The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
One day a man was
heard to say, "I'm hoping good works will save me." This person
certainly is not alone in his wish. Millions harbor the same desire to
be saved without any commitment or change in lifestyle. Spending any
time with Scripture will show this is certainly wishful thinking. God
called us to live for Him through dying to self (Romans 6:1-11).
What part do "good
works" play in God's plan of salvation? What
are good works? How much stress ought we
to place on good works? What place do they
occupy in salvation from sin? These are
questions preachers discuss with a variety of answers.
Jesus said we MUST
do good works toward other men if we will be saved (Matthew 25:31-46).
Yet
Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote to the Ephesians, "For by grace
you
have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
In this lesson we
will study the good WORKS that save and those that do not save. The
Bible says that God has “prepared beforehand” the good works that must
be done by those who are saved by grace through faith. These good works
are to be extensions of our faith and not in place of it (Ephesians
2:10).
Work never has been
a popular word. In the world around us
there are those who shun it like the plague. In
the religious world, especially so-called Protestantism, there are
pastors or evangelists who
insist that works be of no value at all in regard to salvation. They contend that one cannot be saved from
past sins or
eternally in heaven by any kind of work.
There was a Baptist
preacher (Sam Morris) whose radio program originated from a very
high-powered radio station in Mexico. He
was widely known for his crusades against alcohol abuse.
He wrote a tract dealing with the security of the believer. In
his tract he said that "All the churches a person may attend, all the
Bible he may read, and all the works he may
do will not in anyway help in going to heaven."
Morris was a strong
advocate of the idea that "once you are saved, you are forever saved."
He stressed this by coming to the following conclusion: "And all the
sins one may commit from idolatry to murder will not endanger his soul." Mr. Morris' conclusion is the actual
consequence of that heresy. Can any of you
deny that Mr. Morris came to the logical conclusion of the doctrine
which affirms that if a believer is truly saved, he can never be lost
regardless of what happens? Morris, and
others like him, holds such a view of salvation basically because they
deny that the works God has given man to do have anything at all to do
with salvation.
Works are important! But someone will ask, "Did not Paul just say
that salvation is 'not of works'?" Certainly
he did - no question about that. What kind
of works did Paul have in mind? In our
study of the Bible we must always consider the
context in which a thing is said. In order
to be sure
we fully understand a thing we must also understand the passage in
harmony
with all other verses on that same thought. That
means
when you read something in the Bible, read the whole setting in which
it
was written.
Paul said that
salvation is by grace, but it comes through faith. When he said, "not
of works," he also added, "lest anyone should boast."
If a person could do everything absolutely perfectly,
flawlessly, throughout life, that individual would put the Almighty in
debt for salvation.
Listen to Paul again. "Now to him
who works,
the wages are not counted as grace but as debt" (Romans 4:5). You may be sure that if you were able to work
perfectly
everything God has ordered you would merit salvation.
At
the end of the way you could turn in a perfect score and God would then
reward
you for your works. Such would give one a
basis for boasting.
But the minute one
mistake is made in life, the first sin one commits, there is no way he
can ever
be saved unless God forgives that sin. Forgiveness
is not a matter of perfect works - it is a matter of grace - a gift
freely
given by the Father in heaven that has been offended. Because works are
not perfect in any mere mortal, grace was offered.
Solomon
wrote, "For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not
sin" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The only thing
one who
is accountable for sins can do is appeal to God's mercy and grace. And then, salvation is the gift of God.
But loved ones,
this expression,
"not of works," does not eliminate obedience to Christ.
Jesus
plainly stated, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter
the
kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven"
(Matthew
7:21). The stress here is on DOING the
will of the Father in heaven. And this
doing is the WORK God
requires. God’s gift is salvation by His
grace, but
faith is the condition He calls us to meet in order to be saved by His
grace.
Those who claim
salvation by faith ONLY are imperfect, incomplete, and inadequate.
By inspiration, James wrote, "Do you not see that faith was
working
together with his works and by works faith was made perfect?" (James
2:21). Also, "You see then that a man is
justified by works and not by faith only" (James 2:24).
And Paul then added, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith WORKING through love"
(Galatians 5:6). This is an interesting
verse.
There were two
ethnic groups that made up the membership of the churches of Galatia
and elsewhere in the first century. They
were Jews and Gentiles. They were often
identified as either "the circumcision" or the "uncircumcision." Paul is simply saying, "Regardless of who you
are, the important matter in your life is that you obey your
Lord implicitly and completely." In Christ we find that obedience
through
love is the test of faith. Again, we can
safely conclude that the expression "not of works" (Eph. 2:9) certainly
does not eliminate obedience from the heart (Rom. 6:17).
Paul was not excluding works of obedience to God when he said,
"not of works."
But going on to the
next reference to works, the "good works" (Eph. 2:10) are the reason
why God's workmanship - His new creation - came into being. The ones saved by grace through faith are
God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for (or unto) good works.
This places a responsibility upon every
person who has been truly saved by grace through faith.
God does not save
sinners by His grace just so they can look nice, feel good, be happy,
live in fine homes, and worship in beautiful temples or edifices. He does not create something for simple
admiration. His creation is designed to be
productive and active. His creation is far
more than a work of art to be admired. It
is to be filled with profits for Himself. And
that is only achieved through the works He Himself ordained for His
creation.
Far too many of us
fail to think seriously about the good works we are to do (cf. James
1:26-27). The time has come that anything
anyone thinks needs to be done can be labeled a "good work," and God is
supposed to be as pleased as He can be. We ask, "What are good works?"
By many they are considered
to be kind deeds done to others. What would this include? How far
should
this go? If I go to the grocery store and a lady in front of me drops
her
grocery list and I pick it up for her, have I earned heaven? What if I
help
a child across the parking lot? Will that earn me heaven?
What if I offer to
carry someone's case of beer and cigarettes to the car? Will that earn
me heaven? What if I go to a crack den and offer to hold the spoons and
mix the drugs? Will that earn me heaven? What if I offer to feed the
fish while an assassin goes across the country to execute someone? Will
that earn me heaven since it is a good deed? What if I offer to sweep
up for free at a brothel? Will that good deed earn me heaven? What if I
volunteer to keep the supplies
ready for Satanists to worship Satan? Will that good deed earn me
heaven?
The Point: "Good deeds" are terribly subjective.
Everyone will have their own definitions. There won't be any standard.
What if I
hold the coats while a Christian is executed in China? Will that good
deed
earn me heaven? Paul certainly did not think so. In Acts 7:58, Saul
(who
was later called Paul) held the coats of those who executed Stephen for
preaching the Gospel. In the next chapter he hunted down Christians and
had them jailed. Of the entire ordeal he later said he was the chief
sinner
of all men (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul by no means felt good deeds were
going
to save him.
They won't save us
either. If so, there was no point in Jesus coming to this earth to die
for our sins. God could have had a prophet tell us that good deeds will
save us and saved millions of martyrs for the Cross. There would have
been no need to spend the blood and pain of men getting the Bible into
our hands. There would
have been no reason to start the church because anyone could do good
works
without the church.
If we will be saved
by good works (which we can boast about) then we will be lost by bad
works.
So, do we get merits for good works and demerits for bad works? Does
that
mean if you help ten old ladies across the street then you can push two
down
the steps? Won't it just be a mathematical equation? And who decides
what
bad works are? And what if some decide they are good while others
decide
they are bad? How do we solve that dilemma? Why didn't God just give us
an
exhaustive list? It all becomes very messy. It won't matter though as
it
is not true anyway. Praise the Lord.
Let's think
together
a little more deeply about this. The good
works God
wants from man were ordained even beforehand. Who
has the right to change anything God has ordained?
If
God has ordained it, commanded it, ordered it, what right do men have
to
alter it?
There are numerous examples in both the Old and New Testaments of those who presumed to enhance something God ordained, only to learn too late the enormity of their mistake. Nadab and Abihu were two young priests, sons of the venerable Aaron. The scripture describes their blunder. "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord" (Leviticus 10:1-2).
Fire was ordained -
but the profane fire was not. There was
probably no difference in the physical properties of the ordained fire
and the profane fire - but there was a world of difference in the
results. Anytime anyone dares to offer God
a service that He has not commanded they engage in that which is
profane. God's works are sacrosanct and inviolate. We must keep
them that
way. Paul wrote Timothy, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped
for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
If we all accept
the
revealed word of God as the sole source of the doctrine we teach and
believe,
for every practice in which we engage, for the reproof, correction, and
instruction we need spiritually, then we are duty bound to look to that
same revelation for authority for our "good works."
That simply means that a work is not "good" if God does not
ordain it. We can devise a million things
and label them good but unless some biblical
basis can be found for them, they are profane - not good as God
Almighty
sees it.
Let's make an
imaginary leap into the future. We are
standing before God. Christ is seated at
His right hand. This is the judgment day. Very near us, we hear many feverishly saying,
"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in
your name, and done many wonders in your name?" You
recognize that don't you? It's Matthew 7:22. The
frenzied cries continue until we hear the Lord hush them by replying,
"I
never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!" (verse
23.)
How will we feel on
the judgment day if we have come up on the short end of His law? There will be no appealing the sentence. There is but one safe and sensible course of
life to follow - "Do all you do, in word or deed in the name of the
Lord" (Colossians 3:17). When you turn in
your record at the end, there will be no boasting, no pride, nothing in
your hand of your own devising to bring. However, there will be your
simple obedient faith that has led you throughout life in a pathway God
Himself has outlined long before any of us were even born.
Loved ones, it is
by
faith working through love that we do the Will of God (Gal. 5:6). We urge every rational believer today to study His
word, obey His word, practice and teach His word, and recoil from every
man-made device and doctrine (cf. John 12:48; Heb. 5:8-9).