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Tag: good works

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Perhaps you’ve heard of “The Golden Rule”: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat others the way you want to be treated. Unfortunately, we can’t always count on other people to do the same. We know that we are to love our enemies, (Matthew 5:43-48) but that doesn’t mean that they will stop being our enemies. Perhaps they will be so overcome by our good attitude, that their attitude will change, but even if it does, it could be a long, slow process. It is possible that how they treat us may never be the way that we treat them.

How then do you explain the promise found in Luke 6:38: Give, and it will be given to you? How do we know that our kindnesses will be returned if we can’t depend on other people to do their part? If people are going to treat us like dirt anyway, why should we bother to go out of our way to be nice to them? The answer is God. Not only should we live as though we are working for God, (Colossians 3:23-24) but God is in control, and He is the One who will reward us for what we do. We can’t count on others to repay us for our good deeds, but we can count on God. He may not repay us as soon as we would like, or in the way that we expect, (Ephesians 3:20) but just as He says that vengeance is His, (Romans 12:19) and He will repay for the hurts we receive, He will also repay us for the kindness we give. (Galatians 6:9)

The Bible not only says that this reward will be given to you, but that it will be given in “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over”. What does that mean? I am not well-known for my fabulous culinary talent—as a matter of fact, perhaps the opposite is true—but I have attempted to do some baking from time to time. What I figured out from my limited experience is that if you measure brown sugar, you can fit a lot more into the cup if you press it down. The same is true for flour. There seems to be a lot of air mixed with it until you tap it or shake it down. When you press down and shake together, you can fit a lot more in your cup. That’s the way God is willing to give to us, until our cup is overflowing and we can’t hold any more.

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In my last post, I discussed Paul’s teaching that we are justified by faith and faith alone. James 2:14-26 is often seen as a contradiction of Paul, but what James said was not directed at Paul, and for that matter what Paul said had not been directed at James. Paul was speaking to a group of people who felt that they could earn their righteousness by obeying the law to the letter, and often to the point of neglecting mercy and compassion. James was speaking to his brothers and sisters—those who already claimed to have a faith in God but were not showing it in their actions.

James is not saying that we need to have both faith and works in order to earn salvation. If that were the case, we would be claiming that Christ is not our only saviour, but that we are saviours for ourselves. This is not supported in the rest of scripture at all, and it is not what James is teaching either. Faith in Christ is all we need for salvation, but true faith is more than just saying so; it is more than just intellectual agreement. That is an essential first step, but it is not the last step. True faith naturally results in obedience to Christ, and in the character of Christ being displayed through us. Good works are the only way that other people will be able to see our faith.

If we were to go to court to claim our innocence in some matter, we would be judged on our actions; that is how the jury would decide if what we said is true. The same principle applies to our faith. Our actions are the evidence that shows the world that our faith is real. Good works are the fruit of the tree that has faith as its root. You are known by the fruit that you bear. (Matthew 12:33)

It is a case of what motivates us. Are we doing what we believe is right, as Paul’s audience was, because we are trying to earn gold stars, or are we doing what we believe God wants us to do because we love Him and want to serve Him? Ephesians 2:8-10 ties it all together for us. We are saved by faith, but we were designed to do good works.

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I’ve been going to church since before I was born, so I’ve grown up hearing certain words used in particular contexts. These words are often referred to as Christianese—words that aren’t really used by people who don’t hang out at church. If that includes you, please don’t feel left out; sometimes they aren’t really understood by the people who do hang out at church either. One of those words is “worship”. The word worship is sometimes used to refer to an entire Sunday morning service, but is most often used to refer to the part of the church service in which hymns and spiritual songs are sung. This understanding limits the scope of what worship really is.

In an interview recently with John Piper, Louie Giglio said,

We wanted to make sure we could message for the world: worship is not singing songs. Worship is acts of justice. That’s every bit of scripture breathing that out, and the heart of it for me is Hebrews 13:15-16. Through Jesus then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, which is—so here’s the definition—the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name—so bring a song—but then he says, and don’t neglect doing good and sharing with others for with these sacrifices God is pleased. And so if our purpose in worship is to feel good, we’re just going to keep singing songs, but if our purpose in worship is for God to be pleased, then we’re going to figure out what pleases God, and what pleases God is when the last and least of these are touched.

Worship then is using our voices, whether in song or not, to acknowledge God’s name—to give Him praise—remembering that the only reason we can come before God at all is because we have gained access to Him through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. (John 14:6) But worship is also doing what pleases God—doing good and sharing with others. Jesus says that there are really only two commandments, to love God and to love others. (Matthew 22:37-40) He also says that what you do for others, you do for Him. (Matthew 25:40) James says that good deeds are an extension of our faith. (James 1:27, James 2:8, James 2:14-22) The next time you are singing songs in church, I hope that you will be truly worshipping God, but realize that true worship goes far beyond those few moments.

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In my last post, I discussed Paul’s teaching that we are justified by faith and faith alone.  James 2:14-26 is often seen as a contradiction of Paul, but what James said was not directed at Paul, and for that matter what Paul said had not been directed at James.  Paul was speaking to a group of people who felt that they could earn their righteousness by obeying the law to the letter, and often to the point of neglecting mercy and compassion.  James was speaking to his brothers and sisters—those who already claimed to have a faith in God but were not showing it in their actions.

James is not saying that we need to have both faith and works in order to earn salvation.  If that were the case, we would be claiming that Christ is not our only saviour, but that we are saviours for ourselves.  This is not supported in the rest of scripture at all, and it is not what James is teaching either.  Faith in Christ is all we need for salvation, but true faith is more than just saying so; it is more than just intellectual agreement.  That is an essential first step, but it is not the last step.  True faith naturally results in obedience to Christ, and in the character of Christ being displayed through us.  Good works are the only way that other people will be able to see our faith.

If we were to go to court to claim our innocence in some matter, we would be judged on our actions; that is how the jury would decide if what we said is true.  The same principle applies to our faith.  Our actions are the evidence that shows the world that our faith is real.  Good works are the fruit of the tree that has faith as its root.  You are known by the fruit that you bear.   (Matthew 12:33)

It is a case of what motivates us.  Are we doing what we believe is right, as Paul’s audience was, because we are trying to earn gold stars, or are we doing what we believe God wants us to do because we love Him and want to serve Him?  Ephesians 2:8-10 ties it all together for us.  We are saved by faith, but we were designed to do good works.