is an action, not a feeling.
Good works would also include making “every effort to supplement [our] faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).
Jesus said, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (John 15:16). And what is the fruit we should bear?
The fruit of the Spirit, of course: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23). Since we have to work at cultivating that fruit, since we have to choose to “live by the Spirit”, to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25), these too qualify as good works
In Galatians 6:1, we are encouraged to gently restore a brother/sister caught in sin—another good work. And, in the next verse, “bear one another’s burdens”—yet another good work.
Then there’s the needy person who takes your time, time you really don’t want to give. I know that sometimes I resent those phone calls that consume so much of my time, but recently I have come to realize that giving that time is a good work God has prepared for me to do.
So why do I complain? Instead, I need to remember all that Jesus did for me by coming to earth as a human being, by dying on the cross, by bearing my punishment, by being rejected by God the Father for me! I need to remember with gratitude the Philippians 2 description of my Savior. I should be eager to do good, willing to sacrifice my time for another person because I am really sacrificing for God. Hebrews 13:16 tells us not to “neglect to do good and to share what [we] have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” And what we have includes our time, not just our money or material belongings.
The truth is, we don’t have to come up with good works to do, because “it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
I have come to the conclusion that many of the good works in which we are to walk are truly a way of life, things that don’t necessarily jump out at us. They are evident in the way we treat others, in our relationships with others and with God. Do they come naturally? No. Do we have to work at them? Yes. But God has prepared them for us and so we are able to walk in them.
To quote Warren Wiersbe, “He has worked for you; now let Him work in you and through you...”!
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