Good Works in the Eyes of God
Colossians 1:9-12 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
Good works are the fruit.
Christ is the root; good works are the fruit. Christians are not Christians because of their good works. Christians are Christians because they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He takes up residence in the heart of the believer, and good works are the result.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “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.”
Christians are able to be fruitful in good works, bringing forth fruit that is pleasing to God, because of our position in Christ.
Colossians 1:4 “It is because of your faith in Christ Jesus and your [resulting] love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.”
The Purposes of Good Works
Good works are believer’s love-offerings to God.
Ephesians 5:2, NKJV“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Romans 12:1-2, NKJV“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Good works are our witness to the unsaved.
It is our witness to unsaved souls, which God ,the Holy Spirit, uses as one of the ways to bring lost souls to faith in Christ.
Matthew 5:16, NKJV, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
1 Peter 2:11-12, NKJV “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles [that is, among the unsaved], that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
Good works are our edifying example to our fellow believers.
Titus 2:7, NKJV “In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.”
Good works are the means by which we minister to the needs of our fellow believers.
Titus 3:14, NKJV “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”
Biblical good works encompass every aspect of our thinking and conduct before God.
Good works is not only caring for the poor, but behaving in a godly way toward your employer. Not only giving to the work and ministry of the church, but truly loving those within it. Not only distributing Bibles to those who have none, but seeking to understand, believe, and live everything that is between the covers yourself.
Good works are an integral part of God’s eternal plan, and therefore they are our highest responsibility.
Ephesians 2:10, NKJV “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in hem.”
Titus 2:14, NKJV “[Christ] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
This is the proper nature of good works – not to please ourselves, but to please Christ and to “bring many sons to glory”.
Hebrews 2:10, NKJV “For it is fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
2 Peter 1:3-8, NKJV “…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
What did you personally learn from Good Works in the Eyes of God and how can you now apply it?
